How did the interesting and touching "Dialogue between Heaven and Earth" come about? Find out in this article!

Recently, NASA revealed that astronauts participating in the lunar orbit will be equipped with "handheld radios" (amateur radio equipment) to communicate with relatives, friends and enthusiasts on the ground. Over the past decades, astronauts have used various means to conduct dialogues between the earth and the sky, and many interesting things have happened, as well as some tear-jerking moments that are worth our careful appreciation.

“Amateur” equipment is of great significance

As human activities in space increase, the need for communication between the earth and the sky increases day by day. With the help of artificial satellites and radio, it is gradually easier for astronauts to talk to people on the ground. For example, when Armstrong carefully stepped his left foot on the surface of the moon in 1969, he announced to the world: "This is a small step for a man, but a giant leap for mankind." Later, astronauts and ground teams used radio to communicate in time. With the installation of WiFi equipment in space, they can communicate more smoothly with colleagues and family members, and video calls are no longer uncommon.

Armstrong landed on the lunar surface in 1969 (Photo credit: NASA)

There were also some jokes. For example, American astronauts called the ground control center more than once while on board the spacecraft: UFO is approaching urgently! The appearance of the UFO they described, the tone of voice and the emotions they spoke were all quite "real", but unfortunately the result was that the ground personnel were "teased" again and again.

However, it was a novelty for ordinary amateurs to participate in the dialogue between the earth and the sky for a long time. Around 1970, a group of radio enthusiasts from the Amateur Radio Satellite Organization had a sudden idea: Is it possible to send amateur radio equipment on a manned spacecraft?

In November 1983, American astronaut Owen Garrett served as an engineer on the Skylab 1 mission. During the 10-day flight, he used the call sign W5LFL to operate an amateur radio station and communicated with many amateur radio enthusiasts, including some well-known figures, such as King Hussein of Jordan (call sign JY1) and US Senator Barry Goldwater (call sign K7UGA). He thus became the first astronaut in the world to use amateur radio to communicate with ground enthusiasts. In his memory, communicating with the "hams" (a nickname for radio enthusiasts) on the ground was "a pleasant pastime."

Later, an amateur radio station was set up on the International Space Station. With the advancement of technology, the "bridge" of communication between the earth and the sky has been greatly widened, and more and more interesting and touching stories have been told.

The simplest curiosity

On October 12, 2005, Chinese astronaut Fei Junlong ascended into space on the Shenzhou VI manned spacecraft. His 13-year-old son asked his father at the ground control center: "Dad, how does it feel to be weightless? I'll wait for you to come back and go fishing together." The first question reflects the simplest and most plain curiosity of young people about the unknown universe. Whether the latter wish comes true or not, it is believed that it has brought more warmth and fun to the father and son.

This dialogue between heaven and earth led to the joint participation of two generations of father and son in the space industry. 17 years later, Fei Junlong boarded the Shenzhou 15 spacecraft to explore the sky again. At this time, his son was already a member of the Shenzhou spacecraft development team, and the father and son made contributions to the launch of the spacecraft together.

With the advancement of manned space technology and the improvement of communication means, the content of the space-ground dialogue is no longer limited to work exchanges and greetings with relatives and friends. Carrying out space science popularization education, stimulating the public's interest in science, and showing the motherland's care and love are also important uses of the space-ground dialogue.

Hong Kong citizens have widely participated in the collection of questions for the "Dialogue between Heaven and Earth": "How do they eat in space? How do they eat spaghetti while it's flying around?" "When will commercial space travel be possible in the future?" "How many hours can astronauts sleep a day?" "What is the biggest difference between living in space and on Earth?" "What special scientific experiments will astronauts conduct in a zero-gravity environment?" After entering space, the astronauts answered these questions one by one, which was very interesting.

Since the Shenzhou 10 spacecraft in 2013, space lectures have become a "reserved program" for Chinese astronauts. As the equipment in space becomes more and more sophisticated, the video conversations transmitted between the earth and the sky become more and more high-definition, and a series of rare and wonderful experimental phenomena on the ground have stimulated the scientific interest of young people and even the whole society. I believe that more children who listen to the lectures will devote themselves to the space cause.

Astronauts give lectures to students at the Tiangong space station (Photo credit: China Manned Space Engineering Office)

Small touching moments to share

"I hear you!" In November 2018, when English greetings from the vast space reached a middle school in southwest China, the cheers of a group of middle school students turned the tense atmosphere in the classroom into full of excitement.

It turns out that this group of Chinese teenagers who love radio successfully communicated with the International Space Station and realized their dream of communicating with space with amateur equipment. To this end, they made sufficient preparations. As early as a year ago, they applied for communication with foreign astronauts through the "International Space Station Amateur Radio Communication Program" and carefully debugged the equipment. When the signal from the International Space Station entered the airspace above my country, they sent a call signal and received a response from the Russian astronauts. They also had a brief exchange with the astronauts in fluent English within a limited time.

For these young people, this experience is bound to add a lot of motivation to their passion. The extraordinary experience in their youth may sow a seed of hope and create new miracles in the future.

The dialogue between heaven and earth does not necessarily need to be "heavy". Fulfilling a little girl's wish is a wonderful exchange. A little girl from the UK has watched rocket launches and participated in space station science activities with her father since she was 2 years old, which planted the seed of a "space dream" in her young heart.

When she was 8 years old, her father woke her up from her sleep and used the radio equipment at home to talk to the American astronauts on the International Space Station. After the American astronauts greeted her, she revealed her name and age, expressed her gratitude, and wished her a "safe flight!" This very brief conversation ended.

The little girl who had a dream of space travel was very satisfied with this. Her father later shared this story online, telling netizens that this experience would change his daughter's world. The astronaut who communicated with the father and daughter also thanked them: through the radio, he felt the different lives of people on different continents in space. Obviously, this conversation between heaven and earth was not "significant", but it brought the three people a wonderful experience.

A bosom friend is always a friend indeed. We believe that communication between heaven and earth not only improves the work efficiency of professionals, but also satisfies the curiosity of the general public on the ground, and heals the loneliness of astronauts, providing unlimited motivation for exploring the farther universe. (Author: Ma Jie)