Ive heard Russian voices from Mir on 143.625 Mhz. Whats the deal here?
Mir uses a VHF radio for voice communications with its ground stations. Most of the ground stations are located in Russia. In the glory days of the Soviet Union there were many remote stations around the world in Socialist countries, and tracking ships at sea. They’ve all been closed as a money savings measure. In 1996 NASA agreed to set up ground stations in the U.S. to supplement the Russian communications network in exchange for better communications for the U.S. crewmembers on Mir. Stations were set up at Wallops Island Virginia, Edwards Air Force Base California, and White Sands New Mexico. These stations use fairly simple Yagi motorized antennas with medium power VHF radios – at first glance they look like typical ham radio satellite setups! The U.S. ground stations relay communications to the Russian mission control (Tsup) in Korelov Russia. 143.625 Mhz. is _NOT_ a ham radio frequency, and you cannot transmit to Mir on this frequency unless you’ve been authorized by the Russian
