Welcome to the ISS ERG page!

The purpose of this page is to help set up a live Concept2 rowing machine internet race between Canadian astronaut David Saint-Jacques on the ISS and students at St. Joseph's Catholic High School in Barrie, Ontario, Canada. Saint-Jacques will be on Expedition 58/59 starting November 2018. Adapting the MED-2 for the race would be great too.

July 28, 2016 update:

Looks like it's GAME ON!!!

First Saint-Jacques teases us a little saying he'd like to, but....

Then, he points out to us that NASA is sending this to space March 2017...

Click the pic above to go to the NASA link about the MED-2.
Note: NASA's video link is broken, but you can watch video here.

Q: Why will this be awesome??? A: It will be an actual race!! We will be able to watch the performance and progress of the athletes on earth and Saint-Jacques in space on a second by second basis. The goal is to help raise awareness of the importance of heart health and overall fitness in youth.

Here's what I've done so far to make this happen:

1. I found out from the Concept2 company in 2014 that NASA is planning to send a Concept2 Dynamic rower (ergometer or 'erg') to the ISS. It is anticipated that scores from the ISS will match exactly with those on Earth. Hopefully the rower is on the ISS already.

2. I contacted the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and received a reply in 2014. The CSA representative pointed out that since Chris Hadfield has left space we don't have a Canadian Astronaut in space and that the CSA can only ask non-Canadian astronauts aboard the ISS to do operational things (like say oiling the Canadarm2). But now we have Saint-Jacques headed on Expedition 58/59!! (A list of other missions can be seen at the Wikipedia page indicating present/future ISS missions).

3. I've posted a YouTube clip and shared it via Twitter. Here's a 2nd YouTube clip filmed at St. Joe's. These clips were originally designed to get Chris Hadfield's attention but now I am re-gearing them to get Saint-Jacques on board. David Saint-Jacques -- will you participate in a competition against St. Joseph's kids once aboard the ISS? Below are some students that personally are challenging you, as well as a request on behalf of the entire student body.

Click above for Youtube video from student body of St. Joe's.
Shown is St. Joe's student council co-president Daniel Benedict who would very much like Saint-Jacques to accept our challenge.

Saint-Jacques: click above to see the video message.

Saint-Jacques -- Click above to watch a message from the St. Joe's Rowing Team.

Other info.: Truth be told, there's no reason once stuff is set up on the ISS that astronauts wouldn't want to make online rowing sessions and row against earthlings on a daily basis. It's extremely easy and they work out an hour a day anyway. The software is available from DigitalRowing and is called RowPro. It is very robust and has very low bandwidth requirements. The "OarBits" feature allows you to set up the online races that anyone can join. When I typically set up a 30 minute erg piece 24 hours before it starts, I'll have at least a handful of people joining to row with me. Check out live races happening now to see.

If you are interested in supporting this virtual ISS/Earth On-line Rowing Race please contact Rick Szerminski at szerminski@gmail.com or rszerminski@smcdsb.on.ca
Twitter: @RSzerminski Class Webpage