12/02/2022

Students at Five Bridges Junior High School in Stillwater Lake, Nova Scotia, Canada, finally had an opportunity to talk with an astronaut onboard the International Space Station (ISS) via ham radio.

On Wednesday, November 23, 2022, the students were able to talk with Astronaut Josh Cassada, KI5CRH, for about 11 minutes as the ISS passed over northern Europe.

The students were anxious to ask questions ranging from curiosities about the astronauts' work schedules to concerns about radiation in outer space. Astronaut Cassada was asked about his favorite part of training for his ISS mission, and he replied, "All of it!"

The contact was made possible with amateur radio volunteers at the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) ground station in Casale Monferrato, Italy, using the call sign IK1SLD, and was the 1,495 contact made since the ARISS program began.

In the US, ARISS[1] includes support from ARRL[2], AMSAT, NASA, NASA's Space Communication and Navigation (SCaN) organization and the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS).


[1] http://ariss.org/
[2] http://www.arrl.org/amateur-radio-on-the-international-space-station

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þ Synchronet þ Whiskey Lover's Amateur Radio BBS