The ARISS event, despite a few funny gotyas up front, went off as planned.  A preprogram of comments and background began at 11:45, and at 12:43 the first call went out to NA1SS, the International Space Station.  With Hollywood-like suspense, Paula, an ASA student-ham, called SEVEN times before the sound of Jeff Williams’s voice filled the auditorium to thunderous applause (ed: my personal take on the “suspense” was I hoped someone would perform CPR to restart my heart waiting 1min50sec before hearing our astronaut).

Jeff Williams was a real pro, both very personable talking to the kids, and moving things along at a quick pace.  As a consequence, all 24 questions were asked and answered. As Paula sent her 73’s, Jeff faded into the noise.

All three local stations ABC6, NBC10, and CBS12 had news coverage during their early 5-6PM shows.  They probably will have additional coverage at 11 PM.  In addition the live streaming is still up and will be for a few days.  I’ve been told that you need to move to the 3 hours 28 minutes 40 second mark before the actual event begins (the earlier hours were streaming a stationary antenna and some background noise – good thing internet isn’t billed by the minute).  The questions begin at 4h 13m 50s

http://livestream.com/accounts/9685187/events/5301163

Many thanks to all the NCRC members that helped:  Chuck, N1CKT, Paul, N1PSX, Willy, W1LY, Paul K1YBE, Jim, KA1ZOU, Mike, KA1IOO, Brian, KC1EQB, Charles, K1ECU, Rob, KB1ZZU, Jeff, KA1NGP, Bob, WB4SON, and of course Mike Cullen, K1NPT, who put the entire event together.

Be sure to pick up a copy of The Newport Daily News which has a story on the front page!

Link to the online story: http://www.newportri.com/newportdailynews/news/page_one/one-giant-step/article_8316e623-adb5-526b-8ed1-6c568f6b9be3.html