May 31: Old St. Mary’s School (OSM) students in Chicago, IL connected with Bob Hines via an ARISS radio contact. He replied to 12 students’ questions. Time remained before loss of signal over the horizon, so 2 teachers related 3 questions other students had asked during STEM studies. 500 students and faculty in classrooms watched the livestream, which was offered on two platforms. Before the contact, a teacher explained how the radio link would work and showed two short ARISS videos.An OSM teacher had attended Microgravity University for Educators at Johnson Space Center in 2017 and learned about ARISS; in 2021 she submitted an ARISS Education Proposal. OSM partners with the Museum of Science and Industry’s Science Leadership School Partners Program. It provided a framework that inspired teachers to enhance science curriculum and whole-school projects like the ARISS contact, and also widen communications with families and area stakeholders.

May 28: The Mindshub Association partnered with the Istituto Comprensivo Avio in Trento, Italy (337 students) to host an ARISS contact with Samantha Cristoforetti who answered 21 questions. 128 students and faculty watched the livestream; a week later another 160 people had viewed the recording. Mindshub was founded to create a “2.0 laboratory” for secondary, high school, and college students to experiment in electronics, 3-D printing, robotics, and information technology.  Mindshub volunteers sponsored STEAM-related activities and workshops on astronomical observing and model rocket building based on youths’ study of the Vega rocket. Students took part in the Problem Solving Olympics where they used computational thinking.

May 28: Youth involved in activities at the Voskresensky Children’s Center in the city of Nizhny Novgorod in Russia participated in an ARISS radio contact.  Cosmonaut Denis Matveev supported the activity and the ARISS-Russia team set up the radio station for it.  

May 27:  A big group of students from Ben Davis Aerospace Technical High School (DATHS) in Detroit, MI enjoyed a bus trip to the 2022 annual fly-in at Coleman Young International Airport. They got up close to aircraft from the Selfridge Air National Guard and the Coast Guard. Members of the Hazel Park Amateur Radio Club set up a demonstration ham radio station for students to try out amateur radio contacts and engage with the ARISS radio.  DATHS students look forward to an ARISS contact in the second half of 2022.

June 1: ARISS Director of Education Kathy Lamont and ARISS Technical Mentor Fred Kemmerer along with Frank Bauer led an ARISS Orientation Webinar with 28 attendees. This webinar focused on next steps for the nine newest educational institutions selected to host ARISS radio contacts. The educators and informal educators will plan when to move forward with their education plans and have ARISS Technical Mentors assigned who will give assistance with equipment plans. The ARISS radio contacts would be scheduled between January and June 2023.  

May 26: An ARISS InterOperable Radio System was installed in the Service Module by cosmonauts after Russia had launched it recently to the ISS.  The additional radio system, identical to the system in the Columbus Module, allows for more onboard amateur radio capabilities. While one radio system is in use by crew members to support ARISS radio contacts for students at educational institutions, the other system can be engaged with by individuals on the ground making ARISS cross band repeater or automatic packet reporting system (APRS) radio contacts.

May 29: Students and employees of SWGU in Kursk, Russia took part in an ARISS radio contact after learning about the ARISS program and how the radio contacts are performed. Oleg Artemyev used the newly installed ARISS radio system to speak with participants.  

May 31: The Amur State University in Blagoveshchensk, Russia hosted an ARISS contact for students who have participated in the Gagarin from Space program. Cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev supported the radio contact.  

May-June:  ARISS contacts took place recently at these locations; more details will be available in time for next week’s report:

  • June 2: Moscow Autonomous Education Inst. at Lyceum-Engineering Ctr., Kazan, Russia
  • June 4: Istituto Comprensivo Losapio-SF Neri, Gioia del Colle, Puglia, Italy
  • June 4: Matinecock District, Suffolk County Boy Scouts, Medford, NY 

ARISS Social Media

May 2022 Top ARISS Facebook Reach:  a poster a school made for a Cristoforetti ARISS contact

May 2022 Top Tweet – 3.4K impressions for a post about the next 9 ARISS schools

As of May 31, 2022, slight gains were made over April on each ARISS social media platform; total followers were:  

  • ARISS Twitter—16,703
  • ARISS Facebook—7,563
  • ARISS Instagram—423
  • ARISS YouTube—1.67K

May 2022 Facebook

ARISS Upcoming Events 

June 6: Scuola Media S.Pietro, Nuoro, Sardegna, Italy  ARISS contact, ARISS-Europe team
June 6 Bauman Moscow State Technical U., Moscow, Russia ARISS contact, ARISS-Russia team