Reddit user rejects call from his friend aboard International Space Station; regrets later

It is pretty common for people to ignore incoming phone calls from numbers that are not saved on one’s cellphone. While many of us rarely regret the decision, this is not the case for a Reddit user who recently publicised his mistake. Carrying the user name EmphateticApatheist, the user revealed that he received a literal long-distance call that was made from the International Space Station (ISS). While it may sound absurd, the user claimed that the call was from one of his friends who is currently on his second space mission.

“This happened two days ago (Sunday). A friend of mine is currently on his second mission to the ISS. I saw a call come in on my iPhone and the caller ID said “Us Gov.” I first had that thought / feeling you get when the principal calls you to their office. “Crap. What did I do that I thought I got away with but maybe I didn't?! (sic)” he said on Reddit. The regretful person shared this incident on the subreddit TIFU, which stands for Today I F***** Up, where people open up about the mistakes they recently made.

‘I feel like an idiot’

The user went on saying that he was “in the middle of something” with his friends, who suggested he should not answer the call after seeing the caller's name. On the advice of his friends, he let it slide to his voicemail, but later got to know it was his friend from space. “I had a chance to speak to someone that wasn't on Earth and screwed it up. First thing he said in the voicemail was “You probably saw a call from Us Gov and turned it down.” I know he'll call again, but damn I feel like an idiot right now (sic)”, he wrote further. Judging by his description, it is possible that he got a call from NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren, who flew to the ISS under Crew-4 mission with first-timers Robert Hines, Jessica Watkins and European astronaut Samantha Christoforetti, also on her second mission. 

How do astronauts call from space?

Astronauts from the space station can call from what is called a Softphone. It works through the laptops that astronauts have access to on the ISS and uses Internet-based communication systems. The ISS makes 16 orbits of the Earth in a day which makes it impossible to establish contact through conventional methods. This is where the Softphone comes in which helps communicate in space through a constellation of satellites called the Tracking and Data Relay Satellites (TDRS).