ISS, we have contact!

10/22/2018

Today, Ashford School students got to ask their questions to an astronaut floating about 250 miles overhead on the International Space Station. Astronaut Serena M. Auñón-Chancellor, flight surgeon on Mission 56/57, answered 16 student questions that ranged from "Do you wear sunscreen into space?" to "What is the hardest thing about having 0 gravity?" to "How many flips can you do?"

Image Credit: Fox 61

Students used a special Amateur Radio to make a direct contact. The National Association for Amateur Radio (AARL) helped provide and set up the equipment. Joe Carcia, Kris Bickell, Ally Riedel, David Isgur, and Michelle Patnode all came for the big day to help facilitate the contact.

In addition to our ARRL radio representatives, several members of the Eastern Connecticut Amateur Radio Association (ECASA) also came to lead the contact. Bernard served as the main contact, and Ryan and Joe were also on hand leading the contact.

They set up a giant antenna system outside so that the signal would reach. They also projected ISS tracking software behind the radio for students to see:

Our whole school gathered in the cafeteria, and students who had been selected to ask a question gathered by the stage, each waiting their turn to approach. We all listened with bated breath as Bernard began the contact: "This is KZ1, ISS, this is KZ1, do you copy?"

Image Credit: WTNH

When we first heard Astronaut Serena M. Auñón-Chancellor, everyone broke out into smiles and gave the thumbs up signal. Despite our excitement, everyone stayed absolutely quiet so we could hear her answer our questions!

You can watch all of the students ask their questions below (The questions begin at the 42 minute mark):

In addition to our whole school population, the following news stations came to experience the contact as well! They recorded the contact and interviewed students on their thoughts afterwards. Check it out:

Fox 61: https:/fox61.com/2018/10/22/ashford-students-talk-with-astronauts-in-the-space-station/
WFSB: https://www.wfsb.com/news/ashford-students-get-opportunity-to-chat-with-astronaut/article_84a71100-d625-11e8-b8d1-2b8b4e6b48df.html
WTNH: https://www.wtnh.com/news/connecticut/windham/ashford-students-speak-with-astronaut-in-international-space-station/1541735276

We are so incredibly grateful to ARISS, ECARA, and ARRL for making this possible for the entire Ashford School community. Our students were literally bursting with excitement at the end of the contact, and many staff members were driven to tears over the wonder they felt during this contact. We even heard many students exclaiming that they wanted to be astronauts as they headed out of the cafeteria and onto the rest of their school day. Look out universe- here comes the Mars Generation!

To learn more about the ARISS program, please visit: http://www.ariss.org/

To learn more about AARL, please visit: http://www.arrl.org/home

To learn more about ECARA, please visit: http://www.ecara.net/

4 Comments

Greg Robinson

10/24/2018 04:16:03 am

Such a great opportunity! Thanks so much for organizing! Here's another coverage link from NBC Connecticut: https://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/local/Ashford-Students-Talk-With-ISS-Astronauts--498252061.html

Kate Craven link

10/24/2018 05:37:20 am

Thank you so much for sharing this- we will add NBC to our list of media contacts! It was a fun day for sure :)

neil / ne3j

3/8/2019 08:46:07 am

The best part of the article is to read how the students were really thrilled at being able to use Amateur Radio to talk to the International Space Station (ISS). I knew Hams (amateur radio operators) have been providing this type of communication-link between schools and the ISS for many years, but I never realized how enthusiastic the kids' response is.

It is interesting that for decades, almost all of the astronauts have been getting their Amateur Radio licenses especially so they can have the privilege of talking directly from space to schools kids. Yes, even astronauts have to get a license, or else they're not allowed to transmit on Ham Radio.

If you're not an astronaut, there are still hundreds of activities you can get involved with using your Ham license, which include providing communication-services at parades and marathons, and providing emergency communications during civil disasters such as hurricanes and floods when the phones aren't working. The most traditional Ham activity is building a shortwave transmitting station at home and bouncing your signal off the ionosphere so you can talk to other Hams around the world.

----

The article uses the wrong acronym and wrong name a few times -- National Association for Amateur Radio, AARL. The correct acronym is "ARRL," for the "Amateur Radio Relay League." They are the national organization of Ham radio operators. The headquarters is in Newington, CT, and it’s worth a visit and a tour.

The URL that you provide, arrl.org, is correct, and the ARRL can serve as an introduction to many activities under the Ham Radio umbrella. They also publish dozens of books on various aspects of operating radios and Radio Electronics. The ARRL website is a good source to see when and where Hamventions and Ham Flea Markets are being held, and where licensing examinations are going to take place.

Also, there a hundreds or thousands of other websites also dealing with many different aspects of Ham radio, from building radios, Ham radio retailers, what different types of antennas you may choose for your radio station, digital-communications -- where your computer and radio work together, DX-peditions -- where Hams travel to remote islands or other remote locations around the world for a few days so other Hams can make contacts with these locations that either never or only rarely become "active," and more websites online from individual hams showing off their stations, or their antennas, or discussing what else they’re up to.

If I might quibble, the article mentions the "giant antenna" the hams that visited Ashford put together to talk to the ISS. In fact, the antenna is about the size of a small TV antenna, and only weighed a pound or two. Do a search for "Ham Radio Antenna" to see how big Ham radio antennas can be. Personally, I've had success with a single piece of 50-foot wire stuck into the back of my radio for talking around the world, so you don't necessarily need a "giant antenna."

As for talking to radios-in-outer-space, I've seen photos of a guy holding a small directional antenna in one hand, a handie-talkie in the other hand, a short cable attaching the two, he pointed the little antenna at the sky, and talked through a Ham Radio satellite while standing in the middle of a parking lot. There is some advantage to using a big radio station including a computer to track satellites and control the directional-antenna's rotator, but being able to talk through satellites holding the whole station in your hand should be recognized. The handheld antenna weighed less than a pound, I think. It indicates that quite small antennas -- and low power -- are sufficient for talking to space, because there are no obstacles to attenuate the signals between you-on-the-ground and satellites up-in-the-sky.

To be clear, there are many Amateur Radio satellites that Hams use to relay their signals back to earth. We don't actually talk to anyone inside these satellites, they are just automated re-transmitting stations, about the size of a refrigerator, a couple of hundred miles high. But imagine you’re in a parking lot holding a handie-talkie and a hand-held antenna. By themselves, your range might be a mile or two. But by sending your signal up to a satellite which then re-transmits it to Earth, you’ll be able to be heard by anyone on the Earth that can "see" the satellite. A satellite’s footprint is often a couple of thousand miles in diameter, which is a major improvement over the two-mile range without the satellite.

The ISS is not an Amateur Radio satellite. It is a huge laboratory in space, and it is a gift that it is inhabited by Hams that can talk to school kids when they get a few free minutes, providing very special contacts.

Also, check out this webpage by the Eastern Connecticut Amateur Radio Association, the guys that organized your ISS contacts: http://www.ecara.net/?p=553 This webpage leads to a .pdf of their

neil

3/8/2019 08:30:41 pm

That's not a big Ham radio antenna.

THIS is a big Ham radio antenna:
https://dx-world.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/maxresdefault-5.jpg

-n-

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ISS, we have contact!

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