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ARISS Weekly Status Report - Sept. 18, 2023

9/18/2023

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September 12: Prior to the recent Bowman Middle School ARISS contact in Bakersville, NC, Principal Amber Young invited US Congresswoman Virginia Foxx, and she went! Afterward, Foxx sent Amber a letter of thanks and compliments to the STEM teacher and students on their contact and STEM lessons. Returning to the US Capitol Building, she reported details on the House floor. Her words were read into the Congressional Record—HOUSE H4237—as follows.
   “Madam Speaker, I recently had the pleasure of visiting Bowman Middle School in Mitchell County to view the school’s International Space Station, ISS, contact project. Thanks to the diligent work of Dan Hopson, a STEM teacher at the school who has a penchant for securing these kinds of opportunities, this project was able to come to fruition. Students were able to ask a variety of questions in real time via ham radio to Warren Hoburg, a NASA astronaut who successfully traveled to the ISS on March 3 of this year. 
   This impressive event was one that these students will surely remember as they continue their educational journeys. Hopefully, some will be inspired to engage in careers in STEM areas. Congratulations to Dan Hopson, Principal extraordinaire Amber Young, and dedicated staff at Bowman Middle School who made this event and this learning opportunity such a success.”
 
September 6: After being accepted for an ARISS contact a few months ago, Egemen Yildiz Secondary School teachers in İzmir, Turkey, with help from an area amateur radio club, moved students through a curriculum covering space and radio. The project, titled “Turkish Children in Space in the 100th Year of the Republic,” prepared them for the ARISS contact. Students talked with Jasmin Moghbeli, who answered 20 questions. The event was live streamed, and 15 days later had garnered over 800 views.  130 people attended, including reporters from several TV stations and the Hurriyet Daily News (HDN). The HDN story (https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkish-students-chat-with-astronaut-via-radio-186101) stated that an 8th grade girl told her teachers about writing a proposal in hopes of being selected for the ARISS contact. A group of students had enjoyed a space camp in June.
 
September 12: Undergrads from the IEEE ESPRIT Student Branch and ESPRIT University in Little Ariana, Tunisia engaged in an ARISS contact (some on-site and some tied in virtually) with Andreas Mogensen. He answered 14 of the ESPRIT students’ questions and had time afterwards to hear students’ applause and goodbyes. Two livestreams captured 854 views and several days later, totals climbed to 2.2k views.  The lead educator complimented ARISS, writing: “On behalf of IEEE ESPRIT Student Branch & ESPRIT University, I wholeheartedly thank you for efforts; we greatly appreciate and admire the ARISS team.”  The school supports a varied curriculum including civil engineering, electromechanics, and business.  
 
September 5:  ISS National Lab (INL) honored ARISS by including ARISS school contacts in a photo story on the INL website that summarized accomplishments of the Crew 6 astronauts.
 
September 1: Axiom-2 crew members John Shoffner and Peggy Whitson, who flew in May 2023, filmed onboard scenes that demonstrated many aspects of life on the ISS in microgravity. They made the footage into a series (titled “Habitat Space”) of short educational videos. One is on ARISS and amateur radio; the URL is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZy97_VbbDM (3 minutes and 20 seconds in length).  The Perseid Foundation supported and posted the free lessons.
 
September 14: ARISS sponsor ARRL (American Radio Relay League) held a Zoom town hall meeting for ARRL members in Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Part of the hour-long program included a talk on North Carolina’s Bowman Middle School ARISS contact and similar contacts in other states.  267 people tied into the ARRL Zoom meeting and each of the 4 states streamed the meeting on their own Facebook platforms, with one state also streaming a YouTube—for a total of over 700 viewers.  More ARRL members will view the recordings.  

ARISS Upcoming Events
Sept 22: Escuela Preparatoria LaSalle, Torreon Coah, Mexico – ARISS contact, ARISS-Canada Team
Sept 28: Amur State University, Blagoveshchensk, Russia – ARISS contact ARISS-Russia Team

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ARISS Weekly Status Report - Sept. 11, 2023

9/11/2023

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August 31: The day after dodging a near hit from Hurricane Idalia, Augusta (GA) Preparatory Day School carried out an ARISS contact with Steve Bowen. 500 students and faculty packed the school gym to watch and to hear Bowen answer 18 student questions such as how holidays are celebrated there to what are your mission-driven goals on board. The school livestreamed the contact on Facebook: https://youtu.be/y_Yu0ddYF60?si=GgIqNK2luNIAR4im&t=1562.  In 7 days’ time, the YouTube garnered 220 views. Media covered the event—WJBF ABC TV (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Wha2Ej8jZw), WRDW CBS TV, and Augusta Good News. ARISS Education Ambassador Martha Muir helped mentor the school contact and her quote in an interview by WJBF was: “That’s something they’re never going to forget. I love the smiles.” The rest of the day saw all students doing hands-on activities during their STEAM Fair. Weeks earlier, students prepared for the contact by engaging in the NASA Growing Beyond Earth program, and middle- and upper-school students researched how to the design and launch a small research satellite.
 
September 5: Valley Stream South High School (VSS) students in Valley Stream, NY look forward to their ARISS contact in October. ARISS educator Kathy Lamont reported that with school opening up for fall classes, VSS teachers created poster boards and set up a display case to remind students of an exciting new school year that will bring them the ARISS contact and many space-related STEM lessons.  
 
July & August: The Euro Space Centre sponsors STEM camps in Libin, Belgium and each year, ARISS team members mentor girls and boys at Satellite Camp, Robot Camp, and Telecom-Ham Camp. While guiding youth in hands-on activities, ARISS volunteer Stefan Dombrowski never misses an opportunity to describe ARISS school contacts, and brings his radio for youth to listen to these. At Sat Camps, 13 kids made their own 3-D printed satellite and built in an Arduino unit, sensors, and an RF (radio frequency) module to take home. At Telecom-Ham Camps, 8 youth used software defined radios, built a ham radio antenna, and enjoyed hidden radio transmitter hunts. At Robotics Camp, 36 youth built an Arduino-based robot that "sees" where they program it to travel and avoid obstacles. The camp that the most girls (21%) were interested in was the Robotics Camp. All youth enjoyed listening to ARISS contacts.
 
ARISS Social Media for August
 
ARISS social media leader Jim Reed reported August 2023 highlights:
  • Growth in Followers stayed steady at over 1% per month. At this rate, ARISS should pass 30K aggregate Followers in September.
  • X continues to be tops (62%) in Followers and Impressions, but ARISS will keep diversifying with posts on Facebook, Instagram, and Mastodon.
 
ARISS Total August Social Media Metrics:
  • ARISS X – Total Impressions / Views 142,128,  Interactions / Engagements 4,556 
  • ARISS Facebook – Total Impressions 79,693,  Interactions / Engagements 2,235
  • ARISS Instagram – Total Reach 5,659,  Interactions / Engagements 593
  • ARISS Mastodon – Interactions / Engagements 182
  • ARISS LinkedIn – 6 New Followers,  145 Reactions     
  • ARISS YouTube – Total Subscribers 1.95k
 
August Social Media Top Posts
The top post on X and Mastodon featured young Isabella holding a portable ham radio and aiming a satellite antenna to listen to an ARISS contact--her school has a late-October ARISS contact. The top Instagram post highlighted the STEMforGIRLS ARISS contact with Steve Bowen and the top Facebook post listed ARISS radio frequencies.
 
  • Top X post: Impressions 6,859, Interactions / Engagements 316
  • Top Facebook post: Impressions 7,233,  Interactions / Engagements 227
  • Top Instagram post: Impressions 259, Interactions / Engagements 25
  • Top Mastodon post: Interactions / Engagements 26
 
 
ARISS Upcoming Events  
Sept 12: Private Higher School of Engineering & Technology, Little Ariana, Tunisia, ARISS-Europe Team
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ARISS Weekly Status Report - Sept. 4, 2023

9/4/2023

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August 28: Students at Bowman Middle School in Bakersville, NC experienced a day they’ll not forget after speaking to Steve Bowen during an ARISS contact.  285 people (189 youth) in the auditorium watched the students ask 13 questions. VIPs present included US Congresswoman Virginia Foxx, ARRL North Carolina Section Manager Marv Hoffman, ARISS Technical Mentor Bob Koepke of South Carolina, a Mitchell County Board of Education leader, and two Mitchell County Commissioners. Hoffman presented the school with an award for supporting STEM. Media reps came from WJHL Tri-Cities TV (Johnson City-Bristol-Kingsport, TN) and two newspapers, the Queen City News and Mitchell News Journal. The Mitchell County Schools’ Facebook livestream had 116 viewers. The WJHL reporter said the ARISS contact sparked an interest in young minds, and quoted a 7th grader: “It felt amazing, I loved every moment. After this, I would like to be an astronaut to experience space and what it looks like, the galaxies and stuff like that.”  The TV item (which on contact day, provided video) is at https://www.wjhl.com/news/local/north-carolina-students-speak-with-astronaut-in-space/.
 
August 23: An ARISS contact highlighted the virtual 2023 STEM Summer Summit for the STEMforGIRLS program in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The non-profit Women in Resource Development Corporation (WRDC) sponsors the program. The summit featured presentations by women in STEM careers—geologists, an avionics instructor, and more. During the ARISS contact, Steve Bowen answered 17 girls’ questions. A post with video on X showed 893 views, and 24 hours later, 1,997 views. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation covered the event, which was livestreamed. WRDC offers girls “hands-on learning experiences, provides opportunities to interact with role models, and instills knowledge and confidence required to make informed career choices in STEM and skilled trades.”
 
August 25: The Australian Air League (AAL) in Salisbury, South Australia, Australia hosted an ARISS contact in the Australian Space Discovery Centre and cadets talked to Warren Hoburg. He answered 20 questions while 90 people watched the cadets. AAL livestreamed the contact on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/AustralianAirLeague/) and another AAL squadron (mostly girls) tuned in. In a week’s time the stream garnered 1.2k views. The ARISS radio telebridge station supporting this contact from Italy offered a livestream of their actions, attracting 92 viewers. Another 27 people listened to the audio on two reflectors, Echolink and IRLP (Internet Radio Linking Project). Meantime, at the Euro Space Centre STEM Camps in Belgium, ARISS informal instructor Stefan Dombrowski provided the livestream to 40 girls and boys. Before the contact, a commercial radio reporter had done a livestreamed interview with the AAL squadron commander and 18 cadets with the Adelaide Airport manager and 80 community members in the audience.     
 
August 30:  Next week’s report will cover the Augusta (GA) Prep School’s ARISS contact. A day prior to the contact, the school posted a very cute short video "promo" on Facebook of kids excited about their upcoming contact (https://www.facebook.com/augustaprep). The last shot of the video is below. 

ARISS Upcoming Events
Sept 12: Private Higher School of Engineering & Technology, Little Ariana, Tunisia, ARISS-Europe Team
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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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