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"Did being in space make you nauseous at first?"
And from more than 200 miles above Ashland, a voice replied.
"No actually, when I launched on the shuttle back in June, I didn't get sick at all, I had no nauseous feelings every, so I was very excited."
The voice on the other end of the radio was that of Clay Anderson, Ashland's astronaut and Ashland-Greenwood alumni.
Eight students from Ashland-Greenwood Public Schools got the chance to interview Anderson last week via ham radio. Garner, Serena Rohrbaugh, Sam Crisler, Alex DeGarmo, Stefanie Hoffman, Molly Sundermeier, Andrew Cameron and Ben Wiese posed their questions to the astronaut on Aug. 29 from the high school school library during the 10-minute interview.
The students, ranging from fifth to 12th grade, were selected in June to participate. The four elementary school students are part of the school's high ability learner program, REACH. The four high school students were chosen at random, said Dottie Heusman, curriculum supervisor.
Although one student was chosen for a special reason. Cameron attended the Astronaut Academy at the Strategic Air and Space Museum last summer, so he was a perfect candidate for this event, said Heusman.
The students prepared for the interview by coming up with questions that had to be approved by NASA. Some jotted down thoughts, while others consulted their parents.
"I came up with the main idea and then my dad helped me," said Alex, a fifth grader.
Sam said his dad helped him, too. Stefanie did her research, going on the Internet to find out about Anderson's work in space.
Gunnar came up with his questions on his own, he said, while Serena thought up her questions while riding in the car with her mom.
Andrew came up with questions that pertained to his experiences, like asking Anderson about training underwater, which he did at the Astronaut Academy. He also wanted to know if Anderson was a Boy Scout like him.
Anderson said he also trained underwater in preparation for his work on the International Space Station. And yes, he was a Boy Scout.
"I made it to the rank of first class," he said.
Ben was interested in science and physical aspects of space flight.
"I wanted to make (my questions) physics related because I'm in that," he said.
He also was interested in Anderson's goals as a young man in Ashland and the perseverance it took to become an astronaut. Anderson applied 15 times before being accepted into the program. Ben said he sees Anderson as a great example to follow.
"Just because you might not accomplish something at first, you've got to stick to it," he said.
Each one of the students was honored to be chosen for the radio interview, but a little nervous before it began. Once it was over, though, the relevance of the event settled in.
"It's awesome," said Andrew. "From down here on Earth and for him to be up there in space and to talk to him, that was pretty nice."
Heusman said she was proud of the questions the students came up with.
"They were more than just yes and no questions," she said. "And I liked how Clay expanded on the answers."
Molly said talking to a person from Ashland who has accomplished so much will be something she will always remember.
"The experience I had was inspiring," she said.
Those who were listening to the interview were also moved by the experience. Students from kindergarten to 12th grade were all listening in their classrooms, said Heusman.
Third grade teacher Patti Schofield said the event brought tears to her eyes.
"It just overwhelmed me," she said. "I just wanted it to be a moment to remember and to treasure."
Schofield said she remembers as a young girl looking up into the skies when astronauts were walking on the moon, something she thought of as the interview took place.
She was proud of both the students asking the questions and of Anderson and his accomplishments, Schofield said.
With tears in her eyes, she turned to her students and told them, "I don't think you realize what you're a part of here," she said.
It took a lot of preparation to bring this event to the students, said Heusman.
The school was contacted by ARISS (Amateur Radio at International Space Station) last May about doing a radio interview. After filling out forms and choosing the students, she found out that a school employee had ham radio experience.
Matt Anderson (no relation to Clay) was a "godsend," Heusman said. He worked with ARISS and the Ashland and Lincoln amateur radio clubs to get the equipment and manpower needed.
"I contacted the people with the expertise in the ham radio community," he said.
Equipment came from as far away as Texas, Matt Anderson said. On Sunday, they did a trial run.
He added that the ham radio community was listening throughout the world to the broadcast.
Just one more thing to make Garner's stomach turn a tiny bit more.
