SB NEWS @ AMSAT $SPC0302 * SpaceNews 02-Mar-98 * BID: $SPC0302 ========= SpaceNews ========= MONDAY MARCH 2, 1998 SpaceNews originates at KD2BD in Wall Township, New Jersey, USA. It is published every week and is made available for non-commercial use. * SCHOOL CONTACTS WITH MIR * ============================ It has been nearly a year since the last SAREX school group talked to an astronaut on Mir. Since that time, the amateur radio community has witnessed (through the Mir ham radio link) the collision between the 12 year old Mir space station and the Progress resupply ship in June and recovery operations by the various Mir crewmembers. Until recently, the Mir crew's full attention has been focused on recovery from the collision and restarting the scientific investigations that were abruptly stopped after the accident. Monday, 23-Feb-98 marked a new era for the Mir Space Station: The return of SAREX school group contacts. On the morning of the 23rd at about 7:30 AM PST (15:30 UTC), six youngsters from the Shell Beach Elementary School in Pismo Beach, CA, made a successful contact with Astronaut Andy Thomas on the Mir space station. The students were in grades 1 through 6 and were able to ask Andy a total of 10 questions during the approximately ten minute contact. The Shell Beach School has been on the contact list for some time and they were originally scheduled to talk to astronaut Jerry Linenger last April, but due to technical difficulties on Mir, the contact was postponed until now. The school had about a weeks notice of the impending contact. During the week, the children scrambled and practiced several times, getting their performance just right. After the session with Andy, the kids were very excited and appreciative of all the effort that the SAREX Work Group, their school and their teachers put forth to make the contact possible. A group "Thank You" from the children echoed over the teleconference after contact with astronaut Thomas was lost. The contact was made using the Houston Telebridge station (W5RRR) with Matt Bordelon, KC5BTL, at the controls. About 150 people attended the SAREX contact including about 75 students. When the contact was over, one of the students commented, "This was really cool...a once in a lifetime experience". The following day, a second SAREX school also completed a successful interview with astronaut Andy Thomas, KD5CHF. The Prairie Hills Elementary School in Colorado Springs, Colorado completed a successful direct contact with Andy on Tuesday 24-Feb-98. After hearing that the second school group contact was successful, Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, AMSAT's Vice President for Manned Space Programs said, "It gives me great pleasure to know that the school group logjam is finally starting to clear. It was exciting to hear the student's reactions to the contacts and rewarding to know that we have provided an experience to the communities of Shell Beach and to Prairie Hills that they will never forget". Rob Roller, N7LV, submitted the following comments following the Praire Hills Elementary SAREX school group contact with Andy Thomas on Mir: "What a thrill! About 300-400 kids in the gym, all three networks with a video crew there, 10 excited kids waiting to ask their questions, and a great crew of radio operators and video camera operators. All of this came together at slightly after 9:07 this morning when we finally made the contact with Andy Thomas on Mir. All the people in the gym watched closely as the overhead display showed Mir on its track to Colorado Springs while they listened to the static over the gym's PA speakers. When Andy Thomas' voice broke through, I'm sure I could hear plenty of suppressed "Yea!" expressions. Andy talked for several seconds, describing what he's doing on the Mir. Then the kids asked their questions and Andy answered all that he could hear. By the seventh question, Mir was dropping rapidly toward the horizon and we were losing the signal quickly. Unfortunately only six questions were answered by Andy, but the rest were answered by our two speakers. Following the contact, two speakers answered yet more questions for about another half an hour from excited kids. Major Mike Caylor from the USAFA and Eric Joern, with about 10 years experience training the astronauts, answered many more questions for the next 30 or 40 minutes." Rob extends his sincere thanks to all who helped make this contact a reality. SAREX currently has a backlog of 60 to 80 schools that have been waiting patiently for a schedule to speak to an astronaut in space for the past several years. SAREX is not currently accepting any new applications for contacts. Further information on SAREX/MAREX school schedules can be found on the American Radio Relay League's Web Page at: http://www.arrl.org. [Info via Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, and Miles Mann, WF1F] * HONOR FOR G3AAJ * =================== Ron Broadbent, G3AAJ, was honored by the Radio Society of Great Britain (RSGB) last Sunday, 22 February, when he was presented with their Louis Varney Cup; Louis' callsign, G5RV, may be familiar to some. The cup is in the gift of the RSGB's VHF Committee; it is presented annually for "advances in space communication". Ron's 20 years of service as Secretary of AMSAT-UK, before his retirement last December, make him well fitted for this honor. Many advances could not have happened without his tireless work for the good of amateur satellites and the amateur radio fraternity worldwide. [Info via Richard W. L. Limebear, G3RWL, Communications Officer, AMSAT-UK] * FEEDBACK/INPUT WELCOMED * =========================== Comments and input for SpaceNews should be directed to the editor (John, KD2BD) via any of the paths listed below: WWW : http://www.njin.net/~magliaco/ PACKET : KD2BD @ KS4HR.NJ.USA.NA INTERNET : kd2bd@amsat.org, magliaco@email.njin.net SATELLITE : AMSAT-OSCAR-16, LUSAT-OSCAR-19, KITSAT-OSCAR-25 <<=- SpaceNews: The first amateur newsletter read in space! -=>> <<=- Serving the planet for 10 years -=>> /EX