Blog Articles
ARISS Blogs / News Releases
ARISS-USA Promotes Jackie Blumer to Associate Director
ARISS-USA has named Jackie Blumer (KC9LEH), currently the ARISS Business Development Coordinator, as the new Associate Director for the organization. Blumer, of Greenville, Illinois, has been a teacher for more than 26 years and is a nationally recognized leader in...
Lucky 13: ARISS Announces Winners for ISS Contacts for Fall ‘26 through Spring ‘27
Thirteen is a lucky number today as ARISS announces 13 educational organizations across the United States that we’ve selected to host an ARISS amateur radio contact with astronauts on the International Space Station from Fall 2026 through Spring 2027: Atrium Health...
ARISS at AIAA ASCEND: Developing Tomorrow’s Tech Workforce
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...
ARISS Accepting Applications for Director of Education: Help Us Connect Kids with the Future
ARISS-USA is seeking an experienced educator with extensive leadership experience to help us expand our mission to connect kids to astronauts in space through amateur radio. The application window is now open for our next Director of Education, a part-time, US-based,...
Shoffner, STEREO and SPARKI: Putting on the Ritz for Hamvention 2026
ARISS will be bringing an all-star lineup to Dayton, Ohio, next week as part of the Hamvention 2026 event taking place at the Greene County Fairgrounds and Expo Center from Friday, May 15, to Sunday, May 17. The fun starts on Friday afternoon at the ARDC Forum, where...
ARISS and AMSAT: On Track to Track Artemis 2
When the Artemis 2 mission with four astronauts departs for deep space sometime in April, a team of ARISS and AMSAT volunteers will be “watching” from afar. Specifically, our experts will use a multinational network of ground station receivers to capture the Orion...
ARISS Beyond the ISS
With 25 years of experience connecting astronauts and cosmonauts to tens of thousands of kids and adults around the world via amateur radio, ARISS is plotting a course to continue our mission in the government and commercial space realm beyond the targeted...
SuitSat-1: The Legend Endures – 20 Years and Counting
Twenty years ago today, spacewalking International Space Station (ISS) cosmonaut Valery Tokarev and astronaut Bill McArthur hand-launched the largest “object” ever to be cast into open space from the ISS—the amateur radio experiment called SuitSat-1, or Radioskaf in...
ISS Crew Return to Temporarily Limit School Contacts
January 14, 2026—Three of the four ham radio team members onboard the U.S. segment of the International Space Station will be returning to earth in a SpaceX Dragon potentially as soon as Thursday, likely causing a delay of some of the upcoming school contacts until at...
ARISS News Release No 26-02 Message to US Educators: ARISS Contact Opportunity Call for Proposals
New Proposal Window is January 12th, 2026 – February 27th, 2026 January 12, 2025 --- The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Program is seeking formal and informal education institutions and organizations, individually or working together, to host...
ARISS Founders and Legends Series: J.A. “Tony” Hutchison (VK5ZAI)
January 2026—As part of the ARISS 25th anniversary year-long celebration, we are publishing a series of interviews with founding members and legends in the organization. Our first interviewee is Tony Hutchison, who has been an ARISS pillar since the beginning of the...
Two US Schools/Organizations Moved Forward in ARISS Selection Process
January 9, 2026: Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) is pleased to announce the US schools/host organizations newly selected for 2026 ARISS contacts. A total of 2 of the submitted proposals during the recent proposal window have been accepted to...
‘Tis the Space Season!
December 24, 2025—Along with our Santa’s helper hams on the International Space Station, we’re wishing all ARISS volunteers, supporters and sponsors a very merry Holiday Season and an Adventurous New Year! As we celebrate 25 years of continuous operations on the ISS,...
This Is How We Do It: Astronaut Nichole Ayers Talks ARISS Contacts
December 2, 2025—ARISS today released a new NASA-produced video detailing how astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) use ham radio to talk to students in classrooms around the world. In the 4-minute video—filmed this summer during astronaut Nichole Ayers’...
ARISS-USA Appoints Ryan Krenzischek as Director of Operations
November 20, 2025—Ryan Krenzischek (Kren-zis-shek), W4NTR, has been named the new ARISS-USA Director of Operations. In this role, Ryan will oversee the USA telebridge ground station teams, the USA technical mentors, ARISS-I operations website development and...