BCS set to communicate with Space Station

BCS set to communicate with Space Station
Posted on 04/15/2022
Simon Kauffman (left) and Neil Kauffman

Students at Bellefontaine City Schools are gearing up for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

BCS students will be speaking with astronaut Kayla Barron on the International Space Station (ISS) by amateur radio on Thursday, April 21st at 1:13 p.m.

Nine students from Bellefontaine Elementary School, Intermediate School, and Middle School have been selected to ask questions about space.

Kayla Barron is part of the 2017 Astronaut Class. She has a master’s degree in nuclear engineering from the University of Cambridge and served as a submarine warfare officer prior to joining NASA. She was part of the NASA SpaceX Crew-3 mission to the International Space Station, which launched on November 10th, 2021. She has done 2 spacewalks as part of this mission. She is part of the Artemis Team, which is tasked with sending the first woman and the next man to walk on the moon in 2024.

You can see more about Kayla Barron at https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/barron-kayla

The direct radio link will be between the Bellefontaine High School Amateur Radio Club (W8BCS) and Kayla Barron (KI5LAL). Members of the Champaign Logan Amateur Radio Club (W8FTV) provided equipment and worked with students to set up the antennas and radios to make this contact possible. The contact will last about 10 minutes as the ISS passes overhead.

A livestream of the contact will be available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6t5ZQOw2j68

The radio contact will be streamed live into each Bellefontaine City Schools classroom Thursday from 12:50 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.

The community is invited to watch this special event, too. You can stop by the Bellefontaine High School Auditorium Thursday around 12:30 p.m.

BCS students also had the opportunity to participate in space-themed lessons and create art in their classrooms.

This contact is part of the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) program. Bellefontaine is one of only 9 groups in the United States to talk to ISS astronauts using amateur radio through the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) program in the spring of 2022. ARISS inspires students, worldwide, to pursue interests and careers in science, technology, engineering, and math through amateur radio communications opportunities with the International Space Station (ISS) on-orbit crew. ARISS provides opportunities for the school community to become more aware of the substantial benefits of human spaceflight and the exploration and discovery that occur on spaceflight journeys.

Bellefontaine High School Amateur Radio Club Secretary and Trustee Simon Kauffman (KS4SK) said, “We look forward to all Bellefontaine students being able to experience the excitement of applying radio, science, and technology concepts in the real world while having a personal connection to a hero.”

For more information about the ARISS program, visit www.ariss.org

For more details on this upcoming contact and information about the radio club, go to https://www.w8bcs.org/

Photos: Bellefontaine High School Amateur Radio Club members Simon Kauffman (left) and Neil Kauffman help install radio equipment at BHS earlier this month.

Members of the Champaign Logan Amateur Radio Club along with Neil and Simon Kauffman

Prep work for contact with ISS.

Prep work for contact with ISS.

Prep work for contact with ISS.
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