The Independent Newspaper serving the Hamptons, North Fork, Shelter Island and East End of Long Island, Suffolk County, NY

The Independent Newspaper serving the Hamptons, North Fork, Shelter Island and East End of Long Island, Suffolk County, NY

"Students To Talk To Astronauts
By Erica Jackson

Twelve Riverhead Central School District students will soon get to do something that they will remember for years to come: Next month, they will speak directly with Russian astronauts aboard the International Space Station.

The students have waited patiently three years, said Connie Gevinski, coordinator of the school districts School to Work program.

In was in 2002 that the school district first made an application to NASA and within weeks, it received approval. However, Gevinski said the district was told it would have to wait its turn.
During the week of December 5, the students will become the 210th group to speak to the astronauts as the space station hovers above Aquebogue Elementary School.

They only get about 10 minutes, said Gevinski, because of the space stations positioning. According to Gevinski, contact with the astronauts can only be made when the space station is directly overhead and it cant be done without the help of the Peconic HAM Radio Club, headed by Roberta Kief.
The radio club is making this happen for us, said Gevinski, who explained that HAM radio is the astronauts second line of defense if their communications systems go down.

Since the students have limited time to talk to the astronauts, they have carefully formulated their questions and have been practicing just how they will be posed.

The students selected to speak with the astronauts are some of the best public speakers in the school, said Gevinski.

But not only have the students spent time preparing their questions, they also conducted significant research on space, the spac"




73 fer nw,
Bob AD5VJ

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Code may be taking a back seat for now,
but the pioneering spirit that put the code
there in the first place is out front of it all.