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April 28, 2020

4/28/2020

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ARISS News Release                                                                                        No. 20-03           Dave Jordan, AA4KN
ARISS PR
aa4kn@amsat.org
 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 
 
During the COVID-19 Pandemic, ARISS to Begin Experimental Demonstrations of School Contacts using a Multipoint Telebridge Amateur Radio Approach
 
April 28, 2020 —Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) is pleased to announce the first use of a concept called Multipoint Telebridge Contact via Amateur Radio, allowing school contacts for Stay-At-Home students and simultaneous reception by families, school faculty and the public.
 
During the last several weeks, efforts to contain the spread of the COVID-19 virus have resulted in massive school closures worldwide. In addition, the Stay-At-Home policies invoked by authorities, initially shut down opportunities for ARISS school contacts for the near future. 
 
To circumvent these challenges and keep students and the public safe, ARISS is introducing the Multipoint Telebridge Contact via Amateur Radio concept. First operation of this experimental system will occur during a contact scheduled with a group of Northern Virginia Students located in Woodbridge, VA on Thursday, April 30 at 13:35 UTC (9:35 EDT). During this event, an ARISS telebridge radio ground station will link to the astronaut on the International Space Station (ISS) ham radio station and each Stay-At-Home student and their teacher will be individually linked to the telebridge station. Under the teacher’s direction, each student, from their home, takes a turn asking their question of the astronaut.
 
Quoting ARISS Chair Frank Bauer, “This approach is a huge pivot for ARISS, but we feel it is a great strategic move for ARISS. In these times of isolation due to the virus, these ARISS connections provide a fantastic psychological boost to students, families, educators and the public. And they continue our long-standing efforts to inspire, engage and educate student in STEAM subjects and encourage them to pursue STEAM careers.”
 
ARISS is inviting the public to view a live stream of the upcoming contact at its new ARISS YouTube Channel: https://youtu.be/Cu8I9ose4Vo.
 
During the contact, participants will ask as many of the following questions as time allows:
1. What does the sun look like from outer space?
2. How comfortable is it to sleep in space?
3. What is one thing you want to eat when you get back to earth?
4. I've heard that stars are red, yellow and blue. Can you see those colors in space when you look at the stars?
5. Besides your family, what do you miss most while being in space?
6. What are your thoughts on our Covid-19 situation right now? Does the Earth look differently over the last 3 months now that many people are inside and not creating pollution?
7. How often do you get to go out of the ISS? Have you been on any space walks?
8. Who makes the rocket that takes you to the ISS?
9. What does it feel like to float all the time?
10. Do you use flashlights on space walks?
11. How do you exercise in space?
12. How do you get out for space walks safely without the air from the ISS coming out into space? How does it feel to walk in space?
13. What do you wear in the space station?
14. How did it feel when you first got to space?
15. How is space different from Earth?
16. What do you study in school to become an astronaut?
17. What do you like the most about being in space?
18. Were you nervous when you launched into space?
19. How do you communicate with loved ones while you are in space?
 
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 Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT), the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), the ISS National Lab and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The primary goal of ARISS is to promote exploration of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEAM) topics by organizing scheduled contacts via amateur radio between crew members aboard the ISS and students in classrooms or public forms. Before and during these radio contacts, students, educators, parents, and communities learn about space, space technologies, and amateur radio. For more information, see www.ariss.org.
 

Media Contact:
Dave Jordan, AA4KN
ARISS PR
                                                                               
 
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May 27, 2020

4/27/2020

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ARISS News Release                                                                                                   No.   20-05     
Dave Jordan, AA4KN
ARISS PR
aa4kn@amsat.org
 
 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 
Coming Soon!!
Mid-Altitude Balloon Race Planned for June 1
Three Space Station Explorer teams participate in an exciting
distance learning—social distanced balloon race to be held during Pandemic
 
May 27, 2020—ARISS educator, Joanne Michael is an amateur radio operator with callsign KM6BWB.  Joanne is also a science coach at the Wiseburn Unified School District in Los Angeles, California where she leads her students in several balloon launch attempts from the Los Angeles area each year.  With this year different because of the pandemic, Joanne wanted to “shake things up a bit” and give students, world-wide, a unique distance learning treat while keeping all safe during the pandemic.  So Joanne challenged Ted Tagami, KK6UUQ, from Magnitude.io to a mid-altitude cross-continent balloon race and Ted accepted the challenge!  Ted plans to launch his balloon from Berkeley, California.  ISS Above inventor, Liam Kennedy, KN6EQU, from Pasadena, California, got “wind” of the idea and he asked to participate, too.  All three organizations: ARISS, Magnitude.io and ISS Above are ISS National Lab Space Station Explorer (SSE) partners that work to inspire, engage, and educate students in Science Technology Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) topics and to pursue STEAM careers. 
 
The three SSE teams plan to launch their balloons simultaneously on June 1st.  The winner will be the first one to cross the “Finish Line”—the Eastern Time zone.  Launch time is planned for 15:30 UTC/11:30 EDT/10:30 CDT/9:30 MDT/8:30 PDT.  A live video feed of the launch is planned to start approximately 5 minutes prior to the event. Note that weather can be a factor is exact launch date and time.  So check here and the web link below for updates!
 
Once the balloons are airborne, students can track each balloon’s location, altitude, and temperature via amateur radio APRS (Automatic Packet Reporting System) which is fed automatically to the aprs.fi web site.  Educators and parents around the globe can excite at-home youth with this initiative. Students can tally and track the states each balloon travels through and plot altitude versus temperature, etc. Also, by researching weather patterns, students can make assumptions from their own data.  This could include speed variations due to weather.  They also can predict each balloon’s flight path and when they might cross the finish line!
 
For more information on the balloon launch, lesson plans, and the livestream video link (when the livestream URL is available), please go to:  https://www.ariss.org/mid-altitude-balloon-race.html
 
Enjoy the Race!  May the best ballooner win!!
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Amateur Radio on the International Space Station is a program that lets students experience the excitement of Amateur Radio by talking directly with crew members of the International Space Station.  Learn More

ARISS appreciates our partners and sponsors:
National Amateur Radio Societies and AMSAT Organizations in Canada, Europe, Japan, Russia and the USA.


Member of the Space Station Explorers consortium.


Funded in part by the ISS National Lab.
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