ARISS logs two "firsts" in
Australian school contact
The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) program
marked two "firsts" during a September 23 school group contact
with students from an elementary school in Australia.
The QSO with youngsters from Kilburn Primary School was the first using
the ARISS Phase 2 radio gear aboard the ISS and the first in which an
attempt was made to provide
contact audio worldwide via IRLP (Internet Radio Linking Project) nodes.
NASA ISS Science Officer Mike Fincke, KE5AIT, took the controls of the
NA1SS Kenwood TS-D700 transceiver in the crew quarters for the occasion.
Responding to one youngster's question, Fincke described an ultrasound
experiment that he and Expedition 9 Commander Gennady Padalka, RN3DT,
have been running during their tour of duty.
"Ultrasound uses sound waves to look inside people's bodies,"
he explained, "and we can see how our bodies have changed because
we've been exposed to this weightlessness--this microgravity--for a long
time."
Fincke said he and Padalka already have noted some changes. "By being
able to tell how our bodies change in microgravity, we can figure out
how to keep us healthy and strong, so that when we go to the moon and
Mars, we'll
be ready for it."
Fincke also fielded questions about how the ISS gets its electrical power,
sleeping in space, the ISS' onboard environment, space walks, how Earth
and the moon look from space and--of course--space food.
The Kilburn students were guests of the Investigator Science and Technology
Centre in Adelaide for the occasion, and 13 of them got to ask Fincke
questions about life in space before the ISS went out of range.
Serving as the Earth station for the contact was Nancy Rocheleau, WH6PN,
in Honolulu. An MCI-donated teleconferencing circuit provided two-way
audio to the students. ARISS veteran Tony Hutchison, VK5ZAI, assisted
at the Investigator Centre.
Members of the Halifax Amateur Radio Club in Nova Scotia undertook the
IRLP experiment, which had limited success. ARISS International Chairman
Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, said he'd like the program to explore future opportunities
to make ARISS school group contacts available to other
schools and the general ham radio population. One major issue this time
was the presence of timers on IRLP systems.
ISS crews have used the Phase 1 Ericcson handheld VHF radio for the 146
previous ARISS school group contacts. The Phase 2 station was not expected
to be used for a school group contact until the Expedition 10 crew arrives
later this month.
ARISS <http://www.rac.ca/ariss/> is an international educational
outreach with US participation by ARRL, AMSAT and NASA.
Source: ARRL Letter - courtesy of The
American Radio Relay League
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