September 3, 2026—ARISS-USA is excited to introduce our new Director of Operations, Daryl Young, K4RGK. Daryl is a long-time Technical Mentor with ARISS-USA, supporting many of our direct and telebridge contacts. His responsibilities in this new role will include leading all ARISS Technical Mentors along with heading up other activities related to STEM contacts.

Most recently, Daryl led our operations initiative to develop a consortium of ground stations around the world to track Artemis II as the Artemis crew traversed from the Earth to the moon and back. The AREx Artemis ground station consortium successfully tracked Artemis and provided Doppler data to NASA during the mission. This represents a huge first step into lunar operations, which is vitally important for our lunar future.

Please join us in welcoming Daryl to this new position!

September 3, 2026—ARISS-USA is pleased to announce three “people moves” that will strengthen the core functions of the organization.

Ryan Krenzischek, formerly the ARISS-USA Director of Operations, will take on the newly created role of Chief Information Officer, where he and his team will manage ARISS’s websites and other backend systems to ensure the seamless, efficient and secure flow of information. An ARISS-USA Technical Mentor since 2013, Ryan’s background also includes work with the Amateur Radio Relay League (ARRL), and as Training Officer for the Navy-Marine Corps Military Auxiliary Radio System (MARS) and Army MARS Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Region 4. In this capacity, he ensured that radio operators were well-prepared for emergencies, boosting community resilience during crises.

Deborah Lebair, KC3YWM, currently the ARISS-USA Metrics Lead, will join the ARISS International Board as its secretary. She will also keep her role as Metrics Lead. Deb began her professional career as an aerospace engineer at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in the Attitude and Control Branch. Shen then earned her teaching certificate and taught high school mathematics for two decades.

Megan Tucker, KQ4MAM, is the new ARISS-USA Logistics Manager. A member of the ARISS-USA education team and an experienced educator focused on STEAM and aerospace education, Megan in this new role will manage the growing number of ARISS-USA public events, including participation at educational conferences and hamfests.
Please join us in welcoming Ryan, Deborah and Megan to these new roles!

For the latest ARISS news and events, please check out and follow our ARISS Facebook, X, Instagram, BlueSky, Mastodon, LinkedIn, YouTube and Discord social media channels.

Call for Proposals

Proposal Window Open Now through September 30, 2026
 
August 25, 2026 --- 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, 2027 – June 30, 2027. 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.
 
Proposals are due to ARISS by September 30, 2026, at 11:59 PM Pacific Time. To help you get started, an informative video is available at youtube.com/arisslive. Detailed guidelines and expectations can be found at ariss.org, and the proposal form is available via the online ARISS Contact Application.
 
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. 
 
Please direct any questions to [email protected] .
 

August 4, 2026—ARISS-USA is pleased to announce that Jackie Blumer, KC9LEH, has been appointed Associate Director of ARISS-USA (Amateur Radio on the International Space Station). Jackie is a nationally recognized science educator with an emphasis on space education.
 
In her work as an educator, she has often incorporated amateur radio into her curriculum as a teaching tool. In addition to her many responsibilities at ARISS-USA, Jackie has recently served as Business Development Coordinator and Logistics Manager for ARISS-USA.
 
In her new position as Associate Director, her focus will be on developing relations with other space-related organizations. She will also be seeking educational opportunities to collaborate on projects in conjunction with the commercial space industry. 
 
Please join us in congratulating Jackie Blumer, KC9LEH, on her appointment and wishing her continued success in her new role with ARISS-USA.

May 8, 2026 — Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) announces a Slow Scan TV (SSTV) event to be held this weekend. The event is scheduled to begin Friday, May 8  at 10:30 UTC | 6:30 AM ET and end on Tuesday, May 12 at 16:30 UTC | 12:30 PM ET and using a transmit power of 10 W. Images will be transmitted at 437.55 MHz (+/- Doppler Shift) using SSTV set at Robot36 mode. The transmission sequence will be 36 seconds on and then 2 minutes off before the next image transmission begins.
 
 
 
Submitting your received images
 
Please note that the Image Library at the ARISS SSTV Gallery is currently off-line.
Hold your decoded images for future information on restoration
and event certificate.
 
Thanks to our user community for participating in ARISS.
 

October 4, 2025 — Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) announces an SSTV event to be held this week in recognition of the 68th anniversary of the launch of the world’s first satellite, Sputnik-1 on October 4, 1957. This event will feature 12 images that will be transmitted at 145.800 MHz using SSTV mode PD120.

The operation times are as follows and are tentative:

Oct. 3 Start time: 12:20 UTC / 08:20 AM ET

Oct. 9 End time: around 7:30 UTC / 3:30 AM ET

(Expect interruptions due to scheduled ARISS educational contacts.)

For submitting your received images
Go to https://ariss-usa.org/ARISS_SSTV/ to submit your decodes. Check the box after submis-sion to the SSTV gallery for an award certificate. You must submit your decodes and your re-quest for an award certificate within 72 hours after SSTV event transmissions end. Certificates are delivered via email (watch your spam folder).
For more information about the ARISS SSTV Award Certificate, go to https://ariss.pzk.org.pl/sstv/ .

Thanks to our user community for participating in ARISS.