Educational Outreach and International Collaboration Through ARISS: Amateur Radio on the International Space Station

Abstract

The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) payload was first deployed and operated on the International Space Station (ISS) about two weeks after the first ISS expedition crew arrived on ISS. It has been continuously operational since that time. This makes ARISS the first operational payload and first educational outreach program on the ISS (Bauer et al. in Proceedings from the World Space Congress) [1]; (Conley et al. in Proceedings from the World Space Congress) [2]. ARISS provides a unique, once in a lifetime, educational opportunity for youth to conduct a ten-minute question and answer interview directly with crew members on board ISS. This is accomplished using the ARISS amateur radio systems on ISS, through the support of ISS crew members that have obtained their amateur radio licenses and through hundreds of ARISS international volunteers around the world. These volunteers mentor the schools, help set up ham radio equipment in the schools, and then prepare the students to coinduct the contact with the ISS crew. ARISS, an international working group consisting almost entirely of dedicated volunteers, partners with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS), and the other ISS international space agencies to engage the schools and students in educational opportunities that enable them to explore space and learn about wireless technology.