Subj : Amateur Radio Newsline (B)
To : All
From : Daryl Stout
Date : Fri Jun 09 2017 09:24 am
SPACE STATION ASTRONAUT IS TEACHER'S HELPER
STEPHEN/ANCHOR: How do you make magic happen in a classroom? That's
easy - you get on ham radio, and let kids talk to astronauts. Amateur
Radio Newsline's Paul Braun, WD9GCO, tells us how it happened recently
in one New York school.
PAUL: Two of my favorite things growing up (and actually, still are
well into adulthood) were ham radio, and the Space Program. The men
and women of the Astronaut Corps have always been heroes to me.
Since the very first OSCAR was launched early 1960s, ham radio and
space have been becoming more and more intertwined. There's also
moonbounce, meteor scatter, and since the beginning of the Shuttle
program, there have been hams flying into space, and talking back to
hams on Earth. In recent years, NASA has been very open to allowing
school children access to the astronauts on the International Space
Station through amateur radio.
I recently spoke with Jennifer Medordi, W2WIN, who was involved in
just such a project:
JENNIFER: I'm a teacher at St. Joseph School in Ronkonkoma, New York,
and I've been a ham radio operator for a few years, but I grew up in
a house that was ham-radio-centered. My father, WS2N is a ham radio
enthusiast and a space enthusiast, so he told me about the ARISS
organization, which is dedicated to helping organizations, such as
my own contact the International Space Station, so when I found out
about that, I was super excited!
I submitted a proposal, and we were one of twelve schools chosen this
cycle. We spent the entire year doing space activities with the kids.
We figured out pretty quickly that it was going to have to be embedded
in the curriculum for these kids to get an idea of space and ham radio,
which is something they're not really exposed to on a daily basis.
PAUL: Medordi said that they taught the kids about the history of the
Space Program throughout the year, and then she and her husband Vincent,
KC2WMR, set up a portable station at the school, and had a ham radio
day. She said they also had help getting ready for QSO Day:
JENNIFER: We had a mentor involved who helped us through the whole
process leading up to this. His name was Dave Jordan, AA4KN, and on
the phone with us - it was a telebridge - we had W6SRJ in California.
They help schools reach the ISS if the school can't set up a direct
contact. We didn't really have the ability to do that, so we were
happy to work with California with that.
And then in England, we had Ciaran Morgan, M0XTD. He helped us prepare
the call, so he was basically making sure everybody was ready, and
there was myself on the call.
We waited, and finally they said they were ready to go. There were five
CQs calling the NA1SS, and finally, when Jack Fisher answered, it was
clear, it was beautiful, and I could just see the audience wanting to
break out into applause, they were so excited!
PAUL: Medordi, the technical director at St. Joseph, made sure that as
many people as possible could see the event:
JENNIFER: I think we had about 300 people - we went to capacity in our
gym. I telecasted it over UStream, so we had a bunch of other schools
watching at the same time, and we also had people outside of our state -
I think I counted 600 people watching live with us, as we were inside of
the gym.
PAUL: The children got to ask 20 questions in their allotted time and,
according to Medordi, were thrilled by the experience. A few of the
older kids even expressed an interest in getting a license.
If you'd like to read a transcript of the QSO, visit the school's
website. The ARISS program is a wonderful opportunity for school
children, one that I really wish I had when I was young.
For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Paul Braun, WD9GCO.
**
BACK ON EARTH, THE PRIDE OF FRANCE
STEPHEN/ANCHOR: For the past six months, the International Space Station
was home to France's 10th astronaut. Now that he's home again, two radio
amateurs are celebrating the achievements of their fellow ham, with a
special event station. Here are the details from Amateur Radio Newsline's
Caryn Eve Murray, KD2GUT.
CARYN'S REPORT: French astronaut Thomas Pesquet, KG5FYG, has helped turn
two French amateurs into Space Station enthusiasts. Thomas ended his
six-month mission, and returned to Earth, on Friday, June 2. Now he's
orbiting earth via another means - a special event station set up by
Adrien, F4GVE, and Nicolas, F4HTN. The two hams are celebrating the
achievement of the 39-year-old pilot, who has become became France's
10th astronaut in space. Every weekend through July 19th, the two are
operating special event station TM1ISS in his honor. They're making
contacts on single sideband, digital modes, and a little CW. Adrien says
the station was born out of pride in France, but also in appreciation
for Thomas, for kindling the imagination of young people through his
experiments, his school contacts, and his talented use of videos and
social media:
ADRIEN: "This is kind of the new generation of astronaut...." to "
........ARISS."
CARYN: If propagation is cooperative, the French hams are also hoping
to make lots of contacts during Field Day. So be listening on HF and
VHF in SSB, CW, RTTY and BPSK. You can find the operating schedule for
TM1ISS on QRZ.com. Now that this astronaut has his feet planted back
on Earth, is it possible we'll hear Thomas Pesquet work the very
station that commemorates his flight? Adrien shares his thoughts on
that prospect.
ADRIEN: That would be super......why not? Let's hope.
For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Caryn Eve Murray, KD2GUT.
**
BREAK HERE:
Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur Radio
Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world, including
the W8SRC Southern Michigan Repeater Network, on Fridays at 9 p.m.
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