November 30: On a celebratory note, ARISS has now achieved the significant milestone of supporting and completing 1,500 ARISS school contacts around the world! Our report last week described the 1,500th ARISS contact, which was hosted by the Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University in Kaliningrad, Russia. The ARISS Team is proud of this major achievement!
December 8: The screenshot below captures the thrilled girls and boys at the Junior School Leidschenveen, part of the British School in the Netherlands in The Hague, Netherlands, after talking to Josh Cassada during an ARISS contact. More details will be received in time for next week’s report.
Last half of November: AIAA—American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics—had accepted ARISS educator Linda Nowicki in early October to judge proposals for the AIAA 2022-2023 Classroom Grants program that awards funding for groups with top applications. She judged 10 proposals and got this email from AIAA’s K-12 Programs Manager: “Thank you for taking the time to volunteer to judge the AIAA Classroom Grants! There were over 200 applications submitted … if you would like to review and judge additional applications, let me know.” Linda enjoyed reading and judging applications and asked AIAA for 10 more to review!
December 4: Seven- and eight-year-old youths and some students with disabilities in the community of Aznakayevo, located in the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia participated in a successful ARISS contact with Anna Kikina. The youth had studied the series of About Gagarin from Space lessons.
November 9: ARISS educator Micol Ivancic in Italy presented at a meeting for teachers in Naples to train them about ESA’s Mission X education program and ARISS. She described the hands-on Mission X lessons she had her students doing in her classroom. She talked about the ARISS program and how teachers could write a proposal to be considered for an ARISS radio contact. She shared the hands-on lessons related to ARISS that her students engaged in. Mic’s audience included 12 primary school teachers, a school psychologist, and 2 staffers from the European Space Agency Education Resource Office.
December 2: Dignitaries along with residents and other guests gathering for the 13th International Festival of Films and TV Programs in Vologda, Russia under the title “Rendezvous with Russia” participated in a successful ARISS contact with Dmitry Petelin. ARISS-Russia’s Sergey Samburov attended as well, assisting ARISS-Russia volunteers. Youth had engaged in the Gagarin from Space lessons. More than 100 people were present for the event including the Governor of the Vologda Region and the Mayor of Vologda.
November 26: A reporter from Rai Radio 1, the national radio service in Italy, interviewed ARISS educator Micol Ivanic and two of her students from Milan about ARISS. Mic and the students talked for 10 minutes about their ARISS contact with Astronaut Luca Parmitano a few years ago, and the ARISS-related STEM activities the class had engaged in. The journalist created a podcast from the interview, which was widely advertised on social media platforms.
ARISS Upcoming Events
Dec 16 ARISS Contact: Maitand Air Cadet Assn, Goderich ON Canada, ARISS-Canada Team