Category: News Blog

Overview

ARISS-USA, a 501(c)(3) educational and scientific non-profit organization, is seeking an experienced educator with extensive leadership experience to serve as our Director of Education. This is a part-time, remote position in the USA which includes a one-year probationary period.

ARISS provides and operates Amateur Radio systems on International Space Station (ISS) and elsewhere to inspire, educate, and engage youth and communities in science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM) and to support ISS backup communications. For more detailed information on ARISS, see the About ARISS-USA section, below, or visit the ARISS web sites: www.ariss.org and www.ariss-usa.org.

Responsibilities

• ARISS Education Senior Leadership: As the Director of Education, work with the ARISS team to develop strategies and a vision to maintain and expand the educational outcomes of youth that participate in the ARISS experience.
• Education Engagement Volunteer Team (EEVT) Leadership: Serve as the leader of the ARISS education engagement volunteer team, fostering passion within the team, recruiting new team members, and ensuring each radio contact opportunity meets ARISS’ objectives of inspiring, engaging, and educating youth in STEAM/STEM and encouraging youth to pursue careers in these fields.
• Host Organization Contact Competitive Selection: Coordinate the semi-annual request for proposal (RFP) process to solicit and select host organizations (e.g., schools and informal education organizations) for ARISS astronaut radio contacts. Staff the proposal selection team, maintain RFP selection rubric and RFP process, conduct host organization information sessions, serve as the selection official, and coordinate with the ARISS executive team on endorsement of final selections and on ensuring host organizations and external media are promptly and accurately informed of the results.
• ARISS Education Ambassadors (AEA): Recruit, train and guide AEAs, selected from the EEVT ranks. AEAs track their appointed ARISS contact host organizations to gather details and insight into how these contact teams are following their educational objectives as outlined in their proposals. AEAs also gather data to document ARISS contact educational outcomes, including photos, parent permission slips, student engagement descriptions, metrics and post-survey compliance. 
• Diversity and Inclusion: Develop team strategies that explicitly target improvements in ARISS’ engagement with diverse and underrepresented youth and provide opportunities for these youth that motivate them to pursue STEAM careers.
• ARISS Lesson Plans: Create or coordinate the development of lesson plans and educational kits that support the educational outcomes of ARISS host organizations. Compile external lessons that can serve ARISS host organizations, including lessons developed by our NASA and ISS National Lab sponsors. Maintain dedicated areas on the ARISS web site for posting these lessons for distribution.
• National Science Standards Alignment: Ensure ARISS education initiatives—including the contact experience, lesson plans, and educational kits—align with National Science Standards.
• Metric Collection: Work with the education volunteer team to ensure contact metrics and post-contact surveys are submitted. Conduct post-contact surveys and track survey performance over the course of the program. Present metrics and survey results to ARISS executive team and prepare materials and present results of educational outcomes to sponsors, stakeholders and prospective new partners.
• Networking: Participate in meetings, conferences, workshops and other opportunities to convey the educational breadth and depth of the ARISS Experience to space agencies, educators, sponsors, stakeholders, education departments, and federal and state governments.
• International Coordination: Work with ARISS educators in other countries to develop best practices and to convey the activities and methods employed by the ARISS-USA educator team.

Required Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Demonstrated leadership in a formal or informal education setting.
• 3+ years of teaching experience in a formal or informal education environment
• Graduation from an accredited college or university with a degree in education, education administration or a related field.
• Proficient in the use of virtual technology, including Zoom, and ability to learn other virtual tools, such as Google Meet, Teams, Webex, Dropbox, Google docs and Office 365 products.
• Enthusiasm in providing education experiences in the STEAM field.
• Enthusiasm learning about amateur radio and wireless technologies and to enthusiastically convey these to educators and youth.
• Must be a U.S. citizen.

Preferred Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Basic understanding of amateur radio; possessing an amateur radio license preferred; obtaining an amateur radio license required post-hire.  License training will be provided upon hiring.
• Educator that has previously conducted an ARISS contact.
• Experience and/or ability to work and lead a virtual, distributed, nationwide team.
• Experience in coordinating experiences, lessons learned and best practices with ARISS international colleagues.
• Experience in coordinating with partners, stakeholders and sponsors.
• Experience interfacing with space agencies or space organizations.

Location

Remote, within the USA.

Anticipated Salary

Part time, 20-hour per week salary range is $23,000-$34,500 per year, depending upon experience.

Hours worked per week and during the day are flexible, as long as the candidate supports meeting engagements, meets deliverable times, and works an average of about 20 hours per week.

Other Position Information

Candidates accepted into this position will be required to first serve a one-year probationary period. All candidates must be U.S. citizens.

To Apply

If you are interested in making a difference as an ARISS-USA team member, please send your resume or CV to candidates@ariss-usa.org. Include a cover letter explaining your interest in the position and why you are the optimal candidate for this position.

All position applications are due no later than midnight (Eastern Daylight Time) July 31, 2023

Overview

ARISS-USA, a 501(c)(3) educational and scientific non-profit organization, is seeking an experienced educator with extensive leadership experience to serve as our Director of Education. This is a part-time, remote position in the USA which includes a one-year probationary period.

ARISS provides and operates Amateur Radio systems on International Space Station (ISS) and elsewhere to inspire, educate, and engage youth and communities in science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM) and to support ISS backup communications. For more detailed information on ARISS, see the About ARISS-USA section, below, or visit the ARISS web sites: www.ariss.org and www.ariss-usa.org.

Responsibilities

·         ARISS Education Senior Leadership: As the Director of Education, work with the ARISS team to develop strategies and a vision to maintain and expand the educational outcomes of youth that participate in the ARISS experience.

·         Education Engagement Volunteer Team (EEVT) Leadership: Serve as the leader of the ARISS education engagement volunteer team, fostering passion within the team, recruiting new team members, and ensuring each radio contact opportunity meets ARISS’ objectives of inspiring, engaging, and educating youth in STEAM/STEM and encouraging youth to pursue careers in these fields.

·         Host Organization Contact Competitive Selection: Coordinate the semi-annual request for proposal (RFP) process to solicit and select host organizations (e.g., schools and informal education organizations) for ARISS astronaut radio contacts. Staff the proposal selection team, maintain RFP selection rubric and RFP process, conduct host organization information sessions, serve as the selection official, and coordinate with the ARISS executive team on endorsement of final selections and on ensuring host organizations and external media are promptly and accurately informed of the results.

·         ARISS Education Ambassadors (AEA): Recruit, train and guide AEAs, selected from the EEVT ranks. AEAs track their appointed ARISS contact host organizations to gather details and insight into how these contact teams are following their educational objectives as outlined in their proposals. AEAs also gather data to document ARISS contact educational outcomes, including photos, parent permission slips, student engagement descriptions, metrics and post-survey compliance. 

·         Diversity and Inclusion: Develop team strategies that explicitly target improvements in ARISS’ engagement with diverse and underrepresented youth and provide opportunities for these youth that motivate them to pursue STEAM careers.

·         ARISS Lesson Plans: Create or coordinate the development of lesson plans and educational kits that support the educational outcomes of ARISS host organizations. Compile external lessons that can serve ARISS host organizations, including lessons developed by our NASA and ISS National Lab sponsors. Maintain dedicated areas on the ARISS web site for posting these lessons for distribution.

·         National Science Standards Alignment: Ensure ARISS education initiatives—including the contact experience, lesson plans, and educational kits—align with National Science Standards.

·         Metric Collection: Work with the education volunteer team to ensure contact metrics and post-contact surveys are submitted. Conduct post-contact surveys and track survey performance over the course of the program. Present metrics and survey results to ARISS executive team and prepare materials and present results of educational outcomes to sponsors, stakeholders and prospective new partners.

·         Networking: Participate in meetings, conferences, workshops and other opportunities to convey the educational breadth and depth of the ARISS Experience to space agencies, educators, sponsors, stakeholders, education departments, and federal and state governments.

·         International Coordination: Work with ARISS educators in other countries to develop best practices and to convey the activities and methods employed by the ARISS-USA educator team.

Required Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

·         Demonstrated leadership in a formal or informal education setting.

·         3+ years of teaching experience in a formal or informal education environment

·         Graduation from an accredited college or university with a degree in education, education administration or a related field.

·         Proficient in the use of virtual technology, including Zoom, and ability to learn other virtual tools, such as Google Meet, Teams, Webex, Dropbox, Google docs and Office 365 products.

·         Enthusiasm in providing education experiences in the STEAM field.

·         Enthusiasm learning about amateur radio and wireless technologies and to enthusiastically convey these to educators and youth.

·         Must be a U.S. citizen.

Preferred Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

·         Basic understanding of amateur radio; possessing an amateur radio license preferred; obtaining an amateur radio license required post-hire.  License training will be provided upon hiring.

·         Educator that has previously conducted an ARISS contact.

·         Experience and/or ability to work and lead a virtual, distributed, nationwide team.

·         Experience in coordinating experiences, lessons learned and best practices with ARISS international colleagues.

·         Experience in coordinating with partners, stakeholders and sponsors.

·         Experience interfacing with space agencies or space organizations.

Location

Remote, within the USA.

Anticipated Salary

Part time, 20-hour per week salary range is $23,000-$34,500 per year, depending upon experience.

Hours worked per week and during the day are flexible, as long as the candidate supports meeting engagements, meets deliverable times, and works an average of about 20 hours per week.

Other Position Information

Candidates accepted into this position will be required to first serve a one-year probationary period. All candidates must be U.S. citizens.

To Apply

If you are interested in making a difference as an ARISS-USA team member, please send your resume or CV to candidates@ariss-usa.org. Include a cover letter explaining your interest in the position and why you are the optimal candidate for this position.

All position applications are due no later than midnight (Eastern Daylight Time) July 15, 2023.

About ARISS-USA

ARISS-USA, a 501(c)(3) educational non-profit organization, is the United States arm of the international ARISS working group. ARISS inspires, engages and educates youth in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM) by providing once-in-a-lifetime educational opportunities for youth to conduct ten-minute question and answer interviews directly with crew members on-board the International Space Station (ISS). Through these ARISS ham radio connections, students ask the ISS crew questions about life in space, career opportunities or other space-related topics. Students spend about four to six months in formal and informal education settings preparing for their contact. Preparation for the experience motivates youth to learn about radio waves, space technology, ISS research, science, geography and the space environment. In many cases, the students help write press releases, convey ARISS activities through social media and give presentations on the contact to their fellow students and to the local community. They also can fully engage in the ARISS contact by helping set up an amateur radio ground station at the school and then using that station to talk directly with the onboard crew member. ARISS youth activities span many youth educational domains, including public and charter schools and universities (K-16), scout groups, museums, libraries, after school programs, and national or international events.

Recently unveiled, ARISS 2.0 represents a new STEAM education vision for the future of amateur radio on human spaceflight missions. ARISS 2.0 will augment the current ARISS education, operations, and on-board hardware capabilities to provide more extensive educational outcomes for our next generation. This will be accomplished through new, engaging education projects and lessons plans that will leverage our on-board space assets and interactive wireless radio kits on the ground. It will encompass multiple human spaceflight vehicles in low Earth orbit and deep space, including ISS, commercial space stations, such as Axiom, and may include cislunar opportunities on Gateway, Artemis, and lunar landers. These diverse, on-board wireless capabilities will be available to youth and lifelong learners 24/7, inspiring, engaging and educating participants across the globe.

May 17, 2023: Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) is pleased to announce the schools/host organizations selected for the January-June 2024 window. A total 11 of the submitted ARISS Education 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 these US host organizations. 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 the ARISS operations team, the final selected schools/organizations will be scheduled as their availability and flexibility match up with the scheduling opportunities offered by NASA in January through June 2024.

The schools and host organizations are:

ARISS will be joining in the Dayton Hamvention experience this year with a booth, a forum and four mini-forums.  Dayton Hamvention is May 19-21 in Xenia, Ohio this year.

ARISS’ International Chair Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, will lead the main forum, “ARISS 2.0: The future vision for Amateur Radio on the International Space Station” on Saturday at 12:10 PM in Forum Room 2. 
In December 1983, Astronaut Owen Garriott, W5LFL, electrified the world via his ham communications from the Space Shuttle Columbia. Starting at Hamvention 2023, ARISS will spend a year celebrating 40 years of amateur radio on human spaceflight vehicles! Our new vision, ARISS 2.0, will expand ARISS youth education outcomes, ham-in space operations, flight hardware systems, and even our space platform (in addition to ISS, think commercial space stations and lunar operations). Learn what ARISS is doing to support ham radio operations on human spaceflight vehicles – now and over the next 40 years. Expect some surprise guests and new announcements.

The ARISS booth will be in building 4, the “Volta” building.  Four mini-forums will be hosted in the booth area.  Those include:

Friday – 10:00 AM: ARISS Educational Opportunities: SPARKing Interest in Amateur Radio in Teachers and Students
Presented by: Dan White (AD0CQ) ARISS-US Education Committee and professor of electrical and computer engineering at Valparaiso University
Learn how ARISS engages educators and students, including a demonstration of the SPARKI kit. Unsh Rawal will join for an update on the Space Telerobotics using Amateur Radio, AKA *STAR* kit.                   

Friday – 2:00 PM: ARISS Engineering
Presented by: Randy Berger (WA0D), ARISS-USA Director of Engineering
Find out more about how ARISS integrates with the space program partners and new design concepts.

Saturday – 10:00 AM: ARISS How To – Intro to working the repeaters on the ISS –
Presented by: Randy Berger (WA0D), ARISS-USA Director of Engineering
Want to know how to get started making contact with and through the ISS or interested in becoming an ARISS technical mentor, find out more in this session.

Saturday – 2:00 PM – ARISS Post-Forum Q&A / Meet and Greet
Hosted by: Frank Bauer (KA3HDO) – ARISS International Chair and the ARISS team
Meet some of the team that make things happen behind the scenes and get all your ARISS questions answered.

Call for Proposals – New Proposal Window is February 20, 2023 – March 31, 2023

February 15, 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 January 1, 2024 and June 30, 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 March 31^st, 2023.  

Proposal information and more details such as expectations, proposal guidelines and the proposal form can be found at https://ariss-usa.org/hosting-an-ariss-contact-in-the-usa. An ARISS Introductory Webinar session will be held on March 1^st, 2023 at 8 PM ET.  The Eventbrite link to sign up is: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ariss-proposal-webinar-for-spring-2023-proposal-window-registration-515706320487

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 ariss.us.education@gmail.com .

Dec 22, 2022 – The ARISS SSTV capability is currently not operational.  The SSTV card that interfaces with the ISS computer was damaged and cannot be reliably used.  Also, ISS has recently switched to a new complement of laptops, which requires the ARISS Russia team to develop a new computer interface to support SSTV.  ARISS Russia has been actively working this new development and is consulting with the ARISS International hardware/software team on these efforts. Sergey Samburov, RV3DR, ARISS Russia leader, has stated that they expect to complete the SSTV development effort early next year and launch the hardware on a future Progress flight later in the year.  Until then, SSTV operations will be down. 

The ARISS International team will keep all informed about SSTV status through our web site www.ariss.org and our social media outlets.

Call for Proposals – New Proposal Window is October 1, 2022 to November 13, 2022

Oct 3, 2022 — 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, 2023 and December 31, 2023. 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 13, 2022.

Proposal information and more details such as expectations, proposal guidelines and the proposal form can be found at https://ariss-usa.org/hosting-an-ariss-contact-in-the-usa/. An ARISS Introductory Webinar session will be held on October 13, 2022, at 8:00 PM ET.  The Eventbrite link to sign up is: https://ariss-proposal-webinar-fall-2022.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 ariss.us.education@gmail.com .

September 8, 2022–On September 8, 2000, 22 years ago today, the Space Shuttle Atlantis launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, starting the STS-106 Space Shuttle mission. On-board this mission was the ARISS Ericsson radio, a packet module/power supply and other hardware that became our first operational radio system on ISS. Just two months later, on November 13, 2000, the Expedition-1 crew installed this hardware system in the Zarya (FGB module) and operated it for the first time.

On behalf of the international ARISS team, I want to extend our heartiest of congratulations to all in the hardware team that made this radio system a reality!

73 (Best Wishes),

Frank Bauer, KA3HDO
ARISS International Chair

August 12, 2022—ARISS is pleased to announce that starting yesterday, August 11, simultaneous operations of the ARISS Voice Repeater and digital APRS communications on the International Space Station (ISS) is now a reality.  Current ARISS operations include voice repeater transmissions with the JVC Kenwood D710GA in the Columbus module and APRS packet operation from an identical radio in the Service Module (Zvezda).  Packet operations are on 145.825 MHz.

The ARISS Russia and USA teams have been working for several weeks to prepare the Service Module radio for APRS operations.  ARISS Russia team member Sergey Samburov, RV3DR, led the effort, working with Russian mission controllers and the on-board ISS cosmonauts to configure the Service Module radio for APRS ops.  On August 11, final checkouts were completed and the APRS packet mode was switched on for amateur radio use.

ARISS-International Chair Frank Bauer, KA3HDO states, “Simultaneous operation of APRS and the voice repeater on ISS is transformative for ARISS and represents a key element of our ARISS 2.0 initiative, providing a interactive capabilities 24/7 that inspire, engage and educate youth and lifelong learners—especially life-long learning in ham radio operations.”  Bauer continues, “Our heartfelt thanks to Sergey Samburov, RV3DR, for making this crucial ARISS 2.0 initiative become a reality.”

The Columbus Module radio uses the callsign NA1SS and the new Service Module radio uses RS0ISS.  Aside from the callsigns, the radios are identical and packet operations are the same as before.  You can use RS0ISS, ARISS, or APRSAT as the packet path.  Also, both radios are expected to be on full time, except during educational contacts, EVAs, and dockings or undockings.

You can find operational status and expected downtimes of the ISS radios at https://www.ariss.org/current-status-of-iss-stations.

June 20, 2022—Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) plans to have its ARISS InterOperable Radio System (IORS) in crossband repeater mode for ARRL Field Day. The IORS ham station is located in the Columbus Module of the International Space Station. 

ARRL Hq has confirmed that successful radio contacts made through the ARISS IORS, in crossband repeater mode, will count for an ARRL Field Day QSO point, but also for Field Day bonus points! Another fun opportunity for points. Don’t forget the rule limiting stations to 1 QSO per any single channel FM satellite. On-orbit astronauts always have very busy schedules, but if a voice contact were to be made with them, it would count as a QSO credit but not for satellite bonus points. Only an ARISS crossband repeater QSO qualifies for the bonus. Crossband repeater contacts are also valid for AMSAT Field Day for satellite operations, held concurrently with the ARRL event.  

Frequencies for ARISS crossband repeater operation are as follows: 145.990 MHz up, 67 Hz tone and 437.800 MHz down. If you haven’t used the ISS repeater yet, be sure to practice with it before Field Day (June 25 – 26, 2022). These contacts can be tricky, but hams can practice right now…can you do it?