Garriott Gears for Space Journey

On Sunday, October 12, Richard Garriott, W5KWQ, is scheduled to begin his journey to the International Space Station (ISS) as he blasts off into space via a Russian Soyuz and docks with the ISS two days later; he is due to return to Earth on Thursday, October 23.

Richard, the sixth private citizen to be accepted by the Russian Federal Space Agency (RKA) for a short-term mission on the ISS, is the son of Owen Garriott, W5LFL. In 1983, Owen was the very first ham to make QSOs from space.

Richard said he plans to build on his father's legacy by also making QSOs from the ISS: He plans to perform several school contacts and downlink SSTV images during his flight, as well as contact the general ham community in his free time and perform random scout contacts during Jamboree on the Air (JOTA).

Read the full ARRL story at http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2008/10/09/10382/?nc=1