You might say that engineering students from Bishop O’Connell
High School in Arlington have their sights set on space. A group of students
have formed the Engineering Club and have been working with their teacher,
Melissa Pore, to learn more about data transmission in space.
Earlier in the year, they built small components that can travel
through space to relay environmental data back to their computers. They took
these components to Haymarket last month to test their systems using a drone to
reach higher altitude. The club is working toward eventually seeing their
experiment as a part of an educational component of a NASA launch into space.
At the same time, six of the club’s mission managers took a field
trip to the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS)
international meeting in College Park, Md., last month, where they were asked
to provide student perspectives on this program through a panel discussion.
Later in the week, they were honored to be included in a live
video-conferencing question and answer session with John Guidi, deputy director
of the Advanced Exploration Systems Division with NASA’s Human Exploration and
Operations Mission Directorate.
"I plan on majoring in computer science and getting a job as
a programmer one day," said sophomore Will Rimicci. "I've really
enjoyed being able to interact with people who do this kind of thing every
day."
O’Connell is scheduled to host a live amateur radio conversation Nov.
8 with an astronaut on the International Space Station. Students will have the
opportunity to ask the astronaut questions about everything from training to
everyday life on the ISS.
"Making this connection live is very exciting for all of
us," said Pore. "We made a call out to all our O'Connell students to
see who was interested in posing questions to the astronauts. I am thrilled to
see the broad cross section of students from the school, not just our
engineering students, who have asked to participate. This will truly be a
school-wide event."