AMSAT & ARISS Veteran Keith D. Pugh, W5IU, SK

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AMSAT & ARISS Veteran Keith D. Pugh, W5IU, SK

AMSAT and ARISS engineering veteran, Keith Pugh, W5IU, of Fort Worth, Texas, died on 24th May 2019. An ARRL Life Member, he was 80.

Born and raised in Dodge City, Kansas, Pugh was licensed in 1953. Amateur Radio strongly influenced his decision to pursue a career in electrical engineering, and he earned a Bachelor of Science, Electrical Engineering degree at Kansas State University in 1961. He moved to Texas to work for Convair (later General Dynamics and Lockheed Martin), and, after upgrading to an Amateur Extra-class license, he became W5IU. Pugh retired from Lockheed Martin in 2004 after a career in RADAR and Navigation Systems Engineering.

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Former North Carolina Section Manager John Covington, W4CC, SK

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Former ARRL North Carolina Section Manager John Covington, W4CC, of Charlotte, died on April 17 after a long illness. An ARRL Life Member, he was 58. Covington served as North Carolina SM from 2000 until 2006. First licensed in 1972, Covington mainly enjoyed CW and some digital modes, but operated phone on the National Traffic System, where he was very active, and on occasional public service nets, special events, and QSO parties. He also served as the North Carolina Affiliated Club Coordinator from 1997 until 2002, and he was an Official Relay Station.

Amateur Radio in Space Pioneer Astronaut Owen Garriott, W5LFL, SK

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Amateur Radio in Space Pioneer Astronaut Owen Garriott, W5LFL, SK

The US astronaut who pioneered the use of Amateur Radio to make contacts from space — Owen K. Garriott, W5LFL — died April 15 at his home in Huntsville, Alabama. He was 88. Garriott’s ham radio activity ushered in the formal establishment of Amateur Radio in space, first as SAREX — the Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment, and later as ARISS — Amateur Radio on the International Space Station.

An Oklahoma native, Garriott — an electrical engineer — spent 2 months aboard the Skylab space station in 1973 and 10 days aboard Spacelab-1 during a 1983 Space Shuttle Columbia mission. It was during the latter mission that Garriott thrilled radio amateurs around the world by making the first contacts from space. Thousands of hams listened on 2-meter FM, hoping to hear him or to make a contact. Garriott ended up working stations around the globe, among them such notables as the late King Hussein, JY1, of Jordan, and the late US Senator Barry Goldwater, K7UGA. He also made the first CW contact from space. Garriott called hamming from space “a pleasant pastime.”

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