March 9: ARISS Director of Engineering Randy Berger and an AMSAT volunteer shared the ARISS program and its education projects with radio and technology enthusiasts by staffing a booth at the Irving Hamfest in Irving, Texas. Randy reported an estimated 250 attendees, including “a lot of kids,” at the hamfest (an event with a variety of activities of interest to ham operators and STEM enthusiasts). Randy’s laptop displayed slides about ARISS and ARISS education. The two men spoke with over 50 adults and children who showed big interest in ARISS; kids loved being given ARISS, NASA, and other ARISS-partner stickers. Tom had a hand-held radio and antenna to demonstrate how to talk with ham operators in distant locations using the ARISS radio equipment on the ISS.
March 9: ARRL-ARISS Committee Chair Mark Tharp attended the 43rd Electronics Show and Swap Meet at the Washington State Fairgrounds in Puyallup, WA. He set up a table and a roll-up poster at this annual event to present ARISS and its educational programs. 1700 attendees had the chance to visit Mark’s display.
ARISS Upcoming Events Mar 20: Second Chance School, Orestiada, Orestiada, Greece-ARISS contact, ARISS-Europe Team Mar 25: St. John’s School Authority, Newfoundland, Canada-ARISS contact, ARISS-Canada Team Mar 25: Amur State University, Blagoveshchensk, Russia-ARISS contact, ARISS-Russia Team Mar 27: Students in Kursk, Russia-ARISS contact, ARISS-Russia Team Mar 29: Students in Ufa, Russia-ARISS contact, ARISS-Russia Team
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 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 2nd 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: 40th 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: 40th 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 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: 40th 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: 40th 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: 40th Anniversary Celebration, KSC Ctr for Space Education, Titusville FL—ARISS conference/gala, ARISS-I Team
Call for Proposals – New Proposal Window is January 8, 2024 – February 29, 2024
January 8, 2024 — The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Program is seeking formal and informal education institutions and organizations, individually or working together, to host an Amateur Radio contact with a crew member on board the ISS. ARISS anticipates that the contact would be held between July 1, 2024 and December 31, 2024. Crew scheduling and ISS orbits will determine the exact contact dates. To maximize these radio contact opportunities, ARISS is looking for organizations that will draw large numbers of participants and integrate the contact into a well-developed education plan.
The deadline to submit a proposal is February 29, 2024. Proposal information and more details such as expectations, proposal guidelines and the proposal form can be found at www.ariss.org. An ARISS Introductory Webinar session will be held on January 17 at 7 PM ET. The Zoom link to sign up is:https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZcrc-qsrD0pGNLBvhR_2p5O9uTeRzO0u4Sw
The Opportunity
Crew members aboard the International Space Station will participate in scheduled Amateur Radio contacts. These radio contacts are approximately 10 minutes in length and allow students to interact with the astronauts through a question-and-answer session.
An ARISS contact is a voice-only communication opportunity via Amateur Radio between astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the space station and classrooms and communities. ARISS contacts afford education audiences the opportunity to learn firsthand from astronauts what it is like to live and work in space and to learn about space research conducted on the ISS. Students also will have an opportunity to learn about satellite communication, wireless technology, and radio science. Because of the nature of human spaceflight and the complexity of scheduling activities aboard the ISS, organizations must demonstrate flexibility to accommodate changes in dates and times of the radio contact.
Amateur Radio organizations around the world with the support of NASA and space agencies in Russia, Canada, Japan and Europe present educational organizations with this opportunity. The ham radio organizations’ volunteer efforts provide the equipment and operational support to enable communication between crew on the ISS and students around the world using Amateur Radio.
