Amateur radio turns out to be a great hobby for men and women in space.
Numerous American astronauts, who also are licensed amateur radio operators, have taken ham gear along on U.S. space shuttle flights. Amateur radio clubs and individuals around the globe help out, especially the local ham groups at NASA's Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas, and Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland. The equipment has been put to educational use many times during live communications between astronauts in space and children in schools around the world. It is so useful that radio amateurs have built a ham shack for recreational use aboard the International Space Station . U.S. astronaut Owen K. Garriott, amateur radio callsign W5LFL, was the first to chat with his fellow hams on Earth while orbiting the globe.