Category: Weekly Reports

November 4: Harel Educational Campus in Holon, Israel hosted an ARISS contact, giving students a chance to talk with Josh Cassada. He answered 14 questions. A crowd of 200 watched the contact activity including a news reporter who covered the story for Israeli TV Channel 13. More Harel students viewed the livestream. The school, comprised of intermediate through high school levels (7 to 12), offers spiritual religious education and studies in robotics, communication, graphic design, computers, and literature. Faculty wanted to host the ARISS contact when they recognized a need to broaden student knowledge of space technology and boost curiosity about science. 

November 6: ARISS educator Martha Muir set up a mini-youth activity lounge at the 2022 Stone Mountain Hamfest (a gathering of ham radio enthusiasts) in Lawrenceville, GA. She offered space and communications-related hands-on activities from 10 am to noon with help from ARISS volunteer Rachel Jones, a PhD student who had led STEM lessons in 2021 for all kids at an ARISS school. Hamfest youth enjoyed Snap Circuit kits (these attracted kids of all ages plus some interested older hams) and building paper airplanes. North Fulton Amateur Radio League members from Atlanta guided youth in experiments with Morse code; one high school gal really enjoyed it, picking it up very fast. A friend of Martha’s led radio transmitter hunts for kids. The hidden transmitters were stuffed animals—baby and papa foxes. Afterward, a girl told her dad he “needed to make some [hidden transmitters] that look like foxes” so she could do hunts at home. Martha gave two forum talks. She was one of several people speaking in the ARRL (American Radio Relay League) Forum led by the ARRL Southeastern Director (director for AL, FL, GA, PR, and VI) and ARRL Georgia Section Manager; 30 people attended. Martha’s second forum was on getting youth involved in ham radio. Rachel supported both forums and ARISS volunteer Jim Reed shared a few comments on ARISS at the second forum (he joined ARISS’s social media team recently). 

October 18: Norwich (CT) Free Academy students have engaged in hands-on STEM lessons in preparation for their early 2023 ARISS contact.  A school educator committee worked with the science department to integrate lessons on space and communications into the curriculum for all 2,100 students. One popular communications activity for students involved the Norwich Free Academy Amateur Radio & Engineering Club members setting up a kiosk in the library, with the kiosk being titled “Use the Force.” Sitting on the kiosk was the front portion of a ham radio transceiver (receiver and transmitter) that had a dial students could turn to listen to radio stations. This front part of the transceiver was linked to the other portion of the transceiver residing in the school’s ham club station. Turning the dial at the kiosk, students could decide what communications to listen to, capture the radio call signs, and type these in the club’s online logbook. This past May, club members had set up a Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) 16 receiver. They have been capturing live GOES 16 satellite data to research and predict weather patterns on Earth and to investigate possible correlations between these patterns and flora and fauna growth patterns. The club does an annual balloon launch.

October 30: An ARISS radio contact took place for student participants attending the 12^th International Aerospace School named after cosmonaut U.N. Sultanov in Ufa, Russia. Cosmonaut Anna Kikina, who is also a Russian engineer, supported the contact.  ARISS-Russia leader Sergey Samburov and Cosmonaut S. N. Revin came to watch the students. The event was supported on the ground by two ARISS-Russia volunteers.  Students had engaged in the educational studies called About Gagarin From Space. As with other ARISS-Russia sponsored radio ARISS contacts, this one was scheduled by Russia’s Mission Control Center-Moscow.  

October 9: The West Michigan Aviation Academy in Grand Rapids, MI will be scheduled in 2023 for its ARISS contact. The school hosted their Broadening Horizons Breakfast, an event attended by 200 supportive community leaders, alumni, faculty, and students. ARISS Technical Mentor Gordon Scannell was invited and traveled there. He gave a presentation about the ARISS program and the upcoming contact to a group of the school’s students. He networked with the school CEO, Dean of Aviation & Engineering, Dean of Teaching & Student Learning, and science and aviation teachers.  All were very pleased that the school will host an ARISS contact.

October 21-23 ARISS educator Dan White, Electrical and Computer Engineering Associate Professor at Valparaiso University in Valparaiso, IN, traveled to Corinth, Greece for the Libre Space Foundation’s Core Contributor All-Hands Workshop. He presented several talks on the ARISS program and discussed how Satellite Networked Open Ground Stations (SatNOGS) can regularly capture the downlink of all ARISS contacts. He described his role of making online posts to the SatNOGS worldwide ground station operators about ARISS contacts and how he will expand on this communication, initiating discussions about each ARISS contact. 

First part of October: ARISS educator Linda Nowicki was accepted for another year to be a judge for the AIAA—American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. She reviewed proposals for the AIAA 2022-2023 Classroom Grants program that awards funding for groups with top proposals.

ARISS Upcoming Events  
Nov 18 Amur State University-ARISS contact, Blagoveshchensk, Russia, ARISS-Russia Team
Nov 20 Ural State University-ARISS contact, Yekaterinburg, Russia, ARISS-Russia Team

                                   

                                      

November 1: Students at the Five Bridges Junior High School in Stillwater Lake, NS, Canada have been immersed the last several months in preparation for their ARISS contact, researching the solar system, space, and black holes, and growing plants from seeds that had been flown in space. Youth excitement was high last week when the ARISS contact was scheduled. The day beforehand, the contact had to be postponed because of the ISS dealing with a necessary object avoidance maneuver.  The students’ excitement dampened a little, so a poster was created to keep spirits high.  The poster, which was displayed in the foyer of the school, featured a quote from Astronaut Chris Hadfield.  ARISS is working to re-schedule the contact.

ARISS Social Media for October  

ARISS gained a new volunteer to help with the ARISS social media duties, particularly in monthly planning and more creativity. Having an extra person resulted in increased posts and much higher interactions! October metrics and also Top October posts are below.

• Top Tweet in October (15,216 Impressions, 788 Interactions / Engagements) 
• Top Facebook Post in October (8,949 Reaches, 9,373 Impressions, 823 Engagements)  
• Top Instagram Post in October (190 Reach, 32 Interactions / Engagements)

Total October Metrics on each Social Media Platform:

• ARISS Twitter – Total Impressions / Views 112,684,  Interactions / Engagements 4,015
• ARISS Facebook – Total Impressions 25,961,  Interactions / Engagements 3,047
• ARISS Instagram – Total Reach 281, Interactions / Engagements 290
• ARISS YouTube – Total Subscribers 1,710

ARISS Upcoming Events  

Nov 20: Ural State University, Yekaterinburg Russia, ARISS-Russia Team

October 24: Fort Myers, FL suffered a direct strike by Hurricane Ian on September 28, less than a month prior to an ARISS contact scheduled for the city’s Canterbury School.  Faculty, students (a huge portion still homeless), and area amateur radio club operators put in a major effort amid the immense damage to ensure the ARISS contact could be carried out—giving students a huge boost to morale. On contact day, Josh Cassada answered 14 student questions plus 1 from a teacher. A senior class student who is interested in engineering and robotics, helped with the radios and said, “It is quite miraculous … a remarkable opportunity.”  Those on hand watching the contact numbered 200 and another 190 watched the livestream. A week later, 918 people had viewed the recording. NBC-TV, WINK-TV, and PBS radio station WGCU covered the event. A link to NBC’s coverage is https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=X-rYfEojW0w&feature=emb_title. The head of the school, Rick Kirschner, said they had declared this fall as their “Semester in Space” and researched “all angles of space exploration and the future and all the exciting possibilities.” The curriculum centered on rockets, radios, the ISS and exploration.

October 19: An ARISS contact took place at the Chief Whitecap Elementary School in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. Josh Cassada answered 18 of the youths’ questions.  A reported 1,000 students in the building saw the event, watching via a video hookup. Following the contact, a faculty member reported: “Some adults in the audience were moved to tears. Josh Cassada gave excellent responses … and he used each student’s name. The whole school was so excited after the contact that each teacher abandoned afternoon lessons to do follow-up space activities and research the things they learned from Josh.” The school partners with the Whitecap Dakota First Nation, embracing and integrating native culture, language and traditions into the curriculum. The school inserted the topic of space through all core subjects for all grades, with a goal of this ARISS contact being to increase students’ interest in the science and technology of space exploration.

October 21: ARISS Director of Engineering Randy Berger gave an ARISS presentation at the annual AMSAT-NA Symposium held in Bloomington, MN.  Randy’s talk attracted 30 listeners; he gave an overview and an update of ARISS.  During the day, he networked with other attendees, including a high school young lady and her family; she is very active in satellite communications and was interested in ARISS.

October 21:  ARISS volunteer Luis Funes in Argentina organized a follow-up conference two weeks after the ARISS contact hosted at Esperanza Base in Antarctica. Teachers, students, the head of the Coronel Morales Base, and ARISS volunteer Marcelo Teruel were asked to evaluate their experiences with the historic first-ever Antarctica ARISS contact. All of them were very positive about the contact and the related learning activities.

Social Media for September

ARISS’s previous September Social Media report listed number of followers on platforms. Here are more details:

• Top Tweet in September (gave details on an ARISS contact) earned 2,045 Impressions
• Top Facebook Posts in September (gave details on ARISS contacts) earned 3,398 Reaches

ARISS Upcoming Events  
Nov 4: Harel Educational Campus, Holon, Israel, ARISS-Europe Team
Nov 20: Ural State University, Yekaterinburg Russia, ARISS-Russia Team

October 18: Benjamin O. Davis Aerospace Technical High School, part of the Detroit (MI) Public Schools (DPS), hosted an ARISS radio contact with Soichi Wakata who answered 15 students’ questions. Attendance in the room totaled 65 and 267 others watched the livestream; within a few days, views of the recording reached 760. Strong media coverage included a national-level CBS team, reporters from area ABC, Fox, and NBC TV stations, Axios, Detroit News, Michigan Chronicle, and WWJ radio. Cindy Steele, NASA HQ Chief of Public Engagement—alum of nearby Cass Technical High School and Northern Michigan University—shared a testimony on public schools leading to great careers like hers. Other VIPs came from US Senator Gary Peters’ office and the American Radio Relay League.  DPS Assistant Superintendent of Operations Machion Jackson stated that the Hazel Park Amateur Radio Club, Davis Advisory Group, ARISS, and others helped students to see opportunities in space exploration, communications, and STEAM careers, and to research the ISS and space. She added, “Please know you assisted the development of future leaders and helped the students ‘rise.’” She described the school aviation and aerospace programs that prepare students to become pilots, drone operators, aircraft mechanics, engineers, and more. A recent graduate proudly explained about his earning the school’s certification led to his career flying drones. A 10^th grade girl piped up, “Anyone can become part of NASA. Doesn’t matter…your race, your age…you can do it.” The school is named for Benjamin O. Davis Jr. who organized/commanded the 99th Pursuit Squadron & 332^nd Fighter Group (Tuskegee Airmen) and was the first African-American brigadier general in the USAF.   (Ret) USAF Lt. Col Lawrence Millben (formerly the first African-American commander of Selfridge Air National Guard Base and now on the Davis Advisory Board, a technical advisory committee) and others from the Tuskegee Airmen Detroit chapter gave each student a Tuskegee Airmen quarter and a dog tag engraved with the six principles of Tuskegee Airmen.  The Hazel Park Amateur Radio Club had set up a complex radio ground station to carry out the ARISS contact and they had mentored students in the school ham radio club. Media hits:  

• Detroit News:

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/detroit-city/2022/10/18/detroit-davis-aerospace-technical-high-school-students-called-an-astronaut/69561066007/?gnt-cfr=1

• WDIV NBC ClickOnDetroit:

https://www.clickondetroit.com/news/local/2022/10/18/detroit-high-school-students-speak-with-an-astronaut-that-is-currently-orbiting-earth/

• Axios:

https://www.axios.com/local/detroit/2022/10/19/aerospace-students-astronaut-space-station-detroit

• ChalkbeatDetroit

https://detroit.chalkbeat.org/2022/10/19/23411804/detroit-public-schools-astronaut-davis-aerospace-iss-space-nasa-amateur-radio

• Bollyinside

https://www.bollyinside.com/news/high-school-students-in-detroit-communicate-with-the-international-space-station-live

• Michigan Chronicle

.https://michiganchronicle.com/2022/09/06/dpscd-high-school-earns-opportunity-to-contact-international-space-station-this-fall/

October 17: The ARISS-Russia team led Gagarin From Space lessons with students from MBOU Gymnasium No. 136 in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia. Nest, several adults guided the 12 youths with their successful ARISS radio contact, talking to cosmonaut Anna Kikina. This was Anna’s first chance to support an ARISS contact.

October 11: ARISS-USA Director of Education Kathy Lamont, Belmont Elementary School’s Gifted Resource Teacher (Woodbridge, VA) guided students in researching how to handle radios and antennas in order to listen to an ARISS contact.  When Harris Middle School in Spruce Pine, NC had its ARISS contact, Kathy’s 4^th and 5^th graders aimed antennas and tuned the radio to listen. She helped them follow the questions by handing them the list of what the Spruce Pine kids would ask. Besides her 13 students, another student who was overseas with her family was listening to the contact via Zoom, excited to be part of the action from afar.  Kathy posted on Twitter a 20-second video of one student listening intently to the contact; the video garnered 101 views.

October 9:  ARISS Technical Mentor Bob Koepke and wife Jann, both American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) county advisors, recognized a need for more STEM education in their North Carolina county and decided to help promote fun activities and of course, ARISS contacts. The Gates County Public Library in Gatesville hosted an all-day open house and the Koepkes set up and staffed a table with eye-catching STEM items. They created and handed out flyers on balloon launches, rocketry, ARISS, and STEM project boxes. Visitors totaled 50—20 were students and some were parents and teachers who were especially piqued by ARISS. Earlier, Bob and Jann had coordinated with Science Heads and AIAA to present the library with STEM Project Boxes for students to borrow; these included Green Energy from Veggies, Tiny Robots, Snap Circuits, Learn Morse Code, Arduino Basic Starter Kit, and Motor Kit.    

October 9: ARISS volunteer Ciaran Morgan gave a presentation on ARISS at the AMSAT-UK Colloquium, held in Milton Keynes, UK in conjunction with the Radio Society of Great Britain’s annual convention.  Ciaran’s talk attracted 89 listeners, some in-person and some via the livestream. AMSAT-UK will post recordings of the talks. Ciaran networked with a number of convention-goers throughout the day, as well, discussing ARISS. 

October 13: Another successful ARISS contact sponsored by the ARISS-Russia team had crew member Dmitry Petelin talking with 15 students from the Center for Continuous Improvement of Professional Skills of Pedagogical Workers in the Republic of Mordovia, Russia. ARISS volunteer Dmitry Pashkov supervised the youth during the radio contact and he produced a video to post on Twitter; see https://twitter.com/R4UAB/status/1581001939130912769 .

October 17: ARISS thanks NASA for its web story titled “The Scientific Journey of NASA’s Space-X Crew-4 Aboard the Space Station,” which details science experiments and technology demonstrations the Crew-4 astronauts performed and how these benefit people on Earth. The ARISS program was showcased in two photos—Samantha Cristoforetti and Kjell Lindgren, each using the ARISS radio system to talk to students. See https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/news/crew-4-scientific-journey-on-iss.

ARISS thanks the ISS National Lab, as well, for its web feature, “Crew-4 Astronauts Return to Earth After Working on ISS National Lab Research.”  The photo story highlighted science experiments the astronauts performed including ARISS radio contacts, demonstrating the scientific and educational significance of the ARISS experiments as part of the ISS National Lab education programs.  See https://www.issnationallab.org/iss360/crew-4-science/?utm_source=edm&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=crew4&utm_content=pe

October 13: ARISS leaders Kathy Lamont, Fred Kemmerer and Frank Bauer moderated an ARISS Proposal Webinar to introduce interested educators to ARISS.  The teleconference meeting guided educators wanting to submit an ARISS Education Proposal during the current window opening from October 1 through November 13 to receive proposals. The ARISS contacts would be scheduled between July 1 and December 31, 2023. Kathy reported, “We discussed the ARISS Education Proposal process, examples of implementations of space and communications in school curriculum, and options needed for ham radio support at an ARISS school contact.” 19 educators and ham operators attended the webinar and they represented 13 different states.  

ARISS Upcoming Events  
TBD

September 27: New England Sci-Tech (NESci-Tech) students enjoyed an ARISS radio contact held in an arena with huge monitors at the 2022 Big E (exposition) in West Springfield, MA. Bob Hines supported the contact; he answered 17 questions.  250 viewers came to watch and another 187 viewed the livestream. An 11-year-old exclaimed that she was fascinated by “…all the new opportunities there are about new discoveries, new planets, and even new life.” Two older students had always wanted to become an astronaut and said the contact just reinforced that. The STEM educator declared it an exciting contact, “…and from the students’ perspective, it was amazing! All parents are extremely grateful for this opportunity for their children.” A few days after the contact, over 2,000 people saw the YouTube recording. See (begin at 9 minutes): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdxnD8uF8t0. Shortly before the contact, WGGB-TV interviewed ARISS Technical Mentor Fred Kemmerer. Media stories were done by CBS-03, ABC-TV40, Fox TV 06 and 22, The Sun Chronicle in Attleboro, and BusinessWest.com in Springfield. The Big E is the 6th largest fair in the US and represents 6 New England states. The Hampden County Radio Association from Springfield set up and staffed a booth on ham radio and ARISS for the entire 17-day fair. NESci-Tech, a STEM education center, provides hands-on learning and research opportunities to youth and families on space science, model rocketry, astronomy (utilizing a planetarium and telescopes), robots, ham radio, and more. Sci-Tech Amateur Radio Society members led hands-on lessons about ham radio and communications skills for this contact.   

October 3: St. Stephen’s Episcopal School in Houston, Texas hosted an ARISS contact with Bob Hines who answered 17 student questions while 87 students and parents in the room and other rooms were listening. The livestream for the community garnered 145 viewers. The school’s program prior to the contact featured a girl who reviewed four NASA initiatives students had researched: DART, Dream Chaser, Artemis, and Mars Rovers. After the contact ARISS educator Charlie Larrabee led a Q&A for inquisitive youth to ask more questions about space and radio. The Katy News posted a story before the contact, see
https://thekatynews.com/2022/09/30/st-stephens-students-to-talk-to-astronauts-on-international-space-station/, which had listed the URL for the community to watch the contact.  The school’s Da Vinci Lab engages students in hands-on lessons on basic electronic circuits, basic coding, researching the design and creation of 3D printed items, and how to capture ARISS Slow Scan TV images (picture downlinks). The youth built antennas to engage with the ARISS cross band repeater and ARISS APRS (automatic packet reporting system). Members of the Brazos Valley Amateur Radio Club helped support the ARISS contact.

September 30: The ARISS-Russia Team scheduled an ARISS radio contact for 250 undergrad students, graduate students, and staff of the Pavel Sukhoi State Technical University in Gomel, Belarus. Sergey Prokopyev supported the contact, which was aided by Russian amateur radio operators on the ground.

October 1: Dmitry Petlin spoke during an ARISS contact to a group of Aznakaevo youth in the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia.  The boys and girls took part in the Gagarin in Space lessons through the ARISS-Russia team who supported the ARISS contact.

September 29: Youth at Harris Middle School in Spruce Pine, NC have been preparing for their upcoming ARISS radio contact.  ARISS Education Ambassador Martha Muir reported that STEM teacher Dan Hopson began leading students last spring in lessons on space, the ISS, astronauts, and communications. Lessons continued through summer and into fall semester. In August, Dan won his school district’s Teacher of the Year award because of his STEM lessons for the 267 students at his school. He guided his students in building radio antennas and establishing a school amateur radio club, and he won a grant from the College Foundation for Western North Carolina to purchase amateur radio satellite equipment. 29 youth took part in ARRL Field Day, an exercise to set up and operate a radio station without the use of commercial power.  12 youth participated in an ARRL VHF radio contest to practice on-the-air communications skills with ham radio operators in their state and surrounding states.

October 6: Ten youth in the Nizhny Novgorod Cadet School, an educational institution in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia took part in an ARISS contact with Sergey Prokopyev.  Youth had been learning about the Gagarin in Space lessons.  The ARISS-Russia team planned the radio contact.

ARISS Upcoming Events

Oct 11 Harris Middle School, Spruce Pine NC ARISS contact, ARISS-US Team
Oct 13 Regional Communications Center of Russian Railways, Vologda, Russia   ARISS-Russia Team

September 15: A large group of undergraduates at Marwadi University celebrated Engineering Day by taking part in a special four-hour interactive workshop, the Fascinating World of Ham Radio & Amateur Radio Satellites. The goal was to inspire the 80 students in Rajkot, Gujarat, India to take up electronics studies and enjoy STEM activities done by ham radio operators. Workshop subjects, some led by ARISS volunteers, included high altitude balloons with radio payloads, ARISS digital and SSTV (picture downlinks) activities, satellite tracking, demos of using VHF radios, and CubeSats and the data students can capture from them for research. Another subject covered in a multimedia presentation was an ARISS radio contact from previous years supported by Sunita Williams for a school in India. One of the workshop leaders, their student coordinator, who is a member of the university student satellite team, presented some of the interactive sessions (she has her ham license, also).  The university decided recently to support students in building a satellite to be launched by the Indian Space Research Organisation.

September 28: After ARISS Director of Engineering Randy Berger procured a 3D printer, his teams began researching and developing items that will enhance ARISS capabilities. Just two examples of the research and development include a framework for a character generator case for the ARISS HamTV system and also a frame for a CubeSat. ARISS volunteer Hunter McNamara printed 2 CubeSat frames and Randy procured the electronic parts for them. He said, “The prints are very high quality and we’ll put hardware inside and solar panels on the outside. Then we’ll have CubeSats for ARISS to use with students at schools and conventions.” 

September 26: Students and educators from the Tsiolkovsky School came to the Amur State University to join a group of undergraduates taking part in an ARISS radio contact. The university, in Blagoveshchensk, Russia, hosted the contact for 20 students. It was supported by Sergey Prokopyev. Youth had been learning about the Gagarin in Space lessons under the auspices of the ARISS-Russia team who planned the ARISS contact.

September 24-25:  ARRL-ARISS Committee Chair Mark Tharp set up an exhibit table featuring the ARISS program at the ARRL Washington State Convention in Spokane, WA.  The exhibit was seen by all 300 attendees because it was right by the entryway and featured the ARISS roll-up banner.  Handouts and business cards were picked up by attendees, young and old, from Washington and a few other states.  

September 28: Students from the New England SciTech learning center had an ARISS contact with Bob Hines. A great deal of information is being received about the contact and the full story will be in next week’s report.

ARISS Upcoming Events
Oct 7 Escuela #38 Raul Alfonsin, Esperanza Base, Argentina, Antarctica, ARISS-Canada Team

September 18: Frank Bauer gave an ARISS presentation at the 41^st ARRL & TAPR Digital Communications Conference (DCC) in Charlotte, NC. He covered some ARISS background and 2022 activity, including several education programs, and focused heavily on ARISS’s STEREO education program—Student and Teacher Education via Radio Experimentation & Operations. He described progress made on STEREO; it is ramping up thanks to a five-year grant funded by Amateur Radio Digital Communications. Frank related some of STEREO’s main features, such as an ARISS electronics technology kit called SPARKI (Space-Pioneers Amateur Radio Kit Initiative) and plans for educate-the-educator events. In addition to Frank’s in-person audience of 60, DCC offered all presentations on YouTube and 300 viewers tuned in. Other conference talks during the three days covered digital signal processing, emergency and homeland defense digital communications in amateur radio, digital satellite communications, and more.

September 26:  Students at Amur State University in Blagoveshchensk, Russia took part in an ARISS contact supported by Sergey Prokopyev. The ARISS-Russia team will provide more details soon.

September 16-October 2: Members of Hampden County Radio Association of W. Springfield, MA and constituents of the ARRL New England Division planned an exhibit showcasing ham radio and ARISS for the entire 17 days of The BIG E (New England’s state fair). ARISS team members are helping staff the exhibit booth. The first day, they discussed ARISS and ham radio with over 100 people who stopped to ask questions; volunteers expect 100 people to visit every day. One staffer said, “We attract attention by strategically planning activities that get noticed, like the looping video, the graphic ‘waterfall’ display (representation of signals) on our radio, the sound of the Morse code key that youth are experimenting with, and our friendly faces!” The BIG E is the 6^th largest fair in the US and its arena that holds 5,000 people is the location of an ARISS radio contact on September 27 for students from the New England Sci-Tech learning center in Natick, MA. 

ARISS Upcoming Events
Sep 27 New England SciTech students at The Big E–exposition in W. Springfield MA, ARISS contact, ARISS-US team
Oct 1 Aznakaevo youth, Aznakaevo, Rep of Tatarstan, Russia ARISS contact, ARISS-Russia team

July & August: ARISS volunteer Stefan Dombrowski and area ham radio operators mentored youth attending STEM camps at the Euro Space Center in Libin, Belgium. Every camp focused on a major STEM area and youth learned about ARISS activities. At SatCamp, each youth built his or her own MySat (a “CubeSat-like device”) to name and take home. Kids learned what real satellites can do and why they don’t fall to Earth. Youth worked with basic electronics—voltage, resistors, and so on; learned basic programming for Arduino computers; and how to solder and work on breadboards and printed circuit boards. They installed their circuit board, Arduino, and a 2.4 GHz transmitter into a 3-D printed box. A drone lifted each box ~300 feet, one by one, and each student listened to a radio ground station to capture their own device’s transmitted flight data: temperature, air pressure, humidity. They visited ESA’s ground station in Redu and enjoyed ham radio activities including a transmitter hunt. For SatCamp II, kids brought back their MySat and installed a GPS receiver, solar panel, IMU (inertial measurement unit), and a heat radiation experiment unit with black and white surfaces. The drone lifted each MySat for youth to capture telemetry/flight data. They visited the white room at ESA’s education facility. ARISS mentors helped at a third camp, also, this one for young rocket builders who prepared payloads and tracked flight data. For all camps, kids took part in ham radio demos, learned to receive satellite transmissions (NOAA and FunCube), and listened to ARISS school contacts. 

September 6:  ARISS team member Ana Guzman reported that NASA had posted an Instagram Reel about 8-year-old Isabella whose dad, a ham operator, assisted her in speaking with Kjell Lindgren on the ISS.  Ana shared these amazing statistics about the Reel.

• 1.2 million Views
• 52,796 Likes
• 528 Comments

September 15:  ARISS assisted one of its sponsors, the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), with publicity for the upcoming ARISS contact at The Big E (Exposition), a state fair for all New England states held in West Springfield, MA.  Area hams will staff an interactive exhibit each day of the 17-day fair, the 6^th largest in the US. One portion of the exhibit will feature ARISS. But the most exciting event at the fair will be in The Big E Arena with room for 6,000 people—an ARISS contact. On September 27, youth who have been enjoying STEM activities at New England Sci-Tech—a learning and makerspace center in Natick, MA, will speak with Bob Hines.  ARRL posted a home web page story and in its weekly e-letter, The ARRL Letter, circulated to 107,000 radio amateurs.  Two other news outlets posted stories, WWLP 22 News out of West Springfield, MA and by Morning Ag Clips with its US-wide audience.  See:  https://www.wwlp.com/news/massachusetts/live-chat-with-astronauts-during-the-big-e-fair/
and https://www.morningagclips.com/the-big-e-to-host-a-live-space-chat-with-international-space-station/.

ARISS Upcoming Events

Sep 26 Amur State University, Blagoveshchensk, Russia  ARISS contact, ARISS-Russia team
Sep 27 New England SciTech students at The Big E–exposition in W. Springfield MA, ARISS contact, ARISS-US team
Oct 1 Aznakaevo youth, Aznakaevo, Rep of Tatarstan, Russia ARISS contact, ARISS-Russia, team

September 5: The Colegio Tarbut, Olivos in Buenos Aires, Argentina hosted an ARISS contact with Kjell Lindgren who answered 16 questions. An audience of 150 students, 14 educators, the entire Galapagos Islands’ school board, and 25 community members watched. The Department of Communication filmed the action and want to create a special show. The staff livestreamed the event on Instagram and garnered 1,000 viewers; 224 more people watched the recording. 25 Galapagos Islands schools were involved with the event and STEM lessons. Radio Club Argentino supported the ARISS radio contact and provided an audio recording of the action on Facebook for 142 viewers. The staff spent 2 years preparing students for this day, having developed a special curriculum covering studies of the Earth, space exploration history, space station life, satellites, and radio communications. Students also enjoyed competing in a Hackathon. The ARISS contact was part of the school celebration of 61 years of educating students in kindergarten through secondary grades.   

September 1: ARISS Technical Mentor Fred Kemmerer presented two sessions at the NASA STEM Better Together 2022 gathering at the Langley Research Center in Hampton, VA.  The NASA Office of STEM Engagement hosted the workshops. The event was for educators, particularly those who had won grants, some sponsored by NASA’s Minority University Research & Education Project. Fred’s talk covered all aspects of ARISS education; he stated, “Educators asked many good questions and showed high interest in ARISS.” His charts included a section on educator Drew Deskur’s recent ARISS contact. Drew, a winner of a TEAM II Community Anchor Award for his new project targeting inner-city Binghamton (NY) and rural central New York schools, had come to the conference and this presentation. He related: “Multiple people who saw my photo in Fred’s charts waylaid me through the day to ask about ARISS and to trade e-addresses. I got to talk to Ricky Arnold and mentioned ARISS; Ricky said ARISS was one of the highlights of his weeks when he was on the ISS.” ARISS educator Melissa Pore, invited by NASA OSTEM to network with attendees, reported that she talked to many educators about her students and ARISS and NASA STEM programs. ARISS thanks SCaN for suggesting a presentation could be given at this event. 

ARISS Upcoming Events 
TBD

August 24: Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital, a temporary home for children needing short- or long-term care in the Nashville, TN area, hosted an ARISS contact.  Four young patients asked questions of Kjell Lindgren while the in-house TV studio broadcasted the actions of 14 students and 4 teachers to 343 patients in hospital rooms. Members of Vanderbilt University Amateur Radio Club and Williamson County Amateur Radio Group handled the ham radio station for the contact and had installed the antenna on the roof. Just before the contact ended, Lindgren told listeners: “Thank you for letting me be a part of your day, and thank you for facilitating this contact.”  Staff had set up learning stations for all hospital patients to explore hands-on activities, working with models of planets and hands-on sound wave activities. Kids saw a real Moon rock and got space-related items, thanks to Marshall Space Flight Center. One child’s mother related her son’s passion for space; “That’s all he wants to talk about and create about, so this is amazing that in the hospital, he experiences this.” The studio program manager declared, “’Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’ has a whole new meaning for us after a touch with a world many miles away. Thanks goes to NASA, ARISS, area ham radio operators, Ryan Seacrest Foundation, and the hospital school program.”  Channel 5 WTVF prepared an online report, which is at https://www.newschannel5.com/news/cosmic-conversation-patients-at-vandy-childrens-hospital-talk-to-astronaut-orbiting-earth.  The Vanderbilt University Medical Center web pages featured a story at: https://news.vumc.org/2022/08/31/young-patients-connect-with-international-space-station/.  A teacher leads the hospital school program serving 80 students weekly, coordinates with students’ schools to continue a regular learning curriculum, and helps expand their creativity and imagination through the Ryan Seacrest Foundation’s on-site TV studio.   

August 26: New England Sci-Tech (NESciTech), a STEM education center and makerspace in Natick, MA, will host an ARISS contact this fall. In preparation, the center is sponsoring a 12-month space-science program for New England girls and boys in grades 4-12.  Hands-on space science workshops this summer included SciTech Rocketeers (model rockets), introductory math for modeling rocket flight, and electronic circuitry.  One group of students watched a launch of their Cubes-in-Space™ project.  Upcoming workshops include Air Powered Rockets, Introduction to Arduino Electronics, Amateur Radio Technician-level Classes, and Public Telescope Nights. NESciTech fostered strong ties with the New England home school community and students in several states are involved. The ARISS contact will be hosted at The Big E (exposition)—a fair that draws 60,000 to 180,000 visitors daily.     

ARISS Social Media for August 2022

August ARISS Facebook Stats

• ARISS Twitter followers as of August 31, 2022, totaled 17,051.
• ARISS Total Facebook followers for August 31, 2022 was 7,893.
• Instagram count for the end of August 2022 was 442.
• YouTube subscribers on August 31, 2022 totaled 1,700.

Top Tweet for August—9,621 Impressions
Tweet: ARISS now offers simultaneous operations on APRS (digital radio) and voice

Top Facebook post for August—8,205 Reaches, 662 Engagements
Facebook: ARISS now offers simultaneous operations on APRS (digital radio) and voice

Outstanding Facebook Photo Post for August– 6,128 Reaches, 821 Engagements

Top Media Tweet in August–2,945 Impressions

ARISS Upcoming Events 
Sept 5   Colegio Tarbut, Olivos, Buenos Aires, Argentina   ARISS contact,  ARISS Canada Team