On Thursday, December 14, astronaut Tim Kopra and future space participant Charles Simonyi took and passed their amateur radio license exams.

Callsigns have since been issued. Charles Simonyi received the callsign KE7KDP and Timothy Kopra was issued the callsign KE5LUT.

Charles Simonyi KE7KDP an architect of Microsoft's Word and Excel programs, paid Russia more than $20 million for a round-trip ride to the station and a stay aboard the orbiting lab during April.