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 Previous: ARRL Board Names Award Winners |
As TV cameras look on, students gathered at Meizen High School queue up to ask their questions of ISS astronaut Mike Fincke, KE5AIT. |
NEWINGTON, CT, Jul 22, 2004--It was a truly international Earth-space Amateur Radio contact July 13 when International Space Station astronaut Mike Fincke, KE5AIT, spoke with students at Meizen High School in Japan. Fincke, who's fluent in Japanese, answered most questions in both Japanese and English. During the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact between NA1SS in space and 8N6A in Japan, one questioner wanted to know what Fincke saw for the future of space development.
"The future of space development is very important to everyone on the planet," Fincke replied. "We need to work together, and we can go to the moon, we can go to Mars, we can go to the stars."
Speaking of stars, Fincke told another student that he hasn't been able to
view any of the constellations from space because the ISS ports face earthward.
"The constellations are above us, and so far, I've only looked down on the
Earth, and the Earth is very bright," Fincke said.
A youngster asks her question as control operator Osamu Nakamura, NH7TA, manages the radio controls. [Photos courtesy of Satoshi Yasuda, 7M3TJZ/AD6GZ] |
The astronaut also noted that the ISS inhabitants could see pollution on Earth from space. "Yes, we can see a little bit of environmental pollution," Fincke said in response to a student's question. "We must keep our planet clean."
Regarding his newborn daughter Tarali, Fincke said he's only seen her via a computer linkup.
Seventeen youngsters--10 elementary pupils and seven junior high and high
school students--participated in the event, which attracted attention from local
and national news media. Six TV stations, including NHK (Japan Broadcasting
Corporation), and five newspapers fielded reporting teams for the occasion. An
audience of 50 elementary, 20 junior high and 250 high school students plus some
80 parents also was on hand.
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The nearly nine-minute contact was marred by occasional signal dropout from NA1SS. In all, Fincke answered 16 of the students' questions before he got out of range. Osamu Nakamura, NH7TA, who attends Meizen High School, served as control operator for the direct 2-meter contact. Nakamura received his General class FCC license last November specifically for this event.
"All preparations for this contact were made by the Meizen High School students themselves," said ARISS Japan mentor Satoshi Yasuda, 7M3TJZ/AD6GZ. "This was a first for Japan and a very successful event for all!"
The next ARISS school group contact also will be with students in Japan. On Thursday, July 29, fifth and sixth graders attending Habikigaoka Elementary School in Habikino will have the opportunity to question Fincke.
Fincke requested that a video, "Expedition 9 Tour," be sent to Habikino prior to the scheduled contact. In the presentation, Fincke and Expedition 9 Commander Gennady Padalka, RN3DT, answer commonly asked questions about life aboard the ISS.
NASA says Fincke and Padalka are scheduled to take their next space walk August 3. The extravehicular activity--or EVA in NASA parlance--is designed to deploy and retrieve experiments on the Russian segment of the space station and to outfit the Zvezda Service Module with navigation aids for next year's maiden flight of the European Automated Transfer Vehicle cargo ship.
ARISS is an international educational
outreach program with US participation by ARRL, AMSAT and NASA.
| Previous: ARRL Board Names Award Winners |
