Mastering Morse code requires a great deal of practice in both sending and receiving. Cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, first woman in space, listens as Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin sends. |
Early Russian Cosmonauts were trained to communicate in Morse code as a backup to their AM voice mode of operation. The Russian spacecraft from that era relied heavily on shortwave radio, the quality of which, is dependent on favorable atmospheric conditions. When shortwave radio conditions were poor, the cosmonauts had to abandon their AM voice mode and switch to Morse code which is more readable through static and weak signal conditions. |