Kicker: Talking to an astronaut

PAUL BUTLER, HOST: Most of us don’t like being woken up in the middle of the night. But for one girl, her dad knew she’d want to be awake for this “dream come true.”

Matthew Payne plopped his sleepy-eyed daughter down in front of his amateur radio gear.

Audio here courtesy of NBC-15:

PAYNE: Zero, lima, mike, kilo

LINDGREN: Mike kilo, this is NA1SS. Welcome to the International Space Station.

At that moment, the International Space Station was orbiting directly above Isabella’s part of the world in England. The communication window doesn’t last long, but ham radio enthusiasts can speak to astronauts aboard the space station when it's overhead.

PAYNE: My name is Isabella. I’m 8-years-old. 0-5-0-9. Thank you.

LINDGREN: This is November, Alpha, 1 Sierra, Sierra. Isabella, it’s so great to chat with you. Thank you for getting on the radio and saying hello.

PAYNE: Thank you. Fly safe.

Lindgren later tweeted that talking with Isabella may be his favorite earthling contact so far. Isabella seemed pretty jazzed about the whole things as well:

ISABELLA: I was thinking, Oh, my goodness, oh my goodness, I'm talking to someone out of the earth's atmosphere.

It’s The World and Everything in It.

PAUL BUTLER, HOST: Most of us don’t like being woken up in the middle of the night. But for one girl, her dad knew she’d want to be awake for this “dream come true.”

Matthew Payne plopped his sleepy-eyed daughter down in front of his amateur radio gear.

Audio here courtesy of NBC-15:

PAYNE: Zero, lima, mike, kilo

LINDGREN: Mike kilo, this is NA1SS. Welcome to the International Space Station.

At that moment, the International Space Station was orbiting directly above Isabella’s part of the world in England. The communication window doesn’t last long, but ham radio enthusiasts can speak to astronauts aboard the space station when it's overhead.

PAYNE: My name is Isabella. I’m 8-years-old. 0-5-0-9. Thank you.

LINDGREN: This is November, Alpha, 1 Sierra, Sierra. Isabella, it’s so great to chat with you. Thank you for getting on the radio and saying hello.

PAYNE: Thank you. Fly safe.

Lindgren later tweeted that talking with Isabella may be his favorite earthling contact so far. Isabella seemed pretty jazzed about the whole things as well:

ISABELLA: I was thinking, Oh, my goodness, oh my goodness, I'm talking to someone out of the earth's atmosphere.

It’s The World and Everything in It.

WORLD Radio transcripts are created on a rush deadline. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of WORLD Radio programming is the audio record.