Bay View Students Talk To Italian Astronaut Paulo Nespoli

From St. Mary Academy Bay View: Students at St. Mary Academy – Bay View and Bishop Hendricken made history when they spoke with Italian astronaut Paulo Nespoli aboard the International Space Station via Amateur Radio at precisely 12:02 pm on Thursday, November 30th. in the Dr. Daniel S. Harrop Theater at Bishop Hendricken. This marked the first contact of its kind with a Rhode Island high school.

This activity is part of the ARISS (Amateur Radio on the International Space Station) Program, which promotes learning opportunities as part of the STEM (Science, Technology, Education and Math) initiative.

Once Hendricken’s proposal to ARISS was accepted to become a Space Chat host school, Hendricken and Bay View held an “Ask the Astronaut” contest with their students and chose the top 16 most unique questions from nearly 200 entries. Eight students from each school became the first high schoolers in Rhode Island to be given the rare opportunity to speak to the ISS as it transited overhead at 17,500 miles an hour.

Alexis Rodrigues, a 12th grade Bay View student and resident of Cranston, asked “If space tourism begins to take space travel out of the hands of government, are there major concerns to opening it up to the private sector?” The response from astronaut Paulo Nespoli can be heard on the link to the complete livestream video that is included with this press release.

The Bishop Hendricken contact used an amateur radio ground station located in Casale Monferrato, Italy operated by Mr. Claudio Arriotti.
Bishop Hendricken has four students who recently earned their FCC amateur radio licenses. The “space chat” activity inspired the group to launch a Bishop Hendricken radio club and have been granted call sign W1BHX by the FCC.

ARISS is a joint venture by NASA, the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS), the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), and the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT) to facilitate communication via Amateur Radio between astronauts aboard the International Space Station and schools and communities around the world. ARISS programs excite and motivate students in a one-of-a-kind presentation and exchange.
ARISS program goals are:

· Inspiring an interest in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) subjects and in STEM careers among young people.
· Providing an educational opportunity for students, teachers, and the general public for learning about wireless technology and radio science through Amateur Radio.
· Providing an educational opportunity for students, teachers, and the general public for learning about space exploration, space technologies and satellite communications.

Amateur, or “Ham,” Radio, is a popular service and hobby in which federally licensed participants operate communications equipment. There are over 700,000 licensed amateurs and nearly 2,300 ARRL-affiliated Amateur Radio clubs in the United States. Hams talk to each other across town, around the world, and even into space without the need for normal communications infrastructure, such as cell phone networks or the Internet. Amateur Radio is regularly used during natural disasters to help local emergency and served agencies (such as the Red Cross, Salvation Army, and state and local governments) respond when normal communications methods are disrupted. The Amateur Radio community is a great source of electronics experimentation, public service, and fun.

Image Courtesy of St. Mary Academy