Inflight Call with European Astronaut ~ Thomas Reiter

As I've promised in my previous entry, today I'll be highlighting the event that took place about 4 years ago i.e 17th October 2006. This entry is to share my experience having a video call with the first-long stay European Astronaut on the International Space Station (ISS).

Earlier in the morning, all of the students of the 2nd batch for European Master Course in Aeronautics & Space Technology (EuMAS) assembled at Technische Universitat Munchen (TUM) before continuing the class trip to the German Aerospac Center at Oberpfaffenhofen. To read the news about this, you can go directly to ESA(HERE) and EuMAS(HERE) webpage.

=- on the way to DLR, I'm sitting next to my 'twin' (Pei Lai). At the back is Junpei & WenXuan -=

The German Space Operations Center (GCOS), operated by the German Aerospace Center (DLR) has an impressive track record with many years of invaluable experience. GSOC has been responsible for operating spacecraft for more than 35 years, playing a key role in countless manned and unmanned missions.

=- budak tudung hitam tengah kusyuk dengar penerangan -=

In recent years, the emphasis has switched to the preparation and implementation of Earth observation missions. Since the year 2000 GSOC has launched and operated the CHAMP, BIRD and two GRACE satellites, while the TerraSAR-X and SAR-Lupe projects (with five satellites) are currently at the preparation stage. (info from HERE)

=- the view of the control room at DLR, Germany -=

Upon arriving to the place, we were given a simple briefing about Thomas Reiter.

• • From September 1997 to March 1999, Reiter was detached to the German Air Force as Operational Group Commander of a Tornado fighterbomber wing. After his return to ESA he gave support to the ATV team and the ERA programme. He continued training at the Russian Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City from June 1999 until March 2000 for the Russian Segments of the International Space Station.

• • On 1 April 1999 he resumed his activities at the European Astronaut Centre, Cologne, Germany.

• • In April 2001, Reiter was assigned to the first ISS advanced training class to prepare for one of the first European long-term flights to the ISS. Within the Directorate of Human Spaceflight and Exploration he worked in the Columbus programme.

• • In September 2004, he was assigned to a long-duration mission to the International Space Station.

• He trained for a six-month mission to the International Space Station(ISS) and was launched on the Discovery STS-121 mission to join Expedition 13. It was launched on 4 July 2006.

• He later became part of Expedition 14 before returning to Earth aboard Discovery during the STS-116 mission. His ISS mission was designated Astrolab by the European Space Agency. ^[update]

• On August 8, 2007 Thomas Reiter was named a member of DLR's executive board with responsibility for space.

• In 2008, he was one of the top 25 astronauts in terms of total time in space.

*info from HERE*

Some interesting facts about Thomas Reiter is that :-

• Reiter has logged just over 350 days in space, the most by any non-American or non-Russian.
• It was during the Euromir 95 mission that he had the change to travel to space for the first time. At 179 days it was ESA's longest manned spaceflight mission.
  
• In 2006 he traveled to space for a second time: Thomas Reiter became the first long-stay European on the ISS.

=- left pic: Thomas Reiter & I, he's handsome isn't he? -=

What a superb track record huh?. Now, that's someone who is really reliable to be called as an "astronaut" instead of a space travelers who did an unknown experiment with unknown result that was unpublished anywhere on earth but being awarded the term "astronaut"; and then after that was sponsored to celebrate his mass wedding party...OK, I know you get what I mean

We were given the chance to witness how they operates and the roles played by DLR in any spacecraft missions. During a wide variety of manned and unmanned missions, DLR is responsible for:

• controlling and monitoring spacecraft, their sub-systems and on-board experiments
• communication between spacecraft, ground stations and control centers
  
• tracking and calculating flight and orbital paths
• planning and executing corrections to flight and orbital paths
• receiving, processing, distributing and evaluating data
• mission planning, i.e. planning the sequence of operations on board and on the ground

=- tengah posing pon boley ngantuk ke?-=

After that, 3 of my classmates (Jerry, Tika & Vishal) have been given the chance to enter the control room and speaks directly with Thomas Reiter who at that time is in the ISS. Those 3 were selected as their questions were picked by the DLR committee as the best questions to ask to Thomas Reiter. Therefore, all of us had the chance to witness the video conference and to see by ourselves how it looks like when 'flying' in a space craft. Enjoy the videos of the in-flight call as I posted below.

After that, a lecture was presented to us by Professor Dr. Gregor Morfill on the Plasma Experiment (PK3 Plus), which is currently being performed as part of the Astrolab Mission on board the Space Station. The ASTROLAB mission was performed between June and December 2006 where Thomas Reiter spent 6 months on the space station to perform Flight Engineer(FE) duties and to execute an articulated European multi-disciplinary research programme. As an FE, Reiter undertook several vital tasks on the ISS that could cover the use of systems and procedures for: ISS guidance and control, environmental control and life support systems, crew health and safety, and EVA operations to name a few. You can see further details of this ASTROLAB mission HERE(click).

=- me at the ISS control center (without camera flash) -=


=- me at the ISS control center (with camera flash) -=

We were also given a t-shirt of the ASTROLAB mission by the ESA as a token of appreciation. The event ended with a lunch session but as it was during Ramadhan on that year, I didn't get to taste any of the food served on that day.

=- orang lain makan, I tengok je -=

Nevertheless, I have truly appreciate this once in a lifetime experience that I've gained during the video conference session with Astronaut Thomas Reiter. I would prefer meeting Thomas Reiter again in the future rather than meeting the so-called 1st Malaysian Astronaut.

=- Malaysian in EuMAS 2nd generation. From left: Wye Kay, Pei Lai, Kumar, Me & Chiew -=

=- 2nd generation of EuMAS at the DLR, Germany -= *can u spot me?*

Pssssttt : If ever there will be 2nd Malaysian to be sent to the outer space, I really hope that someone with the background in Aerospace Engineering will be selected instead of selecting someone to be a space travelers who did an unknown experiment with unknown result that was unpublished anywhere on earth but being awarded the term "astronaut"; and then after that was sponsored to celebrate his mass wedding party...OK, I know you get what I mean


Disclaimer: some of the reader of this entry and my previous entry might have an impression that I don't like that 'astronaut'. I have nothing particular to hate or like about him, I'm expressing my thought just as how I look on the situation. My opinion might be different with others as Allah created each and everyone uniquely. No heart feeling to his DIE HARD FAN or to anyone related to him.(oh, why am I bother explaining this, I pun don't know huhuhu)