ARISS News Release                                                                                                    No.23-58

Dave Jordan, AA4KN

ARISS PR

[email protected]

FORIMMEDIATE RELEASE

40thAnniversary Celebration

of the Positive Impactof

Amateur Radio on Human Spaceflight

October24, 2023 — Astronaut Owen Garriott, amateur radio callsign W5LFL, pioneeredamateur radio communication from space on his STS-9 Space Shuttle Columbiaflight, conducted November 28 to December 8, 1983. In his free time, during theSTS-9 mission, Garriott became the firstever person from space to communicate with amateur radiooperators on the ground. He was also the first to be heard directly from spaceby the public using simple FM receivers and scanners.

Dr.Garriott's mission, 40 years ago, transformed astronaut communications fromspace forever, allowing amateur radio operators (hams) and the public tocommunicate with people in space. Prior to this, only a few mission controllersand heads of state could talk to an astronaut in space. Garriott represents thefirst of many spacefarers that employed amateur radio on the Space Shuttle, Mirspace station and the International Space Station for public engagement, familyconnections and educational outreach. To date, well over a million peopleon Earth have participated directly in these astronaut radio contactengagements. The educational youth contacts, coupled with pre-contact educationinitiatives, have inspired, engaged and educated youth around the world andencouraged them to study and pursue careers in Science, Technology,Engineering, and Math (STEM).

Asthe ARISS (Amateur Radio on the International Space Station) team approachesthe threshold of the 40th anniversary of human spaceflight amateurradio, we would like to gather the volunteer teams, astronauts, space agencyofficials, educators, and space and amateur radio enthusiasts to the KennedySpace Center in Florida to recognize and celebrate the past forty years of thisinspiring, educational, and free service and to share the excitement of what’sto come.

Theconference entitled “The Positive Impact of Amateur Radio on Human Spaceflight:40th Anniversary Conference” will be held February 22-24, 2024, atthe Center for Space Education: Astronauts Memorial Foundation, locatedadjacent to the NASA Kennedy Space Center Visitors Center.

Highlightsof the 40th Anniversary Conference include tours of the NASA KennedySpace Center Visitors Center, human spaceflight amateur radio exhibits,networking sessions in the exhibit area, STEM education demonstrations, and twoconference days packed with astronaut panel sessions, presentations by youthalumni in STEM careers, and recollections by educators and volunteer teamalumni that supported Shuttle, Mir and ISS hardware development, flightoperations and youth STEM engagement.

Weencourage your attendance at our special celebration this February!  For information on registration and specialevent pricing at local hotels, visit our event website at www.ariss.org andchoose the drop-down menu tab labeled “40th Anniversary.”

Special Request:

Countlessstudents, worldwide, have participated in our SAREX (Shuttle/Space AmateurRadio Experiment), Mir and ARISS programs over the past 40 years.  If you are one of those students or if youknow of a student that participated in our program and is in a STEM career, wewould be delighted to hear about this and feature them as part of ourcelebration either through in-person participation, a video submission, email,or letter. We would also appreciate getting educator testimonials on the impactof SAREX, Mir and/or ARISS in their schools. Please provide this informationto: [email protected] .

About ARISS:

Amateur Radio on the InternationalSpace Station (ARISS) is a cooperative venture of international amateur radiosocieties and the space agencies that support the International Space Station(ISS). In the United States, sponsors are the American Radio Relay League(ARRL), Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC), Radio Amateur SatelliteCorporation (AMSAT), NASA’s Space Communications and Navigation program (SCaN)and the ISS National Lab—Space Station Explorers. The primary goal of ARISS isto promote exploration of science, technology, engineering, the arts, andmathematics topics. ARISS does this by organizing scheduled contacts viaamateur radio between crew members aboard the ISS and students. Before andduring these radio contacts, students, educators, parents, and communities takepart in hands-on learning activities tied to space, space technologies, andamateur radio. For more information, see http://www.ariss.org

.

MediaContact:

DaveJordan, AA4KN

ARISSPR

Findus on social media at:

Twitter:ARISS_Intl

Facebook:facebook.com/ARISSIntl

Instagram:ariss_intl

Mastodon:[email protected]

Checkout ARISS on Youtube.com.