Tulsa Students Talk Directly to Space Station Astronauts

Tulsa, OK – Local residents are invited to watch ten students in third
through twelfth grade talk directly to American Commander Leroy Chiao
KE5BRW and Russian Flight Engineer Salizhan Sharipov. Both are in space
aboard the International Space Station, 250 miles above the earth and
circling every 90 minutes.

On Wednesday, December 22 from 9:12 – 9:22 AM CDT, students from Tulsa,
Broken Arrow and Austin, Texas talked directly to these astronauts via
amateur radio from the Tulsa Air and Space Museum. The students who were
selected to ask questions attended the Tulsa Air and Space Museum’s summer
aerospace camps.

With the help of Amateur Radio Clubs and ham radio operators, these youth
joined students from nineteen other countries in 156 completed space
link-ups to ask questions of the Expedition 10 astronauts for a first hand
learning experience involving science and technology. The goal was to
stimulate their imaginations as to the possibilities of space exploration
and scientific discovery.

The radio link is sponsored by an international program known as ARISS,
Amateur Radio on the International Space Station. As one might imagine
there are many partners who make it possible to link a child in Tulsa to
an astronaut in space, the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), the Radio
Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT), and the National Aeronautics and
Space Administration (NASA) take care of the space to earth transmissions.

For the local connection, the Tulsa Air and Space Museum worked in
cooperation with members of the Tulsa Repeater Organization (TRO), and
AMSAT to arrange this contact between students at the museum and the Space
Station via amateur radio. Bill Griffin N5IX with TRO of Tulsa and Keith
Pugh W5IU with AMSAT of Fort Worth, TX of is responsible for the actual
installation of the required equipment at the Museum.
Kim Jones, the Museum Curator, and Mark Conklin N7XYO, TRO President and
ARRL-Oklahoma Public Information Coordinator, helped launch this project a
reality for over two and a half years.

Since many teachers will be out on break for the holiday, Katheryn
Pennington, TASM Executive Director, says she hopes to see some extra
visitors at the radio link.

According to Pennington, “Statistics prove learning and retaining
knowledge improves for children when they are personally involved. The
questions the children ask and the answers they receive not only have the
ability to broaden their horizons but also impact those who observe the
link. With this knowledge, teachers and parents can further assist
children in their understanding of the relationship of life on
earth and how it relates to life in space, expanding this experience by
relating it to science, geography, history, and physics.”

Participating students include: Lawrence Ross, William Bloomfield, Chelsie
Downie, Chase Karnstadt, Ryan Darrow, Kyler Swearingen, Lauren Olten,
Wyatt Bonicelli, and Robert Nolan.

The Tulsa Air and Space Museum is a nonprofit 501(c)(3)organization. Visit
the website at www.TulsaAirAndSpaceMuseum.com .

For more info about Tulsa Amateur Radio see www.TulsaHamRadio.org

Students will ask as many of the following questions as time allows:

• Do the G-forces from leaving the earth’s atmosphere cause you to have little red spots on your face that we kids call G-measles?
• How much of the International Space Station is complete and what is the expected life?
• What does one day in the space station look like?
• Is it hot or cold up there?
• What do you think the benefits are of civilian space travel?
• Do you foresee civilians ever visiting the ISS?
• Has any space junk or meteor pieces ever hit the space station?
• Are there shadows in space?
• How is the physical training different at NASA than from the military?
• What would your advice be for an aspiring astronaut?
• Can you see storms that happen on earth?
• Do you have to use parachutes to slow down after going through the earth’s atmosphere to land?
• What is the physical impact of a zero gravity environment on you over a long period of time and how do you deal with this when you return to Earth?
• What is the scariest or most dangerous thing that you do?
• What happens to a human body if it were put into space as a burial choice?
• Is it worth all of the time, effort, etc. to become an astronaut?
• What is it like working with someone from another country for a long time?