Astronaut in space connects with Kuujjuaq students

As a connection was established from Italy, students in the Jaanimmarik school gymnasium could watch how fast the International Space Station was travelling. (Photo by Cedric Gallant)

“Nick, do you copy?” asked an Italian space radio operator as he connected Jaanimmarik high school in Kuujjuaq to the International Space Station.

“Yes, I am ready for the questions,” answered American astronaut Nick Hague, after a few seconds of static.

Oct. 11 marked the third time the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station program, in collaboration NASA, came to Kuujjuaq to connect students to an astronaut in space for a question-and-answer session.

The connection was established while the International Space Station was about 400 kilometres over Italy, travelling at a speed of 28,000 km/h.

There was limited time for the students to ask questions before the space station would fly out of range, so the group prepared 16 to be asked by a series of handpicked students.

They asked questions such as how many years of schooling did Hague need to become an astronaut; how he eats in space; and how he entertains himself inside the space station.

“Just watching the continents and the oceans drift by below,” is what Hague said he found the most entertaining part of being in space.

“My scariest moment has to be my first launch,” he said in response to another question. “The rocket malfunctioned about two minutes into the launch … that was a bit scary.”

After 10 minutes, Hague’s voice became muddled and eventually Jaanimmarik lost its connection with the astronaut as the space station travelled over the horizon.

Students got NASA-sponsored caps and T-shirts for the event. (Photos by Cedric Gallant)

The students were able to ask 14 of the 16 questions they had written down for Hague.

“My teacher gave me a paper with a question on it, saying ‘What would you want to ask an astronaut,’” said Grade 5 student Madison York in an interview after the event.

“I just wrote something random while in math class, I didn’t think I was going to actually speak to an astronaut in space!”

York said it was the “coolest thing ever” to speak to somebody floating in space, looking down at Earth.

“I am very proud I was able to go up there and ask the questions, I was so excited,” she said. She added she doesn’t think she could be an astronaut, though, because she is very claustrophobic.

But as a lover of mathematics, “watching the math they have to do to get someone in space is crazy,” York added.

Christina Lock, another student who had the chance to speak with Hague, said she didn’t stress about it too much beforehand.

She said the students did a practise run the day prior with their teacher, reading through the questions.

“I never thought I would ever experience something like that,” said Lock, reflecting on the experience.

Steve McFarlane, project co-ordinator at Amateur Radio on the International Space Station program based in Ottawa, said the program is worldwide and connected with all the space agencies in most parts of the world.

It has equipment installed on the International Space Station to improve the connection between the schools and institutions they visit.

The program started connecting to the space station in 1983. 

“Since we started, all the students that were here then, they are all adults running the community and their kids were the ones who talked today,” said McFarlane. 

Steve and Lori McFarlane travel the world with the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station program to connect youths with the International Space Station and further fuel the curiosity younger generations have about space.

Lori McFarlane, a teacher-mentor with the program, said the connection does not always work.

That happened in 2013 when they visited the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto and tried to reach Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield.

The connection had failed, but minutes later Lori McFarlane said she received a call and to her surprise, it was Hadfield.

“We always start by saying that it is an experiment,” she said.

Steve McFarlane jokingly said Hadfield may have had a slap on the hand for this, but he could not handle the possibility of not speaking to the children.

This year alone, the program has travelled to eight locations in South America. Steve McFarlane said it has also been to Antarctica once. In 2019, students at the Kiluutaq school in Umiujaq got to speak to astronaut David Saint-Jacques through a video conference.

Saint-Jacques was also a former doctor at the Inuulitsivik health centre in Puvirnituq.

All the students gathered in the Jaanimmarik school gymnasium to contact an astronaut aboard the International Space Station on Friday.