An amateur radio enthusiast in Gloucestershire, England made the connection of a lifetime recently. Adrian Lane has a hobby of chatting with people on his radio that he keeps in his garden shed and a recent call was one he won't forget. While his equipment is a simple set up used by many hobbyists, it was still powerful enough to reach far into the night sky.
Speaking with BBC reporter Jane Hill on the Victoria Derbyshire programme, Lane explained that he checks a website to see when the astronauts aboard the ISS are on scheduled rest breaks, not wanting to disturb them during their work. He also was able to estimate when the station would be over the United Kingdom. Using this information, he simply spoke the ISS call letters into the microphone, identifying himself, and was "Stunned" to hear the astronauts answer back almost immediately.
Check out this video to hear Lane describe his conversation with the astronauts.