September 30: ARISS educator Diane Warner and seven members of her radio club, the All Things Amateur Radio Association (ATARA) of Lancaster, OH, took their STEM trailer with its ARISS and ham radio exhibits to WestFest in Columbus, OH.  WestFest, short for West Campus Science & Sustainability Festival, is Ohio State University’s annual STEM festival that offers around 40 hands-on STEM “activity booths” for kids.  ATARA set up 2 tables near their trailer in order to provide inside and outside activities. Undergrads of the Amateur Radio & RF Club of Ohio State University and the news editor for ARRL joined ATARA in staffing their exhibits. 80 kids and 60 adults engaged in the activities; two favorites: learning to use a multimeter to measure electrical resistance and putting together SnapCircuits® components resulting in an electrical circuit that made a buzzer sound. Diane wrote, “It was really cool watching these kids with their interest in STEM, trying their hand at activities we provided.” 

October 1: ARISS volunteer Dave Taylor set up an ARISS information table at the CARAFest ham radio convention in Columbia, MD.  He demonstrated the radio kit portion of the ARISS SPARKI education project and talked with attendees about STEM education, space communications, and general aspects of ISS life and activities.  He talked with 27 adults and 7 youth who were middle and high school age.

September 28: In Blagoveshchensk, Russia, students of the MAEI School No. 16, named after pilot-cosmonaut A.A. Leonov, went to the Amur State University for an ARISS contact to ask questions of Oleg Kononenko. The youths also learned about space and received career guidance. 30 people came for the contact sponsored by the ARISS-Russia team.

ARISS Social Media for September

ARISS social media leader Jim Reed reported September highlights:

  • ARISS surpassed 30,000 Followers across all platforms—a record for us!
  • In the past 12 months, total Followers increased by 17.2%.

ARISS Total September Social Media Metrics:

  • ARISS X – Total Impressions / Views 110,296,  Interactions / Engagements 3,845 
  • ARISS Facebook – Total Impressions 92,579,  Interactions / Engagements 3,031
  • ARISS Instagram – Total Reach 6,153,  Interactions / Engagements 530
  • ARISS Mastodon – Interactions / Engagements 71
  • ARISS LinkedIn  –  281 Reactions     
  • ARISS YouTube – Total Subscribers 1.96k

September Top Posts

The top post on both X and Facebook (14.5k and 9.01k respectively) described ways to engage with ARISS radios—an SSTV test and the digipeater. Top Instagram post touted Jasmin Moghbeli’s upcoming school contact. Top Mastodon post listed radio frequencies ARISS uses.

  • Top X post: Impressions 14,578, Interactions / Engagements 702
  • Top Facebook post: Impressions 9,010,  Interactions / Engagements 190
  • Top Instagram post: Impressions 390, Interactions / Engagements 29
  • Top Mastodon post: Interactions / Engagements 16

ARISS Upcoming Events
Oct 11: Sekolah Kebangsaan Wangsa Maju Seksyen, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia-ARISS contact, ARISS-Japan Team
Oct 13: Covenant Christian Academy, W. Peabody, MA-ARISS contact, ARISS-US Team