The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS)
group has named Melissa Pore, a science teacher at Bishop O’Connell High
School in Arlington, to its U.S. Education Committee.
Pore teaches engineering and technology at O’Connell. Previously,
she was director of technology programs and a computer teacher at nearby St.
Thomas More Cathedral School, where she helped students successfully build and
launch the first elementary school satellite as part of the NASA CubeSat Launch
Initiative.
Pore is also a member of the Goddard Amateur Radio Club, AMSAT of
North America and the American Radio Relay League. She earned her first amateur
radio license in 2014 and presently holds an FCC Technician Class license as
KM4CZN.
The ARISS program provides learning opportunities by connecting
students via real-time amateur radio contacts to astronauts aboard the
International Space Station. The program is possible because of a partnership
between NASA, the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation, the American Radio Relay
League, and other amateur radio organizations and space agencies in Russia,
Canada, Japan and Europe.
The program’s goal is to inspire students worldwide to pursue
interests and STEM careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics by
doing hands-on activities about space and amateur radio.
The ARISS-US Education Committee provides guidance on the
educational aspect of the program. Pore joins a small group of educators from
across the United States named to the committee.
“I am honored to join the ARISS team of educators, engineers and
innovators who are leaping beyond our earthly foothold to inspire the next
generation of explorers,” said Pore. “With more than 1,130 amateur
radio contacts directly between students and astronauts, this program is an
important aspect of the space program’s educational outreach, and I am thrilled
to be a part of this.”
