June 25-28: ARISS Educators Kathy Lamont and Joanne Cozens Michael staffed an exhibit booth all about ARISS at the 2023 International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) Conference in Philadelphia, PA.  ARISS and the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) had collaborated on this conference and ARRL sent two staffers for the booth who talked up ARRL’s Teachers Institute (TI). ARRL is an ARISS sponsor, and TI is a five-day professional development teacher workshop on radio technology in STEM classrooms, including ARISS. Also at ISTE, ARISS Educator Gina Kwid gave a forum on robotics and tied in details about ARISS she drew 153 forum attendees. At the booth, ARISS gave 230 flyers only to teachers who asked for them and ARRL handed out 250 more, just as judiciously. Joanne reported, “When we ran out, we gave people URLs for ARISS LinkedIn and Facebook.” Kathy said that they talked to a higher percentage of high school teachers over elementary, middle school, or college percentages. Two well-known education bloggers stopped at the booth; one did a social media post telling attendees to be sure to stop at the ARISS booth—over 1,000 saw the post. The other blogger videotaped Joanne and ARRL’s staffer Steve, each giving an “elevator pitch” on ARISS and TI; the lively video was posted on LinkedIn. 

June 29: In preparation for their upcoming ARISS contact in late 2023, Harbor Creek High School’s Advanced Technologies Group (ATG) in Harborcreek, PA launched a weather balloon with a payload full of amateur radio equipment they designed and fabricated. Students livestreamed a YouTube of the entire balloon event, even the landing and acquiring all the radio payload data. The livestream garnered many comments in the Chat while school staff and the public viewed the action. Students posted the recording for more people to see, reaping 473 views in two weeks: https://www.youtube.com/@AdvancedTechnologiesGroup. A video montage garnered another 24 views. Jet 22 Action News posted a story about the launch; the writer quoted Assistant Principal Drew Mortensen: “Dreaming big dreams is important for kids. They have to have the idea that they can do something that is beyond the pale…gives them the opportunity to do something different.” Students had attempted a launch earlier, and Mortensen said, “If at first you don’t succeed, we analyze the most recent attempt, consult experts, revise plans, and then launch again!”

July 11-12: ARISS-Europe team member Armand Budzianowski was selected by the ESA Education Team to present at the online conference, 2023 ESA Teach with Space. ESA scheduled Armand for the “Share Your Projects” session that introduced ways educators can use space as a conduit for teaching STEM. Armand produced a 3-minute video featuring ARISS: what it is, how European teachers can apply to support an ARISS contact, that it requires a team, and how ESA educational material can enhance STEM studies related to ARISS. 249 educators saw his video. The next day he offered the public a link for viewing his video, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pw7T3AhjQgw; in 6 days it garnered 144 views. Also at the conference, Matthias Maurer presented a talk and a Q&A. Two ARISS educators asked him questions related to their earlier ARISS school contacts. Maurer then encouraged educators to learn about ham radio and employ it to teach STEM. David Honess of ESA Education also gave a conference talk, discussing the popular ARISS Slow Scan TV sessions (picture downlink events).

July:  ARISS educator Melissa Pore from Arlington, VA is working on space projects this summer with Twiggs Space Lab.  The lab’s tweet stated: “We are excited to be working with Melissa Pore on some amazing space science projects. Twiggs Space Lab will roll out new hardware this summer to support these projects. Melissa is a very creative STEAM educator and many of her new STEM education initiatives are applicable to students across a broad level of skill sets.”  In order to inspire future generations of engineers and scientists, the lab works with teachers and students who “share a passion for STEM education, especially space science and systems engineering.” Melissa said she’s working with Twiggs Space Lab and NASA SEES (STEM Enhancement in Earth Science) high school interns through University of Texas at Austin.  

ARISS Social Media

ARISS social media leader Jim Reed reported these June 2023 highlights:

  • ARISS passed 29,000 Followers in June
  • Top posts continue to be ones on assorted topics

ARISS Total June Social Media Metrics:

  • ARISS Twitter – Total Impressions / Views 143,559,  Interactions / Engagements 3,825 
  • ARISS Facebook – Total Impressions 67,267,  Interactions / Engagements 2,012
  • ARISS Instagram – Total Reach 3,584,  Interactions / Engagements 408
  • ARISS Mastodon – Interactions / Engagements 114
  • ARISS LinkedIn – 5 new Followers,  120 Reactions     
  • ARISS YouTube – Total Subscribers 1.95k

June Social Media Top Posts & June Total Metrics and images 

  • Top June Tweet – 2 ham radio operators are part of Crew-7 on later 2023 launch: Impressions 6,798, Interactions / Engagements 77
  • Top June Facebook Post – ARISS team at biggest Europe ham convention: Reaches / Impressions 5,600,  Engagements 129
  • Top June Instagram Post – Congrats to ARISS *STAR* SIP intern Unsh Rawal: Reach 220,  Interactions / Engagements 24
  • Top June Mastodon Post – ARISS to hire part-time director of education: Interactions 14

ARISS Upcoming Events  
July 18: Youth On The Air (for youth in the Americas), Ottawa ON – ARISS contact, ARISS-Canada Team