PHOENIX — It was an out-of-this-world experience at the Arizona Science Center today.
“This is going to be the best day of my life,” said 8-year-old Emma Cunje, who was one of more than a dozen kids who got the chance to talk live with a NASA astronaut, who is currently aboard the International Space Station.
The HAM Shack Radio team was able to contact the International Space Station by Amateur Radio, so they could the group of junior scientists could ask NASA Astronaut and U.S. Navy Commander Matthew Dominick questions for 10 minutes.
Cunje asked him if his dreams in space are different than your dreams on Earth.
“And he said they’re kind of different,” said Cunje. “It’s fun that you get to float.”
7-year-old Carter Celik asked Dominick what his daily schedule is like.
“He said he doesn’t have to work on Sunday or Saturday,” said Celik.
With no delay, he answered each one of their questions, loud and clear.
“He said that they do at least two hours of exercising a day,” said 8-year-old Maisie Larsen. “The rest of the day is like working on science and stuff.”
“I asked, how did they calculate how many steps it takes to go to the moon,” said 10-year-old Chloe Haskins. “It involved a bunch of math."
This incredible experience became a reality after an extensive proposal process.
“Our HAM Shack team… all the volunteers, they have been working really hard to make the proposal, to get us to be able to communicate with the ISS,” said Annie Ethington, staff scientist at the Arizona Science Center.
The Arizona Science Center was among nine institutions selected to host the 2024 Amateur Radio on the International Space Station. It’s created and managed by an international working group, including several European countries, Japan, Russia, Canada, and the U.S.
“It’s radio that is definitely utilized a lot by hobbyists,” said Ethington. “There is still a legal practice that you still have to go through in order to utilize a HAM radio, just because there’s a lot of technology involved, and you want to make sure you’re using it safely.”
It remains an effective form of communication.
“Especially in an emergency…when your cell phone towers go down or anything like that,” said Ethington.
The organization is run by volunteers from the national amateur radio organizations and the international Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation organizations from each country.
“It’s incredible,” she said. “That was genuine, like, real interaction, like one-on-one, it was so cool.”
The primary goal of the program is to engage young people in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math, STEAM activities, and to raise their awareness of space communications, radio communications and space exploration, along with other related areas of study and career possibilities.
All the kids and their families left with all smiles and a special pin on their shirt, which said "I connected with ISS July 2024."
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