Winter 2003 Issue

How Kids Can Talk to
“Space People”

How do school children talk to the astronauts in space? Thanks to a lot of volunteers, it’s relatively simple, as K5YFL explains in this practical,
down-to-earth article on talking to “space people” aboard the International Space Station.

By Gene Chapline,* K5YFL

HS1RMS testing the equipment used for an ARISS attempt during the World Scout Jamboree in January 2002.
 

Who are the “space people”? We humans of planet Earth. We haven’t always been space people. In fact, only recently in our long history on Earth have we become them. When the International Space Station (ISS) became permanently occupied in October 2000, we became a species that probably will always have some of its members away from the home planet. That fact, its implications and consequences, must now be part of our children’s school curriculum, because we are no longer just sending our youth out into the world, but rather into the universe. We are even planning for some of them to become future members of the away team—that is, the team away from planet Earth.

How do we prepare our youth for this future? Presently there exists an exciting way to interest our children in their future in the universe. By having students in classrooms around the world talk directly to crewmembers on board ISS via amateur radio, we are opening the window to space.
This is being done four to six times a month, and there is no lack of attention from students. Immediately after one such contact, an elementary school principal in Texas beamed! Fighting a lump in her throat, she said, “I think maybe we started some dreams this morning!” When students at a school in Mississippi completed a contact, their teacher exclaimed, “These students are going to have a very slow time landing back on planet Earth, and the parents are still on cloud nine.” It’s no secret that kids eagerly jump into learning everything about what excites them. As NASA’s Director Sean O’Keefe, the father of three, said in March 2002, “ . . . if it excites kids, that’s what is going to get to the kids.”

The radio contacts are being made through a program called Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS). ARISS is an international project with U.S. participation by NASA, the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), and the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT-NA), a non-profit corporation. In 1996 NASA wanted a single focus for the development and operation of amateur radio on the International Space Station, and ARISS was the solution. In 1997 amateur radio organizations from eight of the 16 nations that participated in the space station program signed a memorandum of understanding, chartering ARISS. To prepare for the occupation of the ISS in the fall of 2000, the international partners then divided chores and duties. The first ARISS radio contact with a school occurred in late November 2000. Since then, ARISS contacts have been made with other schools, museums, and special events, such as the 2001 National Boy Scout Jamboree.

How does your group of kids get in line to talk to the space people? This article tells you how to put together a successful ARISS contact, taking you through a four-step process: application, preparation, the contact, and the morning after.
 

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