'It’s a cool experience': North Bay students speak to astronaut in space
Grade 8 students at West Ferris Secondary School had an out-of-this-world experience Monday morning speaking with an astronaut who is currently orbiting Earth on board the International Space Station (ISS).
"It’s going to be fun talking to them. I’ll be nervous," said student Silvianna Stewart.
"But it’s a cool experience. I’m glad I get to enjoy it."
While waiting for the call to link up, the students only heard static. Then a successful linkup connected with the space station and on the other end of the line was Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata, who is currently on board.
Using a relay station in Belgium to transmit the long-distance call, the contact lasted for about 15 minutes and students had a chance to ask questions about Wakata’s time in space and his daily trip around the Earth.
Grade 8 student Daoshil Patel is interested in science and space exploration. He had a chance to ask Wakata about his time as an astronaut.
"I’d want to feel how it would be on that kind of experience," Patel said.
"I will get to hear what it feels like to be an astronaut."
Wakata first became an astronaut in 1993. His first mission off-world occurred in 1996, on the Endeavour Space Shuttle. He is currently on his fifth mission in outer space.
"When you go on a spacewalk for six hours, you get really tired, especially through your head," Wakata told the students.
He explained more about the joy he gets looking out and seeing the planet, his role on board the space station, what his favourite memories are and what the food tastes like. In total, he has spent over a year in space.
"Today, I surpassed 400 days in space," he said.
Grade 8 science teacher Jason Henstridge has been teaching his students a little bit about gravity, velocity and the feeling you would have of floating in the atmosphere.
His fellow teacher Kelly Shulman made a proposal several years ago with the Amateur Radio on the ISS (ARISS) and through that, the school was granted contact with the crew.
The ARISS program lets students around the world, experience the excitement of talking directly with crew members of the International Space Station, hoping to inspire them to pursue interests in careers in science, technology, engineering and math.
"There are always a few students who get inspired by things like this," said Henstridge. "So we’re really excited to give them the opportunity to do that."
It was an out-of-this-world contact, a call thousands of kilometres away, that few will ever forget.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.