04/29/2022

Astronaut Kayla Barron, amateur radio call sign KI5LAL, completed a successful, scheduled ham radio contact on April 21, 2022, with students from Bellefontaine High School in Bellefontaine, Ohio via Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS). The radio contact was streamed on YouTube[1].

The students were supported by members of the Champaign Logan Amateur Radio Club Inc., W8FTV, an ARRL-affiliated radio club. The school's STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) curriculum supports the newly formed Bellefontaine High School Amateur Radio Club, W8BCS. Barron is currently serving as mission specialist of the NASA SpaceX Crew-3 mission to the ISS, which launched on November 10, 2021.

In the US, ARISS is supported by ARRLÿ The National Association for Amateur Radio¨, AMSAT, the ISSÿNational Lab - Space Station Explorers, Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC), and NASA's Space Communications and Navigation program.

ARRL[2] has information for schools and student groups interested in hosting a future amateur radio contact with a crew member on board the ISS.


[1] https://youtu.be/6t5ZQOw2j68
[2] http://www.arrl.org/amateur-radio-on-the-international-space-station

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