Yesterday marked the 1000th organised Amateur Radio on the International Space Station event with NASA astronaut Tim Kopra talking to a school in North Dakota, USA. These ham radio sessions use old-fashioned radio to allow schoolchildren to talk to astronauts in space as they fly overhead.
Schoolchildren talking with Tim in space during recent ARISS contact. Credits: UKSA-M. Alexander
Anyone with an amateur radio can listen in on scheduled contacts and even try their luck at speaking to an astronaut as they float by the ham radio. Astronauts on the space station sometimes make general radio calls and talk to ham operators around the world.
The system was upgraded in 2014 with a new antenna to allow video broadcast as well, Tim Peake was one of the first astronauts to use the ham video.
For more information and to sign up your school head to the ARISS Europe website or the international ARISS website for a list of upcoming events. The UK space agency regularly live streams Tim Peake’s ARISS contacts on their Principia ARISS website.
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