Soyuz a smoother ride than shuttle,
astronaut tells students
Youngsters attending St John's School in Houston, Texas, used ham radio
to pose 15 questions about life in space to International Space Station
(ISS) Expedition 10 Commander Leroy Chiao, KE5BRW.
For Chiao, the contact February 23 between NA1SS and W5RRR--the club
station at the Johnson Space Center (JSC)--was a way to "phone home,"
in a manner of speaking. The QSO was arranged through the Amateur Radio
on the International Space Station (ARISS) program.
One student was curious about the differences between
traveling into space aboard the Russian Soyuz vehicle and the US space
shuttle.
"The Russian rocket, because it doesn't use solid-rocket boosters,
is actually much smoother. It's liquid engines the whole time and just
feels a little bit different," Chiao explained. "Also, because
it's a missile--not a winged vehicle like the shuttle--the actual trajectory
is a little bit
different than that of the shuttle, so we actually pull a few more Gs.
We get up to about four and a half Gs as opposed to three Gs on the American
space shuttle." So-called "G" forces refer to the force
of gravity during acceleration.
Both spacecraft convey crews into space--the Soyuz can hold three passengers,
while the shuttle can accommodate a crew more than twice that size, and
both take the same amount of time to get into space--about eight and a
half minutes, Chiao pointed out. The Soyuz vehicles have been the sole
means of transporting crews to and from the ISS since NASA grounded its
shuttle fleet following the 2003 shuttle Columbia tragedy. As a result,
ISS crew complements dropped from three to two members. NASA hopes to
return the shuttle to flight this summer.
Chiao said haircuts and shaving in zero gravity present minor challenges
to the ISS crews. "For haircuts we do have an attachment we hook
up to the vacuum cleaner to keep the hairs from flying all over the place
when we cut each other's hair, and so we've both become amateur barbers,"
he told the students. Chiao said that for shaving, the crew has a choice
of electric razors or blades.
The Expedition 10 Commander also said humans are naturally curious and
explorers. "We want to know what's on the other side of that mountain,"
he said.
St John's teacher Rene Wright thanked Chiao for selecting the school
for an ARISS school group contact. "For us it has been the experience
of a lifetime," she said. Chiao allowed that the contact was a real
pleasure for him and that it was "great to be talking to home again."
Ten St John's students ranging from elementary through high school age
participated in the QSO. Looking on were some 400 students, teachers and
parents. The Johnson Space Center's Nick Lance, KC5KBO, served as control
operator for the contact.
ARISS is an educational
outreach with US participation by ARRL, AMSAT and NASA.
Source: ARRL Letter - courtesy of The
American Radio Relay League
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