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Astronaut Michel Tognini, mission specialist, uses the Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment II (SAREX-II) on Columbia's flight deck. SAREX was designed to demonstrate the feasibility of contact between the shuttle and ground-based amateur operators, often called "hams."; SAREX also serves as an educational tool, allowing school children around the world to learn about space firsthand by speaking directly to astronauts aboard the shuttle. SAREX has flown on 19 previous shuttle missions.