July 31, 2009
ASTRONAUT FRANK DE
WINNE ON BOARD ISS EVALUATES AMATEUR RADIO
Thursday, 23 July 2009
at 19:35 UTC, i.e. 21:35 local time, “Ugo Guidi” School, Forte dei Marmi,
Italy, established a direct contact with ESA astronaut Frank De Winne on board
the International Space Station. The Amateur Radio school station operated the
contact with callsign IQ5VR
One student asked a
question about Amateur Radio and the astronaut's answer was most interesting.
Question:
"How important is
the Amateur Radio station on board the ISS? Over"
Answer:
"Amateur Radio is
important for us on the ISS, because it provides an important means of
psychological support. It's always nice to talk to people on earth, especially
to schoolchildren like you, and to answer questions about the life here in
space. So we like Amateur Radio contact very much".
An mp3 recording of
this Q/A is attached to this ARISS-Europe News Bulletin, archived at
www.ariss-eu.org/archive.htm
Frank De Winne has an
Amateur Radio licence with call sign ON1DWN. He operated from space during the
Odissea Mission in 2002.
Since the start of the
OasISS Mission, May 2009, Frank has already done 10 school contacts. Several
more are on the waiting list.
ARISS is an
international educational outreach program partnering the participating space
agencies, NASA, Russian Space Agency, ESA, JAXA, and CSA, with the AMSAT and
IARU organizations from participating countries.
ARISS offers an opportunity for students
to experience the excitement of Amateur Radio by talking directly with
crewmembers onboard the International Space Station. Teachers, parents and
communities see, first hand, how Amateur Radio and crewmembers on ISS can
energize youngsters' interest in science, technology and learning.
73
Gaston Bertels, ON4WF
ARISS Chairman