Written by Laura Glitsos Wednesday, 16 December 2009 12:58
DUMBLEYUNG Primary School made WA history last month when students had the opportunity to speak directly to International Space Station (ISS) astronaut, Frank De Winne.
On Thursday, November 26, volunteers involved with Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) made contact with the ISS as it passed over Glenden, Queensland.
The ISS was more than 350km above the Earth when Shane Lynd from amateur Glenden ground station VK4KHZ connected ARISS to the Dumbleyung Primary Library.
Dumbleyung Primary school teacher Tara Cook helped the students talk with Mr De Winne, the first European commander of the ISS.
Ms Cook says the students had an unforgettable experience.
“It was a once in a lifetime opportunity... A very real moment in time which they will remember forever.”
Dumbleyung Primary received the event by applying to the ISS Space Link Up Program for students from years 5-7.
In addition to students, parents, teachers, community members and media representatives packed into the school library to listen to the event.
Principal Kathy Pangler says the atmosphere “was amazing”.
“The room was absolutely silent, everyone was hanging onto every word that astronaut Frank De Winne had to share with us,” she says.
“I spoke to a lot of parents after the link up and they couldn’t stop raving about what we had just shared together.”
Dumbleyung parent Joy Angwin says the event was superbly handled by the school and radio operators.
She also says the event made the children think about the possiblities of future space habitation
“And brought it closer to their minds, and of course, their reality.”
Since the incredible evening, Ms Pangler says the school and community have received a lot of media coverage “and this has kept the amazing experience living on for our community”.
“I am planning to create a DVD of the evening as a keepsake,” Ms Pangler says.
“Students have had a lot of time to reflect on the experience and you often still hear them talking about it in the playground, even now.”
Dumbleyung student Guy Miles says the experience has made him want to progress further into the science of space.
“One interesting thing I learnt from this was how your blood would flow if you cut yourself,” Guy says.
“Your blood will form a bubble and when it gets too big to hold onto your skin it releases and floats in the air.”
Click here to read the captivating conversations and questions posed by the students, on the night that Dumbleyung Primary made space history.
This story originally appeared on www.astronomywa.net.au
