Category: News

October 13: In West Peabody, MA, the Covenant Christian Academy (CCA) faculty introduced their ARISS contact to the audience by saying the entire student body, PK through 12^th grade, was welcoming (virtually) a very special guest—Loral O’Hara. It was her first ARISS contact and she answered 20 student questions.  500 people were on hand; others watched the livestream (https://vimeo.com/event/3761617), which 90 minutes later, had gotten 430 views.  Seven media outlets ran stories:  Daily News, ItemLive, Ground News (2 stories), Bollyinside, 3 ARRL affiliates’ web sites, the Niche school review site, and The Salem News. The latter’s story is at https://www.salemnews.com/news/covenant-christian-academy-students-speak-with-international-space-station-through-ham-radio/article_0f9c9a68-6a0b-11ee-baed-9fc56bfb6610.html.  Lydia, a 7^th grader, said: “It was really cool hearing her voice, [I was] thinking, wow she’s in space right now! I got answers to a lot of questions I’ve been wondering about ever since I heard of space station astronauts.” In preparation for the ARISS contact, all ages of students learned about outer space, the ISS, and amateur radio. STEM coordinator Jennifer O’Riordan said the faculty’s goal was to help students see science in action. An area ham operator helped develop after-school programs for CCA’s ham radio club on how to operate the amateur radio and know its range of uses from chatting with new friends to coordinating life-saving efforts during emergencies. 

October 17: The 1,260 students of Valley Stream (NY) South High School watched their peers converse with Andreas Mogensen; he answered 11 questions. In the hour prior to the contact, students and faculty presented a program including a choral group singing and short talks by Science Honors Society officers with help from the Long Island Mobile Amateur Radio Club (LIMARC). The talks summarized details on the ISS and how ham radio works to make an ARISS contact happen with onboard crew using the ARISS radio. The principal, dressed in a NASA jumpsuit, and Science Department Chair Jeanette Azzaretto fired up students’ enthusiasm; the latter giving them this thought: “The stars are not too far away; let this event be the spark that ignites your inspiration.”  Two TV stations ran coverage during their newscasts. The school district invited all other district schools to watch the livestream, it captured 274 views, and in 3 days, 852 more views. The URL is https://youtube.com/live/g74NbsTEvVw?feature=share. The ARISS Technical Mentor, remote in New Hampshire, saw 24 viewers tying into his system. Over several months’ time, students had engaged in science and ARISS lessons covering topics that included: astronomy and satellites, physics of rocket launches and orbital mechanics, and with help from LIMARC, amateur radio communications in space. 

October 11: Students from Sekolah Kebangsaan Wangsa Maju Seksyen 2 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia took part in an ARISS contact with Andreas Mogensen. He answered nine students’ questions and the lead teacher asked the tenth question: “What is the best advice for our students if they want to become an astronaut like you?”  72 people—students, educators, and administrators—came to watch at the Planetarium Negara. The staff sponsored activities for World Space Week and students enjoyed STEM programs with Kementerian Sains Teknologi on the importance of space technology.  The livestream on the planetarium’s Facebook site got many viewers and within 7 days’ time, captured 1.4k views. The YouTube video at https://www.youtube.com/live/YLMFcozC-2o?feature=shared got 695 views within 9 days. Viewer numbers for both videos are still climbing.

October 10: Poland ESERO (European Space Education Resource Office) hosted an online reception titled, “About Space over Coffee.” It featured a discussion about ARISS by science researcher and ARISS volunteer Dr. Armand Budzianowski. 60 people, mostly educators and students, listened. He spoke on the benefits to each of them of participating in ARISS projects and also the space activities that can be introduced into lessons and extracurricular activities, such as receiving radio signals and images from the ISS. He included how educators can compete for an ARISS contact and locate area radio amateurs to get their assistance.

October 14: The annual Melbourne Hamfest (a gathering of radio enthusiasts) in Florida prides itself as the second largest hamfest in the state with several thousand attending. The two day event features forums, among other things, and ARISS Technical Mentor Ryan Krenzischek presented a talk on ARISS. He gave a short history of the program followed by how to prepare to aid an education group with an ARISS contact, showed a several-minute video of an ARISS contact that took place in Melbourne in 2023, and ended with a Q&A. Afterwards, a high school teacher from Gainesville expressed interest to Ryan in writing an ARISS Education Proposal in hopes of winning an ARISS contact. Other attendees included ARISS engineer Lou McFadin.

October 11: An article posted online by The Western Journal described the ARISS program and featured a Michigan ham radio operator using his hand-held amateur radio and antenna to try to make a radio contact (which he did) with Woody Hoburg on the ISS. The writer aptly defined ARISS as an “educational program” and as “designed to use such out-of-this-world encounters to spark the imagination and enthusiasm of students to pursue careers in science and technology by allowing young people to chat with astronauts in space.”

ARISS Upcoming Events  
Oct 24: A.L. Burruss Elementary School, Marietta, GA—ARISS contact, ARISS-US Team

October 6: The Space Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Azercosmos, hosted the first-ever ARISS contact in that country. Students came from No. 149 Secondary School in Baku as did some 8th to 11th graders from more area schools. Andreas Mogensen answered 7 questions. 54 students, 9 faculty members, and 6 from the community watched the action. The ARISS contact coincided with two space events in Baku—the International Astronautical Congress (IAC) and World Space Week 2023. Media coverage included Ictimai TV, CBC, OXU.az, Report Information Agency (https://report.az/ikt/azerbaycanli-mektebliler-beynelxalq-kosmik-stansiya-ile-elaqe-qura-bilibler/), and Azercosmos’ global-wide PR—see its Instagram posts at
https://www.instagram.com/p/CyEAggmqAcG/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==.  Azerbaijan’ national point of contact for the Space Generation Advisory Council, Nadir Atayev, assisted with the ARISS contact and shared with students part of a talk he gave on space engineering at a workshop sponsored by the UN Office for Outer Space Affairs with the International Astronautical Federation in conjunction with the IAC.  The Azerbaijan Central Radio Club and the Ganja Collective Radio Club hams organized the radio set up. Earlier, No. 149 students participated in regional competitions for exact and technical sciences; faculty said these helped youth build “a spirit of scientific curiosity and inspiration in STEAM science.”

October 6: The ARISS radio contact for Technological University Dublin in Dublin, Ireland saw Jasmin Moghbeli answering 18 student questions. The university had students viewing the livestream at six area schools as part of Ireland’s World Space Week activities. 2,744 people watched the action during the ARISS contact or via the livestream. Another 1,132 viewed the recording within a few days’ time. A university staffer said: “I’ve been laughing and bawling my eyes out watching the ARISS contact video—what an amazing thing for these kids!” The university posted a short video on X of the kids waiting to hear Moghbeli’s voice; the post got 5,147 views!  19 news sources posted reports with two being NewsTalk.com (https://www.newstalk.com/news/dublin-deis-schools-to-talk-to-international-space-station-1512651) and DublinPeople.com (https://dublinpeople.com/news/education/articles/2023/10/06/iss-schoolchildren-chat/).  An Irish Times reporter wrote, ”Crew 7 is a multinational team — a beacon of global cooperation in a time of uncertainty and conflict.”   The six schools take advantage of Delivering Equality of Opportunity (DEIS), described as: an action plan for educational inclusion that brings together a number of programs and helps identify and regularly review levels of disadvantage, and improves pupils’ learning experiences and outcomes.  The students had learned about orbital mechanics, how the ARISS radios would connect to the ISS, and heard engineer and scientist Dr. Niamh Shaw describe her exciting Mars science mission in the Kalahari Desert, Botswana.

October 10: An ARISS contact in Belgium was hosted for students at the Belgian Defence Koninklijke School voor Onderofficieren (KSOO) in Sint-Truiden and at IEPS (students from Lycée Albert Libiez and the Jurbise Social Promotion School) in Colfontaine. KSOO is a major non-commissioned officers’ school and training center while the IEPS is for high school students and life-long learners, ages 15 and older. Jasmin Moghbeli answered 12 students’ questions, leaving time for them to thank her before loss of the radio signal. Reporters from three TV stations, one radio station, and a written press company were on hand. Along with the ARISS contact, the audience at both sites listened to STEM presentations. Colfontaine had organized three conferences as part of Space Week and hosted a ham radio satellite demo, a digital ham radio demo, and more radio-related activities. Two online news agencies ran stories, Nieuwsblad.BE and TÉLÉMB.BE, with the latter posting a short video at https://www.telemb.be/article/station-spatiale-internationale.

October 11: ARISS social media leader Jim Reed announced that ARISS Facebook has crossed the threshold of 10,000+ followers. He thanked the team for its assistance and thanked those who look to ARISS social media for the latest updates on our STEAM-based activities.

October 5: ARISS Director of Education Tanya Anderson held an ARISS Proposal Webinar with other ARISS leaders to guide US educators wanting to know more about ARISS school contacts.  In addition to the 4 ARISS team members, 29 people tuned in to the webinar. Educators, formal and informal, watched a PowerPoint presentation and asked many questions related to writing an ARISS Education Proposal in hopes of winning an ARISS contact in second half 2024.

ARISS Upcoming Events  
Oct 17: Valley Stream South High School, Valley Stream, NY—ARISS contact, ARISS-US Team
Oct 18: St Peter CE Junior School, Broadstairs, Kent, UK—ARISS contact, ARISS-Europe Team

September 30: ARISS educator Diane Warner and seven members of her radio club, the All Things Amateur Radio Association (ATARA) of Lancaster, OH, took their STEM trailer with its ARISS and ham radio exhibits to WestFest in Columbus, OH.  WestFest, short for West Campus Science & Sustainability Festival, is Ohio State University’s annual STEM festival that offers around 40 hands-on STEM “activity booths” for kids.  ATARA set up 2 tables near their trailer in order to provide inside and outside activities. Undergrads of the Amateur Radio & RF Club of Ohio State University and the news editor for ARRL joined ATARA in staffing their exhibits. 80 kids and 60 adults engaged in the activities; two favorites: learning to use a multimeter to measure electrical resistance and putting together SnapCircuits® components resulting in an electrical circuit that made a buzzer sound. Diane wrote, “It was really cool watching these kids with their interest in STEM, trying their hand at activities we provided.” 

October 1: ARISS volunteer Dave Taylor set up an ARISS information table at the CARAFest ham radio convention in Columbia, MD.  He demonstrated the radio kit portion of the ARISS SPARKI education project and talked with attendees about STEM education, space communications, and general aspects of ISS life and activities.  He talked with 27 adults and 7 youth who were middle and high school age.

September 28: In Blagoveshchensk, Russia, students of the MAEI School No. 16, named after pilot-cosmonaut A.A. Leonov, went to the Amur State University for an ARISS contact to ask questions of Oleg Kononenko. The youths also learned about space and received career guidance. 30 people came for the contact sponsored by the ARISS-Russia team.

ARISS Social Media for September

ARISS social media leader Jim Reed reported September highlights:

• ARISS surpassed 30,000 Followers across all platforms—a record for us!
• In the past 12 months, total Followers increased by 17.2%.

ARISS Total September Social Media Metrics:

• ARISS X – Total Impressions / Views 110,296,  Interactions / Engagements 3,845 
• ARISS Facebook – Total Impressions 92,579,  Interactions / Engagements 3,031
• ARISS Instagram – Total Reach 6,153,  Interactions / Engagements 530
• ARISS Mastodon – Interactions / Engagements 71
• ARISS LinkedIn  –  281 Reactions     
• ARISS YouTube – Total Subscribers 1.96k

September Top Posts

The top post on both X and Facebook (14.5k and 9.01k respectively) described ways to engage with ARISS radios—an SSTV test and the digipeater. Top Instagram post touted Jasmin Moghbeli’s upcoming school contact. Top Mastodon post listed radio frequencies ARISS uses.

• Top X post: Impressions 14,578, Interactions / Engagements 702
• Top Facebook post: Impressions 9,010,  Interactions / Engagements 190
• Top Instagram post: Impressions 390, Interactions / Engagements 29
• Top Mastodon post: Interactions / Engagements 16

ARISS Upcoming Events
Oct 11: Sekolah Kebangsaan Wangsa Maju Seksyen, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia-ARISS contact, ARISS-Japan Team
Oct 13: Covenant Christian Academy, W. Peabody, MA-ARISS contact, ARISS-US Team

September 25:  Colegio Educación del Talento in Yerba Buena, Tucumán, Argentina supported an ARISS contact. A crowd of 115 students, volunteers and faculty watched youth as Andreas Mogensen answered 13 of their questions. 55 viewers tuned in to a livestream, which later garnered 100 other viewers. Prior to the contact, the online news sources La Gaceta and LaUnion published articles about the event, as did LV/12 radio and TV—the latter story is at

https://www.lv12.com.ar/colegio-educacion-del-talento/alumnos-del-colegio-educacion-del-talento-dialogaran-astronautas-n145761. LV/12 shared that the school rector said students could not believe it when they were notified of the chance to talk to an astronaut! The Radio Club of Tucuman prepared a teaser video that they posted 2 hours before the contact, which attracted a large number of viewers. The school strives to engage students in many extracurricular activities, among them a science club and multiple musical groups.

September 22: Escuela Preparatoria La Salle, a high school in Torreon Coahuila, Mexico hosted an ARISS contact with Jasmin Moghbeli, who answered 15 student questions. 400 people on hand witnessed this contact—the first one in Mexico! This school works with an elementary school, a middle school, and a university within the La Salle education group. All ages of students and guests crowded the university gym, even some from area public schools whose teachers asked to bring students “so more youth could enrich themselves from the experience.”  A girl who spoke with Moghbeli said she was “honored to be able to participate and ask the astronaut a question.” The ARISS radio telebridge station team streamed their actions controlling the radios and antennas, earning 190 live views and another 94 in two days’ time. The high school and Universidad La Salle Laguna posted news stories as did El Siglo de Torreon. An area resident and ham operator worked with the school to win this ARISS contact; his Twitter and Facebook posts garnered 545 views. La Salle students engaged in STEM-related activities and a conference with subject matter experts’ talks on astronomy and technology, such as José Manuel Pardo Regueiro’s talk, “Nuclear Physics and its Applications.”

September 21: Fifty people from the South West State University and State Technical University of Gomel successfully completed an ARISS contact with Sergey Prokopyev.  Mission Control-Moscow scheduled this ARISS contact and the ARISS-Russia team handled all other logistics including lessons on space. 

September 25:  Students at Harbor Creek School in Harborcreek, PA will get an early holiday present—a mid-December ARISS contact. Late last semester students engaged in a weather balloon launch and this week teacher Drew Mortensen and a student presented a program about it via Zoom to Livonia (MI) Amateur Radio Club.  The 42 members and guests heard about all aspects of students’ activities, in particular, the young group’s (named Advanced Technologies Group) work in building all parts of the balloon launch radio payload.

September 27: Youth traveled to the Technological University of Dublin (TUD), Ireland, and enjoyed doing some prep for their upcoming ARISS contact scheduled in October. The university had invited students from “our feeder primary and secondary schools.” The teachers planned to engage youth in how plants are grown in space, fundamentals of electronic circuits, and the relevance of radio communication as a constant in day-to-day life.  Their ARISS mentor Seamus McCague supported them, sharing radio communications experiences as a ham operator and showing them how ham radio will make the ARISS contact happen.

September 28:  The NASA EXPRESS ran a blurb in this week’s issue about ARISS opening a new window to accept ARISS Education Proposals to compete for an ARISS contact in second-half 2024. The issue went to 60,002 subscribers and will be shared through the Office of STEM Engagement’s social media. The latter reaches 404,220 @NASASTEM X Followers, 116,289 NASA STEM Facebook Followers, and 512,148 NASA STEM Pinterest Followers. ARISS-USA Education Director Tanya Anderson sent details about the window to 274 Space Foundation International Teacher Liaisons, 100 members of two Educator Space Camp Alumni Groups, and 1,200 members of the Astronomy Teachers Group.

ARISS Upcoming Events
Oct 6: 149 Secondary School, Baku, Azerbaijan–ARISS contact, ARISS-Europe Team
Oct 6: Technological University Dublin, Ireland–ARISS contact, ARISS-Europe Team

September 21:  ARISS is honored to learn that the weekly NASA SPACE UPDATE ran a segment highlighting the Augusta (GA) Prep School ARISS contact supported by Steve Bowen in late August. The blurb described high points of the ARISS contact and some of the school’s STEM activity, and featured two photos of students talking on the mic to Bowen.  ARISS learned that everyone at the Space Operations Mission Directorate and the Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate received the report.    

August 31: ARISS-USA selected Tanya Anderson as the new ARISS Director of Education. She teaches junior high science at St. Joan of Arc School, a Pre-K-8 institution in Lisle, IL. For 18 years, Tanya has focused on teaching earth and space science, life science, and physical science. Some of her STEM activity included NASA HEAT 2022, helping create curriculum in heliophysics and system science; NASA Airborne Astronomy Ambassador; and Space Foundation International Teacher Liaison. She was chosen as 2015 Civil Air Patrol Aerospace Educator of the Year. Tanya said, “I am excited to be part of ARISS and cannot wait to see what the future holds for amateur radio as commercial space stations are built and lunar exploration evolves.”

September 20: ARISS was asked by NASA for a quick reply for the White House Deputy Chief Technology Officer, Austin Bonner, who needed a fact-check on a statement about ham radio and ARISS.  Bonner, the Keynote 2 speaker on September 26 at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Las Vegas, NV plans to use the statement, which ARISS confirmed was correct: “Over 100 different ISS crew members have used amateur radio and ARISS to talk to youth around the globe.  And 3 of the 4 Artemis Astronauts that will soon circle the moon are certified amateur radio operators.” MWC’s publicity lists her keynote speech as being titled “Everything Policy Program.”  Also, MWC claims that tens of thousands of professionals in the international mobile technology communications industry and connectivity sector attend their annual congress.   

September 21: The ARISS-US Education Committee begins accepting ARISS Education Proposals on October 1 from formal and informal educational institutions and organizations wanting to compete for an ARISS radio contact. Educators need to submit proposals between October 1 and November 10, 2023 for ARISS contacts scheduled in the second half of 2024. ARISS’s Proposal Webinar on October 5 will answer educators’ questions on submitting a proposal. ARISS states that education organizations’ proposals should describe a well-developed education plan that will build youths’ excitement for STEM and an ARISS radio contact, and capture the interest of the community.

September 1: ARISS educator Melissa Pore at Bishop O’Connell High School in Arlington, VA and two of her seniors traveled to St. Anthony of Padua School in Falls Church, VA to work with over 190 students.  The school’s K-8 youth engaged in hands-on activities such as building straw rockets and models of TDRS satellites and satellite dishes. Students liked NASA activity pads, mission patches, and Artemis stickers provided by SCaN. Astronaut Dan Tani gave a talk to inspire the youth.  Melissa’s senior students enjoyed doing the STEM service and learned some things, too, while helping younger students learn.

ARISS Upcoming Events  
Sept 25: Colegio Educacion delTalento, Yerba Buena, Argentina – ARISS contact, ARISS-Canada Team
Sept 28: Amur State University, Blagoveshchensk, Russia – ARISS contact, ARISS-Russia Team

September 12: Prior to the recent Bowman Middle School ARISS contact in Bakersville, NC, Principal Amber Young invited US Congresswoman Virginia Foxx, and she went! Afterward, Foxx sent Amber a letter of thanks and compliments to the STEM teacher and students on their contact and STEM lessons. Returning to the US Capitol Building, she reported details on the House floor. Her words were read into the Congressional Record—HOUSE H4237—as follows.
   “Madam Speaker, I recently had the pleasure of visiting Bowman Middle School in Mitchell County to view the school’s International Space Station, ISS, contact project. Thanks to the diligent work of Dan Hopson, a STEM teacher at the school who has a penchant for securing these kinds of opportunities, this project was able to come to fruition. Students were able to ask a variety of questions in real time via ham radio to Warren Hoburg, a NASA astronaut who successfully traveled to the ISS on March 3 of this year. 

   This impressive event was one that these students will surely remember as they continue their educational journeys. Hopefully, some will be inspired to engage in careers in STEM areas. Congratulations to Dan Hopson, Principal extraordinaire Amber Young, and dedicated staff at Bowman Middle School who made this event and this learning opportunity such a success.”

September 6: After being accepted for an ARISS contact a few months ago, Egemen Yildiz Secondary School teachers in İzmir, Turkey, with help from an area amateur radio club, moved students through a curriculum covering space and radio. The project, titled “Turkish Children in Space in the 100th Year of the Republic,” prepared them for the ARISS contact. Students talked with Jasmin Moghbeli, who answered 20 questions. The event was live streamed, and 15 days later had garnered over 800 views.  130 people attended, including reporters from several TV stations and the Hurriyet Daily News (HDN). The HDN story (https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkish-students-chat-with-astronaut-via-radio-186101) stated that an 8th grade girl told her teachers about writing a proposal in hopes of being selected for the ARISS contact. A group of students had enjoyed a space camp in June.

September 12: Undergrads from the IEEE ESPRIT Student Branch and ESPRIT University in Little Ariana, Tunisia engaged in an ARISS contact (some on-site and some tied in virtually) with Andreas Mogensen. He answered 14 of the ESPRIT students’ questions and had time afterwards to hear students’ applause and goodbyes. Two livestreams captured 854 views and several days later, totals climbed to 2.2k views.  The lead educator complimented ARISS, writing: “On behalf of IEEE ESPRIT Student Branch & ESPRIT University, I wholeheartedly thank you for efforts; we greatly appreciate and admire the ARISS team.”  The school supports a varied curriculum including civil engineering, electromechanics, and business.  

September 5:  ISS National Lab (INL) honored ARISS by including ARISS school contacts in a photo story on the INL website that summarized accomplishments of the Crew 6 astronauts.

September 1: Axiom-2 crew members John Shoffner and Peggy Whitson, who flew in May 2023, filmed onboard scenes that demonstrated many aspects of life on the ISS in microgravity. They made the footage into a series (titled “Habitat Space”) of short educational videos. One is on ARISS and amateur radio; the URL is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZy97_VbbDM (3 minutes and 20 seconds in length).  The Perseid Foundation supported and posted the free lessons.

September 14: ARISS sponsor ARRL (American Radio Relay League) held a Zoom town hall meeting for ARRL members in Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Part of the hour-long program included a talk on North Carolina’s Bowman Middle School ARISS contact and similar contacts in other states.  267 people tied into the ARRL Zoom meeting and each of the 4 states streamed the meeting on their own Facebook platforms, with one state also streaming a YouTube—for a total of over 700 viewers.  More ARRL members will view the recordings.  

ARISS Upcoming Events  
Sept 22: Escuela Preparatoria LaSalle, Torreon Coah, Mexico – ARISS contact, ARISS-Canada Team
Sept 28: Amur State University, Blagoveshchensk, Russia – ARISS contact, ARISS-Russia Team

August 31: The day after dodging a near hit from Hurricane Idalia, Augusta (GA) Preparatory Day School carried out an ARISS contact with Steve Bowen. 500 students and faculty packed the school gym to watch and to hear Bowen answer 18 student questions such as how holidays are celebrated there to what are your mission-driven goals on board. The school livestreamed the contact on Facebook: https://youtu.be/y_Yu0ddYF60?si=GgIqNK2luNIAR4im&t=1562.  In 7 days’ time, the YouTube garnered 220 views. Media covered the event—WJBF ABC TV (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Wha2Ej8jZw), WRDW CBS TV, and Augusta Good News. ARISS Education Ambassador Martha Muir helped mentor the school contact and her quote in an interview by WJBF was: “That’s something they’re never going to forget. I love the smiles.” The rest of the day saw all students doing hands-on activities during their STEAM Fair. Weeks earlier, students prepared for the contact by engaging in the NASA Growing Beyond Earth program, and middle- and upper-school students researched how to the design and launch a small research satellite.

September 5: Valley Stream South High School (VSS) students in Valley Stream, NY look forward to their ARISS contact in October. ARISS educator Kathy Lamont reported that with school opening up for fall classes, VSS teachers created poster boards and set up a display case to remind students of an exciting new school year that will bring them the ARISS contact and many space-related STEM lessons.  

July & August: The Euro Space Centre sponsors STEM camps in Libin, Belgium and each year, ARISS team members mentor girls and boys at Satellite Camp, Robot Camp, and Telecom-Ham Camp. While guiding youth in hands-on activities, ARISS volunteer Stefan Dombrowski never misses an opportunity to describe ARISS school contacts, and brings his radio for youth to listen to these. At Sat Camps, 13 kids made their own 3-D printed satellite and built in an Arduino unit, sensors, and an RF (radio frequency) module to take home. At Telecom-Ham Camps, 8 youth used software defined radios, built a ham radio antenna, and enjoyed hidden radio transmitter hunts. At Robotics Camp, 36 youth built an Arduino-based robot that “sees” where they program it to travel and avoid obstacles. The camp that the most girls (21%) were interested in was the Robotics Camp. All youth enjoyed listening to ARISS contacts.

ARISS Social Media for August

ARISS social media leader Jim Reed reported August 2023 highlights:

• Growth in Followers stayed steady at over 1% per month. At this rate, ARISS should pass 30K aggregate Followers in September.
• X continues to be tops (62%) in Followers and Impressions, but ARISS will keep diversifying with posts on Facebook, Instagram, and Mastodon.

ARISS Total August Social Media Metrics:

• ARISS X – Total Impressions / Views 142,128,  Interactions / Engagements 4,556 
• ARISS Facebook – Total Impressions 79,693,  Interactions / Engagements 2,235
• ARISS Instagram – Total Reach 5,659,  Interactions / Engagements 593
• ARISS Mastodon – Interactions / Engagements 182
• ARISS LinkedIn – 6 New Followers,  145 Reactions     
• ARISS YouTube – Total Subscribers 1.95k

August Social Media Top Posts

The top post on X and Mastodon featured young Isabella holding a portable ham radio and aiming a satellite antenna to listen to an ARISS contact–her school has a late-October ARISS contact. The top Instagram post highlighted the STEMforGIRLS ARISS contact with Steve Bowen and the top Facebook post listed ARISS radio frequencies.

• Top X post: Impressions 6,859, Interactions / Engagements 316
• Top Facebook post: Impressions 7,233,  Interactions / Engagements 227
• Top Instagram post: Impressions 259, Interactions / Engagements 25
• Top Mastodon post: Interactions / Engagements 26

ARISS Upcoming Events  
Sept 12: Private Higher School of Engineering & Technology, Little Ariana, Tunisia, ARISS-Europe Team

August 28: Students at Bowman Middle School in Bakersville, NC experienced a day they’ll not forget after speaking to Steve Bowen during an ARISS contact.  285 people (189 youth) in the auditorium watched the students ask 13 questions. VIPs present included US Congresswoman Virginia Foxx, ARRL North Carolina Section Manager Marv Hoffman, ARISS Technical Mentor Bob Koepke of South Carolina, a Mitchell County Board of Education leader, and two Mitchell County Commissioners. Hoffman presented the school with an award for supporting STEM. Media reps came from WJHL Tri-Cities TV (Johnson City-Bristol-Kingsport, TN) and two newspapers, the Queen City News and Mitchell News Journal. The Mitchell County Schools’ Facebook livestream had 116 viewers. The WJHL reporter said the ARISS contact sparked an interest in young minds, and quoted a 7^th grader: “It felt amazing, I loved every moment. After this, I would like to be an astronaut to experience space and what it looks like, the galaxies and stuff like that.”  The TV item (which on contact day, provided video) is at https://www.wjhl.com/news/local/north-carolina-students-speak-with-astronaut-in-space/.

August 23: An ARISS contact highlighted the virtual 2023 STEM Summer Summit for the STEMforGIRLS program in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The non-profit Women in Resource Development Corporation (WRDC) sponsors the program. The summit featured presentations by women in STEM careers—geologists, an avionics instructor, and more. During the ARISS contact, Steve Bowen answered 17 girls’ questions. A post with video on X showed 893 views, and 24 hours later, 1,997 views. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation covered the event, which was livestreamed. WRDC offers girls “hands-on learning experiences, provides opportunities to interact with role models, and instills knowledge and confidence required to make informed career choices in STEM and skilled trades.”

August 25: The Australian Air League (AAL) in Salisbury, South Australia, Australia hosted an ARISS contact in the Australian Space Discovery Centre and cadets talked to Warren Hoburg. He answered 20 questions while 90 people watched the cadets. AAL livestreamed the contact on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/AustralianAirLeague/) and another AAL squadron (mostly girls) tuned in. In a week’s time the stream garnered 1.2k views. The ARISS radio telebridge station supporting this contact from Italy offered a livestream of their actions, attracting 92 viewers. Another 27 people listened to the audio on two reflectors, Echolink and IRLP (Internet Radio Linking Project). Meantime, at the Euro Space Centre STEM Camps in Belgium, ARISS informal instructor Stefan Dombrowski provided the livestream to 40 girls and boys. Before the contact, a commercial radio reporter had done a livestreamed interview with the AAL squadron commander and 18 cadets with the Adelaide Airport manager and 80 community members in the audience.     

August 30:  Next week’s report will cover the Augusta (GA) Prep School’s ARISS contact. A day prior to the contact, the school posted a very cute short video “promo” on Facebook of kids excited about their upcoming contact (https://www.facebook.com/augustaprep). The last shot of the video is below. 

ARISS Upcoming Events
Sept 12: Private Higher School of Engineering & Technology, Little Ariana, Tunisia, ARISS-Europe Team