It was 30 years ago this coming November that Owen Garriott, W5LFL, became the first person to operate a ham
radio station from space, aboard the Shuttle Columbia. The AMSAT News Servie reports
that the anniversary will be a key element of AMSAT's 31st annual Space Symposium
and annual meeting, being held - appropriately - in Houston on November 1-3.
Garriott's contacts were the
first time that an astronaut in orbit was able to communicate with people back
on earth without going through NASA's communication system. His operation led
to what is now the ARISS program, in which astronauts on the International
Space Station use amateur radio for school contacts as well as occasional
personal operation.
