NASA has recognized Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) as a science education and research program. Two images of ARISS activity are among those singled out by the space agency as some of the Best Space Station Science Pictures of 2021. ARRL Representative to ARISS-International Rosalie White, K1STO, said recognition is significant because it shows that NASA considers what ARISS does to be within the realm of science education and research.

“Actually, it’s an honor for amateur radio, too, that this program is categorized as science education and research,” White added. “This is a really big deal for ARISS, and we are really proud of the team.”

White feels the most important aspect of the recognition is that it shows that NASA believes in ARISS’s efforts in the realm of science education and research. “They call our radio contacts ‘ISS experiments,’ just as we call each radio contact an ARISS experiment,” she said.

The introduction to the new video, which NASA shared on Twitter, is, “It has been a busy year of research aboard the International Space Station. NASA’s SpaceX Crew-1, Crew-2, and Crew-3 missions supported hundreds of science experiments aboard the orbiting laboratory.”

ARISS team member Armand Budzianowski, SP3QFE, wrote, “It is phenomenal that we were honored as creating science. It is a proud moment that ARISS and amateur radio were honored for the field of science and research by NASA!”

NASA also shared the photos on its website.