We've attracted a little media coverage around the world. Here's a brief run down:

To make the ARISS contact the success it was many people were working away behind the scenes. To give you an idea of how much went on to make this event a reality, here is a list of credits that captures some of the people in this project:

• Alex Ashworth-Preece - Student
• Lauren Beldi - AV operator, City of Perth
• Onno Benschop [VK6FLAB] - Perth telebridge operator, HARG
• Isabella Biggs - Student
• Damien Blythe - Piazza screen coordinator, City of Perth
• Daniel Burbank [KC5ZSX] - International Space Station, NASA
• Miles Burke [VK6MAB] - Perth microphone operator, HARG
• Alex Comstock [VK6FLOL] - Student
• Lee Cooper - Piazza event coordinator, City of Perth
• Jo Darbyshire - Local history coordinator, City of Perth
• Bonnie Davies - Stage Manager, City of Perth
• Martin Diggens [VK6MJ] - Perth telebridge operator, ARISS
• Tim Eastwood - Project manager, WA Muesum
• James Falzon - Student
• Dick Flagg [AH6NM] - Honolulu telebridge operator, ARISS
• Gerard Foley - Archivist/Protocol/Speeches, State Records Office
• John Glenn - The man himself!, Ex-NASA
• Dorian Gray - AV operator, City of Perth
• Leigh Hayes - Project sponsor, State Records Office
• Elaina Hughes - Student
• Tony Hutchison [VK5ZAI] - ARISS mentor, ARISS
• Denise Johnson - Publicity manager, WA Muesum
• Aaryan Kapila - Student
• Hugh Kilpatrick - Student
• Brad Kruger - Education coordinator, WA Muesum
• Duncan Lennon-Black - Student
• Jan McCahonMarshall - Local studies librarian, City of Perth
• Danny Murphy - Graphic designer, WA Muesum
• Simone Pucar - Marketing manager, WA Muesum
• Mike Scott [N6GOZ] - Honolulu telebridge operator, ARISS
• John Spasojevich [AG9D] - IRLP / Echolink Feed, ARISS
• Morgan Strong - Web manager, WA Muesum
• Lise Summers - Archivist/Exhibition coordinator, State Records Office
• Donald Sutherland [VK6PDS] - Student
• Meg Travers [VK6LUX] - Project manager, State Records Office
• Allan Usher [VK6PWD] - Perth telebridge operator, HARG
• Sammie Ward - Student
• Tai - Technical support, Starlight Foundation
• Tracy - Conference Operator, NASA

Russell Woolfe and Onno Benschop discussed the various aspects of Amateur Radio and how that relates to the rest of the world. We covered BBQ's, CB-radio, ARISS and getting your license.

Audio available courtesy of ABC 720 - Drive with Russell Woolfe.

Bringing together the resouces of the WA State Records office, the WA Museum and the City of Perth, Amateur Radio is making a name for itself in Western Australia and across the globe.

Monday February 20 from 5pm the City of Perth will be celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Orbit of John Glenn which he made on the 20th of February 1962. During the celebrations the International Space Station will be live on stage with students from across Western Australia asking questions to an astronaut in space.

Thanks to the dedicated efforts of the ARISS team, NASA and the Hills Amateur Radio Group, the general public will be introduced to Amateur Radio and its role in providing Earth contacts between the crew of the International Space Station and schools, amateurs and others.

There will be trackers from Muchea and Carnarvon, Amateurs from around the state, and a host of dignitaries on hand to make this an event worthy of John Glenn's achievement. John Glenn will be part of the celebrations with a message for the people of Perth and Rockingham.

The Northbridge Piazza is located on the corner of James and Lake Streets in Northbridge. Parking is available acoss the road in the Roe Street Car Park.

If you're unable to make it to Northbridge, you can listen in using IRLP, Echolink and a web-stream. Details are available on the WA Museum City of Light web-site [http://museum.wa.gov.au/city-lights] and the Hills Amateur Radio Group web-site. [harg.org.au/ariss]

The cast to pull this off is enormous and we'll be adding a list of credits to the HARG site in coming days. Next week we'll have a report on how it all went down, needless to say it's getting very exciting, T minus 11 hours 37 minutes 23 seconds and counting...

The festivities celebrating the 50th Anniversary of John Glenn's orbit around the Earth on February 20th 1962 will kick off on the Northbridge Piazza on the corner of James and Lake street in Northbridge from 5pm on Monday the 20th of February 2012.

If you cannot be there, you can still join in and see what we're up to thanks to the efforts of many different people.

If you're an Amateur, you can tune in via IRLP or Echolink:

• IRLP Discovery reflector, node #9010
• Echolink AMSAT node #10137

If you've got access to the Internet, you can tune in via a video web-stream provided by iiNet:

• http://freezone.iinet.net.au/channels/freezone/lifestyle/city-of-light
  

The Hills Amateur Radio Group ARISS contact takes resources from across the globe to make the contact possible.

In the middle of the night Dick (AH6NM) and Mike (N6GOZ) will be running their ARISS tracking station, pointing their antennas at the International Space Station and directing the feed across the globe to Perth, where we'll be sitting in the shade of the big-screen on the Northbridge Piazza.

Mike tells us that he's going to be fine with our Aussie slang, since he was born in Bris Vegas (Brisbane) and went to school in Tumby (Toowoomba). He also knows his station inside out, since he was one of the HAMs responsible for building the tracking facility. He's had a bit of Hawaii rub off on him, he's been there since the late 70's, so we will have the best of both worlds.

Welcome aboard! Or as Mike put it, 73 and aloha

Meg was interviewed by Graham Mabury on Nightline where they spoke about Perth, City of Light, John Glenn, space and other topics.

Thanks to Tony (VK5ZAI) we made it onto the national amateur radio news, broadcast by VK1WIA.

Today we are excited to announce that the Hills Amateur Radio Group will be participating in its first ARISS contact, the 5th in Western Australia. The official press release is online for your fun and enjoyment.