Students' chance to chat to UK astronaut Tim Peake

A club is offering students from 1066 Country the chance to talk to British astronaut Tim Peake later this month.
Tim PeakeTim Peake
Tim Peake

Hastings Electronics and Radio Club (HERC) announced this week it will be working in conjunction with the Radio Society of Great Britain (RSGB) and St Richard’s Catholic College in Bexhill, where some of the students will be communicating with Tim aboard the International Space Station.

Gordon Sweet, the club’s secretary, said the contact is expected to take place in the third week of April.

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The event is part of Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS), which lets students worldwide experience the excitement of talking directly with station crew members with the aim of inspiring them to pursue interests in careers in science, technology, engineering and maths.

Tim, who is an Expedition 47 Flight Engineer, is conducting a six-month mission on the space station, called Principia. He arrived on the space station on December 15 last year and is performing more than 30 scientific experiments for the European Space Agency (ESA), as well as taking part in numerous others from the ESA’s international partners.

He made the history books in December, becoming Britain’s first ESA astronaut. and the first Briton to serve a mission on the International Space Station.

Tim beat more than 8,000 other applicants for one of the six places on the ESA’s new astronaut training programme. The selection process included taking academic tests, fitness assessments and several interviews.

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The space station will be gliding across ​Sussex night skies during April. Today (Friday) it approaches from the west at 9.31pm, tomorrow (Saturday) from the west at 8.38pm and 10.15pm and on Sunday (April 10), it again approaches from the west at 9.22pm.

HERC will also be attending the RSGB Build-a-thon at St Richard’s on Tuesday (April 12). Club members will be helping more than 20 students with the construction of amateur radio receivers, improving their knowledge of electronics and practical skills. The club will also be present at the two-day STEM space conference held at the college. Visit www.herc-hastings.org.uk.

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