January 19: Following months of prep and working through a curriculum concentrated on space and communications, Escola Secundária de Lagoa students at Lagoa in the Azores (autonomous region of Portugal) took part in a successful ARISS radio contact with Josh Cassada. He answered 16 of their questions. The school livestreamed the event to the public at https://youtu.be/R2Rd5Eku5lA; 6 days after the ARISS contact, viewers totaled 595. The ARISS telebridge radio station in Italy offered a livestream too, and within a week garnered 243 viewers. Reporters at the event consisted of two national TV stations, two national radio stations, two area radio stations, and two newspapers. As of now, six online outlets carried reports. A student quoted by the newspaper Correio dos Azores, said, “It was a fantastic experience and of course we would not have done it without the help of our teachers, our colleagues. This is an experience of a lifetime.” A 12th grader quoted by the same news outlet, commented, “Talking to an astronaut who is in space does not seem real. It’s hard to believe, but it was possible and we were able to accomplish it with work and dedication.”
January 17: ARISS educator Micol Ivanci spoke virtually with two classes at Colegio Diocesano Santa María Nuestra Señora in Écija, Spain. Her presentation covered facts about the ISS and crew-carrying space vehicles and she described ARISS ham radio ground stations and how one will facilitate their school’s ARISS contact in mid-February. 50 students and a group of teachers attended Mic’s session. The school takes part in Europe’s Erasmus activities. At a news conference the school set up regarding the ARISS contact, administrators thanked ARISS, ESA, and NASA for the opportunity to host the ARISS contact. They also thanked the Unión de Radioaficionados Españoles (Spain’s national association of radio amateurs) for technical assistance, Edelvives (a publishing firm focused on STEM) for pedagogical innovation, and the Écija City Council for its help.
January 24: An ARISS contact hosted by the MBU DO Center for Children’s Technical Creativity, “Young Motorist” took place in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia. Mission Control Center-Moscow scheduled the event and 14 students talked with crew member Dimitri Petelin. The ARISS-Russia team supported the contact and led students in the About Gagarin In Space lesson series.
January 4: ARISS-USA Education Director Kathy Lamont and ARISS Technical Mentor Fred Kemmerer hosted an ARISS Orientation Webinar; 20 people attended. This online development activity gave an assist to schools and education organizations recently selected for ARISS radio contacts to be scheduled in the future. Educators from those selected groups took part in the webinar as did representatives of their area amateur radio clubs who will help the educators. Listeners heard a review of what is expected of them and got their questions answered.
ARISS Upcoming Events
Feb. 4: Youth Nizhny Novgorod, Russia-ARISS contact, ARISS-Russia Team