Students Use Ham Radio to Talk to Astronaut
The elementary school students’ questions to astronaut Susan Still, circling Earth in the space shuttle Columbia, went something like this: “What happens to oil and vinegar salad dressing when you mix it in space?” and “Do you feel closer to heaven?”
The fifth-grade students from El Segundo’s Center Street School had been waiting for this moment for months. So when they made contact via ham radio with the space shuttle early Friday, “the tension in the room was audible,” said teacher Betty Sleeth.
The students gathered at El Segundo High School where an antenna was set up for a linkup with Columbia on April 7. But that linkup did not materialize because the shuttle’s mission was cut short by a fuel cell malfunction.
Ten students who have been studying the universe beyond the solar system fired off 23 questions during their six- to eight-minute linkup that started at 7:26 a.m.
The student-to-shuttle contact is part of the Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment that helps amateur radio enthusiasts talk with the shuttle crews, which include amateur radio operators.
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