Category: News

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

August 10: Two ARISS SIP interns, Sruthi Sankararaman and Bryce Lanese, gave their final presentations at Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD.  Sruthi titled hers, “SPARKI: Workshopping Amateur Radio Education Resources.” Her internship work dealt with enhancing and finalizing lessons for the ARISS Educate the Educator workshops that utilize the SPARKI kit (Space Pioneers Amateur Radio Kit Initiative). She also helped ARISS coordinate and lead a workshop held in conjunction with an educator conference at Kennedy Space Center.  Bryce Lanese titled his presentation “Prototyping Educational Activities for Amateur Radio on the International Space Station.” He had plotted patterns of ARISS’s L- and S-band antennas, built satellite simulator units, and used software to process telemetry signals transmitted from the simulator units. Frank Bauer wrote compliments to the interns: “I could feel positive energy from the audience through their questions and glowing comments.  Note that these came from our very important NASA leaders and sponsors. I have never experienced such excitement and enthusiasm from the audience on an intern presentation or one related to our ARISS program.“

May 5-6: The Luxembourg Space Agency in Neimënster organized a “Space Summer Festival” inviting youths of all ages, including university students, young professionals, and parents to learn about careers in space and science sectors. ARISS team member Stefan Dombrowski and six volunteers engaged hundreds of youth at a ham radio display they set up. The exhibit booth offered electronics kits the youth could assemble, a QO-100 satellite radio station (a geostationary satellite carrying a ham radio payload) kids could experiment with, and a hearing about ARISS and ham radio. Half of the youth who stopped by were university students and half were high schoolers. 150 of them soldered, assembled, and took home simple receiver kits to listen to FM broadcast stations. A number of astronauts and cosmonauts came to the festival, which was free to the general public on day two, bringing hundreds more youth and parents to the booth.

Also, Stefan and the Belgian ARISS team reported that they assisted the CanSat Belgian Teams competing at the ESA Galileo Integrated Logistics Support Centre in April in Libin-Transinne. 24 teams—150 boys and girls ages 16-18—launched CanSats. During mentoring sessions, the youth learned about ARISS and ESA STEM camps where ARISS volunteers teach. A week later, the ARISS group helped the CanSat Luxembourg Teams at the same ESA center. 12 teams totaling 75 girls and boys launched CanSats and learned about ARISS. One girl decided to attend Stefan’s ESA Campin July. 

August 11-13: At the 2023 ARRL Pacific Northwest DX Convention for amateur radio operators in the US and Canada, ARRL-ARISS Committee Chair Mark Tharp set up a display table sporting ARISS’ roll-up banner, handouts, and business cards. 120 attendees came from 12 northwestern states and British Columbia, and they took home many ARISS business cards. This annual convention features programs of interest to ham radio operators who enjoy making radio contacts with hams in countries located in remote parts of the globe.  

ARISS Upcoming Events  

Aug 24: STEM for GIRLS, St. John’s, Newfoundland & Labrador, Canada – ARISS contact, ARISS-Canada Team
Aug 25: Australian Air League, Salisbury, S. Australia, Australia – ARISS contact, ARISS-Japan Team
Aug 28: Bowman Middle School, Bakersville NC – ARISS contact, ARISS-US Team
Aug 31: Augusta Preparatory Day School, Augusta GA – ARISS contact, ARISS-US Team

July 31-August 3: Four ARISS team members, Frank Bauer, Randy Berger, Diane Schuler, and Kelly Cammarano traveled to the International Space Station Research & Development Conference (ISSRDC) in Seattle, WA to set up an ARISS exhibit table. They displayed items from the ARISS SPARKI educator radio experimentation kit such as ARISS’s robot, the electrical components from Snap Circuits®, and a manual of ARISS lesson plans, along with items related to ARISS 2.0.  The team also aimed for a second goal at the conference, which they achieved, to network with engineers, educators, professionals from NASA and commercial space companies, some of whom ARISS already works with, and also, many STEM enthusiasts. Exhibit visitors got an overview of ARISS’s mission, accomplishments, and future goals. In all, the team interacted with 500 people, 80 being educators, and of those 80, half were college professors.  Frank Bauer gave an ISSRDC session presentation and reported 40 attendees, with about half being educators. His talk covered the future direction of ARISS 2.0.

July 31:  ARISS thanks NASA for spotlighting ARISS and Stephen Bowen’s support of it. The NASA web page (see below) carried a photo blurb featuring him talking on the ARISS radio on the ISS for a scheduled ARISS contact with youth at the Youth On The Air (YOTA) STEM camp. The young people were from the US and Canada, and Carleton University in Ottawa, ON hosted the camp.  The NASA web URL is https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/astronaut-stephen-bowen-conducts-a-ham-radio-session.

July 31: The Mohammad Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) sponsored the seventh and final ham radio session in the “A Call from Space” series of student/astronaut ARISS contacts. The Emirates Amateur Radio Society in Sharjah, UAE hosted this event and handled the ham radio communications for Sultan Al Neyadi to talk with youth; over 30 people came to the event. An Emirates News Agency-WAM story described the ham radio contact as part of the enriching programme that gave attendees an overview of MBRSC projects, a detailed look into space stations and space history, hands-on training in using a ham radio station, and basics on the benefits of amateur radio and  communications. A video clip is at https://wam.ae/en/details/1395303183053. MENAFN, a Dubai PR Network, posted a story, as well.  

Summarizing all seven UAE ARISS contacts, MENAFN reported that the outreach programme with its seven events and special ARISS contacts engaged over 500 students, ages 7 – 15. Hosts included the MBRSC and its library; Mushairif School, GEMS Wellington International School, all in Dubai; Cycle 1-Ajyal in Ajman; and the Emirates Amateur Radio Society facility in Sharjah. MBRSC social media recapped the seven events: “The sessions have been an extraordinary journey, leaving an indelible imprint on young minds, inspiring them to explore the boundless universe.” MBRSC Director General Salem Humaid AlMarri said, “I would like to thank our partners, the Emirates Amateur Radio Society and Emirates Literature Foundation, for their integral role in the success of this series.”  Emirates New Agency-WAM praised all of the ARISS contacts, writing: “The most unforgettable part of these events were the captivating live interactions with Al Neyadi in which students asked him their burning questions about space, a first-hand exchange that deepened their understanding of the space exploration journey.”  

ARISS Upcoming Events  
Aug 24: STEM for GIRLS, St. John’s, Newfoundland & Labrador, Canada – ARISS contact, ARISS-Canada Team
Aug 25: Australian Air League, Salisbury, S. Australia, Australia – ARISS contact, ARISS-Japan Team

August 3: The Karasuyama Residents Center supports educational and cultural events in Setagaya, Japan, and hosted an ARISS radio contact for area youth with Sultan Al Neyadi. He answered 18 questions.  The audience consisted of 100 kids (kindergarten, elementary, and junior high school), families, 100 teachers, the UAE Ambassador to Japan who brought 7 of his team, and a rep from the Setagaya government.  Newspaper, magazine, and cable TV reporters came, as well.  476 individuals saw the action in person or via a livestreamed YouTube (https://youtu.be/7N7JFOT2VAA) and 438 watched the recording. The area amateur radio club set up the ham radio station for this ARISS contact. The youth had visited a planetarium, used telescopes, and learned about orbital mechanics, the ISS and its mission, space exploration, and how amateur radios work, allowing them to communicate with the ISS crew.

July 27: The Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre’s library in Dubai, UAE hosted the sixth ARISS contact for youth and Sultan Al Neyadi. 100 students and space enthusiasts, along with 4 Centre officials, and a group of reporters heard the youths interview Al Neyadi.  The Gulf News reporter wrote that the event “captivated the enthusiastic audience;” the story quoted library board member, Dr. Mohammed Salem Obaid Al Mazrooei, as follows: [The contact helped] “promote awareness, knowledge, and ambition towards studying space sciences among future generations.”  URLs of three media stories are:

• https://www.zawya.com/en/press-release/events-and-conferences/6th-ham-radio-session-featuring-sultan-alneyadi-from-the-iss-livens-up-young-minds-at-mohammed-bin-rashid-library-t4prprou
• https://www.khaleejtimes.com/space/can-astronauts-see-stars-clearer-from-space-uaes-sultan-alneyadi-responds
• https://gulfnews.com/uae/science/watch-what-uae-students-said-on-a-ham-radio-call-with-al-neyadi-1.97281647

July 30: Andrey Fediaev supported an ARISS contact for students of the Baltasi Airfield School in the Baltasinsky district of the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia. Students had participated in the Gagarin from Space program. 30 people watched while area ham radio operators facilitated the conversation between the youth and Fediaev.  Mission Control-Moscow scheduled this ARISS contact.

ARISS Social Media

ARISS social media leader Jim Reed reported July 2023 highlights:

• 274,546 Impressions across all platforms–impressions were up 23% per day over June
• Largest monthly increase in Followers in the past 2 years, 450 new Followers across all platforms
• 186 posts created for all platforms, averaged 1,726 impressions per post
• Tested out Threads (72 Followers, 8 Interactions on 7 posts) and LinkedIn (14 Followers, 175 post Impressions)

ARISS Total July Social Media Metrics:

• ARISS X – Total Impressions / Views 155,710,  Interactions / Engagements 4,506 
• ARISS Facebook – Total Impressions 112,753,  Interactions / Engagements 3,468
• ARISS Instagram – Total Reach 6,083,  Interactions / Engagements 530
• ARISS Mastodon – Interactions / Engagements 135
• ARISS LinkedIn – 5 New Followers,  240 Reactions     
• ARISS YouTube – Total Subscribers 1.95k

July Social Media Top Posts

On all ARISS Social Media platforms in July, the top posts were ones announcingtheJuly 26^th ARISS Slow Scan TV (picture link) Experiment with the ARRL Educator Workshop teachers and the public. Below is one version of two very similar posts, and also, bullets on metrics.  

• Top X post: Impressions 6,798, Interactions / Engagements 77
• Top Facebook post: Impressions 5,600,  Interactions / Engagements 129
• Top Instagram post: Impressions 200, Interactions / Engagements 24
• Top Mastodon post: Interactions / Engagements 14

ARISS Upcoming Events
August 25: Australian Air League, Salisbury, S.Australia, Australia – ARISS contact, ARISS-Japan Team

July 21: Girl and boy scouts at Camp William B. Snyder in Haymarket, VA enjoyed an ARISS contact with Sultan Al Neyadi who answered 13 questions. Minutes beforehand, Scout National Capital Area Council (NCAC) STEM Director Trish Dalal introduced a girl scout and boy scout who presented facts to listeners about the ISS and Al Neyadi’s bio. In addition to 60 in the camp audience, including ARISS Project Manager Diana Schuler, some scouts watched from home. Dalal reported that astronaut Tom Jones, who earned the Eagle Scout rank, watched the livestream and enjoyed it. NCAC streamed the video on its Facebook site; the URL is https://www.facebook.com/NCACSTEM/. The ARISS ground station in Italy, relaying the ISS radio signal to the US, had 50 visitors on site (near a regional airport) and streamed its video to 93—and afterwards presented an ISS talk to its visitors. This Italian ham team had set up a mega screen outside and ran the recording two times as the public arrived home at the airport, some of whom went in the radio station for a tour. The e-magazine, Prince William Living ran an article about the contact. Camp leaders said scouts had been enjoying rocket launches, drones, and ham radio. Diana reported that scouts acted very excited to talk to Al Neyadi.  

July 18: ARISS SIP interns Sruthi Sankararaman and Bryce Lanese traveled to Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD to join their ARISS mentors Diana Schuler and Randy Berger, and Frank and Janet Bauer for a meeting. Each intern gave a thorough report on recent endeavors on their two projects. They sat in on a meeting with the Axiom-3 crew who may earn ham licenses in order to make ARISS contacts during their mission. Interns met with SIP Coordinator Jimmy Acevedo. They toured the ARISS radio ground station at Goddard; the ham team who supports ARISS contacts there explained the many pieces of equipment and took the young people to the roof to admire the ham antennas. Interns also enjoyed seeing many of Goddard’s features, i.e., acoustic chamber, High Bay clean room, and more. They discussed future plans. Bryce wants to remain with ARISS after the summer to research S-band and L-band antenna patterns. Sruthi will continue with ARISS and build a Yagi antenna and refine more sections of the SPARKI radio kit manual.

July 26: ARISS collaborated with the American Radio Relay League (ARRL—an ARISS sponsor) to plan a special 10-minute ARISS Slow Scan TV (SSTV—picture downlink) experiment. During an ISS pass with a footprint that covered New England, the radio signal transmitted an image with a special message for educators at the ARRL Teachers Institute, a week-long STEM professional development workshop in Newington, CT. The image sported the ARISS and ARRL logos, a drawing of the ISS, and the message, “Ensuring a space for radio in the next generation.” Educators had built their own ham antennas and learned to manipulate these and handheld radios in order to capture the transmission. ARISS labeled this an experiment because typically, ARISS transmits SSTV on 145.80 MHz from the Service Module and this time, the signal originated on the ground and passed through the ARISS radio repeater in the Columbus module before coming down on 437.800 MHz. ARISS wanted to see how images would look, and welcomed all radio enthusiasts within signal range to participate—57 did. After downloading their images, teachers said they could bring ARISS SSTV sessions to their classrooms at home to help youth understand wireless radio communications and get them curious about things such as how phones work. Hartford CBS and ABC TV reporters did interviews and posted stories; the latter is at https://www.wtnh.com/news/connecticut/hartford/teachers-in-newington-build-antennas-to-decode-message-from-international-space-station/.

July 26: St. Peter’s C.E. Junior School in Broadstairs, UK hosted a special Space Celebration Day for 350 pupils—some traveling from 3 area schools—as part of the preps for their fall ARISS contact. Year 5 and 6 students enjoyed hands-on STEM; small groups launched many rockets of several types, used solar telescopes with guidance from an astronomy club, created pocket solar systems, and enjoyed the Wonderdome mobile planetarium. A reporter from Isle of Thanet News quoted teachers impressed with the STEM, saying, “Children experienced how science is used in the real world and saw its tie to their school lessons.” Head Teacher Tim Whitehouse said, “There is a real buzz of excitement already around the school about our upcoming experience [ARISS contact] and our fast-expanding science learning.” The Ogden Trust Kent North Coast Partnership (10 primary schools and 3 secondary schools in the area) supported the day’s activity because it enhances the teaching of physics and “student learning, particularly those in under-represented groups.” 

July 21: ITU Secretary-General Doreen Bogdan-Martin praised the ARISS program recently, and  also the Youth On The Air program (that hosted a July ARISS contact). Bogdan-Martin was featured in ARRL’s August membership journal. In the article, she gave appreciation of ham radio for “being instrumental during the pandemic, its role in emergency response efforts, and hams’ outreach to young people through programs like ARISS and YOTA.”  ARISS’ social media leader posted about Bogdan-Martin’s praise of ARISS.

ARISS Upcoming Events
August 3: Youth at Karasuyama Residents Center, Setagaya, Japan – ARISS contact, ARISS-Japan Team

July 18: A week-long Youth On The Air (YOTA) summer camp at Carleton University in Ottawa, ON, Canada hosted an ARISS radio contact. The youths talked with Steve Bowen who answered 18 questions; 60 people on site watched the youth. Young ARISS volunteer Ruth Willet orchestrated the youths’ actions; she’d done this for last year’s group of YOTA participants, too and she wrote: “It [ARISS contact] went so wonderfully beautifully amazingly well—I’m still on a high! It never never never never gets old.”  A reporter for The Canadian Amateur, the journal of the Canadian national amateur radio society, came to watch and is penning a story for an upcoming issue. The livestream to the public captured 772 viewers (and in 5 days’ time, 1,000 viewed it) at https://www.youtube.com/live/A5bXZUGifYY?feature=share&t=2567.  The Italian ARISS radio telebridge station team offered a livestream of them doing transmissions to connect the youth to Steve on the mic of ARISS’s radio on the ISS; the Italians garnered 70 viewers and 3 days later, 143 views. Also, the Italians invited 50 people, members of the area astronomy group, to come to their radio station to watch.  YOTA states the camp’s purpose as: to connect young amateur radio operators from North, Central, and South America through ham radio and STEM activities. During the week they launched a balloon with a ham radio payload, built electronic kits, and made amateur radio contacts on HF and VHF frequencies.

June-July: Members of the All Things Amateur Radio Association based in Lancaster, OH took on four summer outreach events with ties to ARISS, bringing, setting up and staffing a STEM trailer each time. The trailer’s hands-on exhibits feature wireless technology, ARISS, and amateur radio.  ARISS Educator Diane Warner maintains the trailer’s ARISS display and said “Some teachers seem interested right now; I hope this leads them to writing ARISS education proposals.” She procured a model of the ISS to add to the display to really catch the public’s eyes. She reported on the four events and their relation to ARISS as follows:  

*  luncheon for leaders of area after-school education programs – described ARISS to leaders

*  summer camp — mentored youth STEM activities, talked up ARISS to leaders and youth 

*  5K run — exhibited ham radio and ARISS to the public, handled communications for the run  

*  the club’s two-day outdoor simulated emergency communications test – invited and welcomed the public to sit down to make ham radio contacts and learn about it and ARISS.  
Attendees across all events totaled 43 youth and 106 adults.

ARISS Upcoming Events
July 27: Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre, Dubai UAE – ARISS contact, ARISS-Europe Team
July 30: Baltasinsky district youth, Republic of Tatarstan, Russia – ARISS contact, ARISS-Russia Team

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

June 24-25: The ARISS STEREO (Student Teacher Education via Radio Experimentation and Operations) project team held its second Educate the Educator workshop at Kennedy Space Center (FL) Visitor Complex Center for Space Education. 22 formal and informal educators, who work with youth in grades K-12, attended from across the US. They loved the venue with its space theme and backdrop. ARISS education mentors led the workshop coordinated by ARISS STEREO Project Manager Diana Schuler. ARISS Executive Director Frank Bauer and ARISS SIP Intern Sruthi Sankararaman helped teach some learning modules, as well. Lessons focused on a variety of hands-on activities the educators practiced in order to teach the concepts in their own schools and education groups. Topics included radio waves, radio frequencies, and basic electricity; codes and ciphers; manipulating hand-held ham radios and antennas to listen for spacecraft transmissions; and putting together and operating software-defined radio set-ups. The ARISS SPARKI electronics kit contained all needed materials for the kit’s activities and the guide with lesson modules and how to lead the learning activities. Each educator received a kit to take home. Many teachers expressed outstanding praise for all they’d learned to do, with one commenting that in her 25 years of teaching, this was the best run and organized and useful workshop she ever attended, adding, “This process has had a profound impact on me and my assistant!” Many others said how useful the training was and how it will help them to better convey STEM concepts to their students.  ARISS thanks SCaN for assisting with securing the room for the workshop.

June 21-23: In addition to the ARISS workshop described above and the ARISS radio contact detailed in ARISS’ last report, both at the SPACE Conference at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex Center, ARISS volunteers set up and staffed an ARISS exhibit table. They talked constantly to visitors coming by, and based on the number of materials handed out, 150 educators stopped to learn about ARISS. ARISS Education Ambassador Martha Muir presented a forum to 9 attendees on how to prepare an ARISS Education Proposal in the hopes of having their school chosen for an ARISS contact. She touched on ideas for talking to the school principal about ARISS, ways to get the whole school and families involved, and how to find an area ham radio club to help with technical aspects of the contact.

June 22: The Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) successfully sponsored a fifth ARISS contact with astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi who spoke with 150 students of various grade levels at GEMS Wellington International School in Al Sufouh, Dubai. He answered 12 of their questions. The contact culminated the GEMS Wellington youths’ educational experience titled “A Call from Space.” This included learning about MBRSC projects and how the Centre operates, space stations, and using ham radio equipment. The activities were carried out in association with the Emirates Amateur Radio Society and Emirates Literature Foundation. Zawya.com posted an article at https://www.zawya.com/en/press-release/events-and-conferences/5th-ham-radio-session-featuring-sultan-alneyadi-from-the-iss-takes-place-in-dubai-u24zaimr. The writer cited UAE Astronaut Programme Mission Manager Adnan Al-Rais’s comments on engaging with Al Neyadi live from the ISS offering “a unique experience to students that showcases the marvels of space.” Al-Rais described how amateur radio employs many radio frequencies for communications to nearby places and in remote regions and space, making it “a valuable communication tool.”

May 30: Some previous graduates from Bishop O’Connell High School in Arlington, VA, returned for this year’s graduation ceremonies and three of them had been officers in the high school’s engineering and ham radio clubs. The three made plans to meet up with ARISS educator Melissa Pore who sponsored these clubs and supported an ARISS contact. She welcomed back Elaine and William from class of ’21 and Nya from class of ’20 and celebrated that they are all studying engineering at different universities!  They posed in the Bishop O’Connell High School senior courtyard, next to “a visiting robotic dog that showed off some of its tricks.” 

June 23-25: Four people on the ARISS-Europe team represented ARISS at Ham Radio 2023, the largest amateur radio convention in Europe. The annual event, held in Friedrichshafen, Germany, saw 11,100 attendees this year who enjoyed visiting exhibits and listening to forums.  ARISS-Europe set up a booth and estimated 250 people and kids visited. ARISS presented 3 forums, garnering 140 listeners. For youth, event organizers created a “Ham Rally” and participating booths designed a task to challenge kids. For their task, ARISS placed Morse code characters in the background of a litho of the Axiom 2 crew—kids decoded the message: “Ad astra.” ARISS volunteers reported it as a great way to meet and talk to the youth. To let hams know ARISS was at Ham Radio 2023, one team member cleverly coded an APRS (Automatic Packet Reporting System) ham radio beacon to transmit “MEET ARISS at A1-872” (ARISS’ booth designation), and people did! 

ARISS Upcoming Events  
July 18: Youth On The Air (for youth in the Americas), Ottawa ON – ARISS contact, ARISS-Canada Team
July 21: Camp William B. Snyder, Haymarket VA – ARISS contact, ARISS-USA Team