Below are news articles found on the Internet. Sources provided.
*Please note, dates displayed along the right hand side are dates that we have posted the articles on this site, not dates that the articles appeared online. We have dated each article as we have posted it when you click to read you will see 'Dated' on the top line, these are the article dates. We have tried to keep them in order as best we can, with newer at the top and oldest at the bottom*
| Back to News List |
Space Contacts Compete with Rock Band |
| Posted by Administrator (admin) on Jan 11 2007 at 8:39 AM |
Dated 11th Jan 2007 - Source
NEWINGTON, CT, Jan 10, 2007 -- Scouts at Australian Jamboree 2007 (AJ2007) applied their ingenuity January 7 when an on-site rock concert threatened to drown out a scheduled Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact with the campers. They responded by piling bales of hay to create an insulating bunker around the building where the contact with ISS Expedition 14 Flight Engineer Suni Williams, KD5PLB, took place. As a result, the 20 scouts who won a "What would you ask an Astronaut?" competition were able to ask Williams their questions in comparative quiet. One Scout asked Williams to comment on the possibility of life elsewhere in our solar system.
"I would think with all the stars . . . all the billions of stars out there that there's got to be life somewhere out there," Williams replied from NA1SS. "So I think we'll be able to find evidence of life at some point in time." She told another Scout that the ISS crew hadn't seen any aliens in space, adding, "but maybe we will. I'll be up here for another six months."
The contact marked Williams debut in handling an ARISS educational contact from NA1SS. Williams noted that she had been in Girl Scouts herself.
Responding to another question, Williams said it takes more than a month for ISS crew members to accommodate fully to Earth's gravity after spending an extended time in the microgravity environment of space.
"We go through about a 45-day rehabilitation program when we get back, and you're pretty much back to normal after about a six-month stay," she said. "However, really being able to work out -- like being able to run the way you did before you left -- is probably going to be about a one day-for-one day time, so probably about six months."
Philip Adams, VK3JNI, organized the event, which attracted a crowd of about 200 onlookers inside and outside AJ2007's VI3JAM ham radio shack, while another 150 inside a tent watched the proceedings on a large video screen. An on-site FM radio station broadcast the event for the other 13,000 Scouts at the Jamboree.
Earth station for the AJ2007 contact was Bill Lynd, VK4KHZ. A Verizon Conferencing teleconference link provided two-way audio between the Jamboree site in Elmore and VK4KHZ. ARISS-Australia Coordinator Tony Hutchison, VK5ZAI, the Wireless Institute of Australia and Amateur Radio Victoria assisted.
"Thank you so much for inviting me," Williams said as the ISS went out of range. "It was great to talk to all you guys, and I hope you have a wonderful Jamboree." AJ2007 is celebrating the 100th anniversary of Scouting. It concludes January 13.
Note: There is also a media file available of this space contact. Visit the Source page and follow the link to the clip.
Picture 1: Ingenious scouts pile hay bales to dampen the sound from a nearby rock concert at AJ2007. [WIA Photo]
Picture 2: A scout asks his question of astronaut Suni Williams, KD5PLB. [WIA Photo]
Picture 3: Exultant AJ2007 contact participants cheer the contact's success. [WIA Photo]
Back to News List