UK Astronaut Tim Peake, KG5BVI/GB1SS, Heads Ham Contingent to 10 Downing Street

UK Astronaut Tim Peake, KG5BVI/GB1SS — just back from a duty tour on the International Space Station — headed a contingent of radio amateurs and youngsters invited to visit new British Prime Minister Theresa May at 10 Downing Street earlier this month. The July 18 reception at the PM’s official residence celebrated the success of Peake’s “Principia Mission” and his time in space. Sandringham School student Jessica Leigh, M6LPJ, and her head teacher Alan Gray, G4DJX, were among those also on hand, along with students from the Principia Mission schools. Jessica, then a brand-new ham, was the first student in the UK to speak with Peake during an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) ham radio contact with the ISS. Peake inaugurated the use of the ISS Ham TV system when he spoke on January 8 with Jessica and other students at Sandringham School in Hertfordshire, England. More

(Source: ARRL - Jul 27)