Sacramento Girl Scouts gear up to talk to International Space Station. Here’s how they’ll do it (California)

All systems are go! Sacramento Girl Scouts Troop 1089 worked this weekend in preparation for reaching outer space — using radio communication to talk with astronauts orbiting 250 miles above the Earth.

The team of 14 Senior Girl Scouts, ages 14 and up, is one of 11 educational groups in the nation chosen this winter for NASA’s STEM program called ARISS, or Amateur Radio on the International Space Station. The program challenges students to build a ham radio, giving them a chance to talk with astronauts aboard the International Space Station, something ham radio operators have delighted in doing for years.

“What is the strangest thing to happen to you on the ISS?” said Alana, one of the scouts, on Saturday afternoon as the team rehearsed questions using the radio they’ve built and that they’ll use to connect with outer space this week.

“What are you most looking forward to when you return to Earth?” asked another, as the team eagerly lined up in the STEM center at the Girl Scouts Heart of Central California Council headquarters in East Sacramento.

The council’s STEM center has “a maker space and a fabulous fabrication laboratory,” along with a greenhouse area, said Amanda Banks, Troop 1089 co-leader, who has been guiding the girls’ project along with members of the River City Amateur Radio Communications Society.