Dialed in: Harbor Creek students complete years-long task of livestreaming with space station
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This was one small step for man, one giant step for students at Harbor Creek.
On the morning of Dec. 11, students in the Advanced Technologies Group at Harbor Creek High School, 6375 Buffalo Road, hosted a live-streamed Amateur Radio on the International Space Station contact.
The 15 students from the AGT group got the opportunity to use the school’s equipment to contact and ask questions to NASA astronaut Andreas Mogensen, commander of the International Space Station.
It was an educational experience for these students as Mogensen answered all their questions concerning his space exploration.
Giles Veit, a sophomore at Harbor Creek, made the initial contact to begin the conversation with Mogensen around 8:45 a.m.
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Students were able to ask 13 total questions including, “How soon do you see living in space as a possibility in the future?” or “Do you believe we are alone in the universe?”
“I could not have asked for the event to go better,” said Drew Mortenson, Harbor Creek assistant principal and Advanced Technologies Group advisor. “We hoped to get about 10 minutes of conversation time with the astronaut. We hoped to get about 12 questions answered. We got 13 questions answered; we got a full 10 minutes of conversation. We were able to hear him. He was able to hear us the entire time. Truly there was nothing that was lacking in any regard. It was the best possible of all circumstances.”
How this event came to be
The event on Dec. 11 was a result of years of work.
According to Mortensen, this idea began several years ago with student interest. Students then studied the hardware and skills to successfully complete the task. The technology used for this event was just a simple amateur radio.
In 2022, the ATG group reached out to the organization that helps facilitate conversations with NASA. This was followed by an application where NASA had to be sure the group had the technology to pull this off.
The event was livestreamed and can be replayed on YouTube. The event even received national coverage from NBC’s "Today Show."
Who is Commander Andreas Mogensen?
According to the European Space Agency, Mogensen was born in Denmark in 1976. He received his master's degree in aeronautical engineering in 1999, along with a doctorate in aerospace engineering in 2007.
He was selected as an astronaut by NASA in 2009 and this past September became the sixth European to take the role as commander.
About the Advanced Technologies Group
The Advanced Technologies Group is taught by Mortensen, who completed the Introduction to Wireless Technology Program.
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They are a group of 26 students ranging from seventh to 12th grades dedicated to technology-centric activities and projects.
The group explores technology in all its forms and is self-directed on projects. Recently the students have been working on radio astronomy while mapping out galactic hydrogen to chart the Milky Way.
Other times this group can be found making contacts on the radio, building antennas and doing astrophotography.
Contact Nicholas Sorensen at nsorensen@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Amateur radio: Harborcreek PA students contact Space Station astronaut
