Some of you may have noticed the US National Weather Service image from February 1, 2003 showing the radar image of the tragic re-entry of the Space Shuttle Columbia over East Texas and Louisiana.
This is the same year that DSTAR development moved into full swing in the US. While there is no direct connection between the Columbia disaster and DSTAR, it should be a reminder how DSTAR has evolved into a wide area communications network where large geographic areas can be networked and include position reporting and voice and limited data communications. This is especially relative to search and recovery operations such as pinpointing debris from the crash. The group photo will be removed tonight. 73, nu5d
