Talking With the ISS Astronauts

Subject: PARP 2010: Journey into Space

Assigned Astronaut: TJ Creamer
TALKING WITH THE ASTRONAUTS on the International Space Station
W2EEO at Riley Avenue School in Calverton, New York, USA
THE CALL WAS MADE TO NA1SS at approximately--
12:41:52 PM, Tuesday, February 2, 2010, from Riley Avenue School.

Also See: News Review: ARISS Article / RiverheadLocal.com Video

Click on Picture for Slideshow

The students at the Riley Avenue Elementary School prepared for their contact with the International Space Station for weeks before the actual event. Science units on space and the solar system peaked interest and informed these young students.

The school wide literary program, “Parents as Reading Partners”, that occurred a week before the event, used the theme PARP 2010: Journey into Space to keep interest high. Throughout the week, parents and guest readers from the community read space stories to the children during a Family Reading Night and a Guest Readers Day. Art classes made rockets, robots, stars, little astronauts, and more. The music program included special space songs for the youngest grades. Every child in every school in the Riverhead School District was able to hear the contact live, via VOIP. After the contact, there was a school dance to celebrate the 10 students lucky enough to speak live to the astronauts.

Jesse Greenberg, a fourth grader, and newly licensed ham, W2EEO, was the control operator, while the members of the Peconic Amateur Radio Club provided the radios, expertise and time for this once in a life time event.

Ten students at the Riley Avenue Elementary School had the opportunity to ask questions “live” via ham radio to the astronauts aboard the International Space Station. The students dressed in their official space talk t-shirts gathered in front of special artwork consisting of a three dimensional rocket, puffy gold stars, and a panorama of space. Little space cadets with the picture of a student peering out of the helmet floated on walls and windows. Given the nature of space flight (the space station circumnavigates the earth at 17,000 miles per hour), the contact was only approximately 10 minutes in length.

Click on Picture for Slideshow

Members of the Peconic Amateur Radio Club provided the equipment, expertise and guidance for this event. The youngest ham radio operator in the club, Riley Avenue fourth grader Jessie Greenberg, was the control operator during the contact. The contact with the astronauts was initiated by Jessie using his call letters, W2EEO. Jessie’s father, Bob Greenberg, and Roberta Keis helped coordinate both of the talks conducted within the District. A previous contact was made at Aquebogue in 2006. (Pictured above: Frank Fallon, Hudson Division Director ARRL, Ray Pawlawski, Evan Schorer, Mike Liscenco, NLI director, Jesse Greenberg, Martin Greenberg, Robert Greenberg, Peter McGreevy, Roberta Keis, Eric Kehl, Don Fisher, and Don Rollock.)

Students were able to ask 19 of the following questions:

1. How does it feel when you come back to Earth’s gravity, how long

does it take to get used to walking on the earth?

2. What do you do for fun in space?

3. Can you wash your clothes in space or do you ever have to?

4. If you are in a wheel chair, can you go into space?

5. What is the coolest experiment you ever did?

6. Is making fire possible in space?

7. If the power went out, do you have a back up system?

8. How do you get the pieces of the space station off the shuttle
and on to the space station?

9. As we approach the end of the shuttle era, access to the station
will be drastically limited. What do you feel our country needs to do to assure the access to space?

10. What efforts are taken by the space program to limit emissions and

do you recycle the products that you use?

11. What’s the best, worst and funniest that happened to you in space?

12. Is it hard to get dressed in space & how long does it take?

13. Is there static in space?

14. Can you mix sugar in your tea or does it float away?

15. What happens if you get a toothache or appendicitis?

16. What would you do if there was a hazardous chemical reaction on the
space station?

17. How hard is it to put the components of the space station together
in zero gravity?

18. Have you seen any other planets besides earth?

19. Are you testing any new prototype equipment that may be used by the
public in the future?

20. What is your experience with re-entry and how does it feel?

Astronaut T. J. Creamer aboard the International Space Station was the contact person. Questions ranged from the practical, “Can you wash your clothes in space, or do you ever have to?” to the theoretical, “As we approach the end of the shuttle era, access to the station will be drastically limited. What do you feel our country needs to do to assure the access to space?”

In reply to the clothes washing question, Creamer answered, “No, we don’t wash our clothes, we just throw them out and put on new ones.” If you'd like to hear more, a videos of the event is available at riverheadlocal.com.

The overall goal of ARISS is to get students interested in mathematics and science by allowing them to talk directly with the crews.In the last 9 years, space station astronauts have spoken to students worldwide.

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Also see earlier release:

(RIVERHEAD, New York - January 15, 2010) Ten students at the Riley Avenue Elementary School in the Riverhead School District will have the opportunity during the first week of February (the exact time and date will be set on Thursday, January 21) to speak "live" via ham radio to the astronauts aboard the International Space Station (Russian cosmonauts Colonel Suraev Maxim Victorovich and Dr. Oleg Valerievich Kotov, astronauts Colonel Timothy J. Creamer, Soichi Noguchi, and Retired Colonel Jeffrey Williams) at the Riley Avenue Elementary School (Route 25 to Riley Avenue - West of Riverhead).

The students dressed in their official space talk t-shirts will gather in the cafetorium at the Riley Avenue School in front of special artwork consisting of a three dimensional rocket and puffy gold stars, and a panorama of space, which were created by the students in art class. Given the nature of space flight (the space station circumnavigates the earth at 17,000 miles per hour), the contact will only be approximately 10 minutes in length.

Members of the Peconic Amateur Radio Club will provide the equipment, expertise and guidance for this event. They have been traveling the school to practice with the students. The youngest ham radio operator in the club, Riley Avenue fourth grader Jessie Greenberg, will be the control operator during the contact. The contact with the astronauts will be initiated by Jessie using his call letters, W2EEO. Jessie’s father, Bob Greenberg, and Roberta Keis have helped coordinate both of the talks conducted within the District. A previous contact was made at Aquebogue in 2006.

Questions will range from the practical, “Can you wash your clothes in space, or do you ever have to?” to the theoretical, “As we approach the end of the shuttle era, access to the station will be drastically limited. What do you feel our country needs to do to assure the access to space?”

The overall goal of ARISS is to get students interested in mathematics and science by allowing them to talk directly with the crews living and working aboard the ISS. In the last 9 years, space station astronauts have spoken to thousands of students worldwide. Past contacts on Long Island included students in Quogue (2002) and Westhampton Beach (2004) and RCSD students, who gathered at the Aquebogue Elementary School (2006). The Riley Avenue students have been eagerly preparing for this exciting event by creating art projects, reading, researching, and writing their questions. THEY'RE READY!