An amateur radio enthusiast has made contact with the ISS from his garden shed

A MAN has taken long distance phone calls to the next level after making contact with astronauts in space from his garden shed.

Space Shuttle And Space Station Orbiting Earth. 3D Scene.

IT TURNS out you don’t need massive broadcast centres jam-packed with the latest technology to contact astronauts in outer space.

Apparently, all you need is a garden shed, an amateur radio and a willingness to succeed.

This is what Adrian Lane found out when he made contact with the International Space Station as it passed over his Gloucestershire house.

The 52-year-old amateur radio enthusiast had been trying to contact the ISS from his garden shed in southern England for more than a month, so he was shocked when they replied to his call signal.

“They came back to me and said, ‘Receiving you — welcome aboard the International Space Station’,” he told BBC.

Mr Lane said the interaction lasted for 45 seconds and took place during a four minute contact window.

“I just sat back and waited until the main stream calling had died down a little bit and gave them a call and they came back to me,” he said.

“I asked him what the stars looked like from up there and he came back to me and said with no atmosphere up here the stars are really bright.

“But he told me when you look down on earth it’s something else — it’s just a mass of colour where everything else up here is black.”

While pleased with his efforts to make contact, Mr Lane said he was a little disappointed the conversation didn’t last longer.

“It’s quite an achievement, especially when you consider he’s flying over the top of me at 17,500mph (28,000km/h),” he said.

As the ISS openly publishes its Amateur Radio frequencies on the ARISS website, Mr Lane said he is hopeful to make contact again.

“I don’t know if I’ll ever do it again, but (I) will still be trying.”