JOSH SWARTZLANDER / Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Friday, February 3, 2006 6:00 pm
They stood on the edge of a windblown field near Roca, pointing homemade antennas at a cloudless winter sky, listening for a signal from outer space.
One of the amateur radio operators began the countdown just before 10:50 a.m.
“Thirty seconds. Fifteen seconds. Ten, nine, eight…”
“What’s the azimuth?” yelled one of the antenna-holders.
“303,” a Lincoln Christian student yelled back. “Elevation, one.”
“Four, three, two, one…”
And the spacesuit, SuitSat-1, began its arc across the sky — from the northwest to the southeast — miles and miles above the humans gathered southwest of Roca Saturday morning to hear its message.
The crew of the international space station pushed the spacesuit, filled with nothing but old clothes and radio equipment, out the door on Friday with one mission: to transmit a picture and a message — recorded in six languages — to amateur radio operators across the globe.
Five Lincoln Christian students, their teacher, a few of their parents and other amateur radio enthusiasts gathered with antennas, laptops and radios to receive the transmission.
But the stubborn shell of a cosmonaut wasn’t talking.
“We got a lot of practice, but we didn’t get much of a signal,” said 14-year-old Steven Reckling, a Lincoln Christian student who lives in Firth. “At least the cookies were good.”
Turns out, nobody received a message from SuitSat late Saturday morning. After emitting faint transmissions during two orbits, the spacesuit stopped transmitting altogether, possibly because its batteries got too cold, NASA said.
So only the Lincoln Christian physics teacher heard parts of the message.
Jeremy Smith was outside at 4 a.m., the first time SuitSat flew over. He recorded faint, high-pitched beeps, but they’re too weak to convert into text or image, he said.
At about 11 a.m., after the spacesuit dipped back below the horizon without a peep, Smith called his students over to his laptop.
“OK, this is how it was supposed to work.”
He pointed an antenna at another laptop, which transmitted a picture — wirelessly — to his laptop.
This is exciting technology for Smith, who earned a scholarship last summer that took him to Connecticut, where he learned about teaching amateur — or “ham” — radio.
“Almost everything I’ve learned about physics is present in ham radio,” he said. “It brings together an interest with all the elements.”
Nathan Lowe, 14, another Lincoln Christian student, said the wireless communication technology could turn into a life-long hobby.
“I just like contacting stuff far, far away,” he said.
Lincoln Christian’s science club has been working with amateur radio technology all school year.
Club member Andrew Reinke helped build antennas — using plastic rods and pieces of measuring tape. Hannah Davis soldered wires to the antennas.
The group has participated in the international ham radio chatter: from Hawaii to Africa to Australia.
“You don’t know who you’ll talk to,” said Reckling, “but it might be fun.”
Reach Josh Swartzlander at 473-7120 or jswartzlander@journalstar.com.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.