Source: ESA Portugal
The School EBI / JI of Montenegro, Faro established radio contact with the International Space Station on the afternoon of Monday, 23rd . The connection was organized under the program ARISS (Amateur Radio on the International Space Station) that enables radio amateurs around the world come into contact with the station.
At 13h36, the appointed time for bonding, NASA astronaut Catherine Coleman, greeted the students, who waited, anxious and somewhat nervous, by contact, made from the school auditorium. The twenty questions drawn up by many other students from the 7th to 9th grade, were put one by one, a call lasting 15 minutes.
"What is the biggest fright caught in space?","Do astronauts in orbit feel more homesick?" or "What is the future of the station?", were some of the questions made by students from Algarve. Besides the students and teachers in the auditorium, the remaining school population could also assist communication, since this was broadcast on LiveStream.
"Students have a great fascination about Space matters and are highly motivated for these activities, " says Professor of Physics and Chemistry, Patricia Raposo, a major local leader of the initiative.
Patricia Raposo had participated last June in a summer school for secondary school teachers, sponsored by the European Space Agency at its facilities in ESTEC, the Netherlands. This provided the idea to participate in ARISS. Almost a year after application, the call happened.
This is the first time a school of Algarve participates in the program . This remarkable event was only possible thanks to the "extraordinary collaboration of the Network of Amateur Radio Transmitters and Portuguese Club of Loulé, ' says Patricia Raposo.