October 13, 2024

This Week in Amateur Radio

North America's Premiere Amateur Radio News Magazine

Solar Eclipse from the ISS

Solar Eclipse as viewed from the ISS (NASA TV)

Utah students use ham radio to connect with astronaut during eclipse

The solar eclipse might not have been fully visible from Utah, but that didn’t stop a group of Tooele students from having an astronomical experience on Monday, when they interviewed an astronaut aboard the International Space Station as it passed over Utah.

Students in the Tooele County School District were able to communicate with Matthew Dominick, a NASA flight engineer on Expedition 71 on the space station, through the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station program. The international program coordinates radio contact events for classrooms and communities to learn more about life in space and practice using communication and radio technologies.

Teachers and students gathered in Tooele’s Community Learning Center, which houses the district’s career and technical education programs. Members of the Logan-based Bridgerland Amateur Radio Club provided tech support for the event, which included constructing an antenna system on the center’s roof in order to connect to the space station.

Read more – Deseret News: