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Interview with an Astronaut

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Our beloved student, Ms. Lora Estrella, ultimately the victim of a senselessly violent act, is seen here asking the first question.

On Thursday, August 19th, 1999 a few selected members of the boys and girls class were asked to do an interview with Astronaut James Reilly. Dr. Reilly was transmitting from the Johnson Spaceflight Center in Houston, Texas on amateur radio frequency 14.270 MHZ (20 meters). His amateur radio callsign was W5RRR. The students got to experience short wave communications with a ham radio brought in by SGA Mentor Teacher, K.D. Borcoman --K6KDB/WB6NUD. The transceiver used was an ICOM 735 running 100 watts of power into a makeshift inverted "V" antenna placed on the roof of SGA. The students were asked to come up with questions that they could ask Astronaut Reilly. This was a great learning experience for the students who got to take part in the activity. Here are a few examples of the questions that were asked:

What kind of training was needed to become an astronaut?

Are you going to be living aboard the I.S.S.?

What do you hope to accomplish while aboard the I.S.S.?

Do you think that you will find life in space?