January 24: Students at Istituto Comprensivo Anna Rita Sidoti in Gioiosa Marea, Italy shared an exciting day as their peers talked with Axiom crew 3’s Walter Villadei during an ARISS contact; he answered 14 student questions. The event began with a pre-contact show including students’ talks, videos of Villadei and astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti, and an ESA crew training video. The event drew 90 students and others, and 700 more students watched the livestream in their classrooms. In 2 days’ time, the video garnered 3.8k views. The school had engaged all students in lessons preparing them for this ARISS contact and support came from ham radio operators from the national organization for amateur radio, Italian Radioamateur Associacion. News services on hand consisted of RAI3 TV, Canale Sicilia TV, and Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Assocata Press Agency.
January 13: ARISS volunteers Martha Muir and Jim Reed spent the day at TechFest in Lawrenceville, GA put on by Gwinnett Amateur Radio Society. The event serves the amateur radio community with how-to workshops and demonstrations of various ham radio modes and of the latest ham radio equipment. Martha and Jim staffed a table displaying the new ARISS SPARKI radio kit and other items for teachers and handed out flyers describing ARISS and the 40-year celebrations in February at Kennedy Space Center. The 127 attendees they spoke with included 12 teachers, 16 students, and 15 others who wanted flyers to bring home to family members who are teachers.
January 22: ARISS was honored by being chosen as the ISS National Lab’s Space Station Explorers Partner of the Month. The ISS National Lab commended ARISS by posting an item on Facebook and X stating, “Congratulations to our friends at @ARISS int’l for being selected as our Partner of the Month! ARISS offers students around the world the exciting opportunity to talk with astronauts as they orbit 250 miles over Earth.”
January 22: Istituto Comprensivo Statale in Villa Guardia, Italy hosted an ARISS radio contact with Axiom astronaut Walter Villadei. He answered 10 students’ questions while 150 students and teachers watched the action. Two newspapers covered the contact and a livestream was offered, which garnered 1.2k views in 4 days’ time. The URL is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMQUWMww9yE. This education institution supports 3 primary schools for students, age 6 to 10, and 2 middle schools for students, age 11 to 13. A teaching team provides theoretical and practical teaching of science and technology.
January 19-20: At the annual Cowtown Hamfest, a gathering of 1,000 radio enthusiasts of the Dallas/Forest Hill, TX area this year, saw an ARISS display and heard ARISS Director of Engineering Randy Berger promote ARISS. He set up an exhibit and led a forum that attracted 30 people. He explained the ARISS program and some of its current projects and future endeavors, including ARISS’ ideas toward Lunar ham communications. Randy reported over 300 visitors coming to his exhibit table.
ARISS Upcoming Events
Jan 31: Bandırma Şehit Güvenç Anatolian HS, Bandırma, Türkiye-ARISS contact, ARISS-Europe Team
Jan 31: Bilingual Montessori School-Lund, Stiftelsen, Lund, Sweden-ARISS contact, ARISS-Europe Team
Feb 1: Alabama School of Cyber Technology & Engineering Huntsville-ARISS contact, ARISS-US Team
Feb 2: Thrive Home School Academy, Colorado Springs CO-ARISS contact, ARISS-US Team
Feb 22-24: Human Spaceflight Amateur Radio: 40th Anniversary Celebration, KSC Center for Space Education, Titusville FL—ARISS conference/gala