Hampton, Dec. 28- History was made today as students of Granby High and Mary Calcutt Elementary were successful in contacting US Astronaut John Blaha who is currently aboard the Russian Space Station Mir. Astronaut Blaha attended Mary Calcutt and graduated from Granby High School in the 1960üs. The 10 minute contact (11:17-11:27 AM EST) was conducted from the Amateur Radio Satellite Station Exhibit KE4ZXW at the Virginia Air and Space Center.
Approximately 10 students formulated questions in advance and delivered them in one-on-one dialogue with Astronaut Blaha who was thrilled to talk with these young people.
The major market radio, television, and newspaper organizations were present to record the event which was the second scheduled School-Mir contact under the new MIREX (Mir Amateur Radio Experiment) program. The children were interviewed individually after the contact and we are looking forward to their recorded impressions of this unique experience with Amateur Radio.
Many thanks go to Ken Pierpont KF4OW, Jim Sanford WB4GCS, and Wally Carter K4OGT who prepared the Amateur Radio Satellite Station KE4ZXW for this event and coordinated the effort with Frank Bauer KA3HDO of AMSAT.