SUBMITTED BY ARTHUR N1ORC - AMSAT A/C #31468
LAUNCH COVERAGE
*Space Shuttle Mission STS-117 *
*Orbiter*: Atlantis
<http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/shuttleoperations/orbiters/atlantis-inf…>
*Mission*: Space Station Assembly Building - 13A
<http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts117/mission_ov…>
*Primary Payload:*: S3/S4 Truss
*Launch Target *: To Be Determined
*Launch Pad*: 39A
<http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/launch/launch-complex39-toc.html>
*Mission Duration*: 11 days
*Inclination/Altitude:* 51.6 degrees/122 nautical miles
Image above: Space Shuttle Atlantis makes its slow journey back to the
Vehicle Assembly Building for hail damage assessment. Photo credit:
NASA/Amanda Diller
TO VIEW IMAGE GO TO:
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/launch/index.html
*Shuttle Repair to be Determined*
*03.05.07*
Space Shuttle Atlantis was rolled back to the Vehicle Assembly Building
from Launch Pad 39A on Sunday. Further inspection of the external tank
is necessary to get an accurate appraisal of foam damage caused by a
severe thunderstorm with hail in February.
Last week NASA's Space Shuttle Program managers met for the Flight
Readiness Review. There was a unanimous decision to proceed with the
STS-117 mission, pending the work to make necessary repairs to the damage.
Once the damage is assessed and the type of repairs determined, a new
launch date will be set. The next launch window opportunity opens in
late April.
An International Space Station Expedition 14 ARISS school contact has
been planned with students at Boulder Hill Elementary School,
Montgomery, Illinois, USA on 06 March. The event is scheduled to begin
at approximately 16:03 UTC.
The contact will be direct between stations NA1SS and W9BHB. The contact
should be audible in portions of central and eastern North America.
Interested parties are invited to listen in on the 145.80 MHz downlink.
Additional listening options are listed below. The participants are
expected to conduct the conversation in English.
IRLP - Connect to the IRLP reflector 9010.
You may also connect via the IRLP Discovery website at
http://www.discoveryreflector.ca/listen.htm.
EchoLink - The audio from this contact will be available on the
EchoLink *AMSAT* (node 101 377) and the *JK1ZRW* (node 277 208)
conference rooms. Please connect to the *JK1ZRW* server to keep the load
light on the *AMSAT* server. This will ensure good audio quality for
all listeners.
Boulder Hill Elementary School in Montgomery, Illinois has been
scheduled for an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station
(ARISS) contact . To prepare for the contact, fourth and fifth graders
involved in the school's Ham Radio Club have been engaged in science and
communications experiments and have used amateur radio to speak with
others locally, nationally, and internationally.
This important contact will be integrated in the school's curricula
through science and art activities including the investigations of the
Earth in space, communication, and the International Space Station.
Kindergarteners will be focusing on the planet Earth, first graders on
Astronauts (Sunita Williams), second graders on Air transportation,
third graders on solar energy, fourth graders on
satellites/communication, and fifth graders on the ISS.
Students from the school's Amateur Radio Club will be participating in
the contact during an all school assembly. Members of the local amateur
radio community will assist the school station W9BHB. Also, local
government officials and the media have been invited to the event.
Students will ask as many of the following questions as time allows:
1. What is the most challenging task you do everyday?
2. How long have you wanted to be an astronaut?
3. What is your favorite thing to do in space?
4. If I wanted to become an astronaut, what type of classes would I need
to take in school?
5. If you weren't an astronaut, what would you be?
6. How hard is it to dock your spacecraft to the station?
7. What happens if you get seriously hurt, do you have medical training?
8. What was your favorite type of helicopter to fly?
9. What kind of clothes do you wear in space?
10. Have you ever seen a storm on a different planet?
11. Is the food you eat up there good?
12. How many times have you gone into space?
13. How did you become an astronaut?
14. What was the experience of launching like?
15. How much oxygen do you have when you do a spacewalk?
16. What's the scariest thing you have ever done in space?
17. What kind of games do you play in space?
18. How do you brush your teeth in space?
19. How do you take showers in space?
20. What other planets can you see?
21. How long does it take to get out of the atmosphere?
22. Do your ears pop when you go into space?
23. Have you ever seen space rocks?
Please note, the amateur equipment on the ISS is not functioning in the
automatic modes properly and may be silent more than usual. Information
about the next scheduled ARISS contact can be found at
http://www.rac.ca/ariss/upcoming.htm#NextContact .
Next planned event(s):
Mission Viejo, CA, direct via K6UCI, Thu 2007-03-08 16:42 UTC
ARISS is an international educational outreach program partnering the
participating space agencies, NASA, Russian Space Agency, ESA, CNES,
JAXA, and CSA, with the AMSAT and IARU organizations from participating
countries.
ARISS offers an opportunity for students to experience the excitement of
Amateur Radio by talking directly with crewmembers on-board the
International Space Station. Teachers, parents and communities see,
first hand, how Amateur Radio and crewmembers on ISS can energize
youngsters' interest in science, technology, and learning. Further
information on the ARISS program is available on the website
http://www.rac.ca/ariss (graciously hosted by the Radio Amateurs of
Canada).
Thank you & 73,
Kenneth - N5VHO
----
Via the ariss-press mailing list at AMSAT.ORG courtesy of AMSAT-NA.
To unsubscribe, send "unsubscribe ariss-press" to majordomo(a)amsat.org
SUBMITTED BY ARTHUR N1ORC - AMSAT A/C 31468
WBZ Space Station Interview: to listen to the audio portion go to:
http://wbz.com/pages/8662.php?
From Boston to space <javascript:openPlayer('Episode',423122);> WBZ's
Laurie Kirby speaks exclusively with the crew of the International Space
Station. During their chat, Commander Sunita Williams of Needham got a
surprise call from her mother, Bonnie Pandya.
In an unusual interview on WBZ radio, reporter Laurie Kirby spoke with
two astronauts aboard the International Space Station. Flight Engineer
Sunita Williams and Commander Michael Lopez-Alegria took a break from
their science experiments to talk with WBZ. During Wednesday’s
interview, the astronauts talked about various topics such as the Red
Sox and space walks. During the long distance phone call Williams, a
Needham native, got a chance to talk with her mother, Bonnie Pandya of
Cape Cod. “This is a little bit of a surprise but I am absolutely
psyched to hear your voice.” Williams said.
Williams also talked about the record number of space walks she has
done. “I believe there is a generation of explorers behind me that are
going to shatter my record.” About her latest space walk she said, “It
was just amazing to be outside…watching the world go by and watching the
beautiful view of our planet.”
About her experience, Williams said, “life is wonderful up here.”
Also after listening to the above go to the Jordan Rich site and listen
to some of
his recent audio contacts
SUBMITTED BY ARTHUR N1ORC - AMSAT A/C#31468
*Space Shuttle Poised for Inspection*
TO VIEW IMAGE GO
TO:http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html
External tank showing hail marks Image above: A view of the external
tank with hail marks. Photo credit: NASA/KSC
+ View Photo Gallery
<http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/multimedia/117_gallery-hail.html>
*03.02.07*
Space Shuttle Atlantis will be rolled back from the launch pad to
evaluate the damage caused by a severe thunderstorm with hail on Feb. 26
at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
But before returning the shuttle to the Vehicle Assembly Building, NASA
managers have decided to remove the propellants that were already loaded.
This work is progressing and should be completed for the rollback to
take place March 4.
The hail caused approximately 1,000 to 2,000 divots in the giant tank's
foam insulation and minor surface damage to about 26 heat shield tiles
on the orbiter's left wing.
Further inspection of the tank is necessary to get an accurate appraisal
of foam damage and must be done in the Vehicle Assembly Building, where
the entire tank can be more easily accessed.
Once an up-close look at the damage is complete, the type of repair
required and the time needed for that work can be determined.
Mission STS-117 to the International Space Station will be scheduled
sometime after a Russian Soyuz spacecraft returns from the station. The
Soyuz is delivering new station crew members and returning others to
Earth in late April. Adequate time is needed between the Soyuz undocking
and the shuttle's arrival to the station.
During the 11-day mission, the six-member crew will install a new truss
segment, retract a set of solar arrays and unfold a new set on the
starboard side of the station. Lessons learned from two previous
missions will provide the astronauts with new techniques and tools to
perform their duties.
STS-117 Commander Rick Sturckow, Pilot Lee Archambault and Mission
Specialists Jim Reilly, Patrick Forrester, Steven Swanson and John
"Danny" Olivas will continue training at NASA's Johnson Space Center in
Houston as they await a new target launch date.
The Atlantis flight crew will return to Kennedy Space Center a few days
before launch.
*STS-117 Mission*
+ The Crew
<http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts117/index.html>
+ The Mission
<http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts117/mission_ov…>
+ The Integrated Truss Structure
<http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/its.html>
Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2007-03-02 22:00 UTC
Quick list of scheduled contacts and events:
Virginia Run Elementary School in Centreville, Virginia, direct via K4HTA
Successful Fri 2007-03-02 16:18 UTC 50 deg (***)
Boulder Hill Elementary School, Montgomery, Illinois, 2005-10-14, direct via
W9BHB
Tue 2007-03-06 16:06 UTC 87 deg
Watch for IRLP, Echolink, and web coverage
Mission Viejo, CA, direct via K6UCI (***)
Thu 2007-03-08 16:42 UTC 45 deg
Total number of ARISS school contacts is 271. (***)
QSL information may be found at:
http://www.arrl.org/ARISS/arissfaq.htmlhttp://www.rac.ca/ariss/oindex.htm#QSL's
ISS callsigns: DP0ISS, NA1SS, RS0ISS
*****************************************************************************
The schedule page has been updated as of 2007-03-02 22:00 UTC.
Here you will find a listing of all scheduled school contacts, and
questions, other ISS related websites, IRLP and Echolink websites, and instructions
for any contact that may be streamed live.
http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.txt
The successful school list has been updated as of 2007-03-02 22:00 UTC
http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/Successful_ARISS_schools.rtf
Frequency chart for packet, voice, and crossband repeater modes showing
Doppler correction as of 2005-07-29 04:00 UTC
http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/ISS_frequencies_and_Doppler_correctio…
tf
Listing of ARISS related magazine articles as of 2006-07-10 03:30 UTC:
http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/ARISS_magazine_articles.rtf
*****************************************************************************
There has been a rumor that the ISS was having direct contacts on the 40
meter band. There is no HF radio equipment on board and available yet. The HF
antenna is mounted. Sometimes WA3NAN will retransmit shuttle audio.
*****************************************************************************
Expedition 14 on orbit:
Michael Lopez-Alegria KE5GTK
Mikhail Tyurin, RZ3FT
Expedition 14/15 on orbit:
Sunita Williams, KD5PLB
*****************************************************************************
73,
Charlie Sufana AJ9N
One of the ARISS operation team mentors
<BR><BR><BR>**************************************<BR> AOL now offers free
email to everyone. Find out more about what's free from AOL at
http://www.aol.com.
SUBMITTED BY ARTHUR N1ORC - AMSAT 1/C #31468
Mar. 2, 2007
Katherine Trinidad
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-3749
James Hartsfield
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
ISS STATUS REPORT: SS07-11
HOUSTON - The International Space Station's Expedition 14 crew
continued work this week on scientific experiments, station
maintenance and clean up following a Feb. 22 Russian spacewalk.
An altitude reboost engine firing planned for Friday was postponed
following the launch delay of Space Shuttle Atlantis earlier this
week. The STS-117 mission was targeted for liftoff on March 15. The
shuttle mission was put on hold following a hail storm Monday. The
storm caused damage requiring repair to the shuttle's external fuel
tank foam.
Russian flight controllers now plan two engine firings on March 16 and
28 to increase the station's altitude, which will place the station
in the desired orbit for arrival of a Soyuz spacecraft due to launch
April 7. The Soyuz will bring Expedition 15 Commander Fyodor
Yurchikhin, Flight Engineer Oleg Kotov and spaceflight participant
Charles Simonyi to the station. Docking to the station is due April
9. Expedition 14 Commander Mike Lopez-Alegria, Flight Engineer
Mikhail Tyurin and Simonyi plan to land in Kazakhstan April 19.
Space station managers are reviewing the work planned aboard the
station for the remaining weeks of Expedition 14 and for Expedition
15 in light of the shuttle launch delay. The review seeks to optimize
use of the crews' time due to the shuttle's delay.
The station crew Thursday was awakened briefly by a caution signal
when the starboard Thermal Radiator Rotary Joint (TRRJ) experienced a
dropout in commands from the Rotary Joint Motor Controller. The TRRJ
automatically defaulted to another command link, and there was no
impact to operations. Engineers are analyzing what may have caused
the problem. The rotary joint turns the radiator to provide the best
possible cooling.
Flight Engineer Suni Williams practiced on a laptop computer
simulation Wednesday to maintain her skill in using the station's
Canadarm2 robotic arm. She also joined her fellow crewmates in the
Test of Reaction and Adaptation Capabilities (TRAC) experiment to
gather hand-eye coordination data before, during and after their
mission. TRAC Principal Investigator Dr. Otmar Bock of the German
Sport University in Cologne, Germany, hopes to better understand how
the brain adapts during spaceflight. The experiment will be performed
during both Expedition 14 and Expedition 15.
For more about the crew's activities and station sighting
opportunities, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/station
Has anyone got a Sattrak3 or 4 they wish to dispose of ?
If so please email me direct. Thanks
Regards Tony. VK5ZAI
J.A.(Tony)Hutchison
P.O.Box 470 Kingston SE
South Australia 5275
Australian ARISS Co-ordinator
and Satellite ground Station.
Web Site :-
http://www.electric-web.org
Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2007-03-02 00:30 UTC
Quick list of scheduled contacts and events:
Virginia Run Elementary School in Centreville, Virginia, direct via K4HTA
Fri 2007-03-02 16:18 UTC 50 deg
Boulder Hill Elementary School, Montgomery, Illinois, 2005-10-14, direct via
W9BHB
Tue 2007-03-06 16:06 UTC 87 deg
Watch for IRLP, Echolink, and web coverage
Mission Viejo, CA, direct via KC6UCI (***)
Thu 2007-03-08 16:42 UTC 45 deg
Total number of ARISS school contacts is 270.
QSL information may be found at:
http://www.arrl.org/ARISS/arissfaq.htmlhttp://www.rac.ca/ariss/oindex.htm#QSL's
ISS callsigns: DP0ISS, NA1SS, RS0ISS
*****************************************************************************
The schedule page has been updated as of 2007-03-02 00:30 UTC.
Here you will find a listing of all scheduled school contacts, and
questions, other ISS related websites, IRLP and Echolink websites, and instructions
for any contact that may be streamed live.
http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/arissnews.txt
The successful school list has been updated as of 2007-02-26 21:30 UTC
http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/Successful_ARISS_schools.rtf
Frequency chart for packet, voice, and crossband repeater modes showing
Doppler correction as of 2005-07-29 04:00 UTC
http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/ISS_frequencies_and_Doppler_correctio…
tf
Listing of ARISS related magazine articles as of 2006-07-10 03:30 UTC:
http://www.amsat.org/amsat/ariss/news/ARISS_magazine_articles.rtf
*****************************************************************************
There has been a rumor that the ISS was having direct contacts on the 40
meter band. There is no HF radio equipment on board and available yet. The HF
antenna is mounted. Sometimes WA3NAN will retransmit shuttle audio.
*****************************************************************************
Expedition 14 on orbit:
Michael Lopez-Alegria KE5GTK
Mikhail Tyurin, RZ3FT
Expedition 14/15 on orbit:
Sunita Williams, KD5PLB
*****************************************************************************
73,
Charlie Sufana AJ9N
One of the ARISS operation team mentors
<BR><BR><BR>**************************************<BR> AOL now offers free
email to everyone. Find out more about what's free from AOL at
http://www.aol.com.
SUBMITTED BY ARTHUR N1ORC - AMSAT A/C #31468
*Crew Conducts Training, Station Safety Report Released*
ISS014-E-13980 : Astronaut Sunita L. Williams Image above: Flight
Engineer Sunita Williams works the Canadarm2 controls in the Destiny
laboratory of the International Space Station. Image credit: NASA
TO VIEW IMAGE GO TO:
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html
Aboard the International Space Station, the Expedition 14 crew members
continue their work with scientific experiments, station maintenance and
additional clean up following the Feb. 22 spacewalk.
Flight Engineer Suni Williams participated in robotics proficiency
training with a computer-based simulation Wednesday. This training
program maintains the crew's skill level in using Canadarm2 without
actually moving the robotic arm.
Also on Wednesday, Flight Engineer Mikhail Tyurin spent some time
relocating hardware as part of his post-spacewalk clean-up tasks.
On Tuesday, the International Space Station Independent Safety Task
Force issued its final report. It was released simultaneously to
Congress, NASA and the public.
The Congressionally-mandated task force was chartered last year under
Section 1281 of the NASA Authorization Act of 2005. The task force was
charged with reviewing the International Space Station program to assess
potential vulnerabilities that could threaten the station or its crew or
lead to it being prematurely abandoned.
+ View Report (3.7 Mb PDF)
<http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/170368main_IISTF_Final_Report_508.pdf>