![]() ![]() More recently, Shaunce, 56, made contact with NASA astronaut Serena Auñón-Chancellor in 2018. “If we didn’t enjoy the adventure of meeting other people through that way, we probably wouldn’t have been amateur radio operators.”Īmateur operator Larry Shaunce has made a handful of contacts with astronauts over the years, the first time in the 1980s, when, as a teenager, he reached Owen Garriott. “We’re always, in amateur radio, talking to people we don’t know,” England said. What drives this desire for contact? Amateur radio operators love a challenge, particularly when it comes to reaching remote or unusual locations. ![]() “Any moderately populated landmass, without regard to time of day or night, you would find a bountiful group of enthusiasts who are ready to make contact,” he said. During his free time on the 12-day mission, the younger Garriott made contact with so many hams on the ground - including his father - that the two pieces of paper he brought to record contacts filled up during his first day on the radio. It’s not surprising that Richard Garriott followed his father’s example with a 2008 flight to the space station as a private astronaut. No matter what their station was, no matter where physically they were, they all became part of this global experience.” “People from Australia and America, just all over, had tuned in, and it clearly touched them. “From my perspective, even from a young age, it was very obvious how globally inspirational that moment was,” said his son Richard Garriott. “Unlike other forms of communication, it does not require any kind of a switched network.”īut for some hams, the allure is the opportunity to connect with people all over the world - or even above it.ĭuring his 10-day shuttle mission in 1983, astronaut Garriott spoke with about 250 hams all over the world, including King Hussein of Jordan and Sen. “Ham radio is when all else fails,” said Diana Feinberg, Los Angeles section manager for the American Radio Relay League, the national association for amateur radio. Helping to drive that interest: emergency communications. Over the last 10 years, ham radio has become more popular, experts say, with about 750,000 licensed amateur operators across the U.S. ![]() “You’re talking to someone and looking right down at where they are,” NASA astronaut Ricky Arnold II said. The conversations are a treat for the astronauts as well. “Not too many people get to talk to an astronaut,” she said. Typically, about 25 schools throughout the world are chosen each year, said Rosalie White, international secretary treasurer at ARISS. Ransom, the ISS Ham project coordinator at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. “We try to think of ourselves as planting seeds and hoping that we get some mighty oaks to grow,” said Kenneth G. ![]()
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