The Russian space program used CW (some of it shortwave!) for at least some communications for a long time; for all I know, they still do. It's a sensibly simple backup.
And the cosmonauts were no slouches at the key, either. Here's audio from 1964's Voskhod-1, demonstrating the kind of skill more folks should have. Man's got a darned fine "fist!" I'm tickled by the slight "swing," especially the stretched out final DAH in "K" ("Go Ahead," or "Over") at the end, a touch which is not unknown in amateur radio.
Audio found at this interesting site. Want to learn how high school students tracked space missions in the 1960s?
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Very cool.
ReplyDeleteHe's also got audio of the first woman in space, Valentina Tereshkova, calling from Vostok-6 in 1963.
That was cool--and quite copy-able. Which makes it even cooler.
ReplyDelete