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At first glance the antenna perched atop the roof at Humber College appears a trivial pursuit - especially when compared to the multi-million dollar satellites of NASA. But coupled with the sheer tenacity and ingenuity of its builders, the device has become capable of otherworldly contact.

As part of their graduating project, Operation First Contact, Humber Wireless and Telecommunications students Kevin Luong, 21, Patrick Neelin, 25, and Paul Je and Gino Cunti, both 34, have spent the last year designing, constructing, testing and debugging a radio communications system capable of making voice-contact with the International Space Station.

It is a feat unheard of at the college level, said Prof. Mark Rector, the students' technical advisor and mentor.

"It shocked us when we heard what these guys wanted to do," he said, noting that projects of past students have included a fully functional heart monitor and technology to provide free legal cell service through WiFi. "Those were some pretty amazing projects, but the complexity of this idea is much more advanced. I didn't think they could do it at first."

Knowing how important the Operation First Contact dream was to them, Rector said he didn't want to discourage his students. So, he sent them away with a long list of questions they needed to answer before he'd allow them to proceed with their lofty goal.

He expected it to take them a few months, but they came back with answers to all of his questions, and then some, within two weeks.

"Do you want to know how technically difficult it is to pull this off at their level? It's like your eight-year-old son telling you he wants to try out for the Pittsburgh Penguins - tomorrow," he said with a laugh. "But they're doing it."

The design of the system involves two communications systems, the primary of which is now 90 per cent complete. Both systems will eventually consist of a power system, a VHF transceiver, tracking station software, an interface unit and an antenna system.

Cunti said they hope to have both stations up and running by December. The testing of the primary system was expected to be complete by next week, followed by the secondary system next month.

Having built the system according to the stringent specifications of NASA, the students received initial approval to make contact from the space agency back on Sept. 13, and are now awaiting the official plan as to an assigned time and date on NASA's official flight plan.

"We're sill waiting for that time slot," Cunti said. "I mean, we could make contact at any time, but who's to say anyone would be listening."

Given that the station orbits 640 kilometers above the Earth, travelling at speeds of 27,700 km an hour, Cunti said the window for contact will be a small one.

"Tracking from acquisition of signal to loss of signal, it's usually about 10 minutes," he added.

The dollar amount attached to the project is pegged at about $3,000 so far. Of that, the Humber Students' Federation has ponied up almost half of that cost, and Humber President John Davies agreed to have the college match that amount, Je said, noting that the arrangement is mutually beneficial.

"Our equipment will be integrated into the school curriculum for future use, and meanwhile Humber is teaching us real-life skills in an exploding field," he said.

To get the entire student body interested in their endeavours, the group has initiated a contest whereby their classmates can submit potential questions to ask the astronauts, starting in January. The student with the best query will be allowed the opportunity to ask the question themselves, Neelin said.

"We want to get the school involved and excited about this," he said, noting the media coverage from newspapers all across the globe (571 articles, at last count), from Hong Kong to the United Kingdom, and from Lethbridge, Alberta to St. John's, Newfoundland, has been helpful.

While the students are hoping to have a guest speaker from the Canadian Space Agency official come to the school in January, NASA officials are expected to come and do a final inspection in March or April.

As to the day of contact, which they hope will take place soon after, the students plan to make an event of it, with a large screen broadcasting the exchange live throughout the college.

To follow the progress of the project, go to www.operationfirstcontact.com