Students Set to Communicate with the International Space Station

After two years of preparation, a group of students are finally ready for a much-anticipated, and otherworldly, moment.

On Monday at 11:44 a.m., five students are set to speak with astronauts who are currently manning the International Space Station. In a project spearheaded by honors physics student Zach Feinberg, Fair Lawn High completed the paperwork necessary for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to approve its contact with the space station, in addition to preparing proper equipment and antennas to facilitate the contact.

The communication is part of NASA's Amateur Radion on the International Space Station (ARISS) project. The space station is always manned by at least one amateur radio (ham) operator, and when time permits the “ham” astronaut speaks with amateur radio operators around the world.

Feinberg is a member of the Fair Lawn Amateur Radio Club, which is not affiliated with the high school but became a partner in the project. The worldwide nature of the ARISS initiative caused the high school's two-year wait for contact with the space station, according to Ron Durso, the Fair Lawn School District's science supervisor.

Durso explained that studying space exploration "can help students appreciate how quickly the scientific world around us changes and how important it is to learn to think critically to keep up with those changes."

"The students who were selected to speak directly to the astronauts on Monday will gain a sense of accomplishment," Durso wrote in an email to Patch. "I predict that every student in the room will get a sense of the vastness of the universe and also come to appreciate the advances in science and technology that make this communication and space exploration possible."

Durso had just arrived in Fair Lawn when Feinberg expressed interest in the space station project and recalled that he "was eager to support programs like this; especially one which a student was interested in and which promoted science." Before Durso joined the school district, Fair Lawn High already had a planetarium and an astronomy class.

Space science is "integrated intensively throughout the elementary school curriculum at various grade levels," according to Durso. All fifth grade students participate in a program at Buehler Challenger Center in Paramus "which promotes critical thinking and cooperation," and second graders visit the Fair Lawn High planetarium. Students are reintroduced to space science in seventh grade, and the high school offers a full-year elective course in astronomy, Durso explained.

The students' contact with the space is not open to the general public because of regulations concerning visitors to the high school, but will be taped and rebroadcast Fair Lawn Television (Channel 77 on Cablevision and 37 on Verizion FIOS).

Durso warned that in the past, contact with the space station has been canceled at the last minute by NASA. But regardless of what happens, he takes pride in the project.

"I am proud of the way that this project not only promotes the importance of science education, but also in how it has brought so many people from the community together, through a passionate and driven student," Durso wrote.