Members of the VU4 Andaman Island DXpedition are still awaiting news of their callsign from the Indian regulator, but the wait is at least over for their addition of a new team member. The next generation of DXpeditioner is from a country with very few hams at all!  A 17-year-old radio amateur from rural Malawi has joined the DXpedition team that is headed to Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal in October 2026. Although Malawi has callsigns designated by the IARU, the country does not have a formal amateur radio programme, so he first had to test and qualify for a foreign callsign (the US) before he could get his Malawi call. Urgent Jere (pron: Urgent Jerry), 7Q6UJ, is not just along for the ride on this trip. Barely a year after passing his US Technician exam, he has already confirmed 168 DXCC countries as a chaser. Soon, he will be on the other end of that envious pileup. He is studying to upgrade his license and sharpening his proficiency in CW.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is seeking volunteers to passively track the 2026 Artemis II Orion spacecraft as the crewed mission travels to the Moon and back to Earth.

The Artemis II test flight will send NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, KF5LKT; Victor Glover, KI5BKC; and Christina Koch, along with Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, KF5LKU, on an approximately 10-day mission around the Moon.

Targeted for no later than April 2026, the mission will rely on NASA’s Near Space Network and Deep Space Network for primary communications and tracking support throughout its launch, orbit, and reentry. However, with a growing focus on commercialisation, NASA wants to further understand industry’s tracking capabilities.

When there's an emergency, you can't have too many ways to communicate - particularly when the crisis involves nuclear materials. That's why here in the US, the Department of Energy recently asked amateur radio operators to be part of a drill at a plant where the agency conducts nuclear waste management and decontamination.

It was a first for the Amateur Radio Emergency Service in Paducah [PUH-DUKE-KUH], Kentucky: responding to a mock emergency at a government-owned site that conducts nuclear deactivations and spent-fuel cleanup. Paducah is one of more than 100 government sites across the country handled by the Energy Department's Emergency Management program, which conducts nuclear remediation.

The hams, first-responders at numerous natural disasters throughout Kentucky, were now providing backup in a nuclear scenario.