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The cost of the International Space Station is more than 100 billion. Ham radio sets can be for a few hundred rupees.
Perhaps, he explains, partially human, one of the greatest scientific discoveries of mankind is the appeal to communicate with the earth through technology more than 100 years old. But there is a simple explanation for why astronauts and ham radio operators have been talking and talking for years.
NASA astronaut Doug Wheelock spent a few weeks on his six-month mission to the space station, when feelings of solitude began to come.
Wheellock will be separated from loved ones, saving for communication via internet phone, email or social media. At times, the stress and strain of serving as station commander can be intense.
One night, as he looked down at a window on Earth, he remembered the space station’s ham radio. He thought he would turn on – see if anyone was listening.
“Any station, any station, this is the International Space Station,” Wheellock said.
A flood of sounds flooded the airwaves.
Astronauts aboard the space station often talk to students via ham radio, which can be used even in an emergency, but it is a scheduled sight. Some, like Wheelock, spend their limited free time interacting with amateur radio operators around the world.
“It allowed me … just to reach the humanity out there,” Wheelcock, who spoke to several operators known as “Hems,” stayed on the space station in 2010. “It became my emotional, and a real connection to the planet.”
The first amateur radio broadcast from space dates back to 1983, when astronaut Owen Garriott flew the space shuttle Columbia into the airwaves. Garriott was a licensed ham who, back on Earth, used his home equipment in Houston to chat with his father in Oklahoma.
Garriott and fellow astronaut Tony England pushed NASA to approve amateur radio equipment on shuttle flights.
“We thought that if young people experienced this they would be a good incentive to take an interest in science and engineering,” said England, another astronaut who uses ham radio in space.
Almost all of the volunteer organizations called Amateur Radio on the International Space Station or ARISS now help establish contact between students and astronauts on the space station. Students prepare to ask quick questions one by one, in a ham radio microphone for a brief 10-minute window before exiting the space station.
Kenneth G., ISS Ham Project Coordinator at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. “We plant seeds and try to think we’ll grow some mighty oaks,” Ransom said.
In particular, about 25 schools worldwide are selected each year, said Roselle White, Treasurer and International Secretary of ARISS.
“A lot of people aren’t going to talk to an astronaut.” “They get its importance.”
Conversation is also a treat for astronauts.
“You’re talking to someone and you’re just looking at where they are,” said NASA astronaut Ricky Arnold II.
In the last 10 years, ham radio has become more popular, experts say, with about 750,000 licensed amateur tors operators in the US (not all of them active on the air). Help drive that interest: Emergency communication.
“That’s when ham radio fails,” said Diana Feinberg, manager of the Los Angeles division of the American Radio Relay League, the national organization for amateur radio. “Unlike other types of communication, it does not require any type of switch network.”
But for some hams, this temptation is an opportunity to connect with people all over the world or even above.
During their 10-day shuttle mission in 1983, astronaut Garriott spoke to about 250 hems around the world, including King Hussein of Jordan and San Berry Goldwater of Arizona. Garriott died in 2019.
“From my point of view, even from a young age, it was clear how inspiring that moment was globally,” said his son Richard Garriott. “People from all over Australia and America, just across the country, came in, and it clearly touched them. No matter what their station was, no matter where they were physically, they all became part of this global experience.”
Not surprisingly, Richard Garriott followed his father’s example as an astronaut with a space station flight in 2008. During the scatter time on the 12-day mission, little Garriot made contact with several hems on the ground, including his father, who brought the two papers to record the contacts he had filled during his first day on the radio.
“Regardless of the land with a modest population, regardless of the time of day or night, you’ll find a bunch of enthusiasts who are willing to approach,” he said.
What drives this desire for contact? Amateur radio operators choose a challenge, especially when it comes to reaching remote or unusual locations.
“We always talk, on amateur radio, to people we don’t know,” England said. “If we hadn’t ventured to meet other people that way, we probably wouldn’t be amateur radio operators.”
Amateur operator operator Larry Schins has made a handful of contacts with astronauts over the years, first arriving at Owen Garriott in the 1980s, when he was a teenager.
Most recently, the 56-year-old Shaun approached NASA astronaut Serena ñó n-Chancellor in 2018.
“Hello, this is Larry in Minnesota,” he said after the non-chancellor accepted his call sign.
“Oh, Minnesota!” She replied, adding that she could hear him “super clear” in space and should have nice equipment.
“It’s always exciting when you talk to someone in space,” said Albert Leena, an electronic technician from Minn. “You never know. I always monitor the frequency.”
James Lee knows that reaching the space station can be a hit or miss. He and a friend once flew over the space station to Bunnell, Fla.
The pair were sitting in a truck with antennas on the roof and radio equipment in a cab. After a few attempts, they heard the ñón-Chancellor’s answer: “Hey, good morning, Florida. Why are you?”
Lee, a 53-year-old filmmaker and engineer, recalled that he and his friend were “sitting between a cabbage field. The fact that she came to him was kind of incredible.”
Leah’s daughter Hope has tried for years to reach the space station but has never received a response. She got her ham radio license at the age of eight. Now 14, Hope is thinking about becoming an astronaut and going to Mars, her father said.
Emergency physician David Provet of Hillsboro, Orr, attempted to contact the space station using a multi-band amateur radio with a magnetic mount antenna placed in a pizza pan to improve performance. Working from his dining-room table, he made many futile attempts. But one day, the space station approached the west coast, and Pruvet called out again.
Using the amateur radio call sign for the space station, he said, “November Alpha One Sierra Sierra.
Second silence drawn after Pruett’s identification: “Kilo Foxtrot Seven Echo Tango X-Ray, Portland, Ore.”
Then came a shrill, then the sound of an astronaut wheellock. Nearby, the two signed with “73” -ham lingo for “Best Regards”. Remembering the first conversation in 2010, the hair on Pruit’s hand still grows.
“It was absolutely incredible,” Pruett said. “Push that microphone button and call the International Space Station and then release the button and wait, and then you’ll hear this little crack, and you’ll come back to Dr. Wheellock and say, ‘Ride on the International Space Station’ – that It’s just mind-boggling. “
All of Pruet and Wheellock had 1 contact, one when they were stuck in a traffic jam in Privet Tacoma, Wash.
“I think I’ve befriended him,” said the 64-year-old Pruitt, who chronicled many of his contacts on YouTube. “I can only imagine that their workload is very tight, and they have very little free time, but I think they donate as much free time as they give to amateur radio operators.”
Wheellock remembers Pruitt well.
“David I was one of the early contacts,” he said. “It was one of the first sounds I heard when I was walking down the west coast.”
Wheellock’s other ham radio contacts left an equally deep impression on him – including a man from Portugal who spoke several times that Wheeler and his fellow astronauts once snatched him from “Happy Birthday to You”.
Wheellock also contacted some of the first responders who worked to rescue 33 Chilean miners trapped underground for 69 days in 2010.
“I just want to give a word of encouragement … to let them know that someone above is concerned about what they are doing and what is in their way.”
During the six-month mission from 2005 to 2006, NASA astronaut William M. A Carter spoke to schools via ham radio and made more than 1,800 personal contacts in more than 90 countries.
“It’s just an invaluable percentage of the world’s population, but I think it’s a lot more than I could have touched directly in any other way,” he said. “I wanted to share it with people who were probably confused, who didn’t have a special connection or insight into space exploration.”
Her conversations also allowed for some diversity among the partners. During his mission, MacArthur’s main crew companion was Russian cosmonaut Valery Tokarev.
“I love him like a brother. We’re so close.” “But still, he’s been another guy for six months.”
Ham video premieres on the space station
20 2020 Los Angeles Times.
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Testimonial: Earthlings and astronauts chat on Hum Radio (December 23, 2020), from December 24, 2020 https://phys.org/news/2020-12-earthlings-astronauts-chat-ham-radio.html
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