Leonard David's INSIDE OUTER SPACE

Image credit: NASA

Put yourself in forget me not and space time travel retro-mode: it is now four decades ago that astronaut Owen Garriott, callsign W5LFL, pioneered amateur radio communication from space. He was a crewmember on the space shuttle program’s STS-9 mission.

During that shuttle flight in 1983, Garriott conducted the first-ever person from space to communicate with amateur radio operators on the ground. He was also the first to be heard directly from space by the public using simple receivers and scanners. 

Image credit: Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS)

What’s coming?

That event transformed astronaut communications from space forever, allowing amateur radio operators and the public to communicate with people in space.

But tune in to hear what’s coming…there’s strong signal strength!

Go to my new Space.com story – “How amateur radio is connecting astronauts in space with kids on Earth” at:

https://www.space.com/space-exploration/international-space-station/how-amateur-radio-is-connecting-astronauts-in-space-with-kids-on-earth