Amateur Radio Club teams with Kiroli Elementary for space station contact | ULM Forum 10-7-11

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For decades, Americans have had a love affair with space, and for even longer, a dedication for exploring the unknown. Recently, members of the Amateur Radio Club at the University of Louisiana at Monroe helped pass on that enthusiasm to another generation at Kiroli Elementary School in West Monroe.

Through a NASA program that allows schools to contact the International Space Station, Kiroli students were able ask questions of one of the astronauts on board via amateur radio.

ULM Associate Professor of Computer Science Dr. Paul Wiedemeier advises the Amateur Radio Club. Along with his son Connor, a 5th grader at Kiroli and Terri O'Banion, a junior in computer science from Pineville, Wiedemeier took joy in having a part in the first contact with the space station from a Louisiana elementary school.

Wiedemeier

For approximately 10 minutes, the time of an International Space Station overhead pass, the Kiroli students asked questions of the astronaut about life in space and related topics.

ULM Amateur Radio Club members Kayla Laney of West Monroe, Terri O'Banion of Pineville, Paul Boquet of Monroe, Cameron Brister of Alexandria, Aaron Miyahira of West Monroe, and David Reeves of West Monroe provided assistance during the event.

All six students are pursuing a major in computer science within the ULM College of Business Administration.

For more information about the ULM Amateur Radio Club or how to obtain an amateur radio license, contact Wiedemeier at wiedemeier@ulm.edu or 318-342-1856 or by visiting the club's Web site at www.cs.ulm.edu/~pdw/ULMARC.

Air Date: Fri, 10/07/2011