Category: Weekly Reports

March 4: Students at IES Pedro Simón Abril High School in Alcaraz, Spain experienced an ARISS radio contact with Loral O’Hara. Three hundred people watched the youth as Loral answered 20 student questions. The livestream captured 70 viewers and in 4 days’ time, the viewer total grew to 824. The media turned out in force: 2 national radio stations, 3 regional radio stations, 1 regional newspaper, and 1 online newspaper. The latter quoted a student saying, “This has been amazing for me, I have swelled up to cry.”  The ARISS contact was phase one of a project titled #AlcarazISS, an initiative involving 600 university and high school students. The initiative aims to bring science and technology to rural youth.

February 27: Educators at Centennial Campus Magnet Middle School Center for Innovation in Raleigh, NC gave students a broad understanding of space through various activities prior to their upcoming ARISS contact. Three of these are summarized here. Educators challenged 171 sixth graders to design and build a shock absorber to prevent a moon lander from sinking deep into the Moon’s fine surface dust.  More students and their families got the chance to take the challenge, too, during the school event, Night of Excellence. Another activity—a virtual one—allowed youth to try their hand at a simulated docking of a spacecraft with the ISS.  Other students created and hung posters that stretched down a school hallway; posters listed facts they’d researched about the Solar System bodies—comparing planets’ proportions, diameters, and distances between each. The school works with North Carolina State University and has an ARISS contact in late spring. 

ARISS Social Media

ARISS social media leader Jim Reed reported January 2024 Social Media highlights:

• ARISS’s many February activities led to more posts than in January, resulting in a 53% increase in Impressions—over 400,000 in February.
• Facebook brought home the best February results­—delivering nearly 250K Impressions.   
• Followers continued to grow in February; we passed 12,000 on Facebook, alone.

February Total Impressions on X and Facebook – 411,832

February Total Followers on X and Facebook – 31,887

February 2024 Total Impressions and Total Interactions/Engagements

• ARISS X – Total Impressions / Views 162,084,  Interactions / Engagements 6,174 
• ARISS Facebook – Total Impressions / Views 249,748,  Interactions / Engagements 5,478
• ARISS Total New Followers across all ARISS Social Platforms  – 537
• ARISS You Tube – Total subscribers  2,100
• ARISS Weg pages – Unique Visits 16,465, Page Views 49,481 

February Top Posts on X and Facebook

• Top X post (9,639 Impressions, 655 Engagements:) image of HamTV unit to fly on SpaceX-30
• Top Facebook post (76,939 Impressions, 633 Engagements): ARISS engineer Lou McFadin holds first ham radio (he modified it in 1983 for launch) used in space

ARISS Upcoming Events  
Mar 20: Second Chance School, Orestiada, Orestiada, Greece-ARISS contact, ARISS-Europe Team
Mar TBD: St. John’s School Authority, Newfoundland, Canada-ARISS contact – ARISS-Canada Team

February 20-24: ARISS’s conference at KSC celebrating 40 years of positives from ham radio on human spaceflight was a success! At the ARISS-International meeting, 44 people from around the globe discussed current and future activities, and enjoyed a KSC bus tour. Next, a two-day education conference’s 105 attendees took in educational and technical talks about ham radio on shuttles, Mir, and the ISS. Astronauts came: Tony England, Bill McArthur, Ken Cameron, Mike Finke, Nicole Stott, and private astronaut Richard Garriott recalled their missions’ school radio contacts. In education session, educators told how radio contacts led them to new STEM projects and youth said they were inspired to choose STEM careers. Johnson Space Center’s Cynthia McArthur spoke on ARISS having moved to a more robust education proposal process to select schools. A surprise ARISS radio contact with Loral O’Hara and Jasmin Moghbeli, who congratulated ARISS on its celebrations, answered questions from youth and educators. The final talk was by two NASA experts on thoughts for a future in space, Cislunar and beyond.  

February 22: Heart of Central California Girl Scout Troops 1089, 917, 793, and 1105 located near Sacramento, CA enjoyed an ARISS radio contact with Jasmin Moghbeli; she answered 20 of their questions while a group of 35 listened on site. A KCRA TV rep covering the contact shared a quote from Adriana Pedroza, Associate Director with Girl Scouts Heart of Central California: “The girls dreamed up this idea [ARISS contact]. They really implemented all of it, made the decisions, and took on all processes on their own.“  A YouTube livestream snagged 356 views; the troop’s Facebook video and Zoom offerings garnered even more. Media coverage resulted in 21 media hits in addition to KCRA’s story, including: KTVU-TV, The Lawton Constitution, Daily Republic,Cap Radio, Yahoo News, and 2 items in the Sacramento Bee.  The scouts prepared for their contact by engaging in seven learning sessions, titled Space & STEM Educational Activities and Experiences, that involved researching current ISS research and space science careers, downloading ARISS SSTV images (picture downlinks) from the ISS, building a radio, working with a software-defined radio, and more. This led to earning the Space Science Master Badge and STEM Career Exploration Badge. River City Amateur Radio Communications Society members mentored lessons in communications and electrical circuits.

February 15: Excited students participated in an ARISS contact with B. Russell High School in Rome, Italy, talking with Jasmin Moghbeli. She answered 12 of their questions with a large audience of 626 people listening, many being students. The contact, livestreamed on YouTube, had 526 viewers and that grew to 1,000 views in 2 weeks’ time–see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0YEgMvzbn8. To prepare for their ARISS contact, students researched facts about the ISS and space exploration, collected and analyzed telemetry from weather sensors, and put together and worked with electrical circuits and antennas to discover facets of electromagnetic fields, propagation, and reception. Members of the Italian Amateur Radio Association of Rome assisted with technical training.

February 15 & 16:  Two days in a row, the ARISS-Russia team supported ARISS radio contacts. Youth at Naro-Fominsk in the Moscow Oblast engaged in the first ARISS contact. Nikolay Chub spoke with the young people who had learned about space and radio communications. Students at Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University in Kaliningrad, Russia took part in the second contact and talked with Konstantin Borisov. 

ARISS Upcoming Events  
TBD: Second Chance School-Orestiada, Orestiada, Greece-ARISS contact, ARISS-Europe Team

February 8-10: ARISS-US Education Committee members Gina Kwid and Clint Thomsen set up and staffed a booth at the Space Exploration Educators Conference held at Space Center Houston in Houston, TX.  They spoke with 180 attendees who teach in grade levels spanning K-16 and leaders from science museums, libraries, and STEM camps. These included the director of the US Air Force Academy Planetarium who is interested in submitting an ARISS Education Proposal, people from the Oklahoma Space Grant Consortium, and different staffers from the NASA Office of STEM Engagement.

February 9: The School of Telecommunications Engineering (ETSIT) in Valencia, Spain held a successful ARISS contact for students with Loral O’Hara; she answered eight questions. Prior to the contact, numerous speakers gave STEM presentations to the audience of over 170.  Media covering the contact included “A Punt,” a public broadcast station.  A few days after the contact, livestream views topped 1,000. In preparation for the contact, ETSIT had mentored teachers from eight area schools in a two-year course titled Space for Kids, How to Design and Build a Nanosatellite. Teachers integrated the lessons for 160 students into their own established classes, such as Access to Space and the Space Environment, Satellite Communications, and Satellite Mission Design.

February 9-11: A team of ARISS volunteers had a presence at the Orlando (FL) HamCation, the 2^nd largest convention for ham radio enthusiasts in the world—~ 20,000 attendees. The team’s booth displayed several ARISS educational projects under development and the team discussed these and the ARISS program with 587 people. ARISS Director of Engineering Randy Berger and ARISS leader for social media Jim Reed presented a forum to 32 people on projects being developed for ARISS educational applications and for future ISS and lunar initiatives. Jim covered social media metrics and what to watch for on the platforms, and ran a video produced and aired by The NBC TODAY Show of a recent ARISS contact in Pennsylvania. The forum ended with a question and answer session.  

February 5: Dan White, an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at Valparaiso (IN) University and an ARISS-US Education Committee member earned the Michael V. Carano Teacher Excellence Award from the IPC Education Foundation, an arm of IPC, an international electronics manufacturing standards organization. An article in the university e-newsletter explained that the award exemplifies Professor White’s dedication to learning and thriving, two pillars of the university’s five-year strategic plan, and cited his being on ARISS’ education committee. He operates the university’s Wireless Research and Electronic Discovery Lab where students receive hands-on experience in satellite, microchip, and radio engineering projects, including the design and construction of a CubeSat.  Valparaiso University Dean of the College of Engineering Doug Tougaw stated, “We’re very pleased that Professor White’s excellent work was recognized by IPC. He brings a remarkable level of expertise and passion to the college, and his students’ lives are changed by the work they do with him.” 

ARISS Upcoming Events

Feb 22: Girl Scout Troop 1089, Sacramento CA-ARISS contact, ARISS-US Team
Feb 22-24: Human Spaceflight Amateur Radio: 40^th Anniversary Celebration, KSC Center for Space Education, Titusville FL—ARISS conference/gala, ARISS-I Team

February 1: The Alabama School of Cyber Technology and Engineering (ASCTE) in Huntsville, AL hosted an ARISS contact with Jasmin Moghbeli. 20 students asked questions while a crowd of 435 people, mostly students, watched. Before the connection was made, Nicole Pelfrey, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) Payload & Mission Operations Department Manager spoke to the students about career paths—the school has a partnership with MSFC. Media on hand included WAFF-TV and WZDX-TV.  Over 150 people viewed the livestream; 8 days later, that total increased to 454. ASCTE enjoys tremendous support for STEM from area industry.

February 7: Students at Lilburn (GA) Elementary School engaged in an ARISS radio contact with Jasmin Moghbeli; she answered 14 student questions. 342 students and 26 educators in the gymnasium watched the youth talking, as did reps from WANF-TV.  151 others watched the livestream, and total views in 2 days’ time climbed to 800. A second livestream captured 70 views from a Mississippi middle school where a teacher is working toward garnering her school’s future ARISS contact. At the beginning of the Lilburn’s event, the principal stated:  “You two [teachers] took a dream and a hope and made it happen.” Immediately after the ARISS contact, Lilburn hosted STEM Day for K-5 classes. Activities included experimenting with a model of a Mars Rover, a speaker from a NASA HR office who spoke on NASA career paths, a demo of a drone and Sphero™ robots, a tour of the ARISS radio set-up and radio modes, and a presentation on bugs in space.

February 1: ARISS Director of Operations Will Marchant guided a Civil Air Patrol (CAP) group in Winchester, VA in how to aim a hand-held antenna and to control a portable radio so they could listen to an ARISS contact taking place in Huntsville, AL.  The CAP youth met at STARBASE Winchester, a facility leading Department of Defense educational programs that aim “to engage our nation’s at-risk youth in inquiry-based hands-on STEM.” Will described the ARISS program to 30 high school students, 29 elementary school students, and 6 teachers. Students from the area’s Shenandoah University had traveled to the event to take part, as well.

ARISS Upcoming Events  
Feb 15: B. Russell High School, Rome Italy-ARISS contact, ARISS-Europe Team
Feb 16: Baltic Federal University-I. Kant, Kaliningrad Russia-ARISS contact, ARISS-Russia Team
Feb 22-24: Human Spaceflight Amateur Radio: 40^th Anniversary Celebration, KSC Center for Space Education, Titusville FL—ARISS conference/gala, ARISS-I Team

January 29: Thrive Home School Academy and District 2 Schools in the Colorado Springs, CO area welcomed two NASA astronauts—Kevin Chilton and Susan Helms—to Harrison High School auditorium, for a presentation and a Q&A session for students and their families.  Thrive School Academy had named January as Space Month and offered this astronaut visit, and many related activities to students. One that faculty said students really enjoyed had involved using VR headsets for a virtual tour of the ISS.  The schools’ ARISS contact will be scheduled in the next few weeks.

January 31:  The ARISS-Europe Team worked with Axiom Space Agency for crew member Marcus Wandt to support an ARISS radio contact for the Bilingual Montessori School of Stiftelsen in Lund, Sweden.  The students had enjoyed STEM activities with help from a collaboration of ESERO Sweden, the National Museum of Science and Technology with its ham radio station, the KTH Royal Institute of Technology, and Wisdome Arenas. An audience of over 400 students ages 6 through 16 watched as fellow students asked Wandt 20 questions. They had just enough time to thank him before the radio signal quieted as the ISS traveled over the horizon. The livestream captured 982 views in 48 hours’ time and also, the National Museum of Science and Technology had streamed the event. Reps came from Sveriges TV and the newspaper Svenska Dagbladet.  ESERO Sweden sent this happy message: “What good questions they [students] asked!”  Students had engaged in numerous STEM and space lessons. Wandt wanted “to ignite a passion for STEM education in teachers and students worldwide to each pursue their ambitions.” 

January 30: ARISS and Axiom Space agency worked together on an ARISS contact for students at Ömer Cemile Güler Imam Hatip Secondary School in Konya, Selçuklu, Türkiye. They talked with Axiom’s Alper Gezeravci, who answered 20 questions. The students ranged in age from 10 through 13 and the contact was carried out in the Turkish language. In addition to the students, 6 teachers were also present along with members of the press. With Gezeravci as the first Turkish astronaut to go to space, a representative from the attitude and orbit control group at the Space Technologies Research Institute wrote about the ARISS contact: “We truly shared a moment in history.”

January 31: Bandırma Şehit Güvenç Anatolian High School in Balikesir, Bandırma, Türkiye hosted an ARISS radio contact supported by Axiom astronaut Alper Gezeravci.  Twenty students, ages 14 through 17, asked 16 questions. Then they gave him a round of applause, thanked him, and wished him a safe return home. Teachers and students attended, as did news media representatives. The contact was live streamed. Media included Sabah.com, ONCE VATAN, and AA.com. The latter’s story is at https://www.aa.com.tr/tr/bilim-teknoloji/astronot-gezeravci-konya-ve-balikesirdeki-ogrencilerle-telsizle-gorustu/3125548.

January 27: An ARISS radio contact took place for Aznakaevsky district schools in Aznakaevsky in the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia. Pupils had taken part in the About Gagarin From Space lesson series. ARISS-Russia had crew member Oleg Kononenko scheduled to support the ARISS contact.

January 25: The ARISS-Russia team led an ARISS contact and taught the About Gagarin From Space lessons for students of the Center for Children’s Technical Creativity “Young Motorist” events. This took place in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia. 15 students participated in the radio contact and the crew member for this contact was Konstantin Borisov.

ARISS Social Media metrics            

ARISS social media leader Jim Reed reported January 2024 Social Media highlights:

• Impressions and Interactions were both up over January 2023.
• Facebook brought the most Impressions this month–52.8% of views.
• Posts on Axiom contacts got high interest, especially on the first Turkish crew member.

January 2024 Total Impressions and Total Interactions/Engagements

• ARISS X – Total Impressions / Views 117,902,  Interactions / Engagements  3,512 
• ARISS Facebook – Total Impressions / Views 145,473,  Interactions / Engagements 3,227
• ARISS Total New Followers across all ARISS Social Platforms  – 657
• ARISS You Tube – Total subscribers increased to 2,100
• ARISS Web pages – Unique Visits 21,336, Page Views 61,010

January Top Posts

Top X post (10,451 Impressions, 172 Engagements) about Axiom crew supporting contacts

Top Facebook post (41,169 Impressions, 457 Engagements) about NBC TODAY show’s Harry Smith interviewing Harbor Creek School students immediately after their ARISS contact

ARISS Upcoming Events

Feb 7: Lilburn Elementary School, Lilburn GA—ARISS contact, ARISS-US Team
Feb 9: School of Telecommunications Engrg, Valencia, Spain-ARISS contact, ARISS-Europe Team
Feb 22-24: Human Spaceflight Amateur Radio: 40^th Anniversary Celebration, KSC Center for Space Education, Titusville FL—ARISS conference/gala, ARISS-I Team

January 24: Students at Istituto Comprensivo Anna Rita Sidoti in Gioiosa Marea, Italy shared an exciting day as their peers talked with Axiom crew 3’s Walter Villadei during an ARISS contact; he answered 14 student questions. The event began with a pre-contact show including students’ talks, videos of Villadei and astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti, and an ESA crew training video. The event drew 90 students and others, and 700 more students watched the livestream in their classrooms. In 2 days’ time, the video garnered 3.8k views. The school had engaged all students in lessons preparing them for this ARISS contact and support came from ham radio operators from the national organization for amateur radio, Italian Radioamateur Associacion. News services on hand consisted of RAI3 TV, Canale Sicilia TV, and Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Assocata Press Agency.

January 13: ARISS volunteers Martha Muir and Jim Reed spent the day at TechFest in Lawrenceville, GA put on by Gwinnett Amateur Radio Society. The event serves the amateur radio community with how-to workshops and demonstrations of various ham radio modes and of the latest ham radio equipment. Martha and Jim staffed a table displaying the new ARISS SPARKI radio kit and other items for teachers and handed out flyers describing ARISS and the 40-year celebrations in February at Kennedy Space Center.  The 127 attendees they spoke with included 12 teachers, 16 students, and 15 others who wanted flyers to bring home to family members who are teachers.

January 22: ARISS was honored by being chosen as the ISS National Lab’s Space Station Explorers Partner of the Month. The ISS National Lab commended ARISS by posting an item on Facebook and X stating, “Congratulations to our friends at @ARISS int’l for being selected as our Partner of the Month! ARISS offers students around the world the exciting opportunity to talk with astronauts as they orbit 250 miles over Earth.”

January 22: Istituto Comprensivo Statale in Villa Guardia, Italy hosted an ARISS radio contact with Axiom astronaut Walter Villadei.  He answered 10 students’ questions while 150 students and teachers watched the action. Two newspapers covered the contact and a livestream was offered, which garnered 1.2k views in 4 days’ time. The URL is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMQUWMww9yE.  This education institution supports 3 primary schools for students, age 6 to 10, and 2 middle schools for students, age 11 to 13. A teaching team provides theoretical and practical teaching of science and technology.

January 19-20: At the annual Cowtown Hamfest, a gathering of 1,000 radio enthusiasts of the Dallas/Forest Hill, TX area this year, saw an ARISS display and heard ARISS Director of Engineering Randy Berger promote ARISS. He set up an exhibit and led a forum that attracted 30 people. He explained the ARISS program and some of its current projects and future endeavors, including ARISS’ ideas toward Lunar ham communications. Randy reported over 300 visitors coming to his exhibit table.

ARISS Upcoming Events  

Jan 31: Bandırma Şehit Güvenç Anatolian HS, Bandırma, Türkiye-ARISS contact, ARISS-Europe Team
Jan 31: Bilingual Montessori School-Lund, Stiftelsen, Lund, Sweden-ARISS contact, ARISS-Europe Team
Feb 1: Alabama School of Cyber Technology & Engineering Huntsville-ARISS contact, ARISS-US Team
Feb 2: Thrive Home School Academy, Colorado Springs CO-ARISS contact, ARISS-US Team
Feb 22-24: Human Spaceflight Amateur Radio: 40th Anniversary Celebration, KSC Center for Space Education, Titusville FL—ARISS conference/gala

January 15: HamCation in Orlando, FL, the second largest annual ham radio convention in the US, gives awards that honor outstanding ham radio operators. The 2024 Gordon West Ambassador of the Year winners are ARISS volunteers Fred and Anita Kemmerer of Hollis, NH. The two, recognized nationally for promoting technology learning and amateur radio, developed technical educational activities for youth and for ham operators as lifelong learners wanting to try new modes of radio communications.  Fred, an ARISS Technical Mentor, has assisted 20 schools in the preparations for their ARISS contact. He and Anita help guide these schools’ students, also, in electronics and communications hands-on activities.  

January 15: ARISS volunteer Charlie Sufana met with 10 students and the Dean of the College of Engineering at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, FL. Charlie serves as the ARISS Technical Mentor for the school’s ARISS contact scheduled in April. He and the undergrads reviewed progress on getting all the equipment needed for their contact’s radio set-up. He talked to them also about a number of education and technical aspects of the ARISS program beyond school radio contacts. In the evening, he presented a talk on ARISS to the Daytona Beach Amateur Radio Club. Attendance totaled 25 people, including 3 youth.  

January 7: ARISS opened a window to accept ARISS Education Proposals from education groups hoping to host an ARISS radio contact. The window closes on February 29.  The ARISS contacts would be held between July 1 and December 31, 2024. ARISS distributed a news release about the window opening and media outlets picked up the information. ARISS sent a detailed blurb to NASA EXPRESS, which went to 60,624 subscribers and was shared through the NASA Office of STEM Engagement social media tools; these efforts resulted in shared content going to over 1 million followers.

ARISS Upcoming Events
Jan 24: IC Istituto Comprensivo, Gioiosa Marea, Italy-ARISS contact, ARISS-Europe Team
Jan 25: Youth Group, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia—ARISS contact, ARISS-Russia Team
Jan 29: Ömer Cemile Güler Imam Hatip School, Selçuklu, Türkiye-ARISS contact, ARISS-Europe Team
Jan 31: Bandırma Şehit Güvenç Anatolian HS, Bandırma, Türkiye-ARISS contact, ARISS-Europe Team
Jan 31: Bilingual Montessori School-Lund, Stiftelsen, Lund, Sweden-ARISS contact, ARISS-Europe Team
Feb 22-24: Human Spaceflight Amateur Radio: 40^th Anniversary Celebration, KSC Ctr for Space Education, Titusville FL—ARISS conference/gala, ARISS-I Team

January 11: ARISS-USA leaders Executive Director Frank Bauer and Director of Education Tanya Anderson gave a talk in an education workshop at the 2024 AIAA (American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics) Science and Technology Forum and Exposition in Orlando, FL. The professional development presentation to K-12 STEM educators and AIAA members featured ARISS 2.0—New Vision for Inspiring and Educating the Next Generation. In addition to the school radio contacts with astronauts that ARISS is known for, Frank and Tanya described the ARISS SPARKI Kit and demonstrated some of its education tools that teachers use in classrooms. The kit helps introduce students to space, electronics, and radio. Frank and Tanya discussed ARISS STEM initiatives with their goal of allowing students to interact with educational experiments to be launched on the ISS.  The AIAA workshop coordinator said: “It was fantastic to hear firsthand about the great opportunities and the world you’re opening up through ARISS, for teachers and students.”  ARISS educator Jackie Blumer, host of a 2011 ARISS contact at Greenville (IL) Elementary School, also gave a workshop talk: “Limitless Horizons: Unveiling Opportunities in Aerospace Education.”  

January 4: ARISS volunteer Dave Jordan presented a talk about the ARISS program to the Lake Monroe Amateur Radio Society (LMARS) in Winter Springs, FL. He opened the presentation explaining to 35 members—including some educators–that ARISS connects students with astronauts on the ISS via ham radio and he conveyed how schools get chosen for the contacts through a competitive education proposal process. He told new LMARS members that the club mentored five schools and two children’s hospitals with their ARISS contacts. He ended his talk by showing charts about ARISS’ upcoming 40-year anniversary conference, Celebrating the Positive Impact of Amateur Radio on Human Spaceflight, in February at Kennedy Space Center Visitors Complex.  

January 9: ARISS announced that Will Marchant was appointed by Frank Bauer to be Director of Operations for ARISS-USA. Will, a dedicated ARISS team mate, supported ARISS and SAREX for over 30 years in many different roles, such as Technical Mentor, first ARISS Operations Leader, and since its inception, the ARISS SSTV Gallery where space enthusiasts post ARISS SSTV images they download from the ISS (https://www.spaceflightsoftware.com/ARISS_SSTV/). He retired recently from a stellar aerospace career and continues to inspire students in STEM by being an advocate of events where among other things, kids launch rockets, such as the NASA Student Launch program, and he’s a Civil Air Patrol Aerospace Education Member. Recently, he engaged a school visiting the Winchester (VA) STARBASE Academy for its Department of Defense STEM program that aims to engage “our nation’s at-risk youth” in inquiry-based hands-on STEM.

ARISS Upcoming Events  
Jan 22: IC Statale Villa Guardia, Villa Guardia Italy-ARISS contact, ARISS-Europe Team
Jan 24: IC Istituto Comprensivo, Gioiosa Marea, Italy-ARISS contact, ARISS-Europe Team
Feb 22 – 24: Human Spaceflight Amateur Radio: 40^th Anniversary Celebration, KSC Ctr for Space Education, Titusville FL—ARISS conference/gala, ARISS-I Team

January 3: ARISS-International Chair Frank Bauer gave a presentation during the bi-weekly Ham Radio Crash Course – HamNation online ham radio podcast. He explained many exciting aspects of the upcoming 40th Anniversary Conference: Celebrating the Positive Impact of Amateur Radio on Human Spaceflight to be held at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex from February 22 – 24. He expounded on the earliest history of use of ham radio on space vehicles (1983, by astronaut Owen Garriott on STS-9) and invited listeners to go to the ARISS web site to register to attend the celebration events. Frank mentioned that nearly 1,600 ARISS school radio contacts have now taken place. For the remainder of the presentation, he handled a Q & A session. Listeners totaled 356, and in 3 days’ time, 3.9K…and that will keep increasing!

January 4-5:  Last week’s report covered Harbor Creek High School’s ARISS contact; here is a happy update. An NBC TODAY Show producer had spotted a late-November article about ARISS, carried on the NASA Space Station Research web page, which included Rosalie White’s email address. The NBC producer contacted Rosalie about doing an ARISS story, and learned all about ARISS and the Harbor Creek School’s ARISS-related activities. An NBC team including Harry Smith traveled to the school the day before their ARISS contact and spent much of two days taping. NBC ran promos, then aired Harry’s 6.5-minute live segment, and offered a YouTube and social media posts. ARISS continues to collect statistics, but the average audience of TODAY Show live segments is 2.5M and around that many more people will see local NBC stations’ clips in addition to other folks viewing social posts—and ARISS’ social posts. In just 30 hours’ time, NBC’s X post had captured 37.6K views! Andreas Mogensen saw a post and re-tweeted (garnering over 5K views), adding: “Wow. How great for me to see behind the scenes of a recent ARISS radio contact.” The TODAY Show segment is at:

https://www.today.com/video/high-school-students-use-ham-radio-skills-to-contact-space-station-201408581756

January 2: NASA released its 2024 International Space Station Calendar with its outstanding photos and fascinating facts about the ISS. The final page featured a set of URLs for people to click to learn more. ARISS felt honored that when people click some of the links, they will find stories featuring, among other things, an ARISS radio contact supported by Chris Hadfield, the MarconISSta ham radio spectrum research project that ARISS partnered on, small satellites built by ARISS students at Kursk University, and an ARISS contact that involved hundreds of students networked together from 12 Central American countries.

December 27-30: An ARISS Slow Scan TV (SSTV—picture downlinks) experiment took place, resulting in many thrilled participants; they had waited since the last SSTV session in October.  The experiment offered downlinks on several days during limited passes and on a different radio frequency than usual. The event employed the ARISS voice repeater system in the Columbus Module rather than the Service Module’s SSTV system. The ARISS team declared the experiment a success; 481 unique participants downloaded and posted 992 images in the ARISS SSTV Gallery at https://www.spaceflightsoftware.com/ARISS_SSTV/.  Of the 481 participants, 112 answered the survey saying they were educators and 28 answered that they were individual students. One participant wrote, “A great thank you for this SSTV event!”

December 29: The online ham radio news podcast Amateur Radio Newsline carried a report featuring February’s ARISS 40-year anniversary conference titled “Celebrating the Positive Impact of Amateur Radio on Human Spaceflight.”  The reporter gave a call out that ARISS wants to receive stories or videos of stories from teachers and students who engaged in an ARISS school contact—stories about the effect the radio contact made on their lives. The report ended with a quote from ARISS: “The historic 40th anniversary conference will be a retrospective of what has been accomplished and will highlight our exciting amateur radio human spaceflight plans on the horizon.”

December Social Media metrics  

ARISS social media leader Jim Reed reported December Social Media highlights:

• 3rd month in 2023 that ARISS had over 500,000 Impressions
• highest monthly 2023 engagements—20.8K Engagements (next highest had been 18.6K)
• Video leveraged for ARISS’s set of STS-9 posts—during December, 28.6K clip views & nearly 5K minutes watched across X, FB, Instagram
• YouTube Live Event of Richard Garriott—nearly 400 views and 38.2 Watch Hours
• 2023 Follower growth—terrific; added 6.2K Followers (23.6%) to our feeds

December Total Impressions and Total Interactions/Engagements

Nearly all numbers doubled from last month–      

• ARISS X – Total Impressions / Views 372,958,  Interactions / Engagements  13,881 
• ARISS Facebook – Total Impressions / Views 340,847,  Interactions / Engagements 8,446
• ARISS Total New Followers across platforms 1,120
• ARISS LinkedIn – Total Impressions 230,  Reactions 10
• ARISS YouTube – Total subscribers increased to 2,080
• ARISS Web Pages – Unique Visits 26,203, Page Views 90,193

December Top Posts

Top X post (26,711 Impressions, 166 Engagements) about NASA’s story on ARISS’ 40-Year Celebrations

Top Facebook post (70,607 Impressions, 883 Engagements) about 1983 video of Astronaut Owen Garriott explaining the STS-9 onboard ham radio station

ARISS Upcoming Events  
Potential late Jan. schedule: ARISS contacts supported by Axiom-3 crew members, ARISS-Europe Team
February 22-24, 2024: Human Spaceflight Amateur Radio: 40^th Anniversary Celebration, KSC Center for Space Education, Titusville FL—ARISS conference & gala, ARISS-I Team

December 14:  The Primary School of Zipari in the coastal town of Kos, Greece hosted an ARISS contact with Andreas Mogensen, who answered 15 students’ questions. The event, attended by 300 students and community members, had reps on hand from a national TV station and an area newspaper to cover the event.  Four students starred in a pre-contact YouTube seen by 319 people (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0-72F6roYk) and in excited voices, they described their STEM studies and their enthusiasm about talking to Mogensen. The school posted two more videos about student STEM studies, one on space travel and the ISS and one on life in space. 

December 11-12: Students still enthralled over their October ARISS contact at St Peter-in-Thanet Junior School in Broadstairs, UK, wanted to take part in a Great Britain Youth on the Air amateur radio activity. The area ham club, Hilderstone Radio Society organized two days at the school for 70 children, age 7 to 11, guiding them in using 3 portable ham radio stations. The boys and girls liked knowing their voices carried across The Channel to France, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, and more distant countries. They learned about tuning the radio to hear voices of ham operators and tones transmitted by Morse code, and that those tones communicated words one letter at a time. The youth gave their name, age, and a radio signal report (clarity and volume). The club awarded each student a special certificate celebrating their achievement of speaking on the air waves. The science teacher said “student enthusiasm, which was ‘off the charts’, inspired faculty to offer a new course in 2024, the Magic of Radio.”

December 11: Students of Harbor Creek School in Harborcreek, PA, engaged in an ARISS contact with Andreas Mogensen, who answered 13 questions. 500 students, teachers, and community members watched the action and also the pre-contact programing that was carried out by three students belonging to the Advanced Technology Group. They educated the audience about Mogensen’s career and space-related topics. 181 people watched the livestream and within 1 day, 930 more had watched a recording. Reporters came from MSN.com, Fox, Erie News Now, YourErie.com, RFGlobal.net, and the NBC Today Show. The latter recorded student interviews, visited the school ham radio station, and climbed a ladder to get on the roof to view the radio antennas! NBC will run a special story in early 2024. The RFGlobal.net reporter wrote that he witnessed a “goose bump moment” when students’ faces showed relief at hearing Mogensen’s voice and parents made “audible gasps followed by giving a standing ovation.” Students had been supported by the Wattsburg Wireless Association Amateur Radio Club who helped youth and parents learn about space technologies and satellite communications.

December 7:  The ARISS team planned and hosted a special YouTube webinar of Space Flight Participant Richard Garriott. Frank Bauer interviewed Richard about his father, Owen Garriott, who in 1983 was the first astronaut to take ham radio on a space vehicle. ARISS set up the webinar as one of many events that honor the impact of 40 years of ham radio on spacecraft. After NASA had agreed to Owen using the radio, it allowed many people to talk with an orbiting crew member instead of only Mission Control or a head of state. Bauer asked Richard to describe some activities he did during his time on the ISS, including handling many ARISS educational radio contacts and special radio work. In 14 days, the webinar garnered 660 views. The URL is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ys0Jjn40Y_A.

December 20: In the front pages of the January 2024 issue of the American Radio Relay League’s (ARRL) monthly journal, an article ran about Sunita Williams. It touched on aspects of her career track such as the US Naval Academy, becoming a helicopter pilot, and test pilot. She said meeting John Young influenced her to want to become a career astronaut. One third of the article was devoted to her experience carrying out ARISS contacts with students, and she said she relished those interactions. In showing her desire to make each contact very special to students, Sunita said, “It’s a skill to talk fast to get to the point [to answer their questions] and it’s important to relay the kid’s name and [say] thank you.”

December 26: ARISS announced the education organizations selected to host ARISS school contacts with ISS crew members in July through December 2024. Six organizations’ ARISS Education Proposals were chosen and the groups will proceed in creating an equipment plan for the radio station they will use to talk with their assigned astronaut. Once a school’s plan has been approved, the group will be scheduled for the ARISS contact based on ability to match with NASA crew schedule opportunities. 

ARISS Upcoming Events

Potential late Jan. schedule: ARISS contacts supported by Axiom-3 crew members, ARISS-Europe Team
February 22-24, 2024: Human Spaceflight Amateur Radio: 40^th Anniversary Celebration, KSC Center for Space Education, Titusville FL—ARISS conference & gala, ARISS-I Team