Abstract:
Tapping her platform-sandaled foot in anticipation, Camilla Moshayedi reviewed
the question she had prepared for space shuttle Columbia commander Eileen
M. Collins.
Through the wizardry of amateur radio and an elaborate satellite "telebridge," 12-year-old Camilla and 19 of her classmates from Harbor View Elementary School in Corona del Mar were about to get a long-distance line to space. At 5:40 p.m. Saturday, they made contact with the crew members of the orbiting shuttle--the first ever with a female commander.
From the shuttle flight deck, hovering over
the Pacific Ocean, Collins said . . . something. Unfortunately, Camilla, her
classmates and several dozen parents and friends couldn't hear the response.
Full Text:
(Copyright, The Times Mirror Company; Los Angeles Times 1999 all Rights reserved)
Tapping her platform-sandaled foot in anticipation, Camilla Moshayedi reviewed
the question she had prepared for space shuttle Columbia commander Eileen
M. Collins.
Through the wizardry of amateur radio and an elaborate satellite "telebridge,"
12-year-old Camilla and 19 of her classmates from Harbor View Elementary School
in Corona del Mar were about to get a long-distance line to space. At 5:40
p.m. Saturday, they made contact with the crew members of the orbiting shuttle--the
first ever with a female commander.
When Camilla approached the phone set up in the front of the school's multipurpose
room, her voice was clear and strong: "Is there anything special about
the seating arrangement on the shuttle? Over."
From the shuttle flight deck, hovering over the Pacific Ocean, Collins said
. . . something. Unfortunately, Camilla, her classmates and several dozen
parents and friends couldn't hear the response.
The call was arranged on short notice--only 10 days ago, and the audio system
could not adequately amplify the astronaut's answers.
That technical glitch aside, the call made through SAREX--the Space Amateur
Radio Experiment--was a success. Eight children got to ask questions, about
space food, the way liftoff feels and about the significance of being the
first female commander, before the connection broke off.
Sometime Monday, they should be able to read Collins' responses on the Internet--transcribed
from a recording made of the call. The address is https://members.tripod.com/sarexview.
Despite the slight letdown, Camilla was thrilled.
"I'm really happy I got to talk to her," she said afterward. "She's
practically a celebrity, as the first female commander."
Harbor View was one of five schools scheduled to talk on Saturday with the
astronauts, on a mission to release the Chandra X-Ray Observatory into orbit.
The experiment was initiated by K.D. "Doug" Borcoman, a computer-science
instructor for the Orange County Department of Education.
"To have eight or 10 questions answered is considered excellent,"
Borcoman told the parents and children after the five-minute chat. "There
are so many complexities involved."
Credit: TIMES STAFF WRITER