More Amateur Radio Astronauts Head for the International Space Station

Three of the four new astronauts on February’s planned launch of the
SpaceX Crew-6 mission to the International Space Station (ISS) are
amateur radio operators.

The four crew members that comprise the SpaceX Crew-6 mission are,
Mission Specialist Andrey Fedyaev, Pilot Warren “Woody” Hoburg,
Mission Specialist Sultan Al Nedayi, and Commander Stephen Bowen.
Photo Courtesy of SpaceX.

Pilot Warren “Woody” Hoburg, KB3HTZ; Commander Stephen Bowen,
KI5BKB, and Mission Specialist Sultan Al Neyadi, KI5VTV, will join
Mission Specialist Andrey Fedyaev on board the SpaceX Dragon
spacecraft, Endeavour.

The spacecraft will be atop a Falcon 9 rocket and, while a launch
date has not been selected, the earliest date would be mid-February
2023.

All crew members have learned about Amateur Radio on the
International Space Station (ARISS), received guidance on studying
and testing, and learned how to operate the ARISS radios and the
basics of on-the-air protocol from ARISS team members at NASA’s
Johnson Space Center.

The crew will be able to participate in ARISS, using the ham radio
station on the ISS to contact schools and other educational
institutions.

ARISS is a cooperative venture of international amateur radio
societies and the space agencies that support the ISS. In the US,
participating organizations include NASA, the ISS National Lab, ARRL
The National Association for Amateur Radio, and AMSAT.