The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Program is seeking formal and informal US education institutions and organizations, individually or working together, to host an Amateur Radio contact with a crew member on board the ISS. ARISS will open a proposal window February 1, 2020 for ham radio contacts that would be held between January 2021 and June 2021. Crew scheduling and ISS orbits will determine the exact contact dates. To maximize these radio contact opportunities, ARISS is looking for organizations whose proposal features a way to draw large numbers of participants and integrate the contact into a well-developed education plan. The window for accepting proposals closes March 31, 2020.
Proposal information and documents are at www.ariss.org.
The Opportunity
Crew members aboard the International Space Station will support scheduled Amateur Radio contacts for students and their communities. These radio contacts are voice-only, approximately 10 minutes in length and allow students to interact with the astronauts in a question-and-answer session. ARISS radio contacts and plans in submitted proposals can afford education audiences the opportunity to learn firsthand from astronauts about space research conducted on the ISS and what it is like to live and work in space, and to learn about ham satellite communication, wireless technology, and radio science. Because of the nature of spaceflight and complexity of scheduling on-board ISS activities, education organizations must demonstrate flexibility to accommodate changes in dates and times of a radio contact. Local ham radio groups volunteer to provide educational radio activities and the equipment and operational support to enable communication between the ISS crew and students using Amateur Radio.
More Information
For proposal information and more details, i.e., expectations, proposal guidelines and proposal form, go to www.ariss.org. Please direct any questions to ariss.us.education@gmail.com .
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, the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT), the ISS National Lab, and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The primary goal of ARISS is to promote exploration of science, technology, engineering, arts, and math (STEAM) topics by organizing scheduled contacts via amateur radio between crew members aboard the ISS and students in classrooms or large public forums. Before, during and after these radio contacts, students, educators, parents, and communities learn about amateur radio. For more information, see www.ariss.org.