Amateur Radio on the International Space Station Contact Opportunity

ARISS News Release No. 23-08
Dave Jordan, AA4KN
ARISS PR

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Message to US Educators
Amateur Radio on the International Space Station Contact Opportunity

Call for Proposals:
New Proposal Window is February 20, 2023 – March 31, 2023

February 15, 2023 — 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 January 1, 2024 and June 30, 2024. Crew scheduling and ISS orbits will determine exact contact dates. To maximize these radio contact opportunities, ARISS is looking for organizations that will draw large numbers of participants and integrate the radio contact into a well-developed education plan.

The deadline to submit a proposal is March 31st, 2023.  Proposal information and more details such as expectations, proposal guidelines and the proposal form can be found at https://www.ariss.org/apply-to-host-an-ariss-contact.html.

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 aboard the space station and classrooms. 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 using Amateur Radio.

Please direct any questions to [email protected].

About ARISS:

Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) is a cooperative venture of international amateur radio societies and the space agencies that support the International Space Station (ISS). In the United States, sponsors are the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT), Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC), NASA’s Space Communications and Navigation program (SCaN), and the ISS National Lab-Space Station Explorers. The primary goal of ARISS is to promote exploration of science, technology, engineering, the arts, and mathematics topics. ARISS does this by organizing scheduled contacts via amateur radio between crew members aboard the ISS and students. Before and during these radio contacts, students, educators, parents, and communities take part in hands-on learning activities tied to space, space technologies, and amateur radio.

For more information, see http://www.ariss.org

Media Contact:
Dave Jordan, AA4KN
ARISS PR
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