Space Station Astronaut Thanks Hams for Easing Loneliness
European Space
Agency Astronaut Luca Parmitano, KF5KDP, reported on his blog that ham radio
came to his rescue recently during a period when it was difficult to see the
Earth from the International Space Station and he was feeling cut off from the
world. After admitting that he had "never been into amateur radio"
before, despite conducting several school contacts from the space station, he
turned to ham radio "to establish some kind of 'contact' between the
station and the Earth." When he turned on the ISS ham rig, he heard a
station in Portugal calling NA1SS, the U.S. call sign for the space station. He
responded using the station's Italian call, IR0ISS. The other operator, whom
Parmitano did not identify, told him that contacting the ISS was "a dream
come true." Parmitano made several more contacts over the next 15 minutes,
noting that the world's amateur radio community had "wrapped me in a warm
blanket of friendship and gratitude, oblivious to the fact that I'm the one who
should be thanking them…"