October 27: The ARISS-Russia team held a Slow Scan TV (SSTV–picture downlinks) test to verify the operation of SSTV hardware the cosmonauts had re-installed.  Worldwide, 1,124 ham operators and space enthusiasts downloaded images. 993 of these participants posted 3,856 images online to the ARISS SSTV Gallery at https://www.spaceflightsoftware.com/ARISS_SSTV/index.php. Many enthusiasts typed notes about their radios and antennas—the most unusual comment spotted said the ham operator tried out a new antenna he built from parts of an old umbrella! Overall, 130 students took part, as did 260 formal or informal educators. Over 20 kids from many countries at the annual week-long International Amateur Radio Union-Region 3 Youth On The Air camp—this year, held in Pattaya City, Thailand—crowded around a few hand-held radios to download SSTV transmissions. 12 unique images downlinked to earth featured ARISS and Russian space history.

October 24: ARISS educator Kathy Lamont at Belmont Elementary School in Woodbridge, VA is leading her students in preparing for their 2024 ARISS contact. They enjoyed a communications lesson using a handheld radio and antenna to listen to Jasmin Moghbeli support the ARISS contact at the A. L. Burruss Elementary School in Georgia.  A few days prior to that, Kathy took the opportunity to teach about Russian SSTV radio transmissions. She had kids learn about elevation angles during an ISS pass using a tracking app. She had them use a compass to find where to point the antenna to acquire the radio signal.

November 1:  Scholastica, an academic journal management system, published a research article all about ARISS. The paper, by Martin Diggens, J. Williams, and G. Benedix ,is based on Diggens’ PhD dissertation. An ARISS Australian volunteer, doctoral student Diggens interviewed many ARISS team members in order to write his dissertation on the impact ARISS has had on STEM Education—he discovered a very positive impact!  Scholastica carried the paper in the Space Education & Strategic Applications Journal. The article titled “No Roadblocks in Low Earth Orbit: The Motivational Role of the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) School Program in STEM Education” can be seen at https://doi.org/10.18278/001c.89715.

October 15-16: ARISS educator Mic Ivancic in Milan, Italy, gave two online presentations about her teaching experiences that provided hands-on activities on space, STEM, and ARISS to students. At the online presentations, supported by ESERO Italy, she guided 12 teachers and 40 students, age 8 to 10 years old, on lessons to try in their classrooms. For 10 years, she has engaged students in STEM at several schools, led a summer Space Camp using her most youth-inspiring activities, and is currently guiding lessons at Space Adventures, a monthly Saturday event for youth.   

October 17: Cosmonaut Nikolay Chub supported an ARISS contact for students at Kaliningrad University in Kaliningrad, Russia. Students asked him questions about life in space. 100 people attended the radio contact event, which was tied to the Gagarin from Space lessons led by the ARISS-Russia team.  Also, students examined the sample SSTV images that the ARISS-Russia team planned for cosmonauts to transmit from the ISS to space enthusiasts on the ground. 

ARISS Social Media for October

ARISS social media leader Jim Reed reported October highlights:

  • 919 New Followers in October—the highest increase since October 2022
  • A terrific 542,502 total Impressions this month
  •  An unusual post grabbing over 100,000 views—telling about inputting azimuth and elevation into antenna-tracking software prior to the A.L. Burruss Elementary School ARISS contact
  • 3 posts on ARISS’ 40th Anniversary event generating over 21,000 impressions on 3 platforms    

ALL NEW

  • ARISS X – Total Impressions / Views 267,575,  Interactions / Engagements 9,716 
  • ARISS Facebook – Total Impressions 264,733,  Interactions / Engagements 5,884
  • ARISS Instagram – Total Reach 10,194,  Interactions / Engagements 965
  • ARISS Mastodon – Interactions / Engagements 239
  • ARISS LinkedIn  –  Total Impressions 257 / Interactions 90     
  • ARISS YouTube – Total Subscribers increased to 1.98k

October Top Posts

The top post on Facebook and Instagram (110,932 Total Impressions) told about inputting azimuth and elevation into antenna-tracking software for an ARISS contact.  Top post on X (13,546 Impressions) gave date/time details on the SSTV test.

  • Top X post: Impressions 13,546, Interactions / Engagements 745
  • Top Facebook post: Impressions110,556,  Interactions / Engagements 190
  • Top Instagram post: Impressions 376, Interactions / Engagements 39
  • Top Mastodon post: Interactions / Engagements 24

ARISS Upcoming Events  
Nov 6: Halls Head College, Mandurah, WA, Australia—ARISS contact, ARISS-Japan Team
Nov 17: New Heights School-Learning Service, Calgary AB—ARISS contact, ARISS-Canada Team
February 22-24, 2024: Human Spaceflight Amateur Radio: 40th Anniversary Celebration—ARISS conference and gala, ARISS-I Team