December 8: Youth enrolled in Junior School Leidschenveen (JSL), part of The British School (BSN) in The Hague, Netherlands spoke to Josh Cassada during their ARISS radio contact; he answered 16 questions. The girls and boys were thrilled and he took particular care to speak slowly and clearly to the youngest ones. BSN offered the livestream to all 5 of The British School campuses (2,400 students); the URL is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLngfbL6h6s. Other ham operators streamed the audio and some space images (562 views). The BSN CEO said, “I can’t think of a more exciting opportunity for a young person than being able to talk live to an astronaut on the International Space Station! Events like this can help spark a lifelong love of learning in our students.” All 470 JSL students explored STEM through the “JSL in Space” curriculum. Older students researched technology law and space rubbish among other things, and enjoyed a satellite engineer’s presentation on ESA’s current projects. Younger students liked their field trip to Space Expo and researched the solar system and Andre Kuipers’ missions.
December 15: ARISS engineer Kerry Banke completed a series of NASA flight recertification and integration tests of the ARISS HamTV video unit with Johnson Space Center (JSC) test engineers. Results were good, including the RF Spectrum Analysis process that was performed. The next day, Banke and ARISS team member Kenneth Ransom tested the HamTV set-up with the ARISS camera and then a newer HDMI camera, interface, and an ID generator/HDMI converter.
Last fall Kayser-Italia (K-I), the original manufacturer (in Italy) of the HamTV box, had repaired the unit after its in-flight failure. K-I shipped it to JSC, whose staff sent it in November to Banke. For several weeks he performed testing and verification of the unit in his professional lab at his home before flying with the unit to JSC. Now, next steps are to find a launch and determine the final plan to get HamTV video operational once again on the ISS.
December 9: ARISS Educator Melissa Pore spoke to teachers and students from 30 states at the You Belong in STEM National Coordinating Conference in Washington DC. She talked about STEM educational opportunities such as ARISS, NASA STEM, and ISS National Lab’s Space Station Explorers. The conference was hosted by the US Department of Education as a key initiative for the Biden-Harris Administration.
December 16: Maitland Air Cadet Association located in Goderich, ON, Canada supported their cadet squadron in hosting an ARISS contact with Josh Cassada, who answered 21 questions. The Royal Air Cadet Squadron website offered the livestream as did two other groups. Students from nearby St. Mary’s School attended the event. The squadron training officer, quoted in the Goderich Signal Star, said: “After the completion of the event, the squadron will set up a permanent radio training station for cadets to enjoy radio communications and [on the air] contests.” The article is at https://www.goderichsignalstar.com/news/goderich-air-cadets-speak-with-astronaut-aboard-the-international-space-station. Cadets’ lessons prior to the ARISS contact included designing VHF radio antennas, learning to track the ISS, and lessons tied to earning a ham radio license.
Dec 3: ARISS Educator Charamie Dunlop gave a presentation on ARISS at an annual banquet in Orlando, FL of the First Class Operators. She talked about her school’s ARISS contact and the STEM activities her students had engaged in. She told one specific story on an unexpected long-term impact of the ARISS contact, which brought a few individuals in the audience to tears and earned her a standing ovation. At the social time after the banquet, many people found Charamie to ask about ARISS and compliment her on the talk, and a few wanted advice on how to reach out to their communities’ schools
December 3: ARISS Educator Melissa Pore gave a presentation at the quarterly meeting of the leaders of the Virginia state Air & Space Forces (AFA). At the meeting, held in Reston, VA, she described current STEM opportunities, including ARISS, to 31 of the AFA leaders attending.
December 10: A successful ARISS contact was supported by Sergey Prokopyev and held for students at Dubenskaya Secondary School in Dubenki Village, Republic of Mordovia, Russia. ARISS-Russia volunteers presented a talk at the event and helped with the radio contact, which was scheduled by Mission Control Center-Moscow. Students had engaged in a series of lessons called “About Gagarin from Space.”
November 3: ARISS Educator Melissa Pore helped staff an exhibit table set up by AIAA (American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics) for an awards event, Aviation Week Network’s Laureates. Attendees included college students, mentors, and aviation and space industry people. Those stopping at the AIAA table heard about ARISS and other NASA STEM activities. Melissa had helped mentor a young lady who was honored as one of Aviation Week’s “20 Twenties.”
December 28: @ISS_Research posted on Twitter its 2022 Highlights video touting the “Best Space Station Science Imagery of 2022.” The video included an image of Kjell Lindgren at the ARISS radio on the ISS. The accompanying description mentioned his accomplishment of contacting ham radio operators in all seven continents during his stay on the ISS. The post is at https://twitter.com/ISS_Research/status/1608151284682731520?s=20. Within four days’ time, the Tweet’s video had collected 80.9K views and the Tweet itself garnered 367.5K views. ARISS thanks the @ISS_Research team.
December 28: ISS National Lab staff posted a photo story on its website about best scientific experiments performed on the ISS in 2022. The second photo featured Kjell Lindgren operating the ARISS ham radio station on the ISS. ARISS thanks the ISS National Lab staff for this post. The web page is https://www.issnationallab.org/iss360/2022-issnationallab-science-highlights/?utm_source=edm&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=pe&utm_content=2022
ARISS Upcoming Events
TBD