TITUSVILLE, Fla. — The originator of the 321-area code for four Florida counties Robert “Ozzie” Osband died on Sunday at 72, confirmed the American Space Museum where he volunteered for more than two decades.
What You Need To Know
- Robert “Ozzie” Osband was much more than the originator of the 321-area code
- He was a fixture of the Space Coast and was known as the Rocket Hobo
- A friend remembers what Osband was like
Osband was best known for being the originator of the 321-area code that is used for Orange, Brevard, Seminole and Osceola counties.
During the 20th anniversary of the now-famous area code in 2019, Osband shared with Spectrum News 13’s Greg Pallone how he came up with the idea.
The 407-area code could not quite hold the demand for new numbers and Osband noticed there was one area code that wasn’t being used.
"’3-2-1, haven't I heard that number before? Of course! Countdowns!’ And I live in the countdown capital. Now I know what area code I want," Osband said at the time.
He filed a petition for testimony before the Florida Public Service Commission and not only did the commissioners love the idea, but so did the audience at the meeting, he had said.
And on Nov. 1, 1999, the 321-area code came to life. In fact, then-Governor of Florida Jeb Bush made the very first call to the Kennedy Space Center as James Jennings answered with Osband sitting next to him. Jennings would later become NASA’s deputy director of NASA’s John F. Kennedy Space Center six months later.
“The 321-area code will live on forever,” thanks to Osband, Mark Marquette, the community liaison for the American Space Museum in Titusville, told Spectrum News 13 on Tuesday.
Remembering the ‘Rocket Hobo’
Marquette got to know Osband from the museum. The Titusville resident volunteered for the museum for more than 20 years and was the community liaison before Marquette, who has been with the museum for the last five years.
Osband was a fixture to the Space Coast and the American Space Museum, as much as any memorial for astronauts.
During his years at the American Space Museum, Osband volunteered his time there by organizing events like Yuri’s Night (the celebration of cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin’s historic single orbit around the Earth on April 12, 1961) or the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 launch, shared Marquette to Spectrum News 13 during a phone interview.
He would do community outreach events and talks for the museum and for others. He even volunteered at the Cape Canaveral Space Force station, Marquette said.
But he may be best known to residents and tourists alike during launches. While at Space View Park in Titusville, Osband, who was a ham radio operator among other things, enjoyed providing a live feed of NASA or private space company officials during a launch.
And if a launch did not go up, in a familiar voice to many, he would yell “scrub”, shared Marquette.
A space geek himself |
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A native Ohioan, American Space Museum’s community liaison Mark Marquette has been known for a long love of astronomy, he says. While growing up in Ohio, he was either taking photos or using his telescope. Marquette, 69, used to live in Johnson City, Tenn., before coming to Florida. It still amazes him how many people stop what they are doing to watch a launch. “It’s amazing to see a launch and people pulling over to see them,” he said of drivers. Marquette even shared that like his friend Robert “Ozzie” Osband, he too is a “space geek” and wrote a space and astronomy column for 20 years at the newspaper in Johnson City before moving to the Sunshine State. Now he hosts a podcast for the American Space Museum, which can be found on YouTube. |
“You remember this guy Ozzie with his shock of white hair and a (rocket) hobo patch on,” recalled Marquette, who said that Osband would always wear a green shirt to symbolize the “green for go”, which means the launch can take off.
“It’s cool to be known as the rocket hobo,” Marquette added about his friend.
Marquette said Osband added to the Artemis I moon mission launch and even the attempts that had to be scrubbed in 2022.
“He was devoted to promoting the rocket launches,” Marquette said of Osband.
Osband started watching launches in 1985 during the space shuttle days until the latest rocket launch, Marquette revealed, adding that he would always ask Osband how many launches he has seen.
But Marquette said the answer was always the same, “I don’t know.”
After launches and as spectators started to leave, Marquette said that Osband would run into the Space View Park’s parking lot with his tip jar. As someone living on social security and doing the odd job, the tips helped him, Marquette said.
He would ask him what he would do with the tips and Osband would typically reply that he was going to buy himself a nice steak dinner, usually at Durango's Steakhouse in Titusville, Marquette said.
During the NASA-SpaceX Demo 2 launch in 2020, Osband must have made between $400 to $500 in tips as people were stuffing $20 bills into his jar, recalled Marquette with a laugh.
For Marquette, it will be the small moments he will miss with Osband, like on hot launch days, he said he would give a frozen water bottle or two to Osband.
“Those little things I’m going to miss,” he shared. “It’s going to be sad for the next launch and he won’t be there.”
Osband is survived by his brother, who lives in New York, Marquette said, revealing that the man who created the 321-area code never married or had any children that he knew of.
The cause of death is not known.
Marquette revealed that the museum is considering holding a memorial for Osband during the next launch, but no official plans have been made.
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