Fulbright FDAI Educator Efi Xanthopoulou reports from Kos:

The Primary School of Zipari in Kos connected via VHF radio to the International Space Station (ISS) as it passed over the astronomical horizon of the island on 14 December 2023. The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS)* scheduled a radio contact between an astronaut aboard the International Space Station (ISS) and students at the Primary School of Zipari, located in Zipari, Kos Island, Greece, who had the opportunity to ask him one question live! ARISS is a global program that was being broadcast for the first time in the Dodecanese! The last time a Greek school participated in the program was in 2017.

The Island of Kos, with a population of 35,000, is in the southern part of the country. The school serves 430 students aged 6-12 and 48 teachers, and participates in innovative programs such as European Erasmus+ programs, as well as partaking in Pan-Hellenic competitions. This year an Astronomy School Club was formed to prepare students for the ARISS contact. Other student activities include participation in the ESA Train Like an Astronaut, robotics, AR, sky observation with a telescope, how to track the ISS, and amateur radio communication (including morse code),  meetings with mentors such as an astrophysicist, ESA satellite navigation engineer, ESA astronaut candidate, space lawyer and other professionals organised to answer the children’s questions, and many more special activities.

Achieving the connection was a difficult undertaking. The students, the educators, the Radio Amateurs of the Dodecanese Union, the Municipality of Kos, the school committees all contributed to the realization of this important event.

The School also organised a Space Week. Each class prepared an activity or made a special decoration for Contact Day, which turned into a big fair for the school and for the whole island.

The process of connecting with ISS and the astronaut was livestreamed on a YouTube channel and other social networking platforms such as Facebook and Instagram. All relevant links can be found here:https://linktr.ee/zipariss2023

_{*Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) inspires students worldwide to pursue interests and  careers in science, technology, engineering and math through amateur radio communications opportunities with the International Space Station (ISS) on-orbit crew.  Students learn about life on board the ISS and explore Earth from space through science and math activities. ARISS provides opportunities for the school community (students, teachers, families and community members) to become more aware of the substantial benefits of human spaceflight and the exploration and discovery that occur on spaceflight journeys. Students have the opportunity to learn about space technologies and the technologies involved with space communications through exploration of amateur radio. ARISS conducts 60-80 of these special amateur radio contacts each year between students around the globe and crew members with ham radio licenses aboard the ISS.}