Dave's comment is on target. I think we're coming close to the 'difference' between what Wheelock did (and I think should be recognized for) and what others did (or did not) do. As best as I can tell, it appears that Wheelock operated not for his own personal enjoyment, or to keep amateur radio active in space to some token degree, but to provide contacts and to share the experiences of space with a heck of a lot of people and at a significant personal sacrifice. That he enjoyed it should not enter into the equation. The degree of sacrifice should. I don't mean to minimize others' contributions, but I can donate 10 hours of pro-bono work and that's nice, but it's almost expected of me as an attorney. If I donate 100 hours in a year, that means I gave up a few weekends and plenty of evenings. That's certainly more of a sacrifice. That's what I'm talking about.

From what I understand of one's time in space is that what you are doing is tightly scheduled and there isn't much free time scheduled. What that means to me is that he sacrificed plenty of other opportunities in order to be on the radio to all us earth bound hams. Not only should that be rewarded (I wish it could be more than a plaque) but he should he held up as an example to encourage other space bound hams to plan ahead and to operate as much as they can (and desire to.)

Wheelock has raised the bar. We should not diminish his efforts by 'awarding' to every ham in space the same form or degree of recognition. What he gets, in terms of recognition should be special, to set apart what he did for the hobby and hams every where in the world. If there are others that came close in terms of operating level, we should make sure to include them in what and how we acknowledge his/their significant contribution to space-borne amateur radio. A plaque, a dinner, an extensive QST article on his hamming in space experiences, and engagement in dialog about how to facilitate more activity by those that will be following (and there will be fewer of them in the future.) That's what I think constitutes a prudent MINIMUM course of action. 73, Grant Grant Hopper, KB7WSD ARRL Northwestern Division, Vice Director -----Original Message----- From: Sumner, Dave, K1ZZ [mailto:dsumner@arrl.org] Sent: Monday, December 06, 2010 6:14 AM To: arrl-odv Subject: RE: Recognition for KB5BOC - Col. Doug Wheelock Dozens of astronauts have operated from space since Owen Garriott in 1983 and Tony England in 1985. Scores of astronauts have been licensed although it's likely that some of those who went into space did not actually operate. I'm told that Doug Wheelock was one of the most active, and possibly was the most active, to date. I understand he has expressed interest in attending at least one ham convention next year so there may be an opportunity to offer some recognition. By the way, we have never been accused of under-publicizing operations from space J Dave K1ZZ