As I prepared for the enormous challenge of describing the entire 30 year history of Human SpaceflightAmateur Radio Operations in one paper, I was reminded of some sage advice I received 20 years agofrom one of the founders and visionaries of this very unique and exciting endeavor. In 1993, as Iprepared a forum presentation for the upcoming Dayton Amateur Radio Convention, I was lamenting toRoy Neal, K6DUE, about the challenges of stuffing all of our Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment (SAREX)efforts into a 30 minute presentation. Roy, a former NBC science correspondent and newscaster,retorted “Frank, if I can communicate all the world’s news in 30 seconds, then I am sure you will be ableto present SAREX in 30 minutes.” With that unique perspective from a mentor I feel privileged to haveknown, I will do my best to live up to Roy’s expectations and provide a concise view of the highlights ofham radio development and operations on the Shuttle, Mir and ISS over the past 30 years. Throughoutthis paper, references will be cited to enable you to further delve into the comprehensive history of hamradio on human spaceflight. Please avail yourself to this more detailed information to learn more than Ican convey in a few pages.
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