Youngsters' queries highlight astronaut's day
Published Friday December 5th, 2008
Science Students at Quispamsis school talk to International Space Station more than 300 kilometres above Earth
SAINT JOHN - You could have heard a pin drop in Quispamsis Middle School's gymnasium Thursday afternoon as ham operator Greg d'Entremont tried to reach the International Space Station.
"NA1SS, this is Victor Echo 9 Lima Charlie calling on a scheduled Ariss contact," d'Entremont began as the space station, travelling through space at 27,520 kilometres per hour, passed over Texas more than 320 kilometres above Earth.
On the sixth attempt, as students, staff and visitors held a collective breath, a voice crackled over the airwaves: "This is Mike, aboard the International Space Station," came the crisp and clear reply of American astronaut Mike Fincke and the packed gymnasium erupted in applause.
"It's great to hear your voice this afternoon, Commander Fincke," d'Entremont told him. "Please stand by."
And with that, 20 students from Quispamsis Elementary and Quispamsis Middle schools joined Memorial University of St. John's, N.L., as the only two schools in Atlantic Canada to have successfully contacted the space station.
The contact by the Quispamsis students could be heard the world over as people listened via various amateur radio networks or the Internet as it was streamed around the planet.
"They have joined a very elite group of students from around the world," said Wayne Harasimovitch of Ariss, an international volunteer group of radio operators who developed equipment and put together a program so students can talk to the space station.
As a mentor with Ariss, Harasimovitch was instrumental in making the contact happen.
His mission, to inspire students, was also a success Thursday as they asked Fincke questions ranging from what is the most amazing thing he has seen from space to whether astronauts will ever get to Mars and if he would like to be part of another mission.
One by one, the students approached the microphone as Fincke answered their queries.
"This is the highlight of my day," Fincke told them.
Hayley Kean wanted to know what Fincke considers the best part of his job.
"The best part of the job is flying and looking out the window," Fincke replied. "We're weightless, so we can fly around the cabin. And we have such a beautiful planet."
It was Emma McLaughlin who posed the question about Mars.
"There are a lot of good reasons to go to Mars," Fincke replied. "So that we don't just live on one planet. So that people will live all over the solar system and beyond."
"At night, can you see lights on Earth?" Evan Jenner asked.
"It's one of the most beautiful things we can see," Fincke said. "When we fly over the dark part of the planet, we can see all of the beautiful cities lit up."
Fincke told the children about nutrition experiments they are doing to find out how food is absorbed by the body in space flight and that how, when he finishes this mission, he will have spent one full year of his life in outer space.
"I've seen the most amazing things from space," he told them. "So many wonderful things: the Amazon River, the Pyramids and I've flown over the eyes of hurricanes."
The successful rendezvous with the space station didn't come without a lot of planning and long hours by d'Entremont and Harasimovitch.
The flawless mid-afternoon contact included installing two separate radio and antennae systems to track the space station and computer software that allowed its position to be shown to students on a big screen.
A bank of computers controlling radios and tracking systems were put in place early Thursday morning and, by 8:15 a.m., de'Entremont was speaking with ham radio people in New York State, Texas and Venezuela.
At about 1:30 p.m., the orbiting laboratory could be seen moving over India and heading toward Australia. It was 2:23 p.m. when d'Entremont made contact as it moved over Illinois.
Grade 7 student Ben Richard and Michael McCracken, 11, looked cool as cucumbers as they approached the microphone to ask Fincke their questions, but admitted afterward they were a bit nervous.
"I asked him what it feels like in space," Richard said.
"I had butterflies in my stomach. When you start to think about it, you're talking to someone out of our orbit. It was pretty cool."
McCracken said that, before speaking to Fincke, he had assumed that moving around all the heavy equipment in space might be the hardest task to perform in space.
"But he said it was probably the spacewalk," McCracken said. "I was nervous as heck. I was shaking through my legs.
"But I'm very inspired now to become an astronaut."
And that's good news for Fincke, who closed with a message for the students: "This is the International Space Station and Canada is an important partner," he told them.
"Come on, everybody, study hard and be good. Follow your heart to get to your dreams."
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