Island School Hawaii’s first in radio contact with space station Island School students were treated to an “out of world” experience yesterday, thanks to NASA and the Kaua’i Amateur Radio Club. With radio equipment and a satellite link, fifth to
Island School Hawaii’s first in radio contact with space station
Island School students were treated to an “out of world” experience yesterday, thanks to NASA and the Kaua’i Amateur Radio Club.
With radio equipment and a satellite link, fifth to eighth-grade students spoke from a classroom with Cmdr. Frank Culbertson aboard the international space station as its orbit took it over Hawai’i shortly after 10 a.m.
The exchange, which lasted about 10 minutes, involved questions and answers about space, Culbertson’s life aboard the craft with two Russian cosmonauts, his training and life in space.
The talks helped deepen the students understanding of space and an astronaut’s life, school officials said.
“This is absolutely fantastic,” said Kathy Richardson, a member of the private school’s board. “For a little island, for a little school, this is really something. We are so proud.”
The exchange marked the first participation by students at a Hawai’i school in the American Radio in International Space Station communication project.
Three other schools in the U.S., one in Canada and one in Belgium are the only other participants in the project thus far.
Island School applied to the program three years ago and recentlywas selected by NASA, a co-sponsor of the program with the American Radio Relay League and the American Satellite Corp., said Joe Speroni, an amateur radio operator and coordinator of the project locally.
An earlier program used radio equipment aboard NASA’s space shuttle, a Russian space station and the international space station to allow exchanges between students and astronauts. More than 200 schools participated in that program.
Culbertson told the Island School students that his most exciting experience in space “was seeing the Earth from 400 kilometers” up.
He said he hasn’t seen any exploding stars, but anticipates a shower of meteors soon.
Culbertson said the most difficult part of his job was “being away from family so long,” adding he keeps in touch by e-mail and phone.
Life aboard the space station has meant adjusting to working and living with the Russians, he said.
The space station has been orbiting for the past year as part of a joint scientific project of the United States and Russia.
Culbertson said he has been interested in flying since he was young and never gave up on his dream of becoming an astronaut. He said he applied to NASA twice and waited six years before his first mission.
“I never let anyone tell me I couldn’t do it,” said Culbertson, who urged students to follow their dreams.
Students also asked about the colors of the Milky Way, flight control of the space station, the astronaut’s sleeping patterns, the face of the moon, whether stars are brighter in space, and the pace of aging in space.
At the end of the questions, the students almost shouted in unison, “Mahalo and aloha from Hawai’i.”
Afterward, Calah Nakasone, an eighth-grader, said the radio exchange was an “out of the world” experience.
Josh Greer, another eighth-grader, and Krista Speroni, who wore a NASA uniform she got while at a NASA space camp in Mountain View, Calif. with her father, Joe, last year, expressed surprised at Culbertson’s precise answers even though he was in space.
The other students were Erik Talvi, Alan Hoffman, Beatrice Wu, Nalani Haviland, Justin Vea, Maddisen Domingo, Lindsay Hinds, Blaise LaMadrid-Nakamura, Lacy Janus, Kalani Schredder, Rachel Island and Ryan Bender.
The students had prepared for the event by participating in weekly simulations assisted by the radio club, said sixth-grade science teacher Michelle McGregor.
McGregor, Stephanie Snell, an assistant science teacher, and science teacher Kathy Jones reviewed questions which had been developed by students and e-mailed to Culbertson before the exchange took place.
Parents and school officials praised the radio club members for their work, which included installation and fine-tuning of equipment and a tracking antenna on a school roof.
Staff writer Lester Chang can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) and mailto:lchang@pulitzer.net
