RICHARD RETURNED SAFELY TO EARTH 10/24/08
Richard Garriott, W5WKQ, onboard ISS and Greg Greenwood, Armchair Astronaut , WB6FZH
(CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO RADIO DOWNLINK w/local audio) Recording-
10/29/08- Monitor ISS Repeater output 145.800, input 437.800 both FM mode.
On October 21st about 10:15am, the same VHF 2 meter Ham Radio set that usually provides emergency communications during Forest Fires, Weather or Medical Emergencies turned to a less often used channel, the one reserved for communicating with the INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION. This is what happened that morning.
Today was a special day, Richard Garriott,41, a famous video game developer, has been visiting the International Space Station as a $31 million dollar paying passenger through Space Adventures.
On October 12th, US Commander Michael Fincke, KE5AIT, Russian Flight Engineer Yury Lonchakov, RA3DT and Richard Garriott launched from Balkonur Cosmodrone in Kazakhstan in Soyuz TMA-13 space vehicle and arrived at the ISS a couple days later.
Richard is the son of Owen Garriott, 77, a Space Pioneer and NASA Scientist-Astronaut. He is the first second-generation American space traveler. Greg decided to say "hello" to his son Richard, and tell him of hearing his father, Owen (W5LFL), 35 years ago late one night as he orbited above the San Francisco Bay Area aboard Shuttle "Columbia" on NASA STS-9. That event inspired Greg's interest to one day utilize Ham Radio, Satellites and to talk directly to astronauts and cosmonauts in spacecraft using simple inexpensive Amateur Radio equipment.
The radio contact was brief, and professional with signals "loud and clear" at both locations.(CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO WAV FILE) Richard was trying to contact as many Ham Radio Operators as he could as he orbited the earth and operated the Amateur Radio Station onboard the ISS. He made contacts with school classrooms around the world and even talked to his dad at the Energia Space Control Center in Russia. You can follow Richard's Activities on his website, you can see video and follow the mission. Richard's affiliation with the Challenger Center , British Space Center and The Nature Conservancy is part of the many educational aspects of his trip.
On October 24th, Richard safely returned to earth on October 24th, in the Soyuz TMA-12 Spacecraft landing by parachute on the Steps of Kazakhstan with Russian crewmembers Sergei Volkov and Oleg Konoenko who had been in space 199 days. Sergei Volkov, is the son of another space pioneer, Alexander Volkov, who spent time on the famous Soviet/Russian Space Station MIR in 1991. Volkov was the first second generation Russian cosmonaut.
Greg Greenwood has been an "armchair astronaut" and Radio Amateur all his life. Tuning in that first ham radio spacecraaft transmission 1983 inspired lifelong preparations to continue future "space communications". Communicating with all parts of the earth on shortwave, the sky has never been the "limit" for WB6FZH.
Life would take Greg to the edge of Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii in the mid '90s where he would talk to MIR Space Station and decode Slow-scan TV images from the on-board video camera. All his life, Greg watched TV and listened to his radios during NASA Mercury Flights, Apollo Missions, Shuttle Missions, MIR Space Station and the Expeditions to the International Space Station.
He also had a continuing presence in Northern CA and San Francisco Bay Area with business and family. In 1999 he returned permanently to Northern California's Trinity County in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest From there he contines to contact hams around the world utilizing digital or voice modes. No stranger to Morse Code and Shortwave Radio contacts the last 45+ years communicating with "classic" , vintage WW2 era radios or modern radios that are more computer than radio Greg stays "tuned in".
His main personal project is currently the TrinityCam Internet Information Project using websites trying to improve the fire-ravaged economy of Trinity County,CA. He provides the largest source of information about scenic Trinity County, California on the internet. Greg uses it to promote ALL of Trinity County's Tourism, Recreation,Business and Local Communities for FREE. You can see Greg's main Website and WEBCAM at www.trinitycam.com as it views the Trinity Alps night and day.
You are invited to visit the Trinity County Amateur Radio Club and Trinity County Amateur Radio Emergency Service Websites. Contact your local Ham Radio Club for information about earning your own HAM RADIO FCC LICENSE! (Morse Code is nolonger required!)
Terestrial and Space Antennas and Orbital Tracking Computer Screen
WB6FZH , Greg and SSTV Image from MIR SPACE STATION over Hawaii '99
Richard Garriott and WB6FZH STS ORBITSPLUS TRACKING PROGRAM
Come and see our Rivers, Lakes, Forests and the Trinity Alps...Recreation Unlimited!
CLICK ON THE WEBCAM IMAGE FOR MORE INFORMATION
LINKS
END OF NEWS FEED
ISS CREW ROSTERS
Current ISS Expedition 18 Crew, (Launch October 12, 2008, Landing Spring 2009)
Commander Michael Fincke, KE5AIT
Flight Engineer Yury Lonchakov, RA3DT
Flight Engineer Sandra Magnus, KE5FYE, to arrive on STS-126 and return on STS-119
Flight Engineer Koichi Wakata, KC5ZTA (Exp 18/19), to arrive on STS-119 and return on STS-127
Upcoming ISS Expedition 19A Crew (Launch planned for March 2009)
Commander Gennady Padalka, RN3DT
Flight Engineer Michael R. Barratt, KD5MIJ
Flight Engineer Timothy Kopra, KE5UDN, to arrive on STS-127 and return on STS-128
America's quiet warriors are the legion of ham radio operators, 700,000 of them, who are always at ready for backup duty in emergencies; amateur, unpaid, uncelebrated, civilian radio operators, during and after floods and fires and tornadoes. After the 9/11 attacks, hams were indispensable in reuniting friends and familes. At this moment, they are involved in homeland security to a greater degree than you would want me to make public.
Paul Harvey News and Comment, ABC Radio, March 19, 2003
Last Updated: October 29, 2008
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