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ZS6FB > SAT 12.01.03 10:10l 72 Lines 2952 Bytes #999 (0) @ AMSAT
BID : ANS-012.11
Read: DB0FHN GUEST
Subj: French ARISS Contact a Success
Path: DB0FHN<DB0RGB<OK0PPL<OK0PHL<OK0POV<OK0PAB<OK0PBR<UA6ADV<ZS6FB
Sent: 030112/0724Z @:ZS6FB.MPU.ZAF.AF #:53474 PACTOR-2: XFBB7.04 $:ANS-012.11
From: ZS6FB@ZS6FB.MPU.ZAF.AF
To : SAT@AMSAT
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 012.11 From AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD. JANUARY 12, 2002
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-012.11
Students at the Immaculate Conception Elementary School in Brest, France,
spoke January 8 via Amateur Radio with US astronaut Don Pettit, KD5MDT. A
member of the Expedition 6 crew, Pettit is the chief science officer on
board the International Space Station. The contact was arranged by the
Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) program.
Some 30 schoolchildren, their teachers and parents gathered in the room
where the local Amateur Radio club had set up the satellite station.
After being called by Louis, F6CGJ, operating club station F6KPF, Pettit-=
-
at the controls of NA1SS--came back loud and clear and right on time.
Season's greetings were exchanged, and Pettit then began answering
questions, which included one asking if the crew celebrated Christmas in
space. Other youngsters wanted to know about how the ISS was supplied wit=
h
food and where their drinking water came from. Pettit and his fellow crew
members commander Ken Bowersox, KD5JBP, and Nikolai Budarin, RV3FB, will
remain in space until March.
"The signal was strong, and Don's voice sounded as if he was addressing t=
he
audience from the floor," said ARISS Vice Chairman Gaston Bertels, ON4WF.
By the end of the pass, 18 questions had been asked and answered. Those o=
n
hand for the early-morning contact included Brest Mayor Fran=C1ois
Cuillandre. The event was covered by two TV stations, a radio station and
two newspapers.
Bertels reports that the 10 and 11-year-old pupils--students of Anne Jaou=
en-
-have been studying radio telecommunications throughout the school year
with support from the Brest Amateur Radio Club. "Financed by Brest City
Hall's Cultural Department, this activity concentrates on technology and =
on
the history of radio communications from the beginning of the 20th centur=
y
to the present days, from radio tubes to transistors," Bertels
explained. "Hands-on experience consisted of building a crystal radio set=
,
and the children also have communicated from their classroom with French
Amateur Radio stations."
The youngsters also were actively involved in preparing the questionnaire
for the ARISS contact. "They studied some basics of astronomy, made model=
s
of the solar system, showing lunar phases, the sky, the sun and the earth=
,"
Bertels explained. "They also saw pictures taken on board the ISS and
transmitted on television."
In addition to the scientific side of space study, the children wrote poe=
ms
on the theme and illustrated these with paintings representing the
adventure of space exploration and the planets, Bertels said. These now
decorate the walls of the school.
A round of applause from the youngsters and the audience concluded
the "perfect space talk," Bertels said.
[ANS thanks ARRL for the above information.]
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