March 9: ARISS Director of Engineering Randy Berger and an AMSAT volunteer shared the ARISS program and its education projects with radio and technology enthusiasts by staffing a booth at the Irving Hamfest in Irving, Texas. Randy reported an estimated 250 attendees, including “a lot of kids,” at the hamfest (an event with a variety of activities of interest to ham operators and STEM enthusiasts). Randy’s laptop displayed slides about ARISS and ARISS education. The two men spoke with over 50 adults and children who showed big interest in ARISS; kids loved being given ARISS, NASA, and other ARISS-partner stickers. Tom had a hand-held radio and antenna to demonstrate how to talk with ham operators in distant locations using the ARISS radio equipment on the ISS.

March 9: ARRL-ARISS Committee Chair Mark Tharp attended the 43rd Electronics Show and Swap Meet at the Washington State Fairgrounds in Puyallup, WA. He set up a table and a roll-up poster at this annual event to present ARISS and its educational programs. 1700 attendees had the chance to visit Mark’s display.

ARISS Upcoming Events  
Mar 20: Second Chance School, Orestiada, Orestiada, Greece-ARISS contact, ARISS-Europe Team
Mar 25: St. John’s School Authority, Newfoundland, Canada-ARISS contact, ARISS-Canada Team
Mar 25: Amur State University, Blagoveshchensk, Russia-ARISS contact, ARISS-Russia Team
Mar 27: Students in Kursk, Russia-ARISS contact, ARISS-Russia Team
Mar 29: Students in Ufa, Russia-ARISS contact, ARISS-Russia Team