All,
The ARISS team is making several changes to the program to ensure it sustains and thrives in the future. This e-mail provides a top-level description of these changes.
Beginning in October 2012, the NASA Education Office took a very large cut in its budget. While ARISS provides recognized high impact in STEM (Science Technology Engineering & Math) inspiration & engagement, ARISS is not immune to these budget cuts. The ARISS-US executive team (NASA, ARRL & AMSAT) have been working aggressively to mitigate the impacts of these budget cuts by changing roles and responsibilities between NASA, ARRL, AMSAT and the other international partners. And by cutting out efforts that were not deemed critical to ARISS success.
One major change that you all will notice is that effective today, NASA's Logistics Coordinator Support task will end. This means that Carol Jackson will no longer be providing support to the ARISS Team. We commend Carol for her outstanding, sustained support to the ARISS program over the past 9 years. She has been instrumental in the success of ARISS. And she will be sorely missed. But budget situations have forced the team to reallocate Carol's roles to others in NASA, ARRL, AMSAT and within the international ARISS community.
For the most part, we have implemented these changes. But these transitions will continue occur over the next few weeks. We ask all to be patient as we retool as a result of these changes.
As we transition into these new roles and responsibilities, you might notice some changes or issues along the way. If you see things that need to be addressed, we ask that you let me know directly at my [email protected] e-mail address.
On behalf of AMSAT, ARRL, NASA and the entire ARISS-International team, we want to thank you all for your continual help, support and encouragement to ARISS over the years. And we look forward to a strong ARISS future.
73, Frank H. Bauer, KA3HDO
AMSAT-NA V.P. for Human Spaceflight Programs