-=> Quoting Bob Morgan to Frank Glover <=-
 
 FG> Personally, if I had a chance to go on a shuttle mission, in
 FG> addition to some ham contacts (KA2WQA), I'd bring a scanner to see
 FG> what terrestrial reception at those altitudes is like.... 
 FG> And still closer to Earth, in addition to RFI hazards to the
 FG> plane's systems, those who try to use a cellphone at altitude
 FG> complicate things on the ground because they can easily hit many cell
 FG> sites at once..... 
 BM> This is due to line-of-sight phenomenon?
This is called, "The higher the antenna, the greater the range."
As for taking a scanner on board the Shuttle, The SAREX gear
taken up on some flights is only an HT with a small antenna
attached to a window with suction cups. The transmission is 
low power but easily heard on the ground using a standard
ground-plane antenna.
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