ASTRONAUTS IN THE CLASSROOM

"On Station" is the quarterly Newsletter of ESA's Directorate of Manned Spaceflight and Microgravity. The 20 pages full color publication covers the many areas of the Directorate's activities.

The September 2002 issue presents two articles directly related to amateur radio. Under the heading "Research" Aldo Petrivelli, Project Manager, presents "Odissea", the Belgian/ESA Taxi Mission. This scientific mission, funded by the Belgian Federal Office for Scientific, Technical and Cultural Affairs, is a truly international effort, highlighted by the 24 experiments from five European countries, two from the USA and Russian involvement in three.

The experiments, to be performed by the Belgian astronaut Frank De Winne during his November 2002 mission, comprise biology, cardioscience and cogniscience, human psychology, material science and fluid science. Moreover two ARISS real-time radio contacts will give Belgian students the opportunity to question Frank, ON1DWN in space.

The second article, "Astronauts in the Classroom", appears under the heading "Education" as a contribution of ARISS-Europe chairman Gaston Bertels. The story depicts the atmosphere in the classroom during a live spacetalk, introduces amateur radio, amateur satellites and the amateur radio stations on MIR, the Shuttles and the International Space Station. The coordination efforts needed for successful School Contacts and the role of the ARISS Committees involved in the process are duly highlighted.

For a free subscription to 'On Station' please contact esapub@esa.int.

The article Astronauts in the Classroom is available in pdf format (128 kb).