PHOTO:
attached
Editors,
for additional information please contact:
Alex
Mendelsohn
-or -
Tom
Moyer
Students to
Contact the International
Space Station
Students
at Kennebunk’s Sea Road elementary school are getting
ready to talk directly
with astronauts aboard the orbiting International Space
Station (ISS). The Sea
Road School serves over 300 third, fourth, and fifth-grade
students.
For
its
part, the New
England Radio Discussion
Society, a Maine radio club comprised of
Federally-licensed Radio Amateurs,
known as ham radio operators, is assisting in planning the
event.
Ham
radio is a popular public service hobby that brings
people, electronics, and
communication together. People use ham radio to talk
across town, around the
world, and into space, all without the Internet or cell
phones. It's fun,
social, educational, and can be a lifeline during times of
need.
The
idea
of a contact was proposed to school principal Cory Steere
in the summer of
2018. Subsequently, Ann Stockbridge, a STEM Technician at
the school, submitted
a formal proposal to the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration.
Notably, many schools around the country submitted
proposals, but only a few
were approved by NASA.
NASA
indicates the direct radio contact will take place in
January of 2021. Plans
are now underway to establish a reliable connection
between student microphones
and Web cameras and the ham radio link to the orbiting
space station. Many of
the astronauts are licensed Radio Amateurs.
MORE:
Information about Amateur Radio can be found on the Web
here:
?eof
Larry Macionski
