TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV) — As kids, many of us wanted to become astronauts, and now some local students are getting a close encounter with people who are out of our world.
After months of planning and a rigorous application process, the Terre Haute Children’s Museum has been selected as one of three organizations to participate in the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station program.
Laurel Tincher, Program Manager at the Terre Haute Children’s Museum, said this program will allow children to speak with astronauts that are floating above us right now.
“I was reading through a newsletter from NASA and it talked about this ARISS program that had to be between an organization and an amateur radio group”, Tincher said. “I asked them if they would be interested, and they were on board and now here we are.”
That amateur radio group is the Wabash Valley Amateur Radio Association, who will be responsible for using an antenna, on the top of Candlewood Suites in Terre Haute.
Vice President of the club, Todd Emmert, said they will create a radio signal from the space station to the children’s museum.
“It’s actually going to track it across the horizon, so we have good point of sight and good connectivity”, Emmert said. “That will come down through about 200 feet of coax, down into the activities room up on the third floor, where the station will be live. That’s where our students will be able to talk live to the astronaut.”
The process will not only be a challenge for the museum, but also the kids.
Katie Miller, Director of Gibson Allen Memorial Planetarium, said they will go through four to six months of educational training on the topic of space.
“My astronomy classes are learning about the International Space Station”, Miller said. “We’re doing activities relating to the International Space Station and we also have some film that we’re showing as part of our spring and summer programming in the planetarium. Public outreach as well. A lot of things we’re doing to get the word out there that we’re contacting the space station.”
Any child in the Wabash Valley can apply to be a part of the event, however only a select few will get the chance.
“Today, we worked with homeschool kids on some things about space and such so they are eligible to put in a question”, Tincher. “We have a QR code that will take them to a form where they can put their question in and then we will have a panel that will select the final 20 questions. We’re looking for questions that are unique, that haven’t been asked before, that have a little bit of heart to them. Then those children will be invited in to actually speak with astronauts.”
The Terre Haute Children’s Museum will only have around a ten-minute window to be in contact with the International Space Station.
“We will be getting our window narrowed down very shortly”, Tincher said. “Right now, all we know, is it will be sometime between July and December.”
The Terre Haute Children’s Museum will host “Blast Off to the International Space Station” on Saturday, April 5th, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
That event will be centered around education on space and astronauts. It is free for members and included in daily admission.
