Manipur students link up live with space station astronaut

IMPHAL, Feb 9 : A `Space talk` programme with an astronaut stationed at the International Space Station (ISS) and students of the Manipur University and Central Agricultural University, CAU, was held today at the Assembly Hall of CAU at Iroisemba under the sponsorship of a group named Friends of Assam and Seven Sisters (FASS).

The space talk with Mike Fincke, NASA astronaut and commander of the Expedition 18 Mission was held for about 10 minutes. The communication was operated by Iris, vice chairman of the Amateur Radio Ground Station, Australia.

The talk was participated by 14 students of Manipur University and Central Agricultural University. Answering a question, Mike Fincke said that his space home which was 360 km away from earth was very cold now.

He said it was very tiring to maintain the space home and asked about the Loktak lake in Manipur which he said looked beautiful from space when they passed over this part of the globe.

He also said that among the buildings only the Great Wall of China could be seen as the earth was foggy almost all the time.

He further said that as living in space needs exercise they exercised for two hours every day. The oxygen brought from the earth was also recycled by them, he added.

The astronaut said that his wife was from Assam and promised that he would visit Manipur when he came to the north east. The students at the talk were also impressed when the spaceman spoke a little Manipuri to their surprise.

The talk started from 3.36.19 sec today evening and lasted for 10 minutes. The students present at the show, while speaking to the media after the show, said they were inspired by the NASA astronaut and now wanted to become astronauts themselves.

No comments:

Post a Comment