 Contact! Hawthorne Brook Middle School teacher Marilyn Richardson, N1CSH, establishes contact with NA1SS, while students await their turns to pose their questions to ISS commander Bill McArthur, KC5ACR. |
 A student at Hawthorne Brook Middle School asks his question. |
CLICK HERE to listen to the contact between ISS Expedition 12 Commander Bill McArthur, KC5ACR, at NA1SS, and N1CSH at Hawthorne Brook School in Massachusetts |
NEWINGTON, CT, Dec 7, 2005--Youngsters in Alberta, Canada, and in Massachusetts, USA, learned more about the International Space Station and living in space recently by speaking directly via ham radio with ISS Expedition 12 Commander Bill McArthur, KC5ACR. The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) program arranged the contacts between NA1SS in space and VE6JBJ at the Ralph McCall School in Airdrie, Alberta, and, a few days later, with N1CSH at Hawthorne Brook Middle School in Townsend, Massachusetts. McArthur, 54, told a youngster at the Massachusetts school November 29 that he doesn't expect this mission--probably his last trip into space--to be particularly life-changing.
"This will probably be my last flight, so I kind of look at this as the end of a chapter and not necessarily . . . but maybe . . . it's the beginning of the next chapter," McArthur responded. "I don't think it changes exactly the things I believe, but perhaps I believe them more strongly."
Asked why he'd want to go back into space knowing the risks involved, McArthur said space travel is just like any other endeavor.
"It's the same reason that people take risks for just
about anything," he told the students. "We think the benefits significantly
outweigh the risk, and besides, it's such a thrill. Its so much fun to
be in space!"
 Fifth grade teacher Brian Jackson, VE6JBJ, surrounded by the participants in the McCall School contact. The students' T-shirts feature a logo designed especially for the ARISS event. [Neil Koven Photo] |
CLICK HERE to listen to the contact between ISS Expedition 12 Commander Bill McArthur, KC5ACR, at NA1SS, and VE6JBJ at Ralph McCall School in Airdrie, Alberta, Canada. |
Teacher Marilyn Richardson, N1CSH, served as control operator during the almost 10-minute contact. The middle schoolers asked 19 questions although the Earth station could not copy NA1SS beyond the 17th question. There was some dropout near the start of the contact too.
"After I initially got contact and the first student asked his question, we lost signal for 20-30 seconds," Richardson told ARRL. "NA1SS then called me, and we continued asking 19 questions and hearing clear, complete answers to about 16 and partial answers up to number 19. I understand from others listening on the downlink that Bill heard and replied to all 19 questions."
Also on November 29, McArthur's crewmate, cosmonaut Valery Tokarev, took the RS0ISS microphone to speak with RK3DZB at the Gagarin Cosmonauts Training Center in Star City Russia.
On December 2, McArthur answered 18 questions via ham radio put to him by youngsters attending the Ralph McCall and Chestermere Lake schools in Airdrie, Alberta. McCall fifth-grade teacher Brian Jackson, VE6JBJ, was the control operator. The Amateur Radio contact attracted national media attention, including a report on CBC TV and radio. McArthur told the first through eighth graders that having Amateur Radio onboard the ISS not only provides a way to answer questions for youngsters like themselves but serves as a means of backup communication and a source of recreation. He also described what he likes about long-term space travel and what happens when astronauts return to Earth.
"What I really like about being in space a really long
time is that you develop habits," McArthur said. "The way you work, the way you
play, everything you do is adjusting for having no gravity, and for a short
period of time [in space], that's hard to do." Long-term space travelers feel
very weak and their sense of balance may be disturbed when they return to
Earth's gravity, he added. "You can be very dizzy."
 ISS Expedition 12 commander Bill McArthur, KC5ACR (left), and flight engineer Valery Tokarev, at work in the ISS Zvezda Service Module. [NASA Photo] |
McArthur explained to both groups of students that ISS crew members have been trained and equipped to handle many medical emergencies that might occur in space. "We have a lot of medicines on board and a lot of medical equipment," he told the Canadian students. If push comes to shove, however, the crew can return to Earth via the Russian Soyuz transporter that's attached to the ISS.
In addition to the CBC, two other TV affiliates as well as reporters from two Calgary newspapers, three local newspapers and Reuters news service attended the ARISS event. Audio also was streamed to the Internet and via IRLP and EchoLink. Besides the approximately 700 students in the audience, regional and local dignitaries also were on hand for the occasion.
ARISS is an
international educational outreach with US participation by ARRL, AMSAT and
NASA.
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