03/10/2016
The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS[1]) program is
celebrating a milestone - its 1000th school radio contact. The first ARISS
contact with students on Earth took place a little more than 15 years ago. On
March 10, Astronaut Tim Kopra, KE5UDN, on the International Space Station (ISS)
did the honors for number 1000 - a contact with students gathered at the
University of North Dakota in Grand Forks, organized by the North Dakota Space
Grant Consortium (NDSGC). The ARISS contact was the first to be hosted in North
Dakota. Some 500 students and visitors were on hand for the big event. ARISS
International Chair Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, congratulated the ARISS team on what
he called "this phenomenal accomplishment."
"With the outstanding support of NASA and the international space agencies
participating in ISS, the ISS on-orbit crew members encompassing all 48
expeditions and the hundreds of ARISS volunteers world-wide, the ARISS team has
reached a tremendous milestone: 1000 ARISS contacts between schools on the
ground and the ISS crews on orbit," he said. "Since our first contact in
December 2000 to today's contact in North Dakota, hundreds of thousands of
students have participated in hands-on STEM learning that ARISS affords and
many millions from the general public have witnessed human spaceflight in
action through an ARISS contact."
During the 10-minute ARISS contact Kopra answered 20 questions posed by
youngsters and young people ranging from kindergarten to graduate school. A
member of the winning 10th grade team from the Space Grant's high-altitude
balloon competition last fall was awarded one of the slots to interview Kopra.
The NDSGC team, which included college student volunteers, made multiple visits
to pupils in the 2nd through 5th grades at Emerado Elementary School in
Emerado, North Dakota; Highland Elementary School in Crookston, Minnesota;
Century Elementary School in Grafton, North Dakota; and Century Elementary and
Discovery Elementary schools, both in Grand Forks. The university teams led the
young students in hands-on activities and learning about aerospace, priming
them for the interview with Kopra. The students, many from smaller rural
communities, built and launched rockets, crafted and tested parachutes similar
to those on NASA's Orion capsule, and designed and tested neutral buoyant
objects.
One of the students wanted to know what advice Kopra would give to students
hoping to work for NASA. "Study very hard and work hard in school, because if
you do well in school you'll learn a lot and it's like money in the bank for
you and your future career," Kopra responded.
The NASA ISS Program Office has produced a video[2] to celebrate the
achievement of ARISS contact number 1000.
ARISS telebridge station W6SRJ operators Tim Bosma, W6MU, and Don Dalby,
KE6UAY, in Santa Rosa, California, supported the North Dakota ham radio linkup
as the ISS passed over the West Coast, relaying audio to the students in North
Dakota. AMSAT ARISS Mentor Charlie Sufana, AJ9N - who was the lead operator for
the first ARISS school contact - guided the UND Student Amateur Radio
Association and the FORX Amateur Radio Club through all aspects of the ARISS
contact, which received local news media coverage.
[1] http://www.ariss.org/
[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTOiiBd2dCo&feature=em-uploademail
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