Guwahati, Jan 07: NASA astronaut Edward Michael
`mike` Fincke onboard the ISS on Wednesday won the hearts of Assamese school students here when he spoke in their native tongue
during a rare live interaction from the space lab.
"Moi alop kobo paru" (I can speak a little),` Fincke,
who is married to an Assamese Renita Saikia, said when asked
if could speak Assamese.
Fincke, who is learning Assamese during his space
stint, won a loud round of applause from the students of Assam
Jatiya Vidyalalya during a telephonic interaction from
International Space Station (ISS) organised by Friends of
Assam and Seven Sisters (FASS), an organisation of
non-resident Assamese, in coordination with NASA.
Fincke`s wife Renita also works at NASA and her
parents had left for USA several decades ago.
Replying to queries from curious students, Fincke, who
is also the commander of the current expedition 18 mission of
the ISS, said the members eat normal food like hamburgers and
sausages on the spaceship but they "are mostly packed food,
prepared on ground but we do heat these sometimes".
"Water on the spaceship is used just like back in the
planet but we recycle both water and urine," Fincke answered.
He and two of his other associates inside the space
ship, however, cannot take bath due to zero gravity and they
only swab themselves, besides wearing absorbent clothing.
They are also fortunate to see 16 sunrises and sets
during the course of 24-hours as it completes 19 rotation
during this period with one cycle taking 90 minutes.
In a similar interaction in 2007, audience in Delhi
too had an opportunity to talk to Indian-American astronaut
Sunita Williams when she was onboard ISS.
Bureau Report
