July 31–August 4: ARISS educator Mic Ivancic and astrophysicist Elisa Gastaldi planned a week-long Space Day Camp at the latter’s farm resort in Castelnuovo Scrivia, Italy that features a planetarium. Elisa led 14 campers in daily planetarium shows on constellations and planets. Mic guided them in researching the ISS, how it stays in orbit, and what life is like onboard. Youth divided into four teams of three “crewmembers” and used teamwork to accomplish fun tasks. An example: built and launched yeast and sugar rockets and vinegar and baking soda rockets, recording notes on failures and successes, and comparing launches. On “astro-egg day” each team received two boiled eggs and a few items to design and build a protective vehicle to “land” the egg safely after a launch from an upstairs room. Kids saw the ISS pass overhead while watching Mic manipulate her ham radio and antenna to listen to ARISS cross-band repeater radio contacts. Also, a few days after camp ended, Mic and the astrophysicist organized a walk for 80 people to watch Perseids meteors and a planetarium show and to see Mic’s presentation about the ISS and ARISS.
August 10: ARISS volunteer Stefan Dombroswki and area ham operators set up four outreach stations related to ARISS for people attending “Night of the Stars” hosted at the Euro Space Centre in Libin, Belgium. The Centre widely advertised the free mega-STEM event; 2,200 people came, each walking by the first ARISS exhibit station where Stefan and team had youth doing multiple hands-on activities that demonstrated radio waves. At the second ARISS station, youth (with a parent) built an FM radio receiver and electrical kits. The third station offered a QO-100 satellite radio station that kids experimented with. The fourth station featured a pulsar hunt, a hidden transmitter hunt with a space twist. At all stations, people heard about ARISS and radio.
ARISS Upcoming Events
Aug 31: Augusta Preparatory Day School, Augusta GA – ARISS contact, ARISS-US Team