Transcript for Joan Martin Elementary School contact with the ISS
July 31, 2001
4:09 - 4:19 A.M. local time (CDT)
0909 - 0919 UTC

Mike Frank: NA1SS, NA1SS, this is KF9WW, Joan Martin School calling. Over.

Jim Voss: KF9WW, this is NA1SS, the International Space Station. Over.

Mike Frank: [Okay] Greetings, this is KF9WW, Joan Martin. We're ready to go. Stand by for
our children, over.

Jim Voss: Great! Its good to talk to all of you this morning there in Hobart, Indiana. [uh]
I'm Jim Voss on the International Space Station.

Mike Frank: [Okay, ready?]

All the kids: Hello from Joan Martin, Hobart, Indiana!

Jim Voss: Good morning! Its very early there!

Mike Frank: All right Jim, here we go with our questions. First student up now.


[Children's last names omitted for privacy.]

(1) Wesley, age 10, Liberty Elementary: What is the most unexpected thing you have
encountered? Over.

Jim Voss: Hi Wesley. The most unexpected thing I've encountered was when all three of our
main computers on the space station had a problem, all at the same time. We never thought
that would happen. Luckily, the people on the ground who support our flight were able to
figure out what to do and they were able to solve the problem and now all of our computers
are working properly. Over.


(2) Kyle, age 8, Joan Martin Elementary School: Do you see falling stars? Over.

Jim Voss: Kyle, it is possible to see falling stars, but I have not been lucky enough to
see one. [uh] I don't spend too much time looking out the windows at night. That's when we
would be able to see them. Usually we look out the windows during the daytime when we take
photographs of the earth. Over.


(3) Megan, age 11, Hobart Middle School: About how high are you from the earth? Over.

Jim Voss: Good morning Megan. We are 400 kilometers, or about 210 miles above the earth,
circling it every hour and a half. Over.


(4) Ryan, age 10, Ridge View Elementary: How do you stay in shape in space? Over.

Jim Voss: That's a good question Ryan. We have to exercise in space because up here we
float around and its very easy on our bodies. So if we want to be able to walk and to do
normal things when we come back to the earth, we must exercise. We have three different
exercise devices up here. We have a treadmill so we can run. We have to be strapped down
to it so we don't bounce away while we're running. We also have a bicycle. We have to be
tied down to it also if we ride. [uh] Its a stationary bicycle. It doesn't go anywhere.
And then we have, its like a weight machine that allows us to lift weights to keep our
muscles all in shape. So with these three devices, we're able to stay in pretty good shape
and we hope to be able to walk and do normal things right away when we get back to earth
in about three weeks. Over.


(5) Cameron, age 11, Joan Martin Elementary School: What is the most exciting thing that's
happened while you were in space? Over.

Jim Voss: Cameron, I think that the most exciting thing for me has been when I've done
space walks, when I get to go outside. Opening the hatch and sticking your head out and
being able to see the entire earth without having to look through a window is just a
remarkable experience. And I've been fortunate enough to do that four times, and its just
as remarkable every time that I get to do it. Over.


(6) PJ, age 10, Ridge View Elementary: How hard does the impact feel as you are launching
into space? Over.

Jim Voss: Hi PJ. That's a very interesting [uh] experience when we launch. Its quite
exciting. The space shuttle starts shaking and rattling and then all of a sudden when the
big bolts release and the whole rocket is free to [to] launch, its like someone is getting
behind you, and you're sitting in a chair, and they just push it as hard and as fast as
they can, and you accelerate [uh] very quickly. And eventually we get up to three times
the acceleration due to gravity so it sort of feels like you're [you're] laying on the
floor with two people your size sitting on top of your chest. [uh] Its really quite an
exciting ride going [on] into orbit. Over.


(7) Bree, age 9, George Earle Elementary: What time zone do you use? Over.

Jim Voss: Well Bree, since we go around the world all the time, they have chosen for us
to use Greenwich Mean Time, which is kind of a standard time. That's in England and its
what [uh] people use as sort of a universal time throughout the world. Right now in [uh]
Greenwich Mean Time its ten minutes after nine in the morning. Over.


(8) Zack, age 10, Joan Martin Elementary: What kind of space food do you eat and what is
your favorite? Over.

Jim Voss: We have a lot of different kinds of food, Zack.  [uh] My favorite ones are, its
a Russian food called "sporrun" [?]. Its kind of like a dairy product that I mix with fruit,
and it tastes very good, kind of like yogurt. And I also like [uh] a barbecued brisket that
we have, [uh] one of the American foods. I really enjoy almost all of the foods. We have
quite a variety because half of our food is [is] American and half of it is Russian. Over.


(9) Meghan, age 10, Liberty Elementary: What are some of your experiments? Over.

Jim Voss: Hi Meghan. We have a lot of different experiments onboard. [uh] Doing a lot of
radiation experiments to look at the radiation environment of the space station and see
its effect on the human body. We're also looking at some growing crystals, of a particular
type, that are used in pharmaceutical research. And looking at colloids. Colloids are like
when you mix up dirt with water, and the dirt is suspended in the water, that sort of thing.
They have a particular application [uh] in science that if we can do them better in space,
then it will help them with the research on the ground. Those are a couple of our experiments
that we have. Over.


(10) Kaleigh, age 8, Joan Martin Elementary School: How long did it take for you to travel
to the space station? Over.

Jim Voss: Kaleigh, we take eight and a half minutes to get into space when we launch on the
space shuttle. But then it takes us another two days to catch up with the space station. We
have to very slowly do it. But we're at the same altitude. Its just a matter of catching up
and then docking with it. So usually after two days we actually get to the space station. Over.


(11) Ryan, age 6, Liberty Elementary: What is the first thing you want to eat when you get
home?

Mike Frank: What is the first thing that you want to eat when you get home? Over.

Jim Voss: Oh, okay Ryan. That's a good question because I miss a lot of the things that I
normally get to eat on the earth. And I'm [I'm} sort of wavering between whether I want
ice cream, which we don't have up here, and a hamburger, which I haven't had for over five
months. So, I'll probably have both of those when I first get back. Over.


(12) Paul, age 11, Hobart Middle School: Is it harder to breathe in your space suit than it
is on earth? Over.

Jim Voss: Well actually Paul, its the same as breathing [uh] on earth because they provide
us with a mixture of oxygen that allows us to breathe normally when we're inside our space
suits, even though we're at a lower pressure than we normally are when we're on the earth.
And the space suit works great. Over.


(13) Amanda, age 12, Hobart Middle School: What happens if you run out of resources and
supplies? Over.

Jim Voss: That's a good question Amanda. That's a huge problem for the space station because,
as you know, everything has to be brought up, on rockets or on the space shuttle. So keeping
track of everything that we have, and bringing up new supplies is a huge logistical problem.
[uh] We hope we'll never run out of things but if we do get short on things, they'll bring
up more on the space shuttle. And we have a plan that allows us to [uh] ensure that we don't
run out of things by having about forty-five days extra resources onboard, or even more. Like
water, which we use a lot of, and we use it to [uh] generate our oxygen supply. We have
several hundred days extra of that onboard. Over.

(14) Harrison, age 7, Liberty Elementary: Why do you float in space? Over.

Jim Voss: Well, we float in space because we're actually flying around the earth, and the
attraction of the earth's gravitational field pulls us back in towards the earth. But because
we're still flying away from the earth, we're sort of like falling all of the time. And so,
we're not really floating but we're sort of falling around the earth. And that gives us the
feeling of floating all the time. And its a wonderful sensation, by the way. Its really nice
to be able just to float up to the ceiling and work, or to be upside down and it not make
any difference. Its a wonderful [uh] experience and a great way to [uh] to work while you're
in space. Over.

(15) Anne, age 9, Ridge View Elementary: How do you go to sleep without bumping your head?
Over.

Jim Voss: That's a good question Anne and sometimes I do bump my head. [uh] We have sleeping
bags that we sleep in, but you still float up and down a little bit and if I happen to push
with my foot just a little, I'll drift up until I hit the top of my sleep station where
there's a light. And I'll bump my head there just very gently, and then I'll just bounce
back down again. [uh] Usually we don't do that but sometimes it does happen. Over.

(16) Katie, age 9, Ridge View Elementary: Where do you put your trash? Over.

Jim Voss: Well Katie, we have garbage bags just like you do on the ground and we put all
of our trash in there. [uh] They're rubber bags so that the garbage won't smell after awhile.
We seal them up and then we put them in what's called the Progress Vehicle. Its a Russian
rocket that comes up here and it has a chamber in it that we put all of our garbage and the
used stuff that we don't need anymore. And then that rocket goes back into the earth's
atmosphere after its full and its all burned up and destroyed.  Sometimes we put some stuff
on the space shuttle, and it comes back in the space shuttle and then they dispose of it
like they would normal garbage. Over.


(17) Nick, age 12, Hobart Middle School: How does the limited supply of oxygen affect your
body? Over.

Jim Voss: Well fortunately we have enough oxygen, and its not limited up here. They provide
us with the proper amount of oxygen. Should we have [uh] a problem with our oxygen supply,
then we would have to come home because, as you know, human beings can't live without oxygen.
So, if we had a problem with it and couldn't have the [the] amount of oxygen that we need,
we would get in our escape vehicle and we would return to the earth. Over.


Mike Frank: Okay Jim, this is KF9WW. On behalf of the students, parents, teachers, and
Hobart School administration, we'd like to thank you and the astronauts aboard the
International Space Station, NASA, ARRL, AMSAT, for this opportunity and wish you the very,
very best wishes. NA1SS, this is KF9WW and Joan Martin and the students. 73's.

Jim Voss: Well thank you very much Frank, [uh] Mike, [uh] it was great talking with the
students today. I enjoyed the questions. They were wonderful questions. I know y'all put
a lot of thought into them. And I hope that [uh] you will continue to study space in school
and all of you will reach for the stars. This is the International Space Station. Out.