Forum participants Engineers of the Future contacted the International Space Station

Participants of the Engineers of the Future forum held a radio contact with International Space Station astronauts and in seven minutes asked them nine questions. Young engineers asked about orbital experiments, the crews impressions and life in weightlessness, and the astronauts said Baikal is especially beautiful from space. For IrGTU students this was already the fourth such contact with the ISS.

A radio communication session with astronauts aboard the International Space Station was held the day before, on July 24, by participants of the Second International Youth Industrial Forum “Engineers of the Future.” The session was organized by Forum participants — students of N.I. Irkutsk State Technical University.
The International Space Station entered the radio reception area of the Forum participants at about 7:40 a.m. Irkutsk time. According to Sergei Krenya, head of the amateur radio club at the Institute of Physics and Technology of Irkutsk State Technical University and a postgraduate student at the Department of Radio Electronics and Telecommunication Systems at IrGTU, at that time the ISS was at an altitude of 409 km above Lake Baikal.
The Forum participants received the radio signal from the ISS for 7 minutes. During this time, students and young engineers from Irkutsk, Ulan-Ude, Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod, and Rostov-on-Don were able to ask 9 questions to Russian cosmonauts Gennady Padalka, Sergei Revin, and Yuri Malenchenko. The Forum participants were interested in the scientific experiments currently being conducted by the members of the international space expedition, as well as the cosmonauts’ observations and impressions.
Answering the young people’s questions, the cosmonauts explained that on the ISS day turns into night 16 times during a 24-hour period; that, from space, the most attractive place on Earth is Lake Baikal; and that the most difficult thing for expedition members in space is getting used to weightlessness, etc.
For the amateur radio operators of Irkutsk State Technical University, this was the fourth radio communication session with the International Space Station. For the second time, it was held as part of the International Youth Industrial Forum “Engineers of the Future - 2012.” The first session took place in June 2010.
At present, the crew of the 32nd long-duration expedition continues to work on the ISS, consisting of Commander Gennady Padalka and flight engineers Sergei Revin (Roscosmos) and Joseph Acaba (NASA). Participants of the 32nd/33rd long-duration expedition — Yuri Malenchenko (Roscosmos), Sunita Williams (NASA), and Akihiko Hoshide (JAXA) — joined them on July 17.
As a reminder, the Second International Youth Industrial Forum “Engineers of the Future” is taking place in the village of Bolshoe Goloustnoye from July 17 to 30 on the initiative of the Union of Machine Builders of Russia and the Government of the Irkutsk Region. A permanent partner in organizing the Forum is N.I. Irkutsk State Technical University.
1,500 students, postgraduates, scientists, and young specialists from Russia and foreign countries are taking part in the Forum. The Irkutsk Region is represented at the Forum by 100 people from Irkutsk and Bratsk, including students of N.I. IrGTU and young engineers from the Irkutsk Aviation Plant, the Irkutsk Heavy Machinery Plant, the Irkutsk Relay Plant, and other enterprises.