Inukjuak prepares for April 12 space-talk

Students at Innalik school in Inukjuak will be talking to members of the International Space Station crew on April 12. (HANDOUT PHOTO)

Students at Innalik School in Inukjuak will have a real long-distance conversation April 12.

That’s when radio contact between the International Space Station and the students at the school will take place.

“Our students have been preparing questions for astronaut Chris Hadfield,” said Haley Digel, a teacher at the Innalik School, in an April 8 news release from the Kativik School Board. “The space contact is an exciting activity, which offers the opportunity to introduce scientific notions to our students in a very concrete manner.”

During the space contact, the school will also welcome members of public.

“This program plays an important role in energizing our students’ interest in science and technology,” said Innalik’s principal, Paul Bourassa. “It is great that parents and community members are able to participate along with our students.”

During the days leading up to the radio contact with Hadfield, students will take workshops on the phenomenon of northern lights.

And, depending on the weather, students may also take a nighttime northern-lights observation excursion.

The radio contact with the space station is scheduled to start at about 1:30 p.m. and will last for nine minutes and 30 seconds.

People with shortwave radios can also listen in on the 145.80 MHz downlink.

Innalik students plan to ask questions in Inuttitut, French and English, such as “Can you see Inukjuak from space?” “
Is the internet available on the Space Station and does it work as well as in Inukjuak?” “Where does your facial hair go when you shave in space?” “
Have you ever gotten hurt in space?”

The call has been set up by ARISS, an international educational outreach program partnering with the participating space agencies, which offers students like those in Inukjuak a chance to experience “the excitement of amateur radio” by talking directly with crewmembers on-board the International Space Station.

Through the contact, ARISS says on its website that “teachers, parents and communities see, first hand, how amateur radio and crewmembers on ISS can energize youngsters’ interest in science, technology, and learning.”