The students, who gathered at Brihaspati Vidhyasadan High School (BVS) in Naxal, were from eight different schools including Little Angels' School, Bagmati Boarding Higher Secondary School, and Learning Realm International School.Students had prepared questions to ask Peake, the British astronaut who left for the ISS on December 15 last year from Baikonur Cosmodrome. The interaction program was set up through telebridge contact for 2:22 PM. The call from Nepal was made to Australia where the National Institute of Amateur Radio connected them to the ISS.
While 24 students had prepared for the interaction, only 17 of them managed to get their queries answered. The conversation was cut short at around 10 minutes during which time Peake answered questions like "How often do you have to change your clothes in space?", and "What is the most beautiful view from the ISS?". His answers were that since they don't really get dirty in space, they change their outfits once a week. And he feels that when the sun's rays hit the North Pole and the South Pole, the earth looks extremely beautiful.
For 12-year-old Samden Sherpa, a Class VIII student of BVS, it was a proud moment to be one of the students talking to the astronaut. "I had never imagined that I would get this opportunity to talk with an astronaut. I was really happy. I had a dozen questions running through my mind before speaking with him and I was excitedly imagining how he would answer them. Now I want to pursue Science in the future because I feel there are a lot of opportunities in this field," she told Republica.
Her classmate Kuldeep Kesari was similarly excited about this opportunity. He said, "It was my first time talking to an astronaut. One student could only ask one question so I asked about footprints in space and I was quite happy with his answer."
Director of BVS, Prabin Raj Joshi stated that it took 10 months of planning to make this event happen. "This will help arouse the students' interest in Science," he said.
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