Space station project is out of this world
Mary Hare pupils make contact with astronaut as ISS passes overhead
HISTORY was made at Mary Hare school on Tuesday as its pupils contacted the International Space Station (ISS) as it passed overhead.
At precisely 12 minutes past 12, direct contact was made with an astronaut aboard the ISS.
“We are aiming quite high today,” the spokesperson for the Newbury and District Amateur Radio Society (NADARS), Lloyd Farington, told students as they awaited the much-anticipated contact from space.
“The International Space Station is 400km above us.
“It is going 17,000km an hour. It is amazing what we are going to do today.”
Ten pupils from Mary Hare were prepared with questions to ask NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei as he passed above them in space.
Mr Farington said: “It’s a world first. This is the first time a group of deaf children has spoken to the space station.
“The school motto is about aiming high and we may get much higher today, higher than a space station.”
As members of the radio society set up equipment for the long-distance contact to take place, pupils posed questions to guest speakers from the UK space station and NADARS.
Operation head of the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Ciaran Morgan said before the contact: “It is a first for us, so we are delighted to be able to do this.
“It feels challenging. We are going to be taking questions, and using technology, converting speech into text and putting it up on to the screen, so that the students can read it.”
While science talk, with all its jargon, could seem alien to many children, the pupils of Mary Hare listened eagerly as former astronaut trainer Susan Buckle from the UK Space Station told them everything she knew about things beyond Earth.
She then proceeded to show the children various satellites, some the size of a hand-held cube, which she had with her, to others the size of cars and even tennis courts, which she, of course, could not bring along.
The presentation continued until five minutes were left before contact.
When the radio society opened up to receive audio, white noise fell over the entire hall.
Mr Farington sent over a message asking astronaut Mr Vande Hei: “NA1CC, this is GBMHN are you receiving, over?”
Static noise continued to fill the silence until a response came and the questions started rolling in.
The pupils asked Mr Vande Hei what his favourite “space technology” was, whether he has to learn sign language, how he showers in zero gravity and how he would evacuate if there was a fire.
He was also asked what the Earth looks like from space and what the Northern Lights look like too.
He told them that the Northern Lights looked like a “curtain or waterfall in the darkness of light” and the Earth looks like the moment in winter when you open the door to the blanket whiteness of snow.
They also discovered that he had been in space for 186 days so far, and a total of 354 days in his life.
Pupil Ollie Dow asked Mr Vande Hei what he would take to space if he could, to which he replied “My wife, life is much better with her.”
Ollie said: “It was quite interesting how they reacted to my question. It was really fun.”
Mr Vande Hei concluded the session by thanking everyone.
He said: “You all just made my day – thank you for the opportunity, thank you for the wonderful questions and for sharing this with me, over.”
Science teacher at Mary Hare Alex Ayling said the project had been “two years in the making” after being held up by Covid restrictions.
He said: “It feels great, it is a great opportunity for our students.
“It all demonstrates to them what they can achieve and what they can overcome.”
Mr Alying also said that he hoped this might get the children interested in science.
One pupil, Rosie Harris, said: “I do love getting involved with sciences – it is very interesting to see all of those radios and stuff, getting in contact.”
Another Year 9 pupil, Jasper Loten, said he was “very excited” about speaking directly to an astronaut.
He said: “I told my parents and they were very excited.”
The contact with the ISS can be seen online at https://live. ariss.org