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Greetings 405 listener!
The 405 airs over KMMR Radio Station. At 5 Minutes past 4 PM. Normally each M-F week day of the year. Here on the website we'll get it posted for you within a few hours, normally.
Your neighbor and website maintainer,
D.J. Rasmussen
P.S. Oct 8th, 2025 Update. Finally back and published the Oct 3, 6th & 7th episodes, today on the 8th. We've had a recording equipment failure, hopefully fixed by tomorrow or very soon. Until then, I'm picking up the KMMR master recording copy and publishing that the day after The 405 airs or as soon as possible. Thanks for stopping by and listening.
I wanna again welcome you to the 04:05 coffee break, guys. Tuesday, we missed yesterday because of the football game, but we're back up and running. Get you a cup of coffee, glass iced tea, or bottled water. Let's see what's happening. Spring wheat, $5.15 a bushel. 550 pound steer calf, $4.12 a pound, I hope to shout. A butcher hog in Iowa, 59ยข a pound. And a 100lb fat lamb in Billings is worth $2 and 4 pennies. Well, guys, there's more, much more. Backwards, turn backwards in the time in our flight. Make me a child again just for tonight. The time machine is going back to the year 1973, in fact, the summer 1973. I myself had just finished my sophomore year in Malta High School, soon to embark into my junior year. The Malta Mustangs had won the state basketball championship in 1971, and again in 1972. In 1973, the Mustangs took a sabbatical.
OK Solberg:In 1973, the Vietnam War began with a peace agreement. The Paris Peace Accords, although honored in some respects, the peace agreement was violated by both North and South Vietnam. North Vietnam released all American prisoners of war, and The United States completed its military withdrawal from South Vietnam. While in 1973, it had only been four summers past when Woodstock played in a field in New York State, and it had also been only four summers past that Apollo 11 had landed on the moon and we got a report from space, one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind. So, yes, Apollo 11 in 1969, but with all the happenings in the world at that time, NASA's accomplishments played second fiddle to say, well, the Vietnam War or other high profile historical events.
OK Solberg:So in 1973, without cable TV and certainly without the Internet, some news got lost to the people. Sure, we heard Neil Armstrong's powerful words in 1969. And guys, we also heard in 1970 from Apollo thirteen the famous line, Houston, we have a problem. But after that, NASA and its accomplishments got bumped to the lower shelf. But do you remember Skylab?
OK Solberg:Oh, yes. It was a major space happening. The first men to live in Skylab were sent up in May 1973. The second set of astronauts to live in Skylab went up the same year in the month of June. Included in that three man crew was Owen Garriott.
OK Solberg:That three man crew lived in Skylab for fifty nine days, way back in the summer in 1973. Owen Garriott was a talented astronaut, and guys, he also loved to laugh. That's my kind of guy. He planned out a fun prank before he left for space. At home, he took a handheld tape recorder and had his wife record her voice with some prescripted lines.
OK Solberg:And she recorded them into the cassette tape recorder, and he took the tape and the recorder into space. So now to refresh your memory, we have two messages from space etched into our minds. One small step and Houston, we have a problem. But why didn't I hear about this message from space until just last week? So with Owen Garriott in the Skylab and communication happening daily with Houston, one day, just before the daily check-in with Earth, when the controller asked Skylab, this is Houston.
OK Solberg:Do you read? Garriott pressed play. A female voice from orbit answered, good afternoon, Houston. This is Skylab. Silence fell over the line.
OK Solberg:Then from mission control came a shaky voice, who who who is this? The voice came back from space. Hi, Robert. This is Helen, Owen's wife. A long pause.
OK Solberg:And then Robert Crippen, totally confused said, what what are you doing up there? Oh, I just thought I'd bring the guys something to eat. Everything's fresh and homemade. Then radio silence, total chaos. For a whole minute, mission control froze, then the connection cut away.
OK Solberg:End of story. Why am I always the last to know? Thanks to my friend and classmate, Brad Hicks, over there in the Seattle area for sending that delightful tidbit from space. I remember what I was doing back in 1973. How about you?
OK Solberg:But I had never ever heard that one. Now I'll never forget it. Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations. Ask your father and he will show you, your elders, and they will tell you. Deuteronomy 32:7
OK Solberg:So until next time, as you go out there, remember now, don't be bitter.