• February 7-9: The ARISS team had a multifaceted presence at the 2020 Orlando Hamcation, the 2nd largest US amateur radio convention, which boasts 25,000 attendees.  ARISS Chief Engineer Lou McFadin gave a forum talk on ARISS.  ARISS shared a booth area with one of its sponsors, AMSAT, and a group of ARISS volunteers spoke with many hundreds of passers-by.  Orlando Hamcation staff had reviewed nominations sent from around the US for their 2020 Carole Perry Educator of the Year award, given to a teacher whose work resulted in outstanding educational contributions.  Hamcation selected ARISS-US Education Committee member Melissa Pore as the winner.  She was asked to give an ARISS workshop at Hamcation, as well.  Days earlier, she had gone to Houston to present an ARISS workshop at the Space Exploration Educators Conference.      

• Feb 12: In preparation for their Spring 2020 ARISS contact, 90 secondary students and 30 high school students at the school, Ro-Sat One, in Piatra-Neamț, Romania have engaged in many educational activities. These included studying research carried out on the ISS, characteristics of electromagnetic waves, and basic technical knowledge of ham radio equipment. They viewed NASA photos of nighttime over Bucharest, listened to Luca Parmitano’s ARISS contacts, tried digital communications including Morse code, and downlinked ARISS SSTV images. In each week of January, a group of students were chosen to prepare for their ham radio license exam to be administered in March 2020.

 

• January: ARISS-US Education Committee member Kathy Lamont, teacher at Antietam Elementary School in Woodbridge, VA, has involved students in the Dream Up Germs in Space program, part of Space Station Explorers. Kathy and the gifted and talented 4th and 5th graders were inspired to do STEM projects by Mark Vande Hei when all of the school’s students listened to him during their ARISS contact in 2017. Now, students are comparing their microbes to those experimented with previously on the ISS by Vande Hei! 

                                                           ARISS Social Media
                                                        Facebook in January 2020

Twitter
In the month of January, ARISS Twitter saw a gain of 231. Total Followers are now 12,114.
 
Instagram
As of January 31, 2020, total Instagram Followers are now 124.
 
 
ARISS Upcoming Events      
February 20: Students at Maple Dale Elementary School in Cincinnati, Ohio will reach out to Drew Morgan using the ARISS amateur radio station on the ISS. 

• January 28:  ARISS Challenge Coins were presented to members of the West Point Amateur Radio Club at the United State Military Academy in West Point, NY.  A local author of a number of articles on ARISS, Joe Lynch, set up the presentation to commemorate the West Point cadets talking on the military academy’s ham station radios last October with Drew Morgan using the ARISS radio station on the ISS.

• February 7: An ARISS contact was supported by ARISS-Russia and Oleg Skripochka for Russian students from Southwest State University in Kursk. The students were in Quito, Ecuador attending a youth conference being held at the Equator Technological University.  
• February 6-8: Frank Bauer and ARISS educator Melissa Pore staffed an ARISS display set up in conjunction with SCaN at Space Center Houston in Texas at the 26th annual Space Exploration Educators Conference (SEEC). Hundreds of teachers stopped at the exhibit and learned about ARISS.  Melissa presented a 45-minute ARISS workshop on the 6th, as well.  While in Houston on the 4th and 5th, Frank participated in the ISS National Lab-Space Station Explorers Education Summit, and he and Kenneth Ransom had meetings with several people at Johnson Space Center.
  

• February 7-9: ARISS team members had a presence at the Orlando Hamcation in Florida.  More details on ARISS activities there should be available for next week’s report.

 

• January 30-31: The Moscow Aviation Institute (MAI) sponsored an SSTV session using ARISS equipment to downlink historical space-related images from the ISS.  Over 1,580 files that people had downloaded were posted online by ARISS for the world to see. Participants were from every continent.  Posted images are at:  http://www.spaceflightsoftware.com/ARISS_SSTV/

          ARISS Upcoming Events      

• February:  Maple Dale Elementary School students in Cincinnati, OH are waiting to hear about a date for their ARISS contact.

                                           

• January 28: The Primary School Jovan Jovanović Zmaj in Sremska Mitrovica, Serbia was the site of an ARISS radio contact with Luca Parmitano. Students asked 20 questions before an audience of 205 people.  Before the ARISS contact was initiated, a program was featured about the ISS, the school, the ham club, and the school’s ARISS projects. The lead teacher stated that the audience included 56 VIPs and 18 reporters from 7 TV stations, 5 radio stations, and 6 newspapers.  For many weeks, teachers had been posting online many of the related STEAM activities students had undertaken, including planetary and communications studies.
  

• January 27: Students at three schools that are part of Escolas Serafim Leite in São João da Madeira, Portugal conversed with Luca Parmitano during an ARISS contact. A gathering of 425 people made up of 150 teachers, student teachers, and students watched the action as Parmitano answered 17 student questions.  It was standing room only in the auditorium, not large enough for everyone interested in watching. The remainder of the 1,200 students from three Serafim Leite Schools watched the activities via live stream, which is now posted at:  https://www.youtube.com/user/EscolaSerafimLeite. The ARISS Mentor wrote that reporters came from two national TV stations, one national newspaper, and three local newspapers. A special guest attended from the Portuguese national amateur radio society. Students created space vehicle designs, learned about the ISS, and tried out ham radio communications.
  

• January 23 & 27: ARISS team members held two ARISS Proposal Webinars for educators who wanted to learn more about ARISS’s proposal process and had questions. The team supported the webinars in conjunction with the new ARISS proposal window that opened February 1, 2020.
  

 

• January 30-31: ARISS-Russia was planning an MAI SSTV Session, downlinking space-related images from the ISS.  Details should be available for next week’s report.
  

 
          ARISS Upcoming Events      

• February 6-8: The ARISS team will have a presence at the 26th annual Space Exploration Educators Conference at Space Center Houston in Texas. ARISS educator Melissa Pore will lead a workshop there.  Frank Bauer will take advantage of being in Houston for the conference by scheduling ARISS meetings with several of the Johnson Space Center staff. He will also take part, on behalf of ARISS, in the ISS National Lab-Space Station Explorers Education Summit.
  

 

• February 7: An ARISS contact may be supported by ARISS-Russia and Oleg Skripochka for a school in Ecuador.

• January 18: Educators and students from McConnell Middle School in Loganville, GA set up an exhibit at Techfest in Lawrenceville, GA.  Students engaged the passersby, showing off STEM projects they work on related to an upcoming April ARISS contact.  A teacher and students from Kittredge Magnet School in Atlanta were visiting Techfest, also; they have a February ARISS contact. The two schools’ educators networked at Techfest (the event is a community outreach day where hams demonstrate many aspects of amateur radio).  Over 300 individuals attended including quite a few young people.
  

 

• ARISS volunteer John Kludt and other members of the North Fulton Amateur Radio League (NFARL) set up and staffed an ARISS-AMSAT exhibit booth at Techfest, talking to attendees about ARISS and ham satellites.  Additionally, NFARL members arranged a large area with tables loaded with hands-on activities that gave youth a chance to learn soldering and kit building.  Each youth had the opportunity to build a code practice oscillator and get help if needed.  
  

• Jan 22: Students at Morita Junior High School in Fukui, Japan enjoyed their ARISS contact with Luca Parmitano. Over 60 people were in attendance to watch the activity as Partmitano answered 15 of the students’ questions. The contact was covered by a TV station and a newspaper source. The school wrote: “Our students are learning many knowledgeable things of science and engineering through various experiments. Students number 332.”
  

• Jan 22: Ontario Science Centre in Toronto, Canada was the site for an ARISS contact with youth talking to Luca Parmitano. A 96-year-old ham operator initiated the contact; she volunteers regularly at the science centre’s ham radio station exhibit, which has been set up there for more than 30 years.  An audience of 60 people watched as 11 students asked Parmitano their questions during the ARISS contact. Reporters from several media outlets were on hand taping video for stories they posted to their news sites.  The Centre’s staff supported numerous space-related STEM activities for youth and their parents in recent weeks.
  

• Jan 16: In preparation for their upcoming January 28th ARISS contact with Luca Parmitano, students at the Primary School Jovan Jovanović Zmaj in Sremska Mitrovica, Serbia have enjoyed many STEAM activities.  Most recently, they competed in designing artistic mission patches. They regularly post online summaries of their activities for parents and others to read.
  

• January 23: The ARISS announcement about a new window opening in February to accept ARISS education proposals was posted by various news outlets including NASA EXPRESS newsletter.  Winning proposals would be for ARISS contacts taking place the first six months of 2021. The NASA EXPRESS newsletter was distributed to 42,866 subscribers and was shared via various social media outlets viewed by 552,296 followers.  

 

• February issue: ARRL’s (American Radio Relay League) monthly print journal, QST, featured a photo story on Melissa Pore from Arlington, VA who is an ARISS-US Education Committee member. The story highlighted her being chosen as the 2020 recipient of the Carole Perry Educator of the Year Award sponsored by the second largest US ham convention. She will be honored at the convention February 7-9, which is held in Orlando, FL.  QST is mailed each month to ARRL’s 160,000 members.    

 
 
          ARISS Upcoming Events      

• January 27: An ARISS contact at Agrupamento de Escolas Serafim Leite in São João da Madeira, Portugal was supported by Luca Parmitano.  Details will be in next week’s report.
• January 28: Youth at Primary School Jovan Jovanović Zmaj in Sremska Mitrovica, Serbia look forward to their contact with Luca Parmitano.
• January 30-31: ARISS-Russia is planning an MAI SSTV Session, downlinking space-related images from the ISS.
• February 7: An ARISS contact may be supported by ARISS-Russia and Oleg Skripochka for a school in Ecuador.

• January 13: Sayama Mizutomi Community Center in Sayama, Japan hosted a successful ARISS contact between students and Luca Parmitano. An audience of 250 watched students as Parmitano answered 20 of their questions. A TV station, a newspaper and three other news sources were present covering the event. A YouTube file of the ARISS contact that shows student anticipation turning in to happiness is at:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqACsQoYHSw.
  

• January 13:  An article about ARISS was written by an ARISS team member and posted on the website of University of Southern California’s Dornsife College.  The story is about how ARISS garners young people’s interest in STEM and results in “a spark of wonder and delight.”  The URL for the story is: https://dornsife.usc.edu/joint-educational-project/sparking-the-imagination/ .
  

• January 17: The ARISS Team wrote and distributed a new release regarding a new window of opportunity. That will be open February 1 to March 31, 2020 to accept ARISS education proposals.  Winning proposals will be for ARISS contacts during the January to June 2021 timeframe.
  

 
 
        ARISS Upcoming Events      

• January 22:  Ontario Science Centre in Toronto, Canada will host an ARISS contact with Luca Parmitano.
  
• January 22:  Students at Morita Junior High School in Fukui, Japan are planning an ARISS contact with Luca Parmitano.
  
• January 29-31: ARISS-Russia will support an MAI SSTV Session, downlinking space-related images from the ISS.

• January 13: Students at Sayama Mizutomi Community Center in Sayama, Japan had a scheduled ARISS contact with Luca Parmitano.  Details of the activity will be available soon.
  

• January 10: A team of educators who are members of the ARISS-US Education Committee is finalizing the last few processes related to the late 2019 ARISS-US Proposal Window.  The team had ranked the education proposals and then sent a list to the ARISS-US leaders of the top schools and education groups recommended for hosting an ARISS contact. A news release is in draft stage. The organizations selected will be in the queue for scheduled ARISS contacts during the second half of 2020.  A new ARISS-US Proposal Window will open soon and details on this will be forthcoming.

 

• January 13: ARISS leaders are coordinating plans for an ARISS exhibit in Space Center Houston at the 26th annual Space Exploration Educators Conference in February.

 

• January 6 & 10: An ARRL (American Radio Relay League) web story and an item in their online publication, The ARRL Letter, covered the transfer of the new ARISS Interoperable Radio System (IORS) flight unit to Johnson Space Center. ARRL has 160,000 members. The ARISS team aims for the IORS to launch in March to Columbus to support ARISS contacts. 
  

          ARISS Upcoming Events      

• The team is waiting to learn when the next ARISS contact will be scheduled.
  

ARISS Social Media
Facebook in December 2019

Twitter
In the month of December, ARISS Twitter saw a gain of 230. Total Followers are now 11,864.
  
Instagram
As of December 30, 2019, total Instagram Followers are now 119.
 
 
         ARISS Upcoming Events      

• January 13: Students will gather at Sayama Mizutomi Community Center in Sayama, Japan to have an ARISS contact with Luca Parmitano.