PHOTO UPDATED 5:57 P.M.
Springfield, IL (CAPITOL CITY NOW) – Students at one Springfield public school got an opportunity that was, quite literally, out of this world.
Students at Lincoln Magnet School got the chance Friday morning to talk via amateur radio with an astronaut on the International Space Station. While the school had been working the last year to provide the opportunity, students themselves have been preparing almost around the clock for the last two weeks.
“It was really cool and interesting to see how somebody from so up high, you’d be able to communicate with them down here,” said Julia Anselment, 7th grade student. “I kind of understood more how they had to be able in a certain area” in order to get a clear signal to talk with the space station,” Julia said.
A select group of students got the chance to ask questions, chosen from among a large number of them submitted in advance to school administrators.
Lyric Standage ended up getting to ask two questions — an experience, she says, she’ll never forget.
“I know Lincoln Magnet is a good school, but I’d never thought that I would get this opportunity to speak to a real-life astronaut that’s actually in space,” said Standage.
Standage said she was still shaking after the opportunity had concluded, and believes it may help her consider a career in space.
It was almost a mission that almost had to be aborted. Students tried and failed fourteen times to make contact with the International Space Station at their appointed time. But, on the fifteenth try, an astronaut said the station could hear the students loud and clear.
What a relief, and what a teachable moment, said Nicole Heyen, principal.
“At Lincoln Magnet School, it’s all about relationships and connectivity,” said Heyen. “This was a great example of showing relationships here, in space, across Illinois, and across the world today. A lot of preparation just making contacts, making connections, so that we can make our best connection today.”
Heyen says it taught students about science, communication, and, among other things, to dream big.
Even the building of the antenna used for the amateur radio station was student-led — in this case, by a Springfield High School student working on her Eagle Scout project.
