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 Previous: Vanity Call Sign Fee to Drop September 6 |  Next: Hurricane Watch Net Plans Activation as Tropical Storm Chris Strengthens |
NEWINGTON, CT, Aug 1, 2006 -- NASA has honored ISS Ham Radio Project Engineer Kenneth Ransom, N5VHO, with its prestigious "Silver Snoopy" Award. Ransom was tapped to receive the award for his role in helping International Space Station Expedition 12 Commander Bill McArthur, KC5ACR, complete and confirm Worked All States (WAS) and Worked All Continents (WAC), including Antarctica, from NA1SS, as well as logging some 130 DXCC entities. McArthur's duty tour ended in April.
"I am honored to have received the award and honored again by Bill McArthur's thoughtfulness at selecting such an Amateur Radio-appropriate Silver Snoopy," Ransom told ARRL. He explained that every Silver Snoopy has flown on a space mission. "The one that was awarded to me was flown on STS-58, which was Bill's first shuttle flight." The STS-58 mission, he said, not only was a SAREX (Shuttle Amateur Radio EXperiment) flight but McArthur's introduction to Amateur Radio from space. SAREX was the predecessor to the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) program.
 (L-R) Bill McArthur, KCA5CR, Kenneth Ransom, N5VHO, and XYL Beth Ransom, KD5CAA, also a NASA employee. "The small dot on my collar is the Silver Snoopy that flew on STS-58," Ransom notes. [NASA Photo] |
In his role as ISS Ham Radio Project Engineer, Ransom helps ARISS arrange opportunities for students to speak via Amateur Radio with the space station crew at NA1SS. He also coordinates with the ISS crew on the configuration and operation of the two ham radio stations aboard the space station.
Why Stop There?
At some point during Expedition 12, Ransom realized that McArthur had already logged 25 states, and he figured, "Why stop there?" Pretty soon, he was lining up contacts for McArthur in the other 25.
"It was an, 'I know a friend who knows a friend who knows a friend' sort of thing," Ransom explained. "There are a lot of folks eager to talk to an astronaut."
And the feeling was mutual.
"Different crews do different things as pastimes," Ransom said. "Bill enjoyed talking on the radio. It gave him someone else to talk to besides CAPCOM, the voice of mission control."
By the end of the mission, McArthur not only became the first astronaut to earn WAS from space but put lots of DX -- routine and exotic -- in the NA1SS log on both VHF and UHF. Overall, he made more than 1800 contacts during his approximately six months in space. He also established a new ARISS milestone by completing 37 school group contacts.
 McArthur at the NA1SS "Phase 2" station during Expedition 12. [NASA Photo] |
Impossible Without Ransom's Help
"None of that would have been possible without the work Kenneth did," McArthur said. "He alerted radio operators in some pretty obscure places -- places that rarely have contact with the space program."
To show his gratitude, McArthur recently presented Ransom with the Silver Snoopy Award -- a silver lapel pin featuring the famous "Peanuts" comic strip character Snoopy in a spacesuit. NASA's Astronaut Office presents the award to those who have significantly enhanced the space agency's goals for human exploration and development of space. Fewer than one percent of the space program's workforce receives it annually.
Dream Job
Ransom never expected to have any contact with the space program in his professional life. After graduating from high school in 1980, he went on to earn a bachelor's in journalism and a master's in environmental studies at Baylor University. But when he moved to Houston with his wife, Beth, he happened upon an ad for what he now calls his dream job. He gave up plans to work with computers, instead pursuing a career in what had been a hobby -- ham radio.
"I think it's the greatest job in the world," he said. "I'm sure the astronauts would disagree, but to each his own."
McArthur is still working to confirm DXCC from space. So
far, he has approximately one-third of the necessary contacts confirmed.--NASA
provided some information for this report
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