Did you know that something as simple as a 10-minute ARISS contact can put students on a path to a STEAM career? ARISS-USA Executive Director Frank Bauer will discuss how at the AIAA ASCEND conference taking place this week at the Washington Hilton in Washington, DC (May 19-21).

Bauer will support two events at the conference. The first is a presentation at the ISS National Laboratory workforce development session taking place on Day 2 (May 20).
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Bauer’s talk, titled, “An Education-Driven Workforce Engine from the ISS to the Moon”, will discuss the connection between what ARISS does best—connecting kids with astronauts in space using amateur radio—and the pursuit of technical career paths.

Eleven years after an ARISS contact with Astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti, Elena Selma works as an astrophysicist at ESA

While the amateur radio contact with an astronaut typically lasts only 10 minutes, participating educators, with ARISS help, spend months teaching the K-16 students about ISS research, space exploration, space communications and ham radio. ARISS will typically host 60-100 such contacts a year around the globe, using voice, video and other types of communications.

Along with educational guidance, ARISS also can provide technology aids for teaching teachers and students about waves and frequencies, basic electronics, codes and cyphers, and software-defined radio principles.

Bauer will also discuss how ARISS is expanding its reach into space through Moon, Mars and Commercial space initiatives, including our work with all four of the Axiom Space missions to date.

On Thursday, May 21, Bauer will continue the theme when taking part in a panel session called “Space Starts Here: K-12 Outreach is the Foundation of the Future Workforce” with moderator Mike Kincaid, Executive Director of the Challenger Center.

​For the latest updates on AIAA Ascend and other exciting ARISS news, please see our ARISS Facebook, X, Instagram, BlueSky, Mastodon, LinkedIn, YouTube and Discord social media channels.