01/22/2016
Students at an elite school in the Himalayan nation of Nepal enjoyed that
country's first Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS[1])
contact, when the spoke via ham radio with ISS crew member and UK Astronaut Tim
Peake, KG5BVI, on January 20. Youngsters attending Brihaspati Vidhyasadan
School (BVS) in Kathmandu interviewed Peake about life onboard the space
station. Through his Principia Mission[2], Peake is dedicating part of his
scheduled time in space to educational activities for youngsters on Earth. The
approximately 8 minute contact was carried out via a "telebridge" with Tony
Hutchison, VK5ZAI, in Australia, where the ISS pass was favorable for a
contact. Two-way audio was relayed via landline to Nepal.
"Follow your dreams," Peake told the youngsters. "You need to find out what you
are passionate about and what you are enjoying."
Leading up to the event, the school had organized a week-long program and
exhibition related to space travel and technology, including Amateur Radio.The
Nepal Amateur Radio Operators' Society supported the exhibition. The school is
home to the Free and Open Source Research Lab and Ham facility. During the
Nepal earthquake hams from Nepal and India used a building at the school as
they attempted to coordinate efforts to search for missing people and reunite
them with their families.
"This was truly and international event," said Hutchison, pointing out that
individuals involved in making the ARISS contact happen were spread around the
globe, including Australia, Japan, Sweden, and the US. Pravin Joshi, 9N1KK, at
the school was among the contact mentors.
"Today we had an audience of about 300, including the British Ambassador to
Nepal, the Cultural Affairs Officer from the US Embassy, a member of the
National Human Rights Commission, and a former Minister for Science and
Technology," Joshi said. "We also had students from 10 other schools besides
our own [and] large local media coverage."
Peake was able to answer 17 of the students' questions. - Thanks to ARISS and
to AMSAT News Service
[1] http://www.ariss.org/
[2] http://principia.org.uk/
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