TORONTO - Astronauts circling high above the earth should expect a call from four Toronto college students who have surpassed expectations by coupling a simple-looking antenna with a complex communications device capable of contacting the International Space Station.
With their antenna perched atop the roof of Humber College scanning the sky, the students are awaiting an official plan from NASA after receiving initial approval from the space agency in September.
Operation First Contact is the graduating project for 34-year-olds Gino Cunti and Paul Je of Toronto, Patrick Neelin, 25, of Welland, Ont., and Kevin Luong, 21, of Mississauga, Ont.
The project got off the ground about a year ago as the senior-year students looked for a way to apply knowledge gained from their radio communication courses.
"What better way (than) to contact a space station?" Cunti said.
The wireless and telecommunication program students are in the final stages of building two communications systems to make contact with the space station.
"This has never been accomplished by students at the college level anywhere that we know of," said Prof. Mark Rector, who noted only about a dozen professional radio engineers or graduate-level university engineering students have previously been successful.
While school contacts with the space station are routinely made through the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) program, many of those contacts are made using a traditional ham radio.
"In their case, yes, it is out of the ordinary," Canadian ARISS team member Daniel Lamoureux said of the fact the students have designed and built their own system.
"All the requirements were met. They'll get their contact."
Contacting the station is no small achievement given that it's 440 kilometres from Earth and travelling at nearly 28,000 kilometres an hour. Thus, the window for contact is narrow.
"From the acquisition of signal ... up until the time where we lose the actual space station, it's going to be roughly about 10 minutes," Cunti said.
Plenty of research and development hours were spent bringing the idea to life.
"We had to develop our own antenna, we had to develop our own synchronization of the antenna with the space station," Cunti said, adding the system mimics what NASA is doing now.
Rector was skeptical when the group first approached him with the idea.
"I was a little leery that they could pull it off," said Rector, who at first sent the students away to do research into several questions he had. "In a few weeks, they came back with an awful lot of answers."
There is still some work to be done. The backup system must still be completed, and the group must raise, align and calibrate their primary antenna, which should be ready in two weeks.
The next test is to try and follow a satellite with the system.
"If we can listen in and actually pick up and track the satellite, then transmission in the other direction should be -- should be -- a piece of cake," Rector said.
The students are hopeful their big moment to make contact will happen before their graduation in May. The likely window is between January and March, Rector said.
Prior to that, NASA officials will inspect the system to ensure it meets specifications. One requirement is possession of a ham radio licence, which Cunti currently holds.
The group has also decided to stimulate interest on campus by holding a school-wide contest. They will select the best question to ask the astronauts as submitted by fellow students, with the winner given the opportunity to speak to the astronauts.
The students also hope to bring in a Canadian Space Agency official to the school in January to talk about the space station, and plan to set up a large screen and broadcast the big event live at the college.
"This project is a tribute to the talents of our students and their faculty adviser that they have tackled this complex initiative," said Humber College president John Davies. "I have no doubt that they will achieve their goal."
As they get closer to earning their diplomas, Cunti has already started a satellite installation business and hopes to continue in the radio communications field. Neelin wants to pursue a career in radio and television broadcasting, while Je and Luong plan to venture into the wireless field.
"We're applying what we learned," Je said. "It shows that this college actually teaches us life skills."
