Australian Air League, Gawler, cadets Annika Amner, Maycen Zerner, Joe Dennett, Hayden Borchard, Blake Wandel and Matthew Jacks and Gawler Mayor Karen Redman before the cadets chatted to an astronaut on the International Space Station last week. PHOTOS: Supplied
SIX Gawler kids had the chance to chat to an astronaut floating more than 400km above the earth surface at an event on Friday night.
Australian Air League, Gawler, cadets travelled to the Port Adelaide Aviation Museum to connect with the International Space Station (ISS) and chat with astronaut Dr Andrew Morgan.
The cadets had to wait until the ISS was travelling over Hawaii to connect with the astronaut, with only a nine-minute window available to ask questions and to hear Dr Morgan’s wisdom.
Australian Air League, Gawler, squadron captain Andrew Jacks said the young aviation enthusiasts learned a lot from Dr Morgan.
“It’s something you don’t really get the chance to do, talking to an astronaut in the ISS. It’s quite rare,” he said.
“They were really excited. What they actually got out of it was having their question answered and finding out something about living in space you can’t just do a Google search for.”
The opportunity to connect with the ISS and speak to Mr Morgan had been more than a year in the making, with the event set up by the South Australia wing of the Australian Air League and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
Mr Jacks said many cadets were taking increasing interest in space and aerospace science, which could see a boom in the industry locally.
“For NASA to take time out to give these kids an opportunity is really good,” he said.
“You can probably imagine the amount of time and money it takes NASA to stick an astronaut up there. They have enough to do, but they still took the time out to review questions, work out their answers and take part in the event.
“We’ve noticed there is an uptake in the space side of things by kids. There’s more traction, not only by NASA but by South Australia now we have the Australian Space Agency down here.
“They’re starting to believe they could have the opportunity to go into space.”
The Gawler air league cadets are based at the Gawler Aerodrome at Buchfelde and are a not-for-profit organisation.
They meet each Wednesday from 7pm-9pm and is for children aged eight to 18-years-old.
