Message to US Educators

January 7, 2021 – Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) is pleased to announce the schools/host organizations selected for the July-December 2021 contact window. A total of 7 of the submitted proposals during the recent proposal window have been accepted to move forward in the processes of planning to host a scheduled amateur radio contact with crew on the ISS. The primary goal of the ARISS program is to engage young people in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math (STEAM) activities and raise their awareness of space communications, radio communications, space exploration, and related areas of study and career possibilities.
 
The ARISS program anticipates that NASA will be able to provide scheduling opportunities for the 7 US host organizations during the July through December 2021 time period. They are now at work completing an acceptable equipment plan that demonstrates their ability to execute the ham radio contact. Once their equipment plan is approved by the ARISS Technical Mentors, the final selected schools/organizations will be scheduled as their availability and flexibility match up with the scheduling opportunities offered by NASA.

December 21, 2020—Twenty years ago today, fourteen students at the Luther Burbank School, in Burbank, Illinois USA stepped up to the microphone, held by ARISS mentor Charlie Sufana, AJ9N, and made history.  When it was all over, the ARISS team conducted its first ever ISS school contact, enabling students at Luther Burbank to ask ISS Commander Bill Shepherd, KD5GSL, questions about living and working in space and to hear Commander Shepherd’s answers.

Notably, the first contact did not go exactly as planned.  The first contact attempt, scheduled for December 19, failed.  Luther Burbank lead teacher Rita Wright, KC9CDL, details the school’s entire ARISS contact experience in a paper is entitled “Remember, We’re Pioneers!”  The paper title commemorates the statement “Remember, we’re pioneers” made by one of the Burbank eighth grade students to teacher Rita Wright shortly after the crushing disappointment of that failed contact attempt.

Two days later, on December 21, 2000, the ARISS connection went a lot differently.  At 20:28 UTC, Astronaut Bill Shepherd on ISS called out “Alpha Juliet 9 November NA1SS we have you readable. Go ahead.”  Student Jessica Lehocky stepped up to the microphone and asked Commander Shepherd “What emotions did you feel as you boarded the Soyuz rocket?”  Eleven minutes later, all 14 students received answers to their questions. Jessica was able to ask an additional question. And lead teacher Rita Wright sent her thanks to Commander Shepherd on behalf of the students and faculty at Burbank. 

The first ARISS school contact was finally a success!  ARISS school contacts were now fully operational, starting a 20 year journey of inspiring, engaging and educating our next generation of explorers.  But, after 20 years, what has happened to the students and faculty at Burbank?

Burbank Contact Retrospective and STEAM Impact

In June 2020, I challenged ARISS Mentor Charlie Sufana, AJ9N to contact some of the Burbank students to get their impressions of the ARISS experience and understand how the contact impacted their lives. Despite the huge challenge of finding students 20 years later, Charlie rose to the challenge and significantly exceeded my expectations. On November 22, 2020, Charlie sponsored a Zoom reunion with 24 Burbank contact alumni In attendance, including 5 of the 14 students that talked to Commander Shepherd, several students that supported the contact by developing the questions, several Burbank teachers that supported the contact, including lead teacher Rita Wright, hams who helped with the contact, parents involved in the contact setup, and the school Principal, Robert Mocek.

Some observations from the Zoom Reunion and Charlie’s pre-reunion research:

• The reunion and the showing of the contact video elicited many emotions 20 years later—some choked up while talking and tears were flowing down several reunion members faces.
• Most of the students attending received college degrees and are now in STEAM careers. 
• Some student careers include:  Physicist (PhD), Doctor of Audiology (with a practice in Illinois), Nurse, CPA, Navy Contract Specialist, Special Education Teacher (3rd and 4th grade), Pharmaceutical Laboratory Test Manager for Infant Gene Therapy, Quality Manager at a Paper Products Company. 
• Student Keith Taddei wrote the letter (below) just a few weeks before the contact.  While not an astronaut (presently), Dr. Taddei received his PhD in Physics and is now a Staff Scientist at the Oak Ridge National Labs.  His current research employs neutron scattering to study superconductors, magnetic Weyl semimetals and magnetic phase transitions.
• Student Brittany Lukasik was in the 1st grade and was the youngest student to ask Bill Shepherd a question.  Britanny said “the ARISS experience influenced my life.”  She received her B.S. degree in Nursing and is now a nurse in Florida.
• Several Burbank students moved to the Space Coast and think about their ARISS contact every time they see a launch
• After the contact, at least 3 of the adults that attended got their amateur radio licenses, including the teacher, Rita Wright.
• Principal Bob Mocek said that the ARISS event at Burbank 20 years ago “Was the best thing he ever did as an educator in his 40 years in education”
• Maureen O’Brien, a teacher, stated that “We did so much in the classroom leading up to the contact.  We were given the creative freedom to develop lessons based on our grade level and subject matter.  The teachers were engaged at all grade levels (K-8) and all study subjects”
• Teacher Susan McNichols stated: “I pulled out the scrapbook on the Burbank ARISS experience and I still get emotional about it 20 years later” 
• In 2012, Susan McNichols organized a ARISS contact with astronaut Don Petit for the Liberty Jr High School, where she is teaching now.

Burbank was our first ARISS school contact. Twenty years later, ARISS has performed over 1,300 of these contacts with schools, libraries, scout groups and museums. If our educational impact with each of these 1,300+ schools is commensurate with the impact observed at Burbank, then all I can say is: WOW!!!

The ARISS team wishes the students, teachers, and all the families that participated in the Burbank ARISS contact on December 21, 2000 a Happy 20th Anniversary!! And to the students (now adults): Keep Exploring!!

Ad Astra! (To the Stars!)
Frank Bauer, KA3HDO
ARISS International Chairman

November 13, 2020—Twenty years ago today, the Expedition-1 crew turned on the ARISS Ericsson radio for the first time and completed several contacts with ARISS ground stations around the world to validate the radio communications system.  These inaugural contacts launched an incredible two-decade operations journey on ISS, enabling ARISS to inspire, engage and educate our next generation of explorers and provide the ham radio community a platform for lifelong learning and experimentation.

In celebration of the ISS 20th anniversary, ARISS was part of an ISS Research and Development Conference Panel session entitled “20 years of STEM Experiments on the ISS.”  The video below, developed for this panel session, describes our program, celebrates our 20th anniversary, conveys some key lessons learned over the past 20 years and describes the ARISS team’s vision for the future.  Enjoy watching!

20 years of continuous operations is a phenomenal accomplishment.  But what makes it even more extraordinary is that ARISS has achieved this through hundreds of volunteers that are passionate in “paying it forward” to our youth and ham radio community.  On behalf of the ARISS International team, I would like to express our heartfelt thanks to every volunteer that has made ARISS such an amazing success over the past 20 years. Your passion, drive, creativity and spirit made it happen!!

Congratulations ARISS team!!!

Frank H. Bauer, KA3HDO
ARISS International Chair

November 2, 2020—Today represents the 20th anniversary of continuous crew operations on the ISS. On behalf of the ARISS International Team, we would like to extend 20th Anniversary Greetings to all five ISS space agencies (NASA, Roscosmos, ESA, CSA and JAXA), to all the astronauts, cosmonauts, and private explorers that visited or had extended stays on ISS, and to the international ground operations team. We thank you for allowing ARISS (also known as ISS Ham Radio) to be part of your journey of exploration and discovery!  And we look forward to continuing the ISS journey with you in the future!

ISS crew operations began on November 2, 2000 with the arrival of the Expedition One crew.  (See photo below.) The Expedition One crew included Commander William (Bill) Shepherd, KD5GSL, (center), Soyuz Commander Yuri Gidzenko (right), and Flight Engineer Sergei Krikalev, U5MIR (left).

Just a few days after the crew arrived, they set up our first ISS ham radio system.  It was installed in the Zarya (FGB) module and consisted of an Ericsson Handheld radio, Packet/Power supply, Headset and interconnecting cables developed by the USA and Russian teams. For transmissions, ARISS Russia team member Sergey Samburov brilliantly worked with his Russian colleagues to acquire use of a VHF antenna in Zarya previously employed for docking and no longer needed. The installation of the ISS Ham Radio is briefly described in the Nov 10, 2000 Expedition One Status Report:

*****
Friday, Nov. 10, 2000 – 2 p.m. CST
Expedition One Crew
11.10.00

STATUS REPORT : ISS00-55
International Space Station Status Report #00-55

The Expedition One crew spent a relatively quiet day today aboard the International Space Station (ISS) as they prepare for the arrival of an unmanned resupply craft late next week.
…..
The crew will be given three days off Saturday, Sunday and Monday to relax following a busy period of activity since launch on October 31. The only significant activity on tap for Saturday calls for the crew to begin the setup of ham radio equipment in Zarya. ISS crews will use that gear to talk to schools and other ham radio operators throughout the world as they orbit the Earth.
*****

After station setup on November 11, first operations of the ARISS ham radio system started on November 13, 2000, just 11 days after the Expedition One crew arrived.  Thus, November 13, 2020 represents the 20th Anniversary of continuous operations of the ARISS ham radio system on ISS.  ARISS plans a year-long celebration of our 20th anniversary.  Please watch this web site often for celebration blog messages, historical milestones and special events that we will be conducting over the year.

NASA is also celebrating 20 years of ham radio on ISS through this infographic.

Before I close this blog note, I would like to share with you one of my favorite photographs taken from the ISS.  See below.  What a beautiful sunrise shining over the Earth and illuminating the Zvezda module on ISS!

But wait!  There is more!!  The Zvezda module is where one of the two ARISS radio stations is located on ISS.  (The other is in the European Columbus module).  If you look closely at the end of Zvezda and approximately pointing at the Sun, you can see one of the four ARISS antenna systems that are mounted on Zvezda.  All developed by volunteers.

What an inspiring photo!!

As we approach our 20th anniversary, I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to our entire ARISS international team.  You volunteer for our youth, for ham radio worldwide, and to further the ideals of Ham Radio in space.  What a phenomenal team!!

Ad Astra!!

73,  Frank Bauer, KA3HDO
ARISS International Chair
Executive Director, ARISS-USA

September 2, 2020—The ARISS team is pleased to announce that set up and installation of the first element of our next generation radio system was completed and amateur radio operations with it are now underway. This first element, dubbed the InterOperable Radio System (IORS), was installed in the International Space Station Columbus module. The IORS replaces the Ericsson radio system and packet module that were originally certified for spaceflight on July 26, 2000.

Initial operation of the new radio system is in FM cross band repeater mode using an uplink frequency of 145.99 MHz with an access tone of 67 Hz and a downlink frequency of 437.800 MHz. System activation was first observed at 01:02 UTC on September 2. Special operations will continue to be announced.

The IORS was launched from Kennedy Space Center on March 6, 2020 on board the SpaceX CRS-20 resupply mission. It consists of a special, space-modified JVC Kenwood D710GA transceiver, an ARISS developed multi-voltage power supply and interconnecting cables. The design, development, fabrication, testing, and launch of the first IORS was an incredible five-year engineering achievement accomplished by the ARISS hardware volunteer team. It will enable new, exciting capabilities for ham radio operators, students, and the general public. Capabilities include a higher power radio, voice repeater, digital packet radio (APRS) capabilities and a Kenwood VC-H1 slow scan television (SSTV) system.

A second IORS undergoes flight certification and will be launched later for installation in the Russian Service module. This second system enables dual, simultaneous operations, (e.g. voice repeater and APRS packet), providing diverse opportunities for radio amateurs. It also provides on-orbit redundancy to ensure continuous operations in the event of an IORS component failure. 

Next-gen development efforts continue. For the IORS, parts are being procured and a total of ten systems are being fabricated to support flight, additional flight spares, ground testing and astronaut training. Follow-on next generation radio system elements include an L-band repeater uplink capability, currently in development, and a flight Raspberry-Pi, dubbed “ARISS-Pi,” that is just beginning the design phase.  The ARISS-Pi promises operations autonomy and enhanced SSTV operations. 

ARISS is run almost entirely by volunteers, and with the help of generous contributions from ARISS sponsors and individuals. Donations to the ARISS program for next generation hardware developments, operations, education, and administration are welcome — please go to https://www.ariss.org/donate.html to contribute to these efforts.

ARISS–Celebrating 20 years of continuous amateur radio operations on the ISS!

ARISS-USA is now the US-based organization connecting students with astronauts in space.

Towson, Maryland –June 4, 2020
 
In late May, the USA team of the ARISS International working group became an incorporated non-profit entity in the state of Maryland, officially becoming ARISS-USA. This move allows ARISS-USA to work as an independent organization, soliciting grants and donations. They will continue promoting amateur radio and STEAM—science, technology, engineering, arts, and math within educational organizations and inspire, engage and educate our next generation of space enthusiasts. 
 
ARISS-USA will maintain its collaborative work with ARISS International as well as with US sponsors, partners, and interest groups. The main goal of ARISS-USA remains as connecting educational groups with opportunities to interact with astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS). ARISS-USA will expand its human spaceflight opportunities with the space agencies, beyond low Earth orbit, starting with lunar opportunities including the Lunar Gateway. ARISS-USA will continue to review and accept proposals for ISS contacts and expand its other educational opportunities to increase interest in space sciences and radio communications.
 
Becoming an independent organization has been discussed for quite some time. ARISS-USA lead Frank Bauer, KA3HDO said “The scope and reach of what ARISS accomplishes each year has grown significantly since its humble beginnings in 1996. Our working group status made it cumbersome to establish partnerships, sign agreements and solicit grants. These can only be done as an established organization.”  Bauer further elaborated, “The ARISS-USA team remains deeply indebted to our working group partners—ARRL and AMSAT, who enabled the birth of ARISS—and our steadfast sponsors, NASA Space Communication and Navigation (SCaN) and the ISS National Lab (INL).” ARISS-USA aims to keep earning high regards from all these partners and sponsors.    
 
While ARISS-USA is now an incorporated non-profit entity, we are in the process of applying for tax exemption as a Section 501 (c) (3) charitable, scientific or educational organization. Until that status is approved by the USA Internal Revenue Service, donations made directly to ARISS-USA will not be tax deductible for taxpayers in the USA. Those wanting to make a tax deductible donation for the benefit of ARISS-USA can, in the meantime, continue to make donations to ARISS sponsor AMSAT-NA through the ARISS website at: www.ariss.org.
 
As ARISS-USA begins a new era as a human spaceflight amateur radio organization, it acknowledges those who were so instrumental in the formation of human spaceflight amateur radio. These include Vic Clark, W4KFC and Dave Sumner, K1ZZ from the ARRL; Bill Tynan, W3XO and Tom Clark, K3IO from AMSAT; Roy Neal, K6DUE a major guide for SAREX and ARISS; and NASA astronaut Owen Garriott, W5LFL.  Also remembered is Pam Mountjoy, NASA education, who had the vision to develop the ARISS working group as a single amateur radio focus into the space agencies. All of these giants’ shoulders are what ARISS-USA rests upon.