- March 5, 2025
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An event at Pine View School on Jan. 28 showed just how far the dreams of students could reach: all the way to the International Space Station.
That distance was a total of about 248 miles above earth, with the station orbiting at 17,500 mph and tracked with a special moving radio antenna fixed to the school's roof.
Yet the voice of Sunita Williams, space station commander of Expedition 72, came into the auditorium, clear for most of the duration of the call.
Marie Rosander, a sixth-grade earth and space science teacher, credited two students, Connor Craig and Paula Cuellar, with making the event possible when they approached her last year asking her to fund the NASA space club.
“I thought it was truly remarkable that we could actually talk to Suni up in space, and it’s something that I’ll never forget," Cuellar said.
Sponsored by STEMania and part of the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) program, the event brought together the space club and the Pine View, Tamiami and Fort Myers amateur radio clubs.
Yet also present was a special guest, none other than Sunita Williams' mother Bonnie Pandya.
It was "a little difficult" to deal with her daughter still being in space after nearly eight months said Pandya, a resident of Nokomis.
What was initially an eight-day mission stretched into eight months, as Williams and her partner Butch Wilmore were unable to return due to safety issues with the Boeing Starliner spacecraft that was planned to transport them home.
Pandya said although she often feels concerned, her daughter offers reassurances that the situation is OK.
“I miss her," Panya said. "I love my daughter so much, and I'm just happy when I see her outreach to everybody.”
Williams surpassed her previous record for the longest spacewalk by a woman on Thursday, with a walk of 62 hours and 6 minutes. She has flown aboard the space shuttle Discovery, the Russian Soyuz spacecraft, and the Boeing Starliner.
With the astronauts' return now set for late March or April this year, they have devoted their time to performing science experiments and maintenance tasks — and sometimes speaking with students.
“It's fantastic, and she's an inspirator,” Pandya said. “She really loves kids, and she does everything to include them in different programs, and I'm really proud of her for that.”
Yet communicating with the space station is a precise operation.
Cuellar recounted, “It was a little nerve-wracking, because we didn't know if we would get the contact with Suni or not, and once it happened, once we got contact, and everything was fine… then I was really happy that it could happen.”
When Williams' voice emerged via ham radio at 11:21, students launched directly into the questions they had prepared in advance to fit the 11-minute time frame.
Cuellar said she learned a lot that day about the differences between space and the earth, including that some things are more difficult in space.
"As soon as you get to space, it starts to have an effect on you," Williams told students. "Things are a little bit weird because your balance is not quite there, and in a small spacecraft, it's okay. But when you get into the International Space Station, wow, you can tumble all over the place..."
She went on to describe questions about space from the experience of a rocket launch, which she called "pretty amazing" and "like the best roller coaster ride you've ever been on," to her favorite food on the space station (the lasagna, which has a lot of pesto.)
Her best moment, she said, was witnessing the glowing Aurora Borealis on her first space walk.
"It was just mind blowing that we have that energy in our universe, and we really don't even know how to think about it or tap into it. It just puts everything in perspective," she said.
She also noted another way in which being in space changes someone's perspective.
"We look at our planet and we know that's the only place that we know of that we can be living, so you're really changing your perspective about how humanity should be working together, and how today's exploration really brings people together," she said.
She also had some advice for aspiring astronauts.
"Ask as many questions as possible," she said. Don't ever be satisfied with, 'I don't know... I think if you want to be an astronaut, you just have to be curious and you have to be ready to explore."
Stephen Phillips of the Tamiami Amateur Radio Club said the call, the first space call he had conducted in his 50 years of experience, wasn't a responsibility he took lightly.
“We worked very hard to make this a success, and we're very, very pleased with how well it went," he said.
The club serves as guidance for the Pine View School Amateur Radio Club, which teaches students the fundamentals they need to achieve a ham radio technician license. For the event, it partnered with the Fort Myers club for the use of their equipment.
Due to a grant from American Radio Relay League , the school will also be receiving its own permanent radio station, W4PVS.
Phillips said the call presented unique considerations.
As it progressed, they had to adjust for the Doppler effect — a chance in the frequency of a wave when an observer moves relative to its source.
He said layers in the ionosphere, part of Earth's upper atmosphere, tend to reflect back certain radio frequencies, which means using the correct frequencies is a must.
He also said the ISS antennae was not particularly efficient, which meant the antennae on the school's roof was necessary, with its ability to focus a narrow, laser-like beam at the station.
“It's amazing, amazing that we managed to get it done, that it worked," Rosander said. "We had our fingers crossed. It was a process, a long process, and (I feel) just overwhelmed, happy, exhilarated, amazing.”
