RAMONA AMATEUR RADIO CLUB HELPS STUDENTS CONNECT WITH ASTRONAUT ON SPACE STATION
Communications aim to boost interest in ham radios and space travel
Ramona amateur radio operators spent more than a year preparing to successfully connect Ramona Lutheran Christian School students with an astronaut on the International Space Station as it orbited Earth at 17,000 mph.
Communications between 15 students and astronaut Christopher Cassidy lasted only eight minutes, but all the students had time to introduce themselves and ask Cassidy, also a U.S. Navy captain and SEAL, at least one question each.
The questions ranged from what it’s like to sleep in space, what games are played in space and what are the favorite foods to eat on the International Space Station, to more serious questions about how the experience changed the astronaut’s outlook on life and how people can utilize space to help manage problems with waste disposal on Earth.
Ramona Lutheran Christian School was one of only nine schools in the United States selected to conduct direct communications with the space station astronauts via amateur radio in
October. Navy veteran and Ramona Lutheran teacher Kelly Cammarano applied, and after being accepted, led the school activity.
Cammarano learned of the opportunity when she applied to the American Radio Relay League’s Teachers Institute on Wireless Technology in 2019, then later received a $1,600 grant for radio station equipment from the organization. The third- and fourth-grade teacher, who usually leads the school’s robotics, radio and STEM clubs for thirdthrough sixth-graders, said she had only a few weeks to write the education proposal and get donations of equipment compo