On July 2nd 2018 at just past 11:30 AM was a scheduled contact between the International Space Station and the Pearl technology STEM Academy in Peoria, Illinois. Students submitted questions in advance that astronaut Serena Aunon was going to answer by using the space stations amateur radio equipment.
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| “Nothing beats waking up on a technological marvel and then starting the day off with an antique method of navigating. Sextant Operations from @Space_Station! Still considered a potential backup method of navigation for future vehicles…” said NASA astronaut Serena M. Auñón-Chancellor on her Twitter |
Since New York where HVDN is located was in the general foot print of the space station orbiting overhead at 200+ miles high on its way over Peoria, here is a brief recording of some of the questions asked before the space station got out of range.
The reason only one side of the conversation was heard was because the ground station in Illinois is too far to hear directly on VHF spectrum in New York directly.
The ground station setup at the STEM academy was transmitting on an up-link frequency to the ISS of 144.49 MHz and the ISS was transmitting back down on the 145.80 MHz down link.
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| Start and end positions on where the ISS was first heard and when it was out of range. |
It is fantastic for students to be able to leverage technology to have real time contact with the space station and to instill an interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics at an early age. Serena is a great role model for younger generations to see what they can be when they grow up.
Amateur radio allows anyone to experiment with this hobby, be they young, old, male, female, technical, non-technical, English speaking or otherwise. There is much that can be learned with each other and HVDN plays an active part in the Hudson Valley area of New York in fostering interest in emerging and exciting parts of amateur radio.
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| Here is the radio used to record the ISS contact. |
HVDN has recently launched the STEM Talk Group available on the Brandmeister DMR network which uses DMR technology to create easy and clear communications globally.
More information can be found at the below link and perhaps this great resource can be used to connect explorers, astronauts, engineers, or anyone else who can share unique insight about amateur radio, what its capable of and how it can influence future generations to better communicate.
ANNOUNCEMENT: On Saturday July 6th, Steve K2GOG will be taking a ride in a hot air balloon as part of the Balloon Festival at the Dutchess County Fairgrounds in New York. Anyone interested in arranging contact via TG 31630 with him, can listen on TG 31630 between 6:00 AM and 8:00 AM New York time. He will be routed on to the network via the N2MCI repeater located in Kingston, NY. Steve's location will also be found on the aprs.fi website under the N2HVD-11 call sign. He will also be making direct contact on suggested analog or digital frequencies too on 2m, 1.25m, and 70cm below
- 146.52 MHz Analog FM
- 223.500 MHz Analog FM
- 446.00 MHz Analog FM
- 446.075 MHz Digital DMR (TG 99, CC1, TS1)
- 145.790 MHz Digital DMR (TG 99, CC1, TS1)
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