In what is likely a first-ever event for the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) program, ten students at the Mary Hare School for Deaf Children in the UK took part in a scheduled contact with astronaut Mark Vande Hei, KG5GNP, operating NA1SS from orbit. According to the ARRL Letter, the school teaches hearing-impaired students to develop lip-reading skills and to use technology as much as possible to promote communication. The students asked their questions orally and the astronaut's responses were displayed with captions on a large video screen.
The session was watched not only by the 10 participants but also by another 250 people in the auditorium where the station was set up and 600 more students in other parts of the school who watched via a web feed. A livestream of the contact is archived at <https://live.ariss.org>.
