An 8-year-old Girl From England, Contacts NASA Astronauts On The ISS Via Amateur Radio

Isabella Payne, from Kent, UK, contacted NASA astronauts on the ISS. (photo: twitter @m0lmk)

JAKARTA - A young eight-year-old girl, her dream comes true when her father's (amateur) ham radio connects to the International Space Station (ISS). This contact, allowed him to have a 45-second conversation with SpaceX Crew-4 commander Kjell Lingren who answered the call saying, "Welcome to the International Space Station."

Isabella Payne, from Kent, England, introduced herself and her age, and Lingren thanked the space-enthusiastic young man for 'showing up the radio and saying hello.'

The contact was made possible because of his father's hobby of using anchor radio stations to talk to other operators around the world. Yet the father-daughter duo made one connection that was out of this world.

"It's a bit of knowledge but mostly pure luck," Payne said when answering a question on Twitter about how his radio was connected to the International Space Station (ISS), he was quoted as saying by the Daily Mail.

April 23, 2016. A 2 year old sat on my knee and watched the students of Wellesley House school chat with @astro_timpeake, an event I helped organize. Today she got her chance. Thank you so much @astro_kjell, you have changed her world. #iss #NASA #ARISS https://t.co/ImfevefePV

— Matt (@m0lmk) August 2, 2022

"There are very specific circumstances when you can actually talk to NASA astronauts on the ISS and on this occasion, it all comes together," he added.

According to her father Isabella fell in love with outer space when she was only two years old. The father also thanked Lingren for talking to his daughter.

“April 23, 2016. A 2 year old sat on my knees and watched Wellesley House school students chat with @astro_timpeake, an event I helped design,” Payne tweeted. "Today he got his chance."

“Thank you so much @astro_kjell, you changed the world,” Payne added.

Lingren also tweeted about the interaction. "I'm excited to use the #ARISS #NA1SS amateur radio station on @Space_Station to talk to ham radio operators around the world," he said.

“I even (unofficially) work on stations on all continents! But this is probably my favorite contact so far. Thank you Isabella and @m0lmk!," he tweeted.

ARISS is Payne's amateur radio station he uses to talk to other ham radio fans around the world.

Lingren has been with NASA since 2009 and is on her second mission in space. The first was from July 2015 to December 2015, when he also recorded a spacewalk time of 15 hours and four minutes.

Lingren blasted off to the ISS in April aboard a two-stage Falcon 9 rocket topped inside a Crew Dragon capsule dubbed 'Freedom,' along with Bob Hines and Jessica Watkins, and Italy's Samantha Cristoforetti of the European Space Agency.