NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

From snoring in space to Earth observations

Through the magic of radio, Expedition 8 Commander Michael Foale recently met with more than 900 people while he was orbiting the Earth. Topics ranged from snoring to seeing changes on the Earth's surface.

Image right: Hundreds of students at James Bay Elementary School in Seabrook, Texas listened to the radio event.

The JSC Amateur Radio Club at Johnson Space Center connected Foale with hundreds of students and their teachers at James F. Bay Elementary School in Seabrook, Texas. That organization, helped by the Clear Lake Amateur Radio Club, provided the equipment and expertise for the contact.

One of the questioners was Ian Foale, son of the Station commander and a student at the school. "Can you detect changes in land forms on Earth from the ISS?" the younger Foale asked. "Yes," his father replied, "we can detect changes. They happen slowly over many months. We can see the snow building up on mountains, and we can see the glaciers developing in the Patagonia area. Also, we can see erosion of dirt and mud down rivers into the sea."

"Can you see the phases of the moon and do they look the same as they do on Earth?" Dustin Suchon asked. Foale answered: "The phases of the moon look the same here as they do to you, but the moon looks very different. It looks sort of brown and gold, with reddish places on it."

Madison Cox asked if people snore in space as they do on Earth and if it sounds the same. Foale said he was fortunate that he doesn't hear crewmate Alexander Kaleri snore because Foale wears earplugs at night. He said in response to another question that falling asleep in space is easy, because you're floating, "and it's very, very comfortable."

The event was sponsored by the American Radio Relay League as part of the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station program. It was the 126th such contact since the program began with the first Station crew in December 2000. Crewmembers have spoken with students in 18 countries.

Fourth-grader Bristol Gunderson, who asked two questions of Foale, thought the event was great. "I think we should let all (students) do this," she said. "We got to talk to people in space!"



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