A young English girl was able to communicate with an astronaut in orbit after her father hailing him on a ham radio thanks to some outdated technology.
Isabella Payne had just fallen asleep during her ‘beautiful nap’ on August 2. But her father, Matthew, knew that a quick chance to hail American astronaut Kjell Lindgren was not to be missed as they shared a passion for space and radio communications.
The two dragged Isabella from her bed and hurried to the radio bench.
Isabella, who shares her father’s enthusiasm for radio and space travel, regularly sits on his knee at the radio desk to watch every launch and spacewalk.
They have always had a particular affinity, and when Isabella was only 2 years old in 2016 and Mr. Payne assisted a school radio station interview British astronaut Tim Peake onboard the International Space Station, she sat front and center for the occasion.
She wants to work as a communications specialist for a space organization so she can have more encounters like the one she had with Lindgren.
‘I asked, ‘Why are you treating me like this? I need my beauty sleep,’’Isabella told CNN on Wednesday.
A Ham radio station is maintained on board the International Space Station so that astronauts can periodically communicate with people on Earth—typically schools—through standard radio communications.
These interactions are often brief, with the operators exchanging their radio’s distinctive callsign, their name and location, a sincere thank you, and a last farewell.
However, Lindgren’s voice changed from monotonous to jubilant when he heard Isabella’s name and age when passing by Kent that evening.
On Twitter, the astronaut claimed that it might have been his favorite contact to date.
Isabella, who shares her father’s enthusiasm for radio and space travel, regularly sits on his knee at the radio desk to watch every launch and spacewalk.
They have always had a particular affinity, and when Isabella was only 2 years old in 2016 and Mr. Payne assisted a school radio station interview British astronaut Tim Peake onboard the International Space Station, she sat front and center for the occasion.
She wants to work as a communications specialist for a space organization so she can have more encounters like the one she had with Lindgren.