Thought you ADXA folks might be interested:
A few weeks ago at 1:05 local time on March 31, members of ARCUA (Amateur Radio Club of the University of Arkansas) and also members of BVRC (Bella Vista
Radio Club) conducted an outstanding school assembly at Lakeside Junior High in Springdale with Lakeside JHS and Sonora Elementary School students attending.
The event was one year in the making, getting authorization from ARISS and NASA, and working on the logistics.
Murray Harris-W5XH operated the IC-9700 radio and tracking software as students from the schools posed questions of
astronaut Nichole Ayers – KJ5GWI operating the ISS amateur station NA1SS. They were able to ask quite a few questions but had to be fast during the 10 minute
pass over NW Arkansas, as the ISS travels at around 18,000 mph. Murray was pretty anxious
and wondering if the setup would work, but Nichole answered him on the first call. He said this was the most exciting
experience he has ever had in his 60+ years as a ham.
Nichole was one of the 4 astronauts that rode the Space-X Falcon 9 rocket/Dragon spacecraft to the ISS to enable three other astronauts to return home after
an overextended tour of duty aboard the ISS. She served as the pilot on the Crew 10 flight to the ISS, and also has flown the F-22 raptor and served as flight instructor for the aircraft. She is a major in the United States Air Force. This was her first
time in communicating with school students and she did an outstanding job.
In case anyone would like to see the two-and-a-half minute news story that was broadcast on KFSM, here’s the link:
73 – Don, K5DB