If you’ve ever wanted to make your celestial debut—now is the perfect time! Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) is searching the galaxy (okay, maybe just Earth) for an organization, institution, or team to host Amateur Radio contacts with an undisclosed crew member on the International Space Station (ISS) sometime between January 1 and June 30, 2022.
The contact will last approximately ten minutes and be framed in a question-and-answer format with the goal of sharing an inside perspective on life, work, and research in space and onboard the ISS. Satellite communication, wireless technology, and radio science will be topics of particular interest. Dates are subject to change based on ISS orbits and crew scheduling demands, so a flexible mindset for participants is a must.
Educational outreach is nothing new for ARISS—they’ve been connecting students and astronauts for 20 years with Ham radio as the choice contact method. For this experience, like-minded organizations with well-designed educational plans that incorporate the ISS experience will, as a result, be prioritized as finalists—as will organizations with a broad participant reach.
The deadline for proposals is March 31, 2021. Visit the ARISS website for additional details, proposal forms, and the proposal guide.
Also, check out these OnAllBands articles, “Nothing Good on TV Tonight? Why Not Tune into the International Space Station,” and “Hams in Space: Contacting the International Space Station.”
