• June 7: Students at the Collège Maurice Genevoix in Couzeix, France experienced an exciting ARISS contact with Thomas Pesquet who answered 18 student questions. TV covering of the event was TV France 3 Limousin; radio stations included: France Bleue, Flash FM, RCF and RMJ. Attending the event were 25 students, 4 technicians and 6 professors. Two VIP guests were the Madam Rector of Academy and Madam Vice President of the University in charge of Scientific Culture. A total of 650 students watched the event online. The link was also made available to the rectorate to all the establishments in Haute Vienne. The contact was live streamed at https://live.recreasciences.com/.
  

• June 5: Chris Brault, who lives near Cincinnati, OH, recently won a $10,000 scholarship. In 2016, Chris was the lead student for the ARISS contact at ISpace School near Cincinnati.  He earned his ham license about the time his school submitted its ARISS proposal; he wanted to be involved in a big way, and made it happen. He co-stars in an ARRL video produced for ARISS to explain all about the program; the video is played to audiences at nearly all US ARISS school contacts. The scholarship is for his upcoming college years, majoring in aeronautics and minoring in computer science at St. Louis University. He is weeks away from earning his Private Pilot license, another goal.  
  

• June 6: Students of the Center for Additional Education of Children "UNITER" of the Ruzaevsky Municipal District of Mordovia, Russia participated in a successful “About Gagarin From Space” ARISS contact. Oleg Novitskiy supported the contact.
  

• June 9-10: The Moscow Aviation Institute launched a special Slow Scan TV (SSTV) event with cosmonauts downlinking 12 images featuring the Russian space program. From published reception reports, individuals in Russia, Europe, and portions of North and South America have downloaded images. Radio and space enthusiasts receiving the images are invited to post them at the ARISS SSTV Gallery found at https://www.spaceflightsoftware.com/ARISS_SSTV/ for public viewing. Thus far, 482 individuals have downloaded 1402 images.
  

Upcoming Events  

• June 10: St Joseph’s Catholic Primary, Bombala, Australia, ARISS contact, ARISS-Japan team
  
• June 11 & 12: Students in Lipetsk, Russia, ARISS contacts, ARISS-Russia team
• June 12: Students in Velikiy Ustyug, Russia, ARISS contact, ARISS-Russia team

• May 25:  ARISS gets late reports on ARISS radio contacts, sometimes, and here is one.  Amur State University’s Mission Control Center had 17 students and their teacher as visitors on March 31 from the village of Ust-Ivanovka to talk with cosmonauts on the ISS.  The ARISS-Russia team assisted the youth in asking about “the life and work of Commander Sergei Ryzhikov of the long-term expedition ISS-64, and Flight Engineer Sergei Kud-Sverchkov.” Students learned the duration of a spacewalk can be 6-9 hours, how cosmonauts spend their free time on the ISS and what they eat, and heard comments on the future of Russian cosmonautics.

• May 31: French students at Collège of Saint Pierre Marboz in Marboz took part in an ARISS telebridge radio contact with Thomas Pesquet who answered 20 questions. Present were 60 social-distanced people—students, teachers and guests, including city hall officials, regional academy officials, TV station reporters (2 national stations, 1 regional station), and a newspaper reporter. The school created a video for viewers featuring many student STEM-related projects prior to the contact along with a video of Pesquet from his pre-launch training days. Two livestreams captured 258 viewers, and 6 days later, another 6,113 had watched the recording. The URL is:  https://youtu.be/HnPoFku7DXg. The school integrated these topics into their STEM program: space-habitation and exploration, the solar system, orbital mechanics, astronomical phenomena, and radio science including satellites, radios, and circuit board kits (e.g. Arduino).

 

• June 2: Students from The Father's House Christian School, a provider of homeschooling in Morinville, AB, Canada engaged in an ARISS radio contact with Akihiko Hoshide. He answered 20 student questions, many good ones that aren’t asked often. This contact was held as a multi-point telebridge with students conferenced in. A video highlighted projects the 500 students enjoyed in preparing for their contact. The livestream garnered 213 views, and 5 days later, 585 people had watched the recording; the URL is: https://youtu.be/S0_-QFkXdi4.  Students and parents engaged in activities about space exploration, ISS living and topics drawn from these websites: ESA Space & Exploration, NASA KidZone, and Primary Science Teacher College.

 

• June 3: ARISS leader John Kludt gave a presentation about satellites and ARISS to the Atlanta (GA) Radio Club. Men and women members of the club, attending via Zoom, totaled 31.

 

• May 29: A Gagarin From Space ARISS contact event involving All-Russian Ufa Olympiad winners was sponsored by Ufa State Aviation Technical University in Bashkortostan, Russia. Oleg Novitskiy supported the contact.

 
 
Social Media

Facebook – May 2021

Twitter:
As of May 31, 2021, ARISS Twitter followers totaled 14,718, a gain of nearly 1% over the end of April.
 
Instagram:
As of May 31, 2021, Instagram Followers increased 1.9% over the end of April and now total 325.
 
YouTube Members:
As of May 31, YouTube members totaled over 1.4K, an increase of 1% over the end of April.
 
ARISS Web Unique Pageviews:
In May, ARISS Web Unique Pageviews totaled 22,767.
 
Upcoming Events

• June 10: St Joseph’s Catholic Primary, Bombala, Australia, ARISS contact, ARISS-Japan team
  
• June 11 & 12: Students in Lipetsk, Russia, ARISS contacts, ARISS-Russia team
• June 12: Students in Velikiy Ustyug, Russia, ARISS contact, ARISS-Russia team

• May 24: Youth at France’s Reunion Island school, Ecole Elémentaire de Saint Leu Centre had an ARISS radio contact with Thomas Pesquet who answered 17 questions.  200 people witnessed the event, which was also livestreamed for 189 viewers. While the audience waited for AOS, the school presented an excellent video. It featured interviews of students describing space-related projects they completed in preparation for their ARISS contact. A recording of the special ARISS day’s events is at: https://youtu.be/BxmUUzsUeXE (introduction begins at 10 minutes in) and has had 3,853 views.
  

• May 22: ARISS-Russia scheduled Pyotr Dubrov for speaking with youth in Aznakaevo in the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia. They’d had a previous ARISS radio contact in January. ARISS located an online media story about the group’s January contact, held at the Aznakaevo Airfield’s youth collective radio station. The reporter gave examples of the boys’ questions—so similar to all global students, for example:  “Do you like space food?” The story quoted the youth supervisor: “We saw the trajectory of the flight, how they move at 27500 km per hour. Some parents didn’t fit in our tiny room and were standing in the street -- the chairman of TPS No.4 commented on the event. Afterwards, students demonstrated ham radio communications.”
  

• May 25: Students from two Chilean schools in Valdivia, Windsor School and Liceo Industrial of Valdivia High School, took part in an ARISS contact with Mark Vande Hei. This ARISS contact saw 200 people witnessing it including national and regional media broadcasters and a newspaper rep. The event was livestreamed, URL is:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lS03hu-LI1E
  
• (begins 3 minutes in) and has had 801 views. Both schools modified the STEM curricula to cover space exploration/science and radio communications. Activities engaged students in astronomy, radio science, robotics, and satellite-tracking software. Selected students took part in the Houston Association for Space and Science Education program. The schools partnered with the Radio Club Torreones. 
  

• May 24: An About Gagarin From Space event was conducted with students of the House of Technical Creativity in the village of Svetly Saratovskaya, the Saratov region of Russia. Pyotr Dubrov supported the ARISS contact tied to the learning event.
  

• May 22: The Lewis Center for Educational Research in Apple Valley, CA found out they were chosen for an ARISS contact in first-half 2021. The Victorville Daily Press featured an online article about the Lewis Center, citing President/CEO Lisa Lamb’s plan. She stated, “As soon as the new school year begins, our students will engage in weekly lessons to make the most of our radio contact with astronauts on the ISS.” Lewis Center STEM coordinator Amy Ritter said excitement is building around the school. The article’s link is: https://www.vvdailypress.com/story/news/2021/05/22/lewis-center-selected-nasa-program-connects-students-international-space-station-astronauts/5225338001/
  

• May 27: ARISS leaders Kathy Lamont and John Kludt along with lead ARISS Education Ambassador Joanne Michael hosted an online ARISS Orientation Webinar for 18 representatives from nine schools--educators and the ham radio operators who will assist. The schools were selected recently to sponsor ARISS contacts in second-half 2021. The webinar offered an overview of an ARISS contact and covered deliverables, expectations, and possible radio station configurations.  Attendees asked questions and discussed their proposed education plans. They expressed excitement about the opportunity to host an ARISS contact.
  

 

• May 27: Forest Edge Elementary School, a Title 1 school in Reston, VA was one of several schools participating in Space Exploration Night, and ARISS educator Melissa Pore gave presentations on ARISS, communications and satellites. She was part of a panel that included Deputy Director of NASA Earth Sciences Division Sandra Cauffman and reps from Langley Research Center and Northrop Grumman. 135 students watched with their parents while 10 teachers moderated the program. Follow-ups include lessons next fall on ARISS and SCaN.
  

 

• May 27: ARISS thanks SCaN for posting a Twitter item about an ARISS school. The post garnered 8,327 impressions and was the top post of the week!
  

• Details will be in next week’s  report about the successful ARISS contacts recently hosted in Russia and France.

Upcoming Events

• June 2 The Father’s House Christian School, Morinville AB Canada, ARISS contact  ARISS-Canada team                              
  

• May 19: Faculty and students at Monaro High School in Cooma, NSW, Australia hosted an ARISS contact with Mark Vande Hei. He answered 20 questions with a listening audience in the very-low-Covid locale comprised of 130 parents, the mayor, an Eden-Monaro federal member, and supporting radio club members. Many commented that Vande Hei very thoughtfully and candidly replied to students. Prior to hearing him, the audience viewed a recording of students’ STEM projects and activities. People were intrigued enough to ask more questions afterward about space and radio. The school streamed the contact on its Facebook page, garnering 3,228 views. The contact was heard by 18 listeners via Echolink. Faculty had modified student courses to include content on communications and space habitation, and had shared lesson ideas with all surrounding schools.
  

• May 20: Lycée Jean Moulin (LJM) students in Les Andelys, France made an ARISS contact with Thomas Pesquet who answered 16 questions. Students, staff, and media (National TV-TF1 and Regional TV France-3) were at the school following Covid guidelines. 200 social-distanced people watched a livestream, and later, 1,946 more. Everyone saw a review of students’ space and astronomy activities, and facts about the area’s primary and junior high schools that took part in related studies. LJM offers internships in aeronautics and space industries. The school partners are ArianeGroup, Normandy Aerospace Club, and Radio Club de Vernon; all support aerospace and engineering projects such as: build and program rovers and develop star-tracking technology for telescopes.
  

• May 13: ARISS announced the nine education organizations accepted for an ARISS contact between January and June 2022. Organizations will typically begin preparing related STEM activities as the fall school semester begins. The ARISS team wrote and distributed a news release, which was picked up by many media outlets.  The organizations are:
  

 

• Bellefontaine High School                                                        Bellefontaine, OH
  
• Carter G. Woodson Middle School                                           Hopewell, VA
• Lewis Center for Educational Research                                   Apple Valley, CA
• Matinecock District, Suffolk County NY Boy Scouts                 Medford, NY
  
• McBride High School                                                                Long Beach, CA
  
• Old St. Mary's School                                                               Chicago, IL
  
• Salem-South Lyon District Library                                            South Lyon, MI
  
• Sussex County Charter School for Technology                        Sparta, NJ
  
• Space Hardware Club                                                               Huntsville, Alabama
  

 
 

• May 22, 24: Youth at Reunion Island’s Ecole Elémentaire de Saint Leu Centre, as well as a group of students in Russia at a school in Aznakaevo, the Republic of Tatarstan, each had an ARISS contact. Some details should be known in a few days.
  

 
Upcoming Events
May 24 Gagarin from Space program in Saratov Region, Russia, ARISS contact, ARISS-Russia team
May 25 Windsor School & Liceo Industrial de Valdiva, Chile, ARISS contact, ARISS-Canada team
May 27 ARISS Orientation Webinar for Jan-Jun ARISS contacts, K. Lamont, J. Kludt

• May 7: Partnering with Green Bank (WV) Observatory (GBO—an NSF facility), the Green Bank Elementary and Middle School (GBEMS), hosted an ARISS contact for students with Mark Vande Hei. An audience of 40 listened as he answered 15 student questions. Prior to the radio contact, programming featured greetings taped by National Science Foundation Director Sethuraman Panchanathan, GBEMS Principal Julie Shiflet who said the project was a good way to encourage students to pursue STEM careers, and US Senators Shelley Moore Capito and Joe Manchin. (He posted his words online, too.)  GBEMS augments STEM curricula with student clubs: computer coding, engineering, robotics; GBO provides educational support. The GBEMS Ham Club was formed for grades 6-8 last year by GBO and Eight Rivers Amateur Radio Club (ERARC). The latter acted as radio mentors for youth activities—antenna building, radio direction-finding, and high-altitude balloon launch and tracking. School staff had added pursuits in communications, wave physics, orbital mechanics, electronics, Doppler, signal processing. Staff highlighted the ISS’s example of international cooperation as a goal. Livestreams of the radio contact were:
  

     * GBO:  Facebook—697 live, 6.5K later, 24K Reaches; YouTube—166 live, 280 later; Zoom live—40 staff.  (YT link is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=aZElXlwzC0c)  

     * ARISS: YouTube—22 live, 279 later; ARISS worked on PR with ARRL—Facebook 12,124 Reaches, 233 Responses

     * WDTV, Clarksburg news program & online post—1,249 live views.

• In addition to ARISS distributing a news release, GBO released theirs to 67 contacts and posted it on the GBO website, resulting in 1,025 visitors that day to their page. WDBJ-TV (Roanoke, VA) ran broadcast and online stories. Other online stories were by Metro News, Pocahontas Times, and Allegheny Mountain Radio.
  

• May 11: The Collège Descartes in Antony, France hosted an ARISS radio contact; students asked 17 questions of Thomas Pesquet.  Nearly 200 people attended including city officers, regional academy leaders, and reporters from newspapers Le Parisien and City Bulletin and Regional TV France-3. The school created fine video programming for the contact, which began with a real-time tracking map showing the ISS’s position approaching the ARISS ground station location. Next, the program offered a collection of clips of students engaged in STEAM projects and a piece on amateur radio’s role in ARISS. Links for the livestream were sent to all of the region’s colleges. Total views 3 days later were 1,938 on Twitch; the link is (begin at 9 minutes): (493) Space Chat - Collège Descartes, Antony, France - YouTube. ARISS’s You Tube total views 5 days later were 2,057. Students’ physics studies included the solar system, space probes, observing the sky to study relativity of movements, and organization of matter in the universe. The school encourages students to augment science- and math-learning by joining the nature, astronomy, and space clubs, with activities being electronic module-building, communications experiments, computer coding, and Morse code. The school partners with the Radio Club de Clamart.
  

• May 14:  ARISS thanks SCaN for its Facebook post about the Green Bank Elementary Middle School ARISS contact. The post garnered the top SCaN Facebook spot for the week, reaching 804 people.
  

         Upcoming Events

• May 19 Monaro High School, Cooma NSW Australia, ARISS contact, ARISS Japan team
  
• May 20 Lycée Jean Moulin, Les Andelys France, ARISS contact, ARISS Europe team
• May 22 Education group in Ufa, Russia, ARISS-Russia team
• May 24 Ecole Elémentaire de Saint Leu Centre, France, ARISS contact,  ARISS-Europe team

• May 5: Classes were outside for the day at the Savannah (GA) River Academy. Students, with help from the National Weather Service and Amateur Radio Club of Columbia County, engaged in hands-on weather balloon launches, part of their lessons related to an autumn ARISS radio contact. The balloons carried a camera and a ham radio Automatic Packet Reporting System unit so students could track the balloons. A fifth grader recited the goals: track, record scientific data, and recover balloons when they pop and fall to earth.  More of the day’s STEM activities included students using ham radios to talk on the air and tapping out words on Morse code keys. ARISS-US Education Committee member Martha Muir and others supported the activities with the big hit being youth experimenting with a two-foot long Morse code key!  The Augusta Chronicle published an item about the outdoor lessons. TV station WRDW ran a story during a two news programs and in an online posting, with a teacher quote being: “The launch definitely caught the interest of many students … they have a passion for weather and space.”  Links are:

https://www.wrdw.com/2021/05/05/columbia-county-students-launch-weather-balloon/
and   
https://www.augustachronicle.com/story/news/education/2021/05/06/columbia-county-radio-club-partners-grovetown-students-launch-weather-balloons-talk-astronauts/4962559001/

• May 6: The French publication, REF Magazine, carried an article titled “Discover the IK1SLD Telebridge,” by a French ARISS team member. The write-up contained many photos of the ARISS telebridge ham radio ground station in Casale Monferrato, Italy, including the station room, the radio equipment used for ARISS contacts, and the volunteers who run the operations. The author had driven with his family from France to Italy to visit the station and the trip inspired his daughter to study for and earn her ham radio license.
  

• May 7: The Green Bank (WV) Elementary Middle School ARISS contact was successful. Details will be in next week’s report.
  
  

Social Media
 
Facebook – February 2021

Twitter:

• As of April 30, 2021, ARISS Twitter followers totaled 14,625, a slight gain over March.
  

 
Instagram:

• As of April 30, 2021, Instagram followers had a 6% gain over the end of March, and now total 314.
  

 
YouTube Members:

• As of April 30, YouTube members totaled over 1,320. Four months ago, the total was a little over 800. 
  

 
ARISS Web Unique Pageviews:

• In April ARISS Web Unique Pageviews totaled 44,749, an increase over March.
  

         Upcoming Events

• May 11  College Descartes, Atony France, ARISS contact, ARISS-Europe Team

• April 20: Winmalee Public School in Blue Mountains, New South Wales (NSW), Australia hosted an ARISS radio contact with Victor Glover who answered 18 questions. Students ended the session with a big thank you. The school STEM curriculum includes a weekly STEM Lab for K-6. Space studies covered the solar system, space travel and missions, and exploration. Lessons to prepare for the ARISS contact focused on the ISS: tracking its position in orbit using applied mathematics, building models of the ISS, youth learning about astronauts and their roles, then sharing their ISS knowledge with high school students. The ARISS event brought out a big crowd following area COVID rules—100 students, 200 parents, and the director of Blue Mountains schools. Others were a Blue Mountains City Council member, a popular Sydney TV crew filming the entire event, and a high-rating radio station that later broadcasted its audio recording. The school’s livestream got 300 viewers. The lead ARISS teacher wrote, “Our entire townspeople are now huge fans of Victor Glover. He was so delightful in his manner and responses with the children. Thank you so much to NASA and ARISS. Science Rocks!” The NSW government web site ran a great story at: https://education.nsw.gov.au/news/latest-news/winmalee-students-visit-outer-space. The minister of education stated, ”It’s an incredible opportunity for students to be able to speak with an astronaut and connect what they’re learning to real life events.” A two-minute delightful ABC Facebook post is at:  https://www.facebook.com/9NewsSydney/videos/496447581720667/

• April 20:  During the Winmalee ARISS contact described in the previous blurb, a Belgian ARISS team member and colleague were teaching a ham license class for Belgian Army soldiers in two cities. A message said: “We each used the Winmalee students’ ARISS contact / ISS pass to demonstrate amateur radio. We heard 18 questions and answers at both of our sites with only a simple handheld ham radio station—an excellent demo of ham capabilities, antenna polarization, and signal propagation.”

 

• April 21: The ISS National Lab, Lockheed Martin, and the Space Foundation sponsored “Gateway: The Next Giant Leap,” a webinar on inspiring the next generation of world changers. ARISS-US Education Committee member and Space Station Ambassador Melissa Pore presented a talk on how to connect students to the ISS through ARISS programs. The audience, made up of educators participating in Space Foundation and ISS National Lab programs, learned about Gateway as an outpost for Artemis missions to the moon and how to engage students in related learning activities.

 

• April 15: A member of the ARISS-US Education Committee, Diane Warner, who hosted an ARISS school contact in 2019, had presented an ARRL (American Radio Relay League) Learning Network webinar last month at ARRL’s request, on ARISS activities at her school. Now, ARRL has asked her to have the webinar shown, and to support it during a livestream Q&A, at one of its July educator professional development workshops Teachers Institute—TI. TI offers educators four days of virtual instruction on topics related to wireless technology and amateur radio. Diane will get to attend all four days; she is thrilled! 

 

• April 19:  The ARISS team thanks SCaN for posting on its Twitter and Facebook platforms (53.4k Followers) an ARISS news release about the Winmalee Public School ARISS contact. SCaN’s Twitter post garnered top spot for the week with 7,132 Impressions. NASA STEM retweeted the Twitter post to their 300k followers.

 
        Upcoming Events
 

• April 21 Space Foundation Gateway Webinar, talk on ARISS for educators, Melissa Pore
  
• April 24 ARRL Virginia Convention, panel: ARISS engages Kids/Women in Radio, K.Lamont, M.Pore
• April 26 St. Scholastica’s College, Glebe AU, ARISS contact, ARISS-Japan team
• April 26 St. Margaret’s School, Melbourne AU, ARISS contact, ARISS-Japan team

                             

• April issue: The Smithsonian magazine ran a feature on how ISS crew members spend their leisure time. The story began with a bit of detail on early space crews’ heavy workloads and needing time off. The writer moved to now, with space crews continuing to be more productive when schedules include relaxing—with making music being quite popular. The story cited the importance of ham radio as an engaging onboard leisure activity, as Doug Wheelock realized during his 2010 ISS mission. Speaking about the myriad of radio signals he heard from Earth’s ham operators, Doug said, “That started a trend for me where I made thousands of contacts across the world. That really became part of my connection back to the planet.”  Referring to deep space missions, he said, ““I can’t imagine doing a long-duration mission without that connection to the planet. It’s a huge psychological hurdle that we’re going to have to figure out.” The article is at: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/how-do-astronauts-spend-their-weekends-space-180977480/?utm_source=pocket-newtab. A post about the story was added to the ISS Ham Twitter page and to ARISS Facebook and Twitter pages.
  

• April 14:  A team from the ARISS-USA Education Committee is reviewing ARISS Education Proposals that arrived during the opening of the recent window (February 15 to March 31, 2021) to accept such proposals. US education institutions whose proposals rise to the top in this competitive process will be offered the opportunity for ARISS radio contacts to be scheduled for January 1, 2022 to June 30, 2022.
  

         Upcoming Events
 

• April 20 Winmalee Public School, Blue Mountains NSW Au, ARISS contact, ARISS-Japan team
  
• April 21 Space Foundation Gateway Webinar, talk on ARISS for educators, Melissa Pore
• April 24 ARRL Virginia Convention, panel: ARISS engages Kids/Women in Radio,  K.Lamont, M.Pore
• April 26 St. Scholastica’s College, Glebe AU, ARISS contact, ARISS-Japan team
• April 26 St. Margaret’s School, Melbourne AU, ARISS contact, ARISS-Japan team

• March 24-25: Students at the Savannah River Academy (SRA) in Grovetown, GA have been preparing for their upcoming ARISS contact. Members of the Amateur Radio Club of Columbia County (ARCCC) presented a session that gave students a solid understanding of how to operate a handheld radio. They practiced talking to each other using Family Radio Service (FRS) radios and remembered to use phonetics when saying call signs. The kids learned about QSL cards that confirm a radio contact was made between hams; QSLs are commonly traded after radio contacts. The cards were a hit with students getting to design their own personal QSLs.
  
• The next evening at SRA Family Day, ARCCC members set up exhibit tables to engage students, their parents and teachers in ham activities. Demos of amateur satellite communication took place with students recording call signs and grid square coordinates for hams they contacted. They talked over the air with an ARCCC member at home. Kids showed off to parents the things they had learned such as sending Morse code. Several students and adults said they’re interested in getting a ham license.
  

• March 26: The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) offers week-long summer classes to educators; ARISS-US Education Committee member and science teacher Martha Muir attended one. Upon completion, educators become part of the CDC’s Science Ambassador Fellowship (SAF) program and receive the quarterly Science Ambassador Alumni Newsletter. Last quarter’s e-letter carried a notice on watching CDC leaders take part in a NASA-sponsored live chat with Kate Rubins and Shannon Walker. Thinking that some SAF educators might want to host their own ARISS contact for students, Martha penned and submitted a short piece on ARISS and the ARISS proposal process. The editors accepted her item for the Spring 2021 e-newsletter.
  

• April 6: The School of Information Technology & Mathematical Sciences, Southern Hemisphere Space Studies Program 2021 in Mawson Lakes, SA, Australia hosted a successful ARISS radio contact with Shannon Walker for elementary students of Mawson Lakes School.  She answered 22 student questions. People in attendance numbered 45 including the university’s Department of Education Director and Advanced Technology Program Manager. A student exclaimed, “I loved this! One day I will become a scientist and go to space.” Another said, “This made me take a special interest in space and astronomy. I loved the way we were trained and briefed for the event.” The university used its Facebook account to livestream the contact: 767 viewers, 605 engagements. A few days later, another 190 had viewed it. People listening via Echolink totaled 30.
  

• April 5-7: ARISS-Russia hosted three successful ARISS contacts for these schools:

1. Nilak Dosaaf Llc in Kaluga
   
2. Kaluga Regional Schools in Kaluga  
3. St. Petersburg School in St. Petersburg
   

• On April 5, Nilak Dosaaf Llc high school students enrolled in the educational program called About Gagarin from Space spoke with Sergey Kud-Sverchkov. On April 6, students in the About Gagarin from Space program in Kaluga Regional Schools spoke with Sergey Kud-Sverchkov.  St. Petersburg students in the About Gagarin from Space program talked over the radio on April 7 with Sergey Ryzhikov.

• March 31: Three ARISS Italian volunteers presented a live ARISS program for the Associazione Radiotechnica Italiana, Firenze chapter.  The talk was titled “The ISS Seen through ARISS Eyes and Beyond” and 39 people watched, including 2 students and 1 educator. An unknown number of others watched live via the chapter’s Facebook page but within a week, viewers totaled 454; the link is: https://www.facebook.com/IQ5FI. Topics included the antennas to use for ARISS school contacts, the ARISS HamTV system, the ARISS Italian radio telebridge station, and the ARISS Interoperable Radio System.   

         Upcoming Events

• April 20 Winmalee Public School, Blue Mountains NSW Au, ARISS contact    ARISS-Japan team