ARISS 10th Anniversary

Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, who served as AMSAT's VP of Human Spaceflight for many years, took time to reflect on the 10th anniversary of the very first Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contacts.

My heartiest of congratulations to all the ARISS volunteers and their international sponsoring organizations on this, the 10th anniversary of the first Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) school group contact.

It is breathtaking to see all that you have done this past decade. Ham radio operations on ISS started with the first
Moscow/USA checkout contact on November 13, 2000—just 11 days after Expedition 1 took up residence on ISS.

That paved the way for the historic first school contact between the students at the Burbank School in Burbank, Illinois and Bill Shepherd, KD5GSL on December 21, 2000. Long-time ARISS volunteer Charlie Sufana, AJ9N, mentored that first contact.. preparing the Burbank students, teachers and community for an activity that they will remember for the rest of their lives.

Since then, the ARISS team’s volunteer spirit and can-do attitude have kept the ARISS stations on ISS operational the entire decade--through all 26 crew expeditions.
Over 560 schools or organizations have performed ARISS contacts -- inspiring tens of thousands of students and enabling millions and millions, worldwide, to experience the human spaceflight journey and to share in the excitement and camaraderie of the ham radio hobby.

The international team has installed antennas and equipment in several ISS modules, deployed SuitSat, delivered ARISSat, and a school contact was a prominent “star” in the IMAX ISS 3D movie. Most importantly, you have inspired a legion of students to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math.

On my desk is a copy of NASA’s “Reference Guide to the ISS.” I recently noticed that on the back cover is a beautiful photograph of ISS with the Sun shining prominently on one of the ARISS antennas mounted on the Russian Service Module.
That photograph reminds me of a story from the U.S. Constitutional Convention when statesmen Benjamin Franklin, looking towards the president's chair, at the back of which a rising sun happened to be painted, observed to a few members near him, that painters had found it difficult to distinguish in their art a rising sun from a setting sun. Franklin said "I have often… looked at that behind the president without being able to tell whether it was rising or setting: But now at length I have the happiness to know that it is a rising and not a setting sun."

Indeed.. the sun that shines over ARISS is a rising sun.

Congratulations to the ARISS international team and their sponsoring organizations!!

Frank, KA3HDO

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