Astronauts in space contacted from Dhaka, Bangladesh

For the first time in the country's history two amateur radio operators successfully talked to the NASA astronauts, now in the space, with their homegrown system in Bangladesh.

"Your signal is clear to copy and there is another pass over Bangladesh after 90 minutes," Astronaut MacArthur Bill said acknowledging Bangladeshi amateur radio operator Belayet Hossain Robin's call at 8.05 pm on February 18.

Robin, whose Amateur radio call sign is S21RB, called CQ CQ MA1SS to contact the astronauts through his radio set. They exchanged some technical information for three minutes and then Anwar Islam, another amateur radio operator of Bangladesh with call sign no S21L, also talked to the astronaut for 1 minute.

Only NASA authorized Amateur Radio operators can talk to astronauts in space using their system, while the US Space Agency allows the Amateur Radio communication for promoting Tele-communication practices.

There are nearly three million amateur radio operators, also known as Hams, across the globe who use radio transmitters and receivers to communicate with fellow operators in different countries.

Source: The New Nation

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