A year and a half of work for only nine minutes.  Not knowing the context or the situation, most would say that no matter what the nine minutes were for, it was not worth it.  Others would cringe at the idea of having to work for so long to get so little.  In this case, I think anyone that was part of the event would agree that the work and the time needed to achieve success was well worth it.  The event that I am writing about is the Hudson Memorial School Contact with Serena Auñón-Chancellor on the International Space Station that occurred at 1:49 pm EST on Friday, December 7, 2018.

At 1:49 pm EST, when Fred Kemmerer (AB1OC) called NA1SS and the gymnasium full of students, staff, and guests heard Serena call back, the moment was exhilarating, amazing, thrilling, and more.  Students and adults alike let out a roar of excitement that the contact had worked.  At that moment they knew that they were about to get a rare opportunity that few schools had experienced.  They were going to get to talk directly to an astronaut on the International Space Station.   The loud outburst of excitement was followed by nine and a half minutes of something that does not occur in middle school very often.  The students and adults in the room sat silent and on the edge of their seats as the selected student and Serena went back and forth through fourteen prepared questions.  Toward the end of the time, the last student stepped to the microphone, thanked Serena and heard Serena thank the school in return for the amazing questions.  Once again, the room erupted in excitement.  The contact was a success.

So, what was all the work that I spoke about, one might ask.  A year and a half prior to the contact, I emailed the Nashua Area Radio Society to see if there might be some interest in making such an event occur.  I was greeted with the best partnership that Hudson Memorial has ever seen.  Fred Kemmerer and the rest of the Nashua Area Radio Society stepped up to support this large undertaking.  We worked together to complete the ARISS Proposal, which can be found at http://www.ariss.org/hosting-an-ariss-contact-in-the-us.html . The form asked about our preparedness to host the contact technically and educationally.  On the school side, we shared all of the space and radio communication education opportunities that Hudson Memorial School provided our students and would provide our students,  should we be granted a contact.  The opportunities that we already offered to our students were an in-depth space science curriculum in sixth grade, education about how waves work in both 6^th and 8^th grade, a 7^th grade science fiction unit that had students talking to NASA scientists via Skype, Astronomy Nights, STEM nights, use of NASA statistics in the mathematics classroom, and a new Project Lead the Way Pre-Engineering program that asked students to find solutions to those that might be found on the ISS.  The items that we proposed to add to enhance the radio and space curriculums at Hudson Memorial School included having students participate in a High Altitude Balloon curriculum, Radio Licensing classes, and adding activities where students could try out amateur radio opportunities.  All of which, we were able to provide for students in the past school year.

In January, we learned that we were selected to host a contact.  Excitement levels were raised for teachers at the school and members of the club alike.  Everyone stepped up and began preparations, but there was a whole lot of waiting to find out when the actual date would occur.  In the meantime, there were several important steps that needed to be received from the school.  In October, the school began working on student questions and their story.  The story basically gave ARISS information about Hudson Memorial School that would be used in their official press release once the contact was secured.  The story explained the population make-up of the school and its goals for educating the students.  The school also worked on the official press release to be sent to media outlets when the contact time was finalized.  Students in grades 5-8 were offered the opportunity to submit questions through various classes.  By the due date, there were over 600 questions submitted by students for the contact.  Those questions were combed through by a group of HMS teachers to find the twenty-two questions that would be submitted to ARISS for the contact.

In addition to all of the work required by ARISS, I was able to arrange for an International Space Station Contact celebration week for the students at HMS.  Since this was such a huge event, it was important to make it stretch for more than just one day.  The week included themes for each of the 5 days in the week of December 3 – 7.  Monday was ISS Crew Contact Launch Day.  Students were asked to wear any items that connected to the TV show “The Big Bang Theory” so we could start our celebration off with a bang.  It also was exciting that it happened to be the day that three additional astronauts launched to go to the ISS.  Tuesday was Space Science Fiction Day.  Students and staff wore items with Star Wars, Star Trek or other science fiction shows and movies.  Wednesday was Out of This World Hair Day.  Students came up with some interesting hair for the day.  Thursday was Space and NASA clothing item day.  Students showed off items of clothing with NASA logos.  The week was wrapped up with a school color day.  Kids wore red, white, and black to show their school pride.  The theme days were just a part of the excitement.  Each morning during the announcement the students learned facts about the ISS.  Staff also played different music with space themes in the middle of the day.  The songs included David Bowie’s “A Space Oddity,” Elton John’s “Rocket Man,” and Europe’s “The Final Countdown.”

Throughout the week, the Nashua Area Radio Society began setting up and testing the equipment.  On Monday of the contact week, the antennas and radio equipment were installed on the field and on the stage.  Students and staff passing through the gymnasium were able to watch as the club meticulously made sure everything was working properly.  Tuesday, members of the club came back to test the equipment by making contacts on various amateur satellites.  On Wednesday, Fred Kemmerer, Dave Merchant, and I came back to Hudson Memorial School at 8 pm at night to equalize the gymnasium for sound quality.  Throughout the week, I became accustomed to properly rolling and unrolling coax and hardline cables numerous times.  I learned about various radio settings and the fading that might occur during the contact.  The week of set-up was both tiring and educational for a new ham like myself.  This week alone showed the devotion and dedication that the members of the Nashua Area Radio Society has for educating youngsters in hopes of inspiring students to pursue STEM education opportunities.

All of these items and more occurred over the course of a year and a half to ensure that the nine and a half minutes of contact we were granted by ARISS with the International Space Station would go off flawlessly.  All of the countless hours of late night conference calls, practice at area Ham Festivals with the satellite stations, the work on space and radio curriculum for students, and sleepless nights became worth it when Serena’s voice could be heard by the over 800 students and 200 guests that were sitting in the HMS auditorium and over 600 students watching the Nashua Area Radio Society live stream.  The fatigue and struggles to get to this point no longer mattered because all of us involved in this process knew that what we had done would most likely be a moment that everyone in the room would remember and talk about for the rest of their lives.  We hoped that at that moment, our hard work would inspire some student watching the contact to pursue a STEM career that would change the world.  It was at that moment that we knew no amount of work would have stopped us from getting to this nine and a half minutes because we gained as much, if not more, from this experience as the students.

For this nine and a half minutes, we went on a year and a half long journey that would not have been possible without the teachers of Hudson Memorial School; HMS Team three teachers Adam Goldstein, Rachel Scanzani, and Kathleen LeLievre; HMS Principal Keith Bowen; and the members of the Nashua Area Radio Society.  A deep heartfelt thank you to Fred and Anita Kemmerer, Burns Fisher, Dave Merchant and all of the members who donated their time to successful set-up, operation, and breakdown of all the equipment required to make this contact a success.

Dan, AC1EN

Transcript of Hudson Memorial School ARISS Contact

Hudson Memorial School held our ARISS Crew Contact with Astronaut Serena Aunon Chancellor on Friday, December 7th. Here’s a transcript of our student’s questions and Serena’s answers.

1. How do astronauts train and prepare before going into space?
   • “Good question, actually, so what occurs is about 2 years prior to the flight, and even more before that when you first come into the astronaut corps, we do a lot of training on space station systems, using a robotic arm, and even doing space walks and then we learn about all the experiments right before we go into orbit.”
2. Do you have regular physical check-ups and or vaccinations to stay healthy in space?
   • “Yes we do, actually, it’s probably the most extensive physical check-up you’ll ever have and we get more vaccinations than anybody else will ever have.  Our physical exams every year last about two days! Probably doesn’t compare much to the one hour you guys spend at the doctor’s office, but they try to keep us really healthy before we come up here.”
3. To help us understand the scale of the ISS can you compare it to the size of something on Earth?
   • “It’s actually really big, the modules themselves are about the size of a 5 bedroom house, and then the truss itself is the length of a football field so I can work almost all day in one module and not see the rest of the crew for that day at one time – it’s that big. So we definitely don’t feel cramped up here.”
4. What does it feel like exiting the atmosphere?
   • “It’s amazing. When our rockets lit and we knew those engines were going, we knew we were going somewhere really, really quickly, and it was the most amazing feeling to feel that thrust, take that rocket off and last about 8 1/2 minutes before we reached orbit
5. Looking down from space what landmarks and countries do you wish you could visit?
   • “Honestly one of the most beautiful continents I’ve been able to view from up here really well is Africa. Crossing over the Sahara desert causes this lead glow that we see throughout the space station. Someplace I haven’t been to and would love to go visit.”
6. With space being mostly blackness and stars, what is the most beautiful thing you have ever seen in space?
   • “Honestly, it’s the Aurora, seeing the Northern Lights.  The green, the pink, the purple…those lights are alive. They are dancing around and you could stare at them for a good 15-20 minutes and never, ever get tired of watching them.”
7. How long have you been a licensed Amateur Radio Operator and do you use your license for any other communications besides ARISS?
   • “I’ve been a licensed radio operator now for probably about a year and a half in preparation for this space flight and I’ve only had the chance to use it up here in the space station and I’ve really enjoyed doing that, including just making random contacts across the United States and other countries and so I’m hoping to get to continue that after the mission.”
8. What is your daily routine?
   • “So we work about 12 hours a day. We get up about 6:30 in the morning, start work at 7:30 and end work at 7:30 at night.  During that time period, we have about 1 meal. We spend about 2 ½  hours exercising to keep our bones and muscles strong.  We spend a lot of time with maintenance of space station systems.  We also do experiments.  We did some experiments this past week looking at Parkinson’s Disease and trying to find a cure for Parkinson’s Disease by growing protein crystals up here.  Every day is different.  That’s the best thing.”
9. Is sleep more comfortable in space than on Earth?
   • “Honestly, I sleep very, very well up here. I slept in till about 10:30 this morning, which is very nice because it’s very dark inside your crew quarters.  It’s very quiet.  It’s about the size of a phone booth.  Our little crew quarters is like our little bedroom.  But I sleep really well up here.”
10. We learned there are 16 sunrises and sunsets in one day in space.  About how long does it take you to adjust to the time switch?
    • “There are a lot of sunrises and sunsets every day up here. We don’t feel it. I feel like my body follows a normal clock. We operate on GMT, Greenwich Mean Time, which is like London Time, and at night, once 9 or 10 rolls around, we all get tired. Although the station sees all the sunrises and sunsets, we aren’t necessarily looking out the window and seeing all of that every time.  I will say it is one of the most beautiful things that we get to view up here from the space station.”
11. What is the best part about living on the ISS?
    • “That’s easy and that is floating everywhere.  Float to get up, float to go to work, float to go exercise…everywhere we go, we can turn somersaults.  We can flip.  It almost becomes very natural, like this is how the body should always be moving.”
12. Do you ever regret your decision to leave Earth?
    •  “No, absolutely not, because the chance to get to see Earth from this vantage point has been amazing and the opportunities up here have been amazing. I worked really hard and a really long time to get here. I actually don’t regret it.  I believe you need to go through life not regretting anything at all because it makes you who you are.”
13. What is the most commonly occurring error on the ISS?
    •  “Honestly it’s an error caused by humans. So we follow procedures very tightly, but if one day you’re a little more tired than the next and you don’t read things closely and pay attention to all the details, you can easily make a mistake.  The systems run pretty well, but it’s usually the humans running the systems that can make the errors. So we always try to be very careful with all our procedures.”
14. What will be the first signs of the ISS finally expiring and what procedures will take place at this point?
    • “Honestly, I don’t know that we’ll see those signs.  The ISS is staying pretty elevated. We perform a lot of daily maintenance and upkeep on a majority of those systems, so we don’t see that from up here. I think the ISS would last a long time, but at some point, we need to push towards going to the moon and Mars, which we’re preparing for right now. So as far as what would actually happen to the ISS, I think that remains to be seen. Could parts of it still be used? I think so but people are still making those decisions.”

The students of Hudson Memorial School would like to thank you for talking to us today.

Dan, AC1EN