The all-ham crew members of the International Space Station said February 11 that while they grieve the loss of the shuttle Columbia crew, human space exploration must continue and they’re ready to spend up to a year in space if necessary. The ISS crew made its first public comments since the February 1 shuttle disaster in two news conferences this week.
The crew has not used the NA1SS onboard ham radio stations since the last Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) school contact in January. The next scheduled ARISS contact is set for Friday, February 21, with students at Oregon State University.
Commander Ken Bowersox, KD5JBP, said that once it became unlikely that there were any survivors from the Columbia catastrophe, ”we discussed all of the different options for how it would affect us. … We’ve got a Soyuz vehicle parked right outside.”
He said the crew did not feel isolated and had plenty of contact with family and friends and that, while not operating at peak efficiency, the ISS crew members would continue to move forward with the ”serious tasks” ahead of them.