Adhir Saiyadh, a Gujarat-based engineer and radio enthusiast, claims tohave connected with SpaceX’s maiden manned spaceflight carrying twoNASA astronauts into orbit.
Adhir Saiyadh, a ham radio enthusiast, claims he got aresponse from the SpaceX Dragon crew, astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken, whiletrying to connect with the International Space Station, reports news agency ANI.
“I was on video call with a student explaining how toconnect to ISS. It was then that I got a response,” the 58-year-old Ahmedabadresident told ANI.
Saiyadh, a computer engineer, was trying out hisequipment to communicate with the ISS however he instead got a response fromthe Dragon capsule that was docked at the station.
A report by AhmedabadMirror reveals that Saiyadh got connected to the astronautswhen they were holding an interactive session on NASA TV viewers.
He was on the phone with a friend who asked if it waspossible to connect to the ISS. Saiyadh knew that the capsule would be passingover India at that time and decided to try his luck.
“I was on video call with a friend from Valsad,explaining to him the features of a mobile application that helps track ISS. Heasked me if we can connect with ISS. I realised that the capsule was to passover India around then and I decided to try my luck. I coincidentally gotconnected to their frequency and received a response from one of thecommandants of the capsule,” Saiyadh told the AhmedabadMirror.
Saiyadh added, "We hardly get five minutes to speakto astronauts. So, it was a pleasant coincidence that when I tried connectingwith ISS, it was above India.”
A qualified engineer, Saiyadh told the publication thatthe experience “felt personal” as he got a response from astronaut Doug Hurleywhen he got connected.
A ham radio is used by enthusiasts for the purpose ofnon-commercial exchange go messages, wireless experimentations and otherpurposes.
Elon Musk’s company SpaceX became the first privateentity to carry NASA astronauts into orbit. A Crew Dragon capsule atop a Falcon9 rocket, both developed by SpaceX, with Hurley and Behnken, lifted off fromthe Kennedy Space Center at 3.22 pm EDT on May 30 and docked with the ISS around19 hours later.
The SpaceX Dragon flight marks the first timein 11 years that NASA astronauts were launched into space in an American spacevehicle and from US soil.