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eHam.net News
/////////////////////////////////////////// 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). /////////////////////////////////////////// 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? |
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