Category: News Blog

April 18, 2024: Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) is pleased to announce the US schools/host organizations newly selected for 2024 ARISS contacts. A total of 9 of the submitted proposals during the recent proposal window have been accepted to move forward in the processes of planning to host a scheduled amateur radio contact with crew on the ISS. The primary goal of the ARISS program is to engage young people in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math (STEAM) activities and raise their awareness of space communications, radio communications, space exploration, and related areas of study and career possibilities.

The ARISS program anticipates that NASA will be able to provide scheduling opportunities for the 9 US host organizations during the July – December 2024 time period. They are now at work starting to implement their 4–6-month education plan which was outlined in their proposal.  These STEAM based educational activities help prepare students for their contact as well as create an on-going exploration and interest in aerospace and amateur radio topics. They are also completing an acceptable equipment plan that demonstrates their ability to execute the ham radio contact. Once their equipment plan is approved by ARISS, the final selected schools/organizations will be scheduled as their availability and flexibility match up with the scheduling opportunities offered by NASA.

The schools and host organizations are:

Call for Proposals – New Proposal Window is January 8, 2024 – February 29, 2024

January 8, 2024 — The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Program is seeking formal and informal education institutions and organizations, individually or working together, to host an Amateur Radio contact with a crew member on board the ISS.  ARISS anticipates that the contact would be held between July 1, 2024 and December 31, 2024. Crew scheduling and ISS orbits will determine the exact contact dates. To maximize these radio contact opportunities, ARISS is looking for organizations that will draw large numbers of participants and integrate the contact into a well-developed education plan.

The deadline to submit a proposal is February 29, 2024.  Proposal information and more details such as expectations, proposal guidelines and the proposal form can be found at www.ariss.org. An ARISS Introductory Webinar session will be held on January 17 at 7 PM ET.  The Zoom link to sign up is: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZcrc-qsrD0pGNLBvhR_2p5O9uTeRzO0u4Sw

The Opportunity

Crew members aboard the International Space Station will participate in scheduled Amateur Radio contacts. These radio contacts are approximately 10 minutes in length and allow students to interact with the astronauts through a question-and-answer session.

An ARISS contact is a voice-only communication opportunity via Amateur Radio between astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the space station and classrooms and communities. ARISS contacts afford education audiences the opportunity to learn firsthand from astronauts what it is like to live and work in space and to learn about space research conducted on the ISS. Students also will have an opportunity to learn about satellite communication, wireless technology, and radio science. Because of the nature of human spaceflight and the complexity of scheduling activities aboard the ISS, organizations must demonstrate flexibility to accommodate changes in dates and times of the radio contact.

Amateur Radio organizations around the world with the support of NASA and space agencies in Russia, Canada, Japan and Europe present educational organizations with this opportunity. The ham radio organizations’ volunteer efforts provide the equipment and operational support to enable communication between crew on the ISS and students around the world using Amateur Radio. 

Please direct any questions to education@ariss-usa.org .

December 27, 2023: Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) is pleased to announce the schools/host organizations selected for the July-December 2024 window. A total of 6 of the submitted proposals during the recent proposal window have been accepted to move forward in the processes of planning to host a scheduled amateur radio contact with crew on the ISS. The primary goal of the ARISS program is to engage young people in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math (STEAM) activities and raise their awareness of space communications, radio communications, space exploration, and related areas of study and career possibilities.

The ARISS program anticipates that NASA will be able to provide scheduling opportunities for the 6 US host organizations during the July-December 2024 time period. They are now at work completing an acceptable equipment plan that demonstrates their ability to execute the ham radio contact. Once their equipment plan is approved by ARISS, the final selected schools/organizations will be scheduled as their availability and flexibility match up with the scheduling opportunities offered by NASA.

The schools and host organizations are:

December 26, 2023 — Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) announces a special SSTV experiment to be held this week.  The ISS Voice Repeater will be our downlink and several ARISS selected ground stations around the world will serve as SSTV uplink stations.  Two special images will be sent on 437.800 MHz using PD120 formatting. 

This limited experiment will be conducted on several passes over Europe, Australia and the USA between Wednesday Dec. 27 to Saturday Dec. 30, 2023.

We hope radio enthusiasts will download the images and follow along with the event.  We appreciate all hams holding off from using the repeater for voice contacts during the event.  Watch www.ariss.org and ARISS social for pass information and more beginning on Tuesday Dec. 26.

December 16, 2023 — The ARISS 40^th Anniversary SSTV Event is currently experiencing technical difficulties. We have received a number of reports stating that no images have been received during passes. The problem is being investigated and we will continue to provide updates of changes in the operation status as they occur. Please refer to our social media listings below for the latest updates.

December 16, 2023 — In celebration of the 40^th Anniversary of STS-9, an ARISS Slow Scan TV (SSTV) event has been scheduled from the International Space Station (ISS). The event begins on December 16 at 10:15 UTC and runs through Tuesday, December 19 at 18:00 UTC. Images will be downlinked at 145.8 MHz +/- 3 KHz for Doppler shift and mode of operation is PD 120. Radio enthusiasts participating in the event can post their received images on the ARISS SSTV Gallery at https://www.spaceflightsoftware.com/ARISS_SSTV/ . ARISS SSTV awards can be applied for at ARISS SSTV Award (pzk.org.pl)

October 24, 2023 — Astronaut Owen Garriott, amateur radio callsign W5LFL, pioneered amateur radio communication from space on his STS-9 Space Shuttle Columbia flight, conducted November 28 to December 8, 1983. In his free time, during the STS-9 mission, Garriott became the first ever person from space to communicate with amateur radio operators on the ground. He was also the first to be heard directly from space by the public using simple FM receivers and scanners. 

Dr. Garriott’s mission, 40 years ago, transformed astronaut communications from space forever, allowing amateur radio operators (hams) and the public to communicate with people in space. Prior to this, only a few mission controllers and heads of state could talk to an astronaut in space. Garriott represents the first of many spacefarers that employed amateur radio on the Space Shuttle, Mir space station and the International Space Station for public engagement, family connections and educational outreach. To date, well over a million people on Earth have participated directly in these astronaut radio contact engagements. The educational youth contacts, coupled with pre-contact education initiatives, have inspired, engaged and educated youth around the world and encouraged them to study and pursue careers in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM). 

As the ARISS (Amateur Radio on the International Space Station) team approaches the threshold of the 40^th anniversary of human spaceflight amateur radio, we would like to gather the volunteer teams, astronauts, space agency officials, educators, and space and amateur radio enthusiasts to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida to recognize and celebrate the past forty years of this inspiring, educational, and free service and to share the excitement of what’s to come. 

The conference entitled “The Positive Impact of Amateur Radio on Human Spaceflight: 40^th Anniversary Conference” will be held February 22-24, 2024, at the Center for Space Education: Astronauts Memorial Foundation, located adjacent to the NASA Kennedy Space Center Visitors Center. 

Highlights of the 40^th Anniversary Conference include tours of the NASA Kennedy Space Center Visitors Center, human spaceflight amateur radio exhibits, networking sessions in the exhibit area, STEM education demonstrations, and two conference days packed with astronaut panel sessions, presentations by youth alumni in STEM careers, and recollections by educators and volunteer team alumni that supported Shuttle, Mir and ISS hardware development, flight operations and youth STEM engagement.

We encourage your attendance at our special celebration this February!  For information on registration and special event pricing at local hotels, visit our event website at www.ariss.org and choose the drop-down menu tab labeled “40^th Anniversary.”

Special Request:

Countless students, worldwide, have participated in our SAREX (Shuttle/Space Amateur Radio Experiment), Mir and ARISS programs over the past 40 years.  If you are one of those students or if you know of a student that participated in our program and is in a STEM career, we would be delighted to hear about this and feature them as part of our celebration either through in-person participation, a video submission, email, or letter. We would also appreciate getting educator testimonials on the impact of SAREX, Mir and/or ARISS in their schools. Please provide this information to: astro-hams-40yrs@ariss-i.org .

Call for Proposals – New Proposal Window is October 1, 2023 – November 10, 2023

September 25, 2023 — The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Program is seeking formal and informal education institutions and organizations, individually or working together, to host an Amateur Radio contact with a crew member on board the ISS.  ARISS anticipates that the contact would be held between July 1, 2024 and December 31, 2024. Crew scheduling and ISS orbits will determine the exact contact dates. To maximize these radio contact opportunities, ARISS is looking for organizations that will draw large numbers of participants and integrate the contact into a well-developed education plan.

The deadline to submit a proposal is November 10, 2023.  

Proposal information and more details such as expectations, proposal guidelines and the proposal form can be found at www.ariss.org. An ARISS Introductory Webinar session will be held on October 5 2023 at 7 PM ET.  The Eventbrite link to sign up is: https://ariss-proposal-webinar-fall-2023.eventbrite.com

The Opportunity

Crew members aboard the International Space Station will participate in scheduled Amateur Radio contacts. These radio contacts are approximately 10 minutes in length and allow students to interact with the astronauts through a question-and-answer session.

An ARISS contact is a voice-only communication opportunity via Amateur Radio between astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the space station and classrooms and communities. ARISS contacts afford education audiences the opportunity to learn firsthand from astronauts what it is like to live and work in space and to learn about space research conducted on the ISS. Students also will have an opportunity to learn about satellite communication, wireless technology, and radio science. Because of the nature of human spaceflight and the complexity of scheduling activities aboard the ISS, organizations must demonstrate flexibility to accommodate changes in dates and times of the radio contact.

Amateur Radio organizations around the world with the support of NASA and space agencies in Russia, Canada, Japan and Europe present educational organizations with this opportunity. The ham radio organizations’ volunteer efforts provide the equipment and operational support to enable communication between crew on the ISS and students around the world using Amateur Radio.

Please direct any questions to education@ariss-usa.org.

August 31, 2023 – Tanya C. Anderson has been selected as Director of Education for Amateur Radio on the International Space Station, Inc. (ARISS-USA). Tanya has been a classroom educator for 18 years, the last 16 years teaching middle school science at St. Joan of Arc in Lisle, Illinois. Her science curricula cover earth and space science, life science, and physical science. Her career focus has been curriculum development in various fields of science.

In addition to her responsibilities as a middle school educator, Tanya has shown her passion as a results-oriented leader in a myriad of science, technology engineering, arts, and math (STEAM) initiatives such as NASA HEAT 2022 where she helped develop and test science curriculum for teaching heliophysics and system science. She also has served as a team leader in NASA’s Teaching from Space Microgravity Education Program, working with students to create an experiment that was tested on NASA’s microgravity aircraft.  Tanya is also a NASA Airborne Astronomy Ambassador and a Space Foundation International Teacher Liaison.  She received the 2015 Civil Air Patrol Aerospace Educator of the Year. 

When informed of her selection, Tanya exclaimed, “I am excited to be a part of the ARISS organization and cannot wait to see what the future holds for amateur radio as commercial space stations are built and lunar exploration evolves. I look forward to sharing my passion for STEAM and space education with other educators while we work together to inspire, engage, and educate the next generation.”

Tanya currently holds a Technician Class amateur radio license, with the callsign KD9BQZ, and has attended the ARRL Teacher Institute on Wireless Technology Workshop. In 2014, Ms. Anderson organized and held a successful ARISS contact involving the entire student body at St. Joan of Arc School. For the ARISS contact, she developed an extensive curriculum preparing students for their ham radio connection with Astronaut Alexander Gerst. Her first-ever ham radio contact was with Astronaut Gerst on the ISS. Tanya’s passion for education and ham radio continued outside the classroom as a troop leader for 6 years with the Boy Scouts of America. Tanya used her educational and amateur radio abilities to immerse the scouts in STEAM as well as help facilitate scout participation in Jamboree on the Air and radio merit badge classes.

ARISS-USA Executive Director, Frank Bauer remarked on Tanya’s selection, “Competition for this position was extensive and selection was challenging, given the number of truly outstanding candidates. We are thrilled to welcome Tanya to our ARISS leadership team. Her leadership experience, passion and educational prowess will serve ARISS well, guiding our education volunteers and supporting the implementation of the ARISS 2.0 vision–to develop more comprehensive educational outcomes for youth and life-long learners.”    

July 18, 2023— Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) in collaboration with the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), plan to carry out a special Slow Scan TV (SSTV) experiment from the ISS on Wednesday, July 26, 2023. During the event, the Columbus Module Repeater, transmitting at 437.800 MHz, will carry a message to be received by teachers attending the ARRL Teacher’s Institute class. The pass will be over the Mid-Atlantic / New England area with transmissions scheduled to begin at 20:05 UTC (16:05 ET) and ending at 20:20 UTC (16:20 ET). If necessary, a backup window will be 21:40 UTC (17:40 ET) to 21:55 UTC (17:55 ET).

Radio enthusiasts are welcome to download the message and follow along with the event, but we ask that all hams please refrain from using the repeater for voice contacts during the event. 

Please understand this is a special experiment conducted through ARISS and the ARRL. All regular operation of the repeater should continue to take place in voice mode only.

Check ARISS Social Media below for any updates on this event.

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