Communication record with an International Space Station(ISS)
(prompt report)

F: JK1ZAM, how do you read? NA1SS.Over.
A: Reading you fine. OK, Well, let us ask you twenty questions.
The first will be...

(1) This is Eriko.
Why did you want to become an astronaut? Over.
F: DOMO-ARIGATO for your question.
I wanted to become an astronaut because I wanted to work in space and
I wanted to explore new places. Over.

A: Thank you The next is....

(2) This is Ryosuke.
How do you become an astronaut? What age do you have to be astronaut? Over.
F: The most important thing is to do something that you really enjoy that's technical, like engineering or math, or physics or medicine. And, uh, at almost any age, the youngest astronaut, I think, has been about 28 once selected, the oldest around 40. And I'm over 50 and flying in space still. Over.

(3) This is Takaya.
What kind of testing do you do in the space station? Over.
F: Most of what we do everyday is work on experiments, or work on the space station to keep it working properly, like repair computers or work on the radio, whatever needs to go on. And of course we have to do the normal things you do on Earth day to day, like prepare food and, and sleep. Over.

(4) This is Ai.
Is the earth beautiful? What do you think about it? Over.
F: The Earth is a very beautiful place. I enjoy looking at it from space. I spend hours in front of the window whenever I have some free time. And, uh, I think it's a very fragile place in many ways, but it's also very permanent. It will be here much longer than we will. Over.

(5) This is Manami.
How do you see Japan? Over.
F: Uh, right now of course it's dark in Japan, but, uh, when we can see it, it looks very beautiful.
I used to live there many years ago, so I know how pretty it is. And, uh, beautiful islands, you can see Fujiyama, you can see Tokyo, Yokohama, etc. Over.

(6)This is Rei Sakamoto.
How do you see the aurora? Over.
F: I love looking at the aurora. When we are in the top or bottom of our orbit near the North Pole or South Pole we can see the aurora very clearly. And I've actually been able to take some photos and some video of it. It's, uh, it's always changing. It looks like you are about to fly through a curtain of light. Over.

(7)This is Chihiro.
How do you see the stars? Over.
F: The stars from there are very, very bright. They're not any bigger than they are from Earth, but they're brighter. And, uh, they don't twinkle, they don't shimmer from the atmosphere effect. So, uh, they are very steady lights and you can see the colors; you can also see the planets very, very well. Over.

(8)This is Rei Sekiguchi.
How did you see the Leonid meteor storm? Over.
F: The Leonids was very spectacular. As we were coming over Japan during the highest rate of meteors, we saw three or four a second, maybe a hundred a minute for several minutes, and , uh, as we approached sunrise it looked like they were falling vertically all around us. And, of course, we saw the meteors below us, as they entered the atmosphere since we are above the atmosphere. Over.

(9)This is Naoko.
How do you spend evey day? Over.
F: Almost everyday is a work day like you're working in a laboratory. We get up about six, we have breakfast and then we start work around eight. At the beginning and end of every day we have conferences with our mission control centers to make sure we are all, uh, in agreement over what we're going to do that day on the schedule. And then, uh, we'll conduct experiments or, as I said, repair things. We have lunch in the middle of the day, and then at the end of the day we fix dinner and, uh, go to bed. We also spend two, two and a half hours exercising every day, which I just finished. Over.

(10)This is Mutsumi.
Don't you feel lonely? Over.
F: Sometimes, uh, a little bit. I miss my family, but, uh, there's three of us here and we're very good friends, and we have the opportunity to talk to lots of people on Earth, by ham radio or by telephone or different ways. So, uh, we usually can stay in touch with people. Thanks for asking though. Over.

(11)This is Takayuki.
How do you clean your body? Over.
F: We don't have a shower because water would go everywhere, but we have washcloths, and we have water that we can heat. And so we put hot water on a wash cloth, and then we use a special soap that's not very hard to rinse off. So we can wash our hair, and wash our body, and it works very well. We bathe everyday. Over.

(12)This is Kazuhiro
Which is more comfortable the earth or the space station? Over.
F: Well in some ways Earth is easier because everything is predictable, but in others the space station is easier because nothing has weight, and if I want to go from one end of the station to the other fifty meters I can just float or fly, and it only takes me a few seconds. Over.

(13)This is Yuuki.
How do you make a contact with your family? Over.
F: Uh, NASA helps us make contact through special phone calls, plus we have a telephone up here where we can call them occasionally. And we also have e-mail, which I use quite a bit with my family and with my children. Over.

(14)This is Shin.
What do you do on holidays? Over.
F: Say again, the question was broken.
This is Shin.
What do you do on holidays? Over.
F: We're losing the contact, I believe. Try one more time please.
This is Shin.
What do you do on holidays? Over.
F: On holidays? Uh, for example yesterday was an American holiday, Thanksgiving, and I prepared a big meal like we do at home, uh, with turkey and potatoes, and vegetables. And, uh, we had a big Thanksgiving dinner. And, uh, if it's a Russian holiday, then we celebrate it in the Russian style. Over.

(15)This is Eriko
What personal goods did you bring from the earth? Over.
F: Well I brought some pictures of my family, and I have some, uh, CDs with music, and I have some movies. And, uh, and some books. Over.

(16)This is Takaya.
What do you think about being in the space? Over.
F: Try the question again please. We lost contact.
A: Pardon.
F: One more time please, very slowly.
This is Takaya.
What do you think about being in the space? Over.
F: I think space is a wonderful place to live. I hope that many people can live here in the future when we have larger stations. Uh, it' s a lot of fun to be weightless and it' s also a beautiful view. Plus we can do a lot of good science up here. Over.

(17)This is Takayuki.
What the difference between being on the earth and in the space station? Over.
F: The biggest difference is the lack of gravity. For example, uh, we have to be very careful with liquids. Uh, if we are using a tool and we want to put it down, we have to use Velcro so it doesn't float away. It's very easy to lose things up here. Over.

(18)This is Ryosuke.
What food you eat in the space station? Do you drink the milk?
Do you eat the stake? Over.
F: I eat the same foods in space that I eat on the ground, though we can't have everything. What I miss is ice cream. But, uh, we have steak, and we have chicken, and we have vegetables and, uh, tea, ocha, we have many, many different varieties. Half Russian, half U.S. Over.

(19)This is Chihiro.
Do you eat ice cream and candies? Over.
F: JK1ZAM, NA1SS. How do you read? Over.
Do you eat ice cream and candies? Over.
<No response>

A: Thank you for your answering. Uh, Please keep at good working.
Uh, Commander.

F: JK1ZAM, NA1SS. Over.

A: NA1, Uh, NA1SS, JK1ZAM. How do you read?
<No response>

A: So, Please keep at good working, Commander.

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