Cadets Spend £80,000 to Talk to Spacemen:

Cadets spend £80,000 to talk to spacemen

TOM SMITHARD

17 January 2005 18:08

At £8000 a minute, securing time with the astronauts aboard the International Space Station does not come easily.

But, after four years of form-filling, a Norfolk air training corp has been given 10 minutes and nine seconds to chat with the two spacemen currently orbiting the world 160 miles above us.

The Stalham group is the first set of cadets to be allowed to talk to their space equivalents in the history of the 10-year international scheme.

Only five schools in Britain have previously been allowed to link up with the space station, or its predecessors Mere and the Shuttle.

However, American space agency Nasa has placed strict embargo on information the EDP can release about the top-secret mission.

We are not allowed to reveal the exact time the 12 youngsters aged 13 to 18 will link up to outer space, nor the frequency on which they will do so or their surnames.

Nasa say if this information is revealed, jealous amateur radio enthusiasts will attempt to block the transmission, wasting the £80,900 worth of time the space agency is donating.

But the EDP can reveal their questions to the American commander Leroy Chiao and flight engineer Salizhan Sharipov, from the tiny former-USSR central-Asian country of Kyrgyzstan, which had to be submitted in advance.

These include Ben's question: “Were you able to see the tsunami?”; Peter's “What inspired you to become an astronaut?”; Sam's “What is the biggest object you can see over Britain?” and Stuart's “What do you do in your spare time?”.

Commanding officer of the 1132 ATC (Stalham) Squadron Terry Owen said it had taken four years of organising for the Norfolk group to get the green light, including Nasa losing the paperwork the first time.

“I am an amateur radio enthusiast and thought that this would be a great experience for our members,” he said. “But it took a while to get the go-ahead as the scheme, run by the American Radio Relay League, is designed for schools only.

“Nasa are very keen to point out that time is money, and so we had to submit questions in advance because they don't want any impossible ones during our conversation, but the cadets will still ask them and the astronauts will answer.

“Everyone is really looking forward to this. It's a fantastic opportunity for all our members, and will help with any projects their schools are doing on space.”

An amateur satellite will be brought to the base on Church Road in Sutton in order to guarantee the link-up and the pupils of Stalham High, Flegg High, Heartease High and West Flegg Middle School will each be given an afternoon off school to make the call.

The cadets, part of a 25-strong squadron that meets three times a week, are more used to rock climbing, gliding and using amateur radio to contact other corps also firmly based on earth.

But, towards the end of January when the International Space Station is directly above Stalham – albeit travelling at a speed of 18,500m an hour – contact will be made with the glint far away in the sky.

And it will probably be the most expensive 10-minute telephone conversation Stalham has ever had.

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HAM-FISTED OR HAMSTRUNG?

Nasa's decision to ban identification of Stalham Air Corp members linking-up with its space station – though we can show their pictures – could be considered an over-reaction.

The space agency is worried that jealous hams, as amateur radio enthusiasts are affectionately known, will either jam the signal by broadcasting white noise over the top of it, or listen in and hear top-secret information.

But hams are seen as a genteel bunch and their world is not one of dog-eat-dog competitiveness and blinding jealousy.

Rogue elements, however, spurred on by the power of the Internet, have been able to infiltrate.

“Inside amateur radio there's some competitiveness,” said Norfolk Amateur Radio Club chairman David Palmer. “But only through organised contests where we try to contact as many people as we can within 24 hours.

“I don't know of anyone of our 80 members who would even consider jamming a signal – link ups with the space station are to be encouraged. But in any walk of life you get people turning something good into something bad, and the internet has made it easy for people to buy equipment you need a licence for.

“Just like people who create computer viruses or vandalise property you get mindless crimes – but not from amateur radio enthusiasts who have to pass exams and care about their hobby. And frankly, with the technology and security Nasa have, I doubt they have much to worry about.”

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