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Tim Peake is the first UK sponsored astronaut and joined the ISS on 15th December 2015. Since then, he has been busy getting to grips with life in space and carrying out his many responsibilities as a scientist on this important mission, including a space walk lasting over 4 hours, which made him the first British citizen to walk in space.
Tim is very keen to promote STEM subjects through his work in space, and has allocated some time to talk to students at six schools across England during his stay. RMS successfully bid for this opportunity and was allocated a slot, which took place at 6.09pm on Thursday 11th February 2016.
Before the contact itself, a panel of experts took questions from students and other visitors, and also stayed behind afterwards to talk about their work, as well as to give careers advice to students.
Our panel included:
- Libby Jackson and Susan Buckle, UK Space Agency
- Sian Cleaver, Airbus
- Matt Cosby and Frances Wray, QinetiQ
- Chris Bridges, University of Surrey and Surrey Space Centre
- The Institute of Engineering and Technology
The contact was made via amateur radio and ten students were able to pose questions to Tim as he flies overhead on the ISS.
You can watch the whole evening here http://amsat-uk.org/2016/02/12/ariss-uk-release-full-video-of-tim-peake-and-rms-contact/ , or a short version of the highlights as filmed by the BBC here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPDBfilMXgs&feature=youtu.be
BBC Three Counties Radio broadcast their entire drive time show from School, including an interview with Mrs Rose, who had definitely entered into the spirit of the day…
More about the contact can be read here on the AMSAT UK website http://amsat-uk.org/2016/02/07/ariss-rms-girls/
This was a truly memorable evening for the whole school community and we would like to thank all those who made it possible, notably ARISS who masterminded the whole event, the Radio Society of Great Britain who trained the girls to pass their radio licences, and our other guests from the UK Space Agency, the University of Surrey, the Institute of Engineering and Technology, the Association for Science Education, and especially Mrs Timoney and Miss Black from the School's Science Department.
Mr Spain was on hand to capture some photos of the evening, which you can enjoy below.