Sixteen youngsters attending the Discover Engineering Family Day event February 18 in Washington, DC, had the rare opportunity of talking to International Space Station Commander Bill McArthur, KC5ACR, via ham radio. Operating from the space station’s NA1SS a few days later, McArthur also answered a series of questions from pupils at Itaki Elementary School in Japan. The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) program arranged both events. During the Engineering Day contact, one participant wanted to know if the Expedition 12 crew had “learned anything really cool” during its science experiments.
“One of the biggest experiments is just the crew members on board, just the human beings on board, so we learn how our bodies change in space,” McArthur said, noting that ISS research centers on finding out what’s needed for a journey to Mars. On other fronts, he’s growing crystals in space, while crewmate Valeri Tokarev is growing seeds.
As for the really cool stuff: “I think the coolest thing I’ve learned is that living in space is a very pleasant, very nice thing to do,” McArthur added.
For the Discover Engineering Family Day contact, Verizon donated a two-way teleconferencing link between the Sacred Hearts Academy WH6PN Earth station operated by Dick Flagg, AH6NM, in Honolulu, and the National Building Museum in Washington. Children and questions for the contact were solicited via the museum’s Web site.
McArthur told the Engineering Day participants that it’s possible to get headaches in space, especially when the carbon dioxide level gets too high. Crew members sometimes sneeze, too, he said, and the result in microgravity can illustrate Newton’s Third Law.
“I think a good sneeze really feels good, and it feels really good in space!” McArthur enthused. “Of course, if you’re not holding yourself securely when you sneeze, y’know, just that kind of violent motion can send you spinning off in a strange direction.”
The contact got some publicity in the Washington Post and on local TV stations. Some 7000 people turned out for Discover Engineering Family Day, and an AMSAT team supported an ARISS booth during the event.
On February 20, youngsters at the Itaki Elementary School Fathers’ Club took part in a direct VHF contact between NA1SS and 8J4I in Japan. McArthur told them that he became an astronaut because he’s an aerospace engineer and a pilot, “and being an astronaut seemed to be the most interesting way of doing both things.” He said his current stint as commander of ISS Expedition 12 marked his fourth–and by far his longest–trip into space.
“To me, space represents the ultimate challenge for mankind, to show that we can grow and eventually leave our home planet,” McArthur told another young questioner.
Asked which star was the most beautiful, McArthur replied, “our sun.” But, he went on to say, he thinks all the stars in the sky are beautiful. “They are no bigger for us than they are for you,” he explained, “but we do not have clouds or dust in the air to look through, so they are very clear.”
At the 8J4I controls was Kei Fujimura, JJ4RJE. In all, 13 students participated in the event, and McArthur answered 19 of their questions before the ISS went over the horizon and signal was lost. The event attracted media coverage from TV and newspapers. An audience of about 100 people was on hand for the occasion.
McArthur has completed 29 ARISS school contacts during his five months in space – far more than any previous ISS crew member. ARISS http://www.rac.ca/ariss is an international educational outreach, with US participation by ARRL, AMSAT and NASA.