eHam.net News

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Amateur Radio Connects Discovery Class to Space Station:

Posted: 05 Apr 2013 05:14 PM PDT
http://www.eham.net/articles/29991


MADISON -- Amateur radio may seem low-tech, but this medium went sky high
to an in-flight astronaut for Discovery Middle School students. "The
students chatted with astronaut Dr. Tom Marshburn (who serves as physician
for the space station team) for approximately 10 minutes as the
International Space Station flew directly over Huntsville," Jane Caudle
said. The session was staged at the University of Alabama in
Huntsville. "We put to use our amateur radio lessons that we explored for a
month preceding the UAH field trip," Caudle said. Caudle teaches
eighth-grade physical science and serves as science department chair at
Discovery. "This opportunity allowed our university students to share their
experience with amateur radio to middle-schoolers in the area." Two of
Caudle's classes, or about 60 students, participated in the
session. "Students asked questions about what astronauts did when they had
personal time on the space station," Caudle said. In addition, the
Discovery youth wanted to know about required training to become an
astronaut. "What was the scariest thing that happened to you onboard the
ISS?" was one question. Four Discovery students had the opportunity for
one-and-one conversations with an astronaut. This exchange was affiliated
with an education partnership program named Amateur Radio on International
Space Station (ARISS).


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Solar Maximum: Fizzle, or Finale Yet to Come?

Posted: 05 Apr 2013 05:13 PM PDT
http://www.eham.net/articles/29990


Thinking back through my life, I recall four times when I took notice of
sunspots one way or another. Back in 1980 when I was in the 12th grade, I
remember seeing them in solar images I projected from my 4-inch Astroscan
telescope. Then in 1991, when I worked in an aircraft hangar at NASA/Ames
Research Center, I remember walking by a disk of light on the floor and
realizing that it was an image of the sun projected from a hole in the
hangar roof -- making the entire hangar a giant pinhole camera. The disk
was several inches across, and in it I saw sunspots once again. In 2002,
around the time that I started working at Chabot Space & Science Center, I
made a regular activity of sharing the spotty sun with visitors, teachers,
and summer camp kids alike, using Sunspotter Telescopes, pinhole
projectors, and filtered telescopes. Again, the spotty sun was raised in my
awareness. And now in 2013, we have spots once again! The pattern was
always there for me to notice: 1980, 1991, 2002, 2013. See it? I didn't,
until in recent years, because noticing the regular pattern of the
appearance of sunspots over time requires that you notice the times when
the sun isn't so spotty. During those times, the sun simply fell from my
attention because there wasn't much to see. bIf you've been following the
sun lately, you're aware that we're somewhere in the midst of Solar
Maximum: that season in the solar cycle of greatest magnetic activity when
sunspots and other related magnetic events like solar flares and coronal
mass ejections are frequent and pronounced. On average, Solar Maximum comes
every 11 years, reaching a singular high in magnetic activity and then
relaxing toward Solar Minimum. By the original predictions, Solar Maximum
was expected to peak around May of 2013. However, except for a sharp spike
in activity in late 2011, all of 2012 fell below par, appearing on graphs
as if Solar Maximum climaxed a year early and is now on the way out. Did it
fizzle, ending unexpectedly early -- and after a performance that fell
short of the anticipated mark? Or perhaps\&with a light drum roll\&is the
drop in activity we've observed lately only a brief calm before a
spectacular resurgence?