It started with a simple question: ?What does space look like??
Alec, a second grader at Southern Tier Catholic School and Archbishop Walsh Academy in Olean, NY, stepped to the microphone at the Dresser-Rand Challenger Learning Center and through an amateur radio ground station connection located in northern Italy, directed his inquiry 250 miles above the earth and into space.
At the other end of the transmission: International Space Station Expedition 33 Commander Sunita Williams, flying at 17,500 miles per hour in low Earth orbit.
With an audience of more than 100 of Alec?s classmates watching in quiet anticipation, Commander Williams responded:
?You know, from this view, we have 16 sunrises and sunsets a day. So, at night, particularly, we can look really dark and deep into space. And you know what?s cool is, it also looks 3D. You can see that the universe goes on and on. It?s pretty amazing.?
Using amateur radio, students from around the world can ask astronauts questions about life in space and other space-related topics. Students fully engage in the ARISS contact by helping set up an amateur radio ground station telebridge to speak with the onboard crew member for approximately 10 minutes, the time of an International Space Station overhead pass.
The goals of the ARISS program include: inspiring an interest in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) subjects and in STEM careers among young people; providing an educational opportunity for students, teachers and the general public to learn about space exploration, space technologies and satellite communications; providing an educational opportunity for students, teachers and the general public to learn about wireless technology and radio science through amateur radio; and providing an opportunity for amateur radio experimentation and evaluation of new technologies.
Students at STCS/Walsh prepared for the ARISS contact with space station history and mission control as the emphasis of the school?s newsletters, hallway bulletins, and daily announcements. Also, teachers across varying content areas incorporated lessons regarding space, astronomy, NASA, and the ISS into their subject curriculum. ARISS and Teaching From Space, a NASA education office, encourages participating schools to lay such groundwork as part of its goal to instill interest in STEM education subjects and careers among students.
Alec was one of ten students chosen to ask questions to Commander Williams.
STCS/Walsh middle school science teacher Katie Bange explained the process:
?Each student from second grade through twelfth grade was asked to come up with a question they would ask an astronaut,? she said. ?From there the questions were reviewed and the top 20 were chosen. The students who came up with the top ten questions were given the opportunity to ask their question and another classmate's question to Commander Williams.?
Challenger Learning Center director Tom Moser, who, along with staff members, directed a variety of STEM-related activities for the students in addition to the ARISS contact, was excited about the opportunity to host the event and was pleased with the outcome.
?We were very happy to welcome STCS/Walsh to our facility and serve as the amateur radio ground station telebridge for this unique event,? he said. ?It was a great opportunity to promote STEM education and to show the region the diversity of our center and the variety of activities that can be experienced here.?
Check out the photo gallery from the day's activities.
The Dresser-Rand Challenger Learning Center, a not-for-profit space-themed learning facility located in Allegany, NY, features programs designed to stimulate interest in STEM education through a series of hands-on experiences and simulations that are tied to classroom learning and team building.
The Center offers two simulated missions?a Voyage to Mars and Rendezvous with Comet Halley?plus a team-building activity called the Great Rocket Design Challenge. Since opening in June 2009, more than 6,500 students from 17 counties in New York and Pennsylvania have participated in these educational programs.
The center is also available for special events like the ARISS contact.
?The day was a great success,? Bange added. ?I was worried with the threat of Hurricane Sandy that we would have to postpone the ARISS contact, but it was meant to be and everything ran smoothly.?
Here are the remainder of the questions from STCS/Walsh students and the answers from Commander Williams:
Suni Williams: Thank you for your support in Italy and welcome to the folks in New York to the International Space Station.
Alec (2nd grade): Do you have a time limit for being in space?
Suni Williams: The increments here are about six months. We?re getting ready to have a person stay up for a year so we?ll learn a whole lot more about that. But six months is generally based on a lifeboat which brings us up and can take us home. That was about a six month per year life. But we could stay up for a long time. The only thing we have to worry about is radiation. There?s a lot of radiation up here.
Gievanni (3rd grade): Where do you put your garbage?
Suni Williams: That?s a good question. We do have garbage, of course. We recycle water and urine?we have that inside but we still do have paper garbage and garbage from our food. So, that actually goes into a container and then we put them in a spacecraft?a European spacecraft or a Japanese spacecraft that will burn up on the way back into the atmosphere and get rid of all our garbage.
Is it hard to sleep in space?
Suni Williams: At first it is, but you get used to it. We sleep in a sleeping bag in our sleep station which is a little room like a closet. But you can sleep upside down, you can sleep sideways, so it doesn?t feel like it?s so cramped because you can take advantage of the ceiling space. You?re looking for a pillow because that?s what we have on the ground usually and you?re looking to lay down on something but there?s nothing really to lay down and there?s no pillow. You have to sort of simulate that. I push against the wall and my feet against one other wall and that makes it feel like I?m leaning against something. It makes it easier.
Ryan (4th grade): What powers a moon rover?
Suni Williams: I?m not sure what powered the Moon rover when we were on the Moon but it probably was solar and also batteries. That?s what the rover on Mars uses.
What do you do for fun on the ISS?
Suni Williams: We have our usual work week where we have part of the weekend off. Part of Saturday we spend cleaning the space station which is actually pretty fun because you can do it upside down and sideways. Other parts of the weekend we can spend some time talking to our families on a phone when it works or even having a video conference with our families. One of the things we all love to do is look out the window and look back at our planet and then look out into space. So, we have some time. And also we do have a little bit of internet up here. It?s a little slow but we do have some internet and email.
Jai (5th grade): If there is any kind of life form on Mars, would you want to discover it yourself?
Suni Williams: I would love to. You know, I think I would probably be a little bit scared but I think we would?ve done some research and had some idea of what was there. And hopefully there is evidence?there is evidence that water was there at some point in time so hopefully there is something there that we can find.
What is the strangest thing you have seen in space?
Suni Williams: I think the strangest but pretty much one of the coolest things is the Aurora. Up in the northern hemisphere just recently there was some sun activity which made the Aurora very bright and so we could see the green energy going into the Earth and that was pretty amazing. That was probably the strangest thing.
Ben (6th grade): What are your thoughts about dark matter?
Suni Williams: You know, Ben, that question is a little bit, probably over my head. I?ve done some studying on astronomy and we do look out into the universe like I was mentioning to Alec. It does look 3D. There are places out there that we can see that are dark and then others. The black is definitely not just a solid black. There are definitely shades of black. There is a lot of energy out there. But I don?t really have more thoughts except for there?s a lot more that we need to discover.
What is the hardest part of being in space?
Suni Williams: I?m hard pressed to figure out the hardest part. There are a lot of things we do that are a little bit physically taxing. We?re getting ready to do a spacewalk this week. That?s a little bit hard. We?re getting a Russian spacecraft here tomorrow so sometimes we have to stay up late or get up early for that. Science experiments?you want to make sure you do them right so you spend a lot of time reading over procedures and looking at the observations for the science experiment to make sure you get it right. But I think the hardest part is working yourself and trying to figure out how to do the best job that you can.
Alden (7th grade): What type of exercise equipment do you have in space?
Suni Williams: As a matter of fact, I just got off the treadmill, which you are held down to with bungees. And that provides a load so you can run and put some stress on your hips and your ankles. We also have a bike so we can work on our cardiovascular fitness. And a weightlifting machine which uses pushing against vacuums to be able to create a simulated weight.
What is it like to be floating above the Earth?
Suni Williams: It?s pretty spectacular. It feels like when you?re in an airplane and you?re flying over the Earth. Sometimes it feels like you?re not going that fast but you are going fast?you?re going 500 miles per hour. Here, we?re going 17,500 miles per hour. So, when you?re out just floating, like during a spacewalk, it doesn?t feel like you?re going anywhere, but when you look down and see how much Earth you cover?like I said, we orbit the Earth every 90 minutes?you realize how fast you?re going and it?s just amazing.
Kailey (8th grade): What sacrifices did you have to make to become an astronaut?
Suni Williams: Interesting question. I have never thought of it as sacrifices. There is just some time that you do spend away from your family. Here on the International Space Station we do a lot of training in other countries so you end up being away from home probably a year out of a two-and-a-half year training program. And then, of course, you?re up in space for about six months. So, I think just missing your family and friends and the routine of being back home.
What was your first reaction when you entered space?
Suni Williams: Well, we came up here on a Soyuz spacecraft and you know you?ve reached space when you have a gravity indicator?we had a little doll that started to float, then your arms start to float and you take your gloves off, they start to float. I just started laughing because the feeling is really awesome to float. It?s sort of like being a fish or sort of like being a bird or halfway between. You?re free. You feel like you have a lot of freedom.
Madison (9th grade): What happens if you get sick in space?
Suni Williams: Great question. You know, we don?t always have a doctor up here but we do have a lot of medical equipment and medicines. And we do all get some training in case something happens really bad we?d be able to take care of somebody like, for example, electrical shock. But, we have doctors on the ground at Mission Control and they can help us administer whatever types of care a person might need by telecommunications.
What is your favorite part about being in space?
Suni Williams: I think what I like about being in space the most is probably looking out the window and seeing things in a different way. Like I said, looking at the universe on Earth, you have the atmosphere between you and it. And it looks sort of flat, like 2D. Up here, there is no atmosphere so everything is crystal clear when you look out the window. And when you look into space, you can actually really see that it is three-dimensional?parts of it go on and on and I think that?s pretty amazing. It makes you look at things differently.
Nick (10th grade): What do you think about so much of the space program being shifted to the private sector?
Suni Williams: Interesting question. You know, we?ve been in low Earth orbit for a long time and now we?re?it?s obvious we can do this and other companies can do it, too. And I think that?s great because that will make things better if there?s a little bit more competition and that will allow NASA to focus on going farther into space and building rockets and spacecrafts that can take us farther than low Earth orbit and discover stuff and explore like our charter is.
Shellie (11th grade): How do you celebrate holidays on the ISS?
Suni Williams: That?s funny considering tomorrow is Halloween. We don?t really have a lot of costumes up here but I do have some candy and I think we?ll acknowledge the holidays one way or another. For Christmas, I was up here on my first flight for Christmas and we had, of course, the day off and I had brought up some gifts for all my crewmates so it depends on the different type of holiday. For Thanksgiving, I?m sure the next crew that will be here will make a big dinner. We have turkey and cranberry dressing and stuffing and stuff like that so it?s the way you want to make it.
Over and out.
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