July 2007 - Sarex (INACTIVE) - mailman.amsat.org

ARISS Event - Challenger Learning Center of Lucas County, Oregon, Ohio, USA, Wednesday (July 25) 11:38 UTC
by Ponder, Stephen H. (JSC-OC)[BAR] 19 Jul '07

19 Jul '07

An International Space Station Expedition 15 ARISS school contact has been planned with students at the Challenger Learning Center of Lucas County, Oregon, Ohio, USA, on 25 July. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 11:38 UTC. The contact will be a direct between stations NA1SS and KB9UPS. The contact should be audible in southern portions of Canada and eastern portions of the United States. Interested parties are invited to listen in on the 145.80 MHz downlink. The participants are expected to conduct the conversation in English. Additional listening options are listed below: IRLP - Connect to the IRLP reflector 9010. You may also connect via the IRLP Discovery website at http://www.discoveryreflector.ca/listen.htm. Our Challenger Learning Center (CLC) is part of a network of over 51 Centers throughout the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada. Each Center is owned and operated locally by a host institution, which in our case is Lucas County Educational Service Center. These Challenger Learning Centers are the primary component of the Challenger Center for Space Science Education founded by the families of the astronauts tragically lost during the launch of the Challenger Space Shuttle in January 1986. Dedicated to the educational spirit of that mission, each Challenger Learning Center continues the mission through a unique hands-on learning experience in which students use math, science, teamwork, problem-solving, responsible decision-making, and communication skills to successfully complete a simulated space mission. Since our opening in the fall of 2003, we have trained over 400 teachers and have flown over 480 missions. The Challenger Learning Center mission focuses on students in grades 5 and above. Over 12,000 students have successfully accomplished missions to the moon or Mars; nearly 1,500 community members and corporate staff have flown. Students will ask as many of the following questions as time allows: 1. What kind of fuel is used to power the space station? 2. What is your favorite thing about being an astronaut? 3. How is oxygen maintained in the ISS and what type of backup system is in place should a problem be encountered? 4. In your opinion, will people ever explore other planets and galaxies? 5. Do you think you'll ever go Mars? 6. Is it the same sleeping in space or do you have difficulty getting to sleep? 7. Were you there when something went wrong and were you able to fix it? 8. What other nationalities of astronauts do you work with and what language do you use? 9. What one factor you have experienced while living on the ISS has surprised you the most? 10. What was your favorite class and who was your favorite teacher in school? 11. Do you like being in zero gravity and what is it like? 12. When you where my age, what inspired you to become an astronaut? 13. What was the hardest part of your astronaut training? 14. What kind of food do you eat on the Space Station? 15. How does the Space Station keep from falling to the ground? 16. What do you do if you get sick or hurt on the ISS? 17. What is it like living in a space station, and how long are you there? 18. What is it like to be away from your family for so long? 19. Does the environment in space effect electronic equipment? 20. How do you handle home sickness? 21. What's it like in space? 22. Are the tools you use the same as on Earth and if not how are they different? 23. How do you train for your Space walks? 24. Do you have any free time and what do you do with it? 25. With all the satellites in orbit, how do you keep from running into things? 26. Why do you feel it is worth the risk to go to Space? 27. In going to space for the first time, what surprised you the most? 28. What experiment that you have done in space was the most fun? 29. Can you describe how it feels to be weightless? 30. In all of your training to become an astronaut, what has been the most fun? 31. How do you know if the Space Station is on course? 32. Do you like doing the space walks and how does it feel to you? Information about the next scheduled ARISS contact can be found at http://www.rac.ca/ariss/upcoming.htm#NextContact . Next planned event(s): 21st World Scout Jamboree, Hylands Park, Chelmsford, England direct via GB100J, Sat 2007-08-04 21:10 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, Stephen Ponder - N5WBI

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SPACEHAB Ready for Last Mission-STS 118
by Arthur Rowe 18 Jul '07

18 Jul '07

SUBMITTED BY ARTHUR N1ORC - AMSAT A/C #31468 SPACEHAB Ready for Last Mission 07.16.07 SPACEHAB is preparing to close the hatch on its shuttle research and cargo carrier enterprise fourteen years after its first pressurized module flew into space on an orbiter while the company begins their strategic journey into space-based microgravity processing. The company provided its first space-rated travel trailer of sorts to NASA in 1993. Later, the design would come in especially handy for missions to the Mir space station and during the construction and outfitting of the International Space Station. Image right: A SPACEHAB module is loaded into a payload canister to be taken out to the launch pad where it will be loaded into the space shuttle Endeavour. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann TO VIEW IMAGES GO TO: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/behindscenes/lastspacehab.html The single module bolted into Endeavour's cargo bay will continue that work by carrying some 5,800 pounds of equipment and supplies to the International Space Station, according to Don Moore, director of ground operations at the company's Cape Canaveral, Fla., facility. "We're all sad that this is the last module mission," Moore said. "It's kind of hard to see that go away." Pete Paceley, SPACEHAB Flight Services V.P. said, “but it is a transition flight for us and we’re excited about the demonstration tests for microgravity processing that we’re flying as well.” NASA could still enlist a pressurized SPACEHAB module for a shuttle supply run in the future, but the flight manifest currently leaves that task to the Italian-built multi-purpose logistics modules. The MPLMs are built to attach directly to the space station during a shuttle mission, but still come back with the orbiter. A module from SPACEHAB remains in the cargo bay during the entire flight. For now, SPACEHAB is keeping its two modules certified for flight until the shuttles retire in 2010. Since flying its first pressurized module in 1993 aboard STS-57, the company has claimed the mantle of a successful aerospace corporation by catering to researchers and others willing to pay to get their experiments into space and back aboard an orbiter. SPACEHAB modules have ridden shuttles into orbit more than a dozen times.Image left: Space Shuttle Discovery recently carried a SPACEHAB module as part of its mission to resupply the International Space Station. The modules can hold spare parts, equipment and supplies, or can act as laboratories of their own, depending on the mission. Photo credit: NASA Missions often left enough room for other paying research customers. "Anybody that flew liked the ease that they could come in and work in our facilities," Moore said. “Our future depends on our ability to leverage our unique capabilities, engineering expertise, and application of commercial processes for spaceflight processing,” Paceley said. Among the hundreds of past experiments carried out aboard the modules include aerogel, the super-lightweight substance that became the centerpiece of the Stardust mission to gather particles from interstellar space. He emphasized that the company could quickly fly an experiment again, too, something that NASA could not always do. "We'd always find room for it," Moore said. That approach is also fueling plans for corporate life after the shuttle retires. In addition to the utilization of the ISS for microgravity processing, the company is also working on a spacecraft that could ride atop expendable rockets and carry self-contained experiments or manufacturing elements into orbit. But Moore's focus is on Endeavour's upcoming flight, and there is plenty to focus on. Just packing the module takes considerable planning, especially considering that some of the bags have to be loaded while the module is on its back inside Endeavour at the launch pad. Image right: Crew members for mission STS-118 familiarize themselves with the SPACEHAB module they will unload while at the International Space Station. The cargo module will be packed with equipment and supplies. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett Moore said the loaders devise a complex choreography to get the 5,800 pounds of gear on racks and stacked in bags exactly where the astronauts expect to find it. "You get down to people's weight, who's going to go down first, who's going to go down second," he said. The company uses mock-ups of the module to fine-tune the routine. Astronauts typically get some time in the actual module and the trainers to find out what they will see once they reach space. In the case of STS-118, the crew can expect a tight fit in the module because of all the gear strapped to the walls. The good news is that what seems like a tight fit on Earth opens up significantly in space, where the lack of gravity lets astronauts float up to the module's window. Crew members can also tuck themselves into crevices and sleep inside the module. As with all the missions that carry a SPACEHAB element, Moore will sit in the Launch Control Center at Kennedy Space Center during launch before heading to Mission Control at Johnson Space Center to oversee the module during the flight. "Every launch is special," he said. "I think we're just going to be on the edge of our seats."

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STS-118 Crew Continues Countdown Demonstration Test
by Arthur Rowe 18 Jul '07

18 Jul '07

SUBMITTED BY ARTHUR N1ORC - AMSAT A/C #31468 *STS-118 Crew Continues Countdown Demonstration Test* STS-118 Mission Specialist Dave Williams checks the fit of his launch and entry suit. Image above: STS-118 Mission Specialist Dave Williams gets help with his boot during fit testing of his launch and entry suit. Photo credit: NASA/George Shelton + View Full Size Image <http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/170419main_07pd1911.jpg>* 07.18.07 - 9:00 a.m. EDT* The seven-member crew of STS-118 is at Kennedy Space Center in Florida this week for the terminal countdown demonstration test, a final round of prelaunch training that concludes with a simulated launch countdown for the crew and the launch team. Today's test activities include several briefings and an emergency egress walk down for the flight crew at Launch Pad 39A. During this exercise, the astronauts receive training on the slide wire basket system that would carry them safely from the pad in an emergency. Commander Scott Kelly and Pilot Charlie Hobaugh will continue their practice flights aboard the shuttle training aircraft this evening. Space Shuttle Endeavour arrived at Launch Pad 39A early July 11, and the STS-118 payload -- including the S5 truss, SPACEHAB module and external stowage platform 3 -- is secured inside the orbiters payload bay. Launch is targeted for the evening of Aug. 7. *Mission Information* + STS-118 Mission Overview <http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts118/index.html> + STS-118 Briefing Animations <http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts118/multimedia…> + STS-117 Mission Archive <http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts117/main/index…>

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Spacewalk Dry Run Planned for Thursday
by Arthur Rowe 18 Jul '07

18 Jul '07

SUBMITTED BY ARTHUR N1ORC - AMSAT A/C #31468 *Spacewalk Dry Run Planned for Thursday* Image above: Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin (left) and Flight Engineer Clay Anderson work with a spacesuit in the Quest Airlock of the International Space Station. Image credit: NASA TO VIEW IMAGE GO TO: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html The Expedition 15 crew on Thursday will do a dry run of its spacewalk planned for Monday. The crew is also configuring the Quest airlock systems. + Expedition 15 Mission Status Briefing Materials, July 18, 2007 <http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition15/exp15_ms…> Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin and Flight Engineer Clay Anderson will put on their U.S. spacesuits for Thursday’s dry run activities. Flight Engineer Oleg Kotov will test his robotic skills and maneuver the station’s robotic arm, Candarm2, to a pre-determined position. During Monday’s spacewalk one of Anderson’s tasks is to jettison the 1,400-pound Early Ammonia Servicer (EAS). A docked Progress 25 cargo craft will fire its thrusters on July 21 and 23 raising the International Space Station’s orbit. The reboost provides the proper phasing for an upcoming Progress 26 launch and docking. The Progress firing also clears the station after the EAS is jettisoned and provides flight day three rendezvous opportunities when space shuttle Endeavour arrives on mission STS-118. The Progress 24 cargo craft will undock from the Pirs docking compartment on Aug. 1 and burn up in the Earth’s atmosphere. Progress 26 is scheduled for launch on Aug. 2 and will reach the station on Aug. 5. Two days later on Aug. 7, space shuttle Endeavour is targeted for launch with a station rendezvous and docking planned for Aug. 9. + Read more about Expedition 15 <http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition15/index.ht…> + View crew daily timelines <http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/timelines/index.html>

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Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2007-07-18 06:00 UTC
by AJ9N＠aol.com 18 Jul '07

18 Jul '07

Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2007-07-18 06:00 UTC Quick list of scheduled contacts and events: Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children, Orlando, Florida, telebridge via W6SRJ Successful Tue 2007-07-17 18:20 UTC 73 deg via W6SRJ (***) Challenger Learning Center of Lucas County, Oregon, Ohio, direct via KB9UPS Wed 2007-07-25 11:38 UTC 49 deg Watch for simulcast on IRLP and Echolink. Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school contacts is 305. (***) Total number of ARISS supported terrestrial contacts is 1. QSL information may be found at: http://www.arrl.org/ARISS/arissfaq.html http://www.rac.ca/ariss/oindex.htm#QSL's ISS callsigns: DP0ISS, NA1SS, RS0ISS ***************************************************************************** The schedule page has been updated as of 2007-07-18 06:00 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 2007-07-18 06:00 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 have been rumors in the past indicating 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 15 on orbit: Fyodor Yurchikhin RN3FI Dr. Oleg Kotov Clayton Anderson KD5PLA Expedition 15 future: Daniel Tani KD5DXE ***************************************************************************** 73, Charlie Sufana AJ9N One of the ARISS operation team mentors ************************************** Get a sneak peek of the all-new AOL at http://discover.aol.com/memed/aolcom30tour

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NASA Holds Briefing With First Female Station Commander and Crew
by Arthur Rowe 18 Jul '07

18 Jul '07

SUBMITTED BY ARTHUR N1ORC - AMSAT A/C #31468 > July 17, 2007 > > Allard Beutel > Headquarters, Washington > 202-358-4769 > > Nicole Cloutier-Lemasters > Johnson Space Center, Houston > 281-483-5111 > > > > NASA HOLDS BRIEFING WITH FIRST FEMALE STATION COMMANDER AND CREW > > HOUSTON - The next visitors to the International Space Station will > discuss their upcoming flight during a news conference at 2 p.m. CDT > Monday, July 23. The Expedition 16 crew includes Commander Peggy > Whitson, the first female to lead a long-duration spaceflight. > > The news conference from NASA's Johnson Space Center, Houston, will be > broadcast live on NASA Television with questions taken from media at > other NASA facilities. Reporters should call their local NASA center > to confirm its participation in the event. > > In October, Whitson, Expedition 16 Flight Engineer Yuri Malenchenko > and spaceflight participant Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor, who is from > Malaysia, will launch on a Soyuz spacecraft from the Baikonur > Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Shukor is flying under an agreement with > Russia. Shukor will return to Earth with Expedition 15 crew members > Fyodor Yurchikhin and Oleg Kotov after nine days aboard the station. > > During their six months in space, veterans Whitson and Malenchenko > will be joined by Expedition 16 flight engineers Dan Tani, Leopold > Eyharts of the European Space Agency and Garrett Reisman. > > After Monday's news conference, Expedition 16 crew members will be > available for round-robin interviews. Shukor will take part in the > news conference but not the interviews. > > Tani will begin his work with the expedition during space shuttle > Discovery's STS-120 mission, targeted for launch Oct. 20. Space > shuttle Atlantis' STS-122 mission, which is targeted for launch Dec. > 6, will deliver Eyharts to the outpost and return Tani to Earth. > Reisman will head to the station on space shuttle Endeavour's STS-123 > mission, targeted for launch Feb. 14, 2008. He will replace Eyharts > and return to Earth on a later shuttle flight. > > For NASA TV downlink, schedules and streaming video information, > visit: > > http://www.nasa.gov/ntv > > For more about the crew's activities and station sighting > opportunities, visit: > > http://www.nasa.gov/station > > > -end- > > > > > >

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Expedition 15 Readies for Reboost, Spacewalk
by Arthur Rowe 18 Jul '07

18 Jul '07

SUBMITTED BY ARTHUR N1ORC - AMSAT A/C #31468 *Expedition 15 Readies for Reboost, Spacewalk* iss015e15644 -- Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin and Flight Engineer Clay Anderson Image above: Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin (left) and Flight Engineer Clay Anderson work with a spacesuit in the Quest Airlock of the International Space Station. Image credit: NASA TO VIEW IMAGE GO TO: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html A docked Progress 25 cargo craft will fire its thrusters on July 21 and 23 raising the International Space Station’s orbit. The reboost provides the proper phasing for an upcoming Progress 26 launch and docking. The Progress firing also clears the station after the Early Ammonia Servicer (EAS) is jettisoned during a July 23 spacewalk and provides flight day three rendezvous opportunities when space shuttle Endeavour arrives on mission STS-118. In advance of the reboost, the crew is testing the command and data telemetry of the Russian computers. The Progress 24 cargo craft will undock from the Pirs docking compartment on Aug. 1 and burn up in the Earth’s atmosphere. Progress 26 is scheduled for launch on Aug. 2 and will reach the station on Aug. 5. Two days later on Aug. 7, space shuttle Endeavour is targeted for launch with a station rendezvous and docking planned for Aug. 9. The Expedition 15 crew is also preparing for the July 23 spacewalk. Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin and Flight Engineer Clay Anderson are familiarizing themselves with the SAFER (Simplified Aid for EVA Rescue) jetpacks they will wear on their U.S. spacesuits. During the spacewalk one of Anderson’s tasks is to jettison the 1,400-pound EAS. Flight Engineer Oleg Kotov is reviewing Canadarm2 procedures as he prepares to become the first cosmonaut to solely operate the robotic arm during Monday’s spacewalk. + Read more about Expedition 15 <http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition15/index.ht…> + View crew daily timelines <http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/timelines/index.html>

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Preflight Interview: Scott Kelly-STS-118
by Arthur Rowe 17 Jul '07

17 Jul '07

SUBMITTED BY ARTHUR N1ORC - AMSAT A/C 331468 Preflight Interview: Scott Kelly 07.11.07 s99-05705 -- STS-118 Commander Scott Kelly *Q. This is our interview with STS-118 Commander Scott Kelly. Thanks for joining us.* Image at right: STS-118 Commander Scott Kelly. Photo Credit: NASA TO VIEW IMAGE GO TO: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts118/interview_… A. It’s good to be here. *Let’s get right into the mission. How would you describe STS-118 to the layperson?* STS-118 is a space shuttle mission to the International Space Station. It’s what’s considered an assembly mission which means we’re going to bring up a piece of the space station and leave it there and we’re going to connect a small piece of the truss to the station. We’re also going to bring up some supplies for the crew members on board and, and spare parts, and also another component that allows us to keep more external spares on board the space station called the ESP3. At one point it was a crew rotation mission, but the decision was made to fly Clay Anderson, who was previously one of the 118 crew members and is going to be the long-duration crew member after Suni Williams. The decision was made to move him to the previous flight, so we’re no longer a crew rotation flight. *What has to happen for you to consider 118 a success?* To consider this flight a success, I think, certainly we have to get the shuttle to the space station and back safely and make sure all the crew members return safely. After that we need to install the truss element that we’re carrying to the space station. We also need to install ESP3 again, which is the external spare carrier that we’re going to install not during an EVA, but robotically. And then, we need to get the cargo we’re bringing to the space station transferred. And, I think if we do all those things, have four successful spacewalks, bring everyone home safely, I’ll consider the flight a success. *This flight is timelined for three spacewalks originally. And there’s a piece of equipment that, if it works as we expect it to, will extend the mission and enable that fourth spacewalk. Can you tell me about that piece of equipment?* We're going to be the first flight of what’s called the station-to-shuttle power transfer system. It’s also known as SSPTS. That allows the shuttle to use electrical power from the space station. The … space station has solar arrays that produce electricity; the shuttle uses fuel cells that require cryogenic oxygen and hydrogen to produce electricity. But with the SSPTS system, it’s essentially a system of cables and power converts that allows the space shuttle to use space station electricity. And, by doing that, we can extend the duration of our mission. Without SSPTS, we are likely a, going to be an 11-day flight, and assuming that it works, we’ll be able to, to fly a 14-day mission so we, we can add three days to the flight. *So, it’s kind of a long extension cord of sorts.* Yeah, it’s a long extension cord with some power converts to convert the space station voltages to the voltage that the shuttle can use. *Great. You’re also taking SPACEHAB with you. Why is the SPACEHAB module flying on this mission?* The SPACEHAB is flying on this mission because we have a, enough room in the cargo bay to fit it. It allows us to carry more cargo; about 5,000 pounds of supplies and spare parts, science experiments, things like that, to the space station and then bring home an equal amount of cargo, stuff that is no longer needed or, in some cases, actually even garbage back from the station. We can put that in the SPACEHAB. *Part of the reason you have more room in the payload bay is because the truss you’re taking is shorter. Can you talk to me about S5 truss and what capability that gives the station?* The S5 truss is simply a spacer element. It’s small. It allows us to connect S4, the S4 truss solar array segment to the S6 truss element that will be brought up on a later flight, about a year after we fly, on STS-119. So, it’s, you know, really just a piece that doesn’t have any of its own electrical components. It’s just a connecting element that allows you to connect one of the solar array elements to another one that’s going to come up on a later flight. *Let’s talk about the mission a little more specifically. What does it feel like to launch aboard a space shuttle?* It’s very exciting. My first flight was in 1999, STS-103, and I’ve only flown once before. But I’ll certainly never forget the launch. The shuttle weighs 5 million pounds on the launch pad, and it has 7 million pounds of thrust initially. And you know, it seems like you can feel every pound of that thrust. When you’re watching the shuttle launch as a, as a spectator, it kind of looks like you’re lifting off the pad slowly. But when you’re inside, it doesn’t seem very slow. It seems like you’re really getting up and going in a hurry. You know you’re going somewhere; you’re not exactly sure where; but you know you’re not coming back to Florida. It’s quite a wild ride. *What do you need to do to catch up with the space station?* We do a series of rendezvous burns firing engines on board the shuttle to adjust our orbit so we can catch up to the space station (I guess you could call it). And we’ll actually rendezvous about 48 hours after we launch. And the way we do that is by burning engines at different times throughout the first couple of days of the mission until we get closer to the space station. When we get a few thousand feet away, I’ll start flying the shuttle manually to complete the rendezvous. *There are a few tasks before you dock. Can you tell me about the things that you need to do before you actually reach the space station?* Well, the first two days of the flight are, are very, very busy. Once we get on orbit, we have to configure the shuttle from a rocket to a, kind of a spaceship. It takes a lot of work. We have computer networks we have to get set up; photo TV equipment that we use that needs to be set up; we have to get into the SPACEHAB module; we have to reconfigure the whole tunnel system and the docking system that allows us to dock. A lot of that stuff is done on the day we launch. The next day we do inspection for which we use the space shuttle’s robot arm and a boom that is attached to it to inspect the thermal protection system of the shuttle for any damage that may have occurred on ascent. And then on the third day (it’s really about 48 hours after launch though), is rendezvous day. We get up early and we do a series of burning the orbiter maneuvering system engines and reaction control system jets to close in on the space station. *Will you turn the back flip?* Yeah, all flights now are doing what’s called the rendezvous pitch maneuver which we do when we’re approaching the station from below. And when we get to within a range that you can get some, some good pictures of the, of the bottom of the shuttle (between 500 and 1,000 feet away), what we’ll do is using the shuttle’s digital autopilot we’ll command a series of pitch maneuvers that basically allows the shuttle to kind of pitch up and kind of flip around as we’re approaching the station. And the guys on board the station will take pictures that’ll later be analyzed on the ground to kind of further inspect the integrity of the thermal control system on the bottom of the space shuttle. *Can you tell me what you do right before you dock, that last approach and rendezvous? What’s your job during that time as commander?* My job is kind of to be the overall, you know, person responsible for flying the orbiter during the rendezvous. That’s obviously my main task during that specific phase of flight. And as we get within several thousand feet of the station, I’ll actually start flying it manually by looking at some camera views on some monitors, but also looking out the window. We’ll come up from beneath the space station. And inside of 1,000 feet, we’ll do this rendezvous pitch maneuver where the shuttle flips around. And then once that’s complete, we’ll get the vehicle stabilized below the space station, close in a little bit further, and then start a fly-around where I’ll fly the shuttle 90 degrees to what’s called the V-bar (it’s really the velocity vector). So, I’m flying in front of the space station as we both kind of head around the same orbit and then close in from there. And basically you fly the vehicle manually using these camera views and out-the-window views until you get about two inches away, and then you push a button and the autopilot fires a series of firings to kind of complete the last part of the contact to make sure that you have the right contact parameters where you’re actually connecting the two docking systems. *Once you’ve docked and you open the hatch, you’ll get to meet up again with someone you’ve trained with quite a bit and, and the other ISS crew members. Can you tell me what it will be like to meet up with Clay Anderson again?* You know, my first flight, we repaired the Hubble Space Telescope. So, it’s not like we actually went to a specific place, and obviously we didn’t get to see any other, other people. So, I’m kind of excited about that part of the flight, visiting another vehicle and going inside and seeing people that you haven’t seen in a while. For us, it’s somewhat unique in that Clay was really a part of the STS-118 crew until just several weeks ago, about three months before our flight. And then, he was moved up to the previous mission. So, he was trained to do a lot of the mission-specific tasks with us. He’s doing a lot of the robotics operations, and he’s also doing two EVAs. In some ways it’s kind of an advantage in that, when we get there, Clay will have been in space for a couple of months already. He’ll be very comfortable. And although his training won’t be very recent or, you know, as recent as our training, I think that is going to be OK because his experience and his comfort in space will make up for that. So it’ll be great to see him there as well. I think it’ll be a very fun time to get see him and Fyodor and Oleg. We haven’t trained with those guys in a while. They launched in April (I think). So, they, they will have been on board for quite some time by the time we see them. *In the seat that Clay Anderson is not in, you have a new crew member. Can you tell me what Alvin Drew adds to this mission?* Alvin Drew actually adds a lot. You know, there are certain parts of the flight that were a concern. As an example: We have a lot of stuff to transfer, and we don’t have enough time to do it. By adding Al, it’s allowed us to pick up some of that transfer time. So instead of me being concerned that we might not get this done or we’re going to overwork the crew to get it done, it provides me with a little bit more sense of security that, that we’re going to be successful at getting this stuff transferred because we have him to help with it. And there are other examples like that. These missions are very, very complicated. The timeline is very, very full. It’s really a big advantage to us to get this seventh crew member to help offload a lot of the, a lot of the extra work that we put into these timelines. So although he doesn’t have specific, high-profile responsibilities like doing an EVA or the robotics operations, the stuff he’s doing is very, very important to our mission success and I’m very happy to have him on this flight. So far, he’s been doing a great job, and I expect great things from him on orbit. *You have a role related to the, to the spacewalks. Can you tell us about that?* The spacewalks are very complex. Obviously, there are the two guys outside doing the actual tasks in the suits. But you know there are a lot of other people that, that play a role -- not only on board but also on the ground: the engineers and people that trained us; the flight controllers that work in Mission Control that are monitoring what we’re doing and making, in some cases, real-time decisions in how we should proceed. But there are also other crew members onboard that help. Specifically Tracy Caldwell is what’s called the IV crew member for the tasks. She is kind of the choreographer of the spacewalks from inside the space shuttle. She’ll be talking to Dave and Rick and Clay, kind of keeping them on the timeline. You know, they can’t have notes out there and it’s a lot of stuff to remember. So she’s kind of helping them with what they need to do next and keeping track of what they’ve accomplished and working with them if there’s any kind of contingencies. The other part of that job that I’m doing is actually getting them into the suits. The suits are fairly complex pieces of machinery. It’s a fairly complicated process to get someone out of the hatch. It’s much more complicated than just putting on the suit and going outside. It takes many, many hours of preparing the suits and then actually getting the crew members in them, making sure they’re checked out and ready to go. They’re kind of their own little spacecraft. So they have a bunch of life support systems and things like that that need to be checked. My role before the EVA and after the EVA will be what’s called the suit IV, the person that’s kind of responsible for getting these guys in and out of the suits. During the EVA my responsibilities I think are more in trying to maintain the big picture about what’s going on outside, making sure we’re doing things safely and making sure the other things that are going on during the EVAs get done as well. So, it's trying to keep, I think the big picture on the timeline and keep track of everything that’s going on. *Some of your crewmates have been to the space station before. Your twin brother has actually been to the space station twice. Have you gotten any pointers or advice from them about flying to the space station?* Yes, certainly. We have a lot of experience in our office. You can certainly learn things from people that have done some of these things already. Charlie Hobaugh and Rick have already been to the space station. It’s great having them on board. They have certain areas of knowledge that I don’t have because I haven’t been there yet. So it’s great to have some experience on this crew. Dave Williams has flown before, though it wasn’t to the space station. So he brings a certain level of experience. And then and I certainly talk to my brother a lot -- certainly not only about work. But he is a good source of information for me if I have any, any questions that only someone who’s kind of been there and done that could answer. *Will you have any free time on this flight?* We have some off-duty time. I think that is more time to catch up on stuff that you haven’t been able to accomplish and to rest. These timelines are very busy. This is going to be the longest flight to the space station to date. One of my concerns is that because it’s 14 days long, it doesn’t mean we have more time to do the same amount of stuff. You just pack more stuff in there. So certainly fatigue is a concern. So, any off-duty time hopefully we can use that to just kind of maybe rest and kind of recharge our batteries. *What’s been your greatest challenge or reward from working and training with your crewmates for this mission?* I think the greatest challenge in working on one of these flights, at least when we’re in training, is making sure that we get trained to an appropriate level to do the mission. There’s so many different complicated tasks we have to do. So making sure that everyone, including myself, is at the right level of training is certainly I think the most challenging aspect of it. *I’d like to talk a little bit about your path that, that you took to get to this point in your career. You started off as a military aviator, and you still are. What drew you to that?* When I was younger and in high school, college, I had a desire to fly in the military. I chose the Navy because I thought landing on aircraft carriers would be kind of the most challenging type of aviation in high-performance jets, which I wanted to fly. And I was right: Flying around the aircraft carrier, especially at night, is a very challenging piloting task. When I was at the end of my first fleet tour in a fighter squadron, I decided that maybe not more challenging but kind of a different challenge would be being a test pilot. And then, when I was at Pax River as a test pilot, in Maryland where most of the Navy test flying is done, I decided that I’d apply to the space program. I was lucky enough to get an interview and also lucky enough to get accepted. *How old were you when you decided that you wanted to be a pilot?* I think being a pilot for me was a lot like how kids want to be a lot of different things. So, it’s something that I thought about growing up. But, it wasn’t like it was a single-minded goal that I had. The same thing with, with being an astronaut. It’s something that certainly interested me as a kid, but not something that was this life-long, single-minded goal that I had and as a kid never thought I would actually have the opportunity. It’s quite surprising to be here. *And, when did the idea of being an astronaut become tangible to you?* I think being an astronaut became tangible to me when I was working as a test pilot in Pax River. The commanders and pilots of the, of the shuttle are typically military or former military test pilots. So, having had that background kind of made it much more likely that I would be considered for the job. It wasn’t until just a few years before getting accepted that it actually became something that was more real to me than just some kind of abstract goal. *In your military career, did you know other people who had become astronauts?* Yeah, I did, especially in the class that showed up here just a year before us. A lot of the, the pilots come from the Navy Test Center at Patuxent River, Md., or at least they were there in one point in their career -- whether it was test pilot school or working as a test pilot. So I did know a few of the guys that were down here already. *Were they the ones that inspired you to apply to the corps? Or, was there something else?* It wasn’t really a specific person that inspired me. It was more just kind of the concept of flying in space and taking flying to the next most challenging level that inspired me. Certainly the Apollo Program, being a kid during the moon landings and having a memory of that, was always in my mind. I thought it would just be a very challenging and exciting job. And I was right. *Who inspires you to continue in this career? Is it just a love of, of the spaceflight program? Are there particular people that inspire you to continue this?* Well, I think for me it’s more that it’s a very interesting job. It’s very challenging. You get to work with very dedicated people -- not only the people that have the privilege of flying in space, but all the people that train us and the engineers that work on the program, and just everyone involved just has such a love for what they do. It’s kind of contagious. And so I think I get my inspiration from the organization as a whole. *Have you had a chance to meet the ground support personnel that work on this flight or talk to some of the people who help put this flight together?* Yeah, I’ve been assigned to STS-118 since December of 2002. So I’ve had an opportunity to meet a lot of the people here and at the Kennedy Space Center, the guys that work on the vehicle and get it ready for launch. It’s really great to be able to meet them, especially the folks at the Kennedy Space Center that feel like they own the space shuttle and take so much care to do the work and then get it prepared for launch and get it right. It’s really a privilege to go and fly it for them and bring it back and, hopefully, return it to them in good shape. *How do you feel about being part of continuing the human presence in space?* I’m proud to be a part of this organization. I think that’s the way I would answer that question. I think having a permanent human presence in space is important for not only the country but the rest of the world. I think if we’re going to continue as a species eventually, far in our future, we’re going to have to find another place to live. And, this is just a small stepping-stone towards that goal. I think the space station is very important for us to learn to live and work in space -- not only just from a human aspect, but all the equipment we have that operates on the space station 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We need to know how to build and operate that stuff if we’re going to ever venture farther away from this planet, like going to the moon and on to Mars or somewhere else after. *After your crew’s jobs on the spacewalks are done and it’s time to undock and go home, what’s your job and what, what needs to happen before you land?* We will close the hatch between the station and the shuttle the night before we undock, that's our plan. When we wake up the next morning; there are some things we need to do with the tunnel to get it ready to undock. And then through the docking system we command the undocking and some springs will push off the shuttle at a specific rate. The pilot, Charlie Hobaugh, is actually doing the flying during the undocking. He’ll back away to about 600 feet and then he will manually fly the shuttle -- very similar to what we do during the docking when we go from underneath the space station to in front of it. But he’ll fly the shuttle all the way around, probably a full lap (360 degrees). We do that to take photo documentation of the outside of the space station just to make sure that it’s as we expect it to be. And then once we do the 360-degree fly-around, we’ll do another burn that’ll kind of take us above and behind the space station. After we do that, we do a whole other series of inspecting the thermal protection system on the bottom of the shuttle, just like we did on the second day of the flight, we’ll do that a couple of days before coming home. And, we use the shuttle’s robot arm attached to the boom that we carry up in the payload bay, and we again do another whole, almost exactly the same as we did on the second flight day, series of inspections. If we see something during those inspections that we don’t like, there are several things we can do. One is do nothing, if there is damage that’s OK to land with. The other is we could potentially send our EVA crew members out to repair it. Or we could go back to the space station and dock and use that as a safe haven for the crew. After that day we use the next day to get the shuttle back configured from kind of a spaceship to a re-entry vehicle. There’s a lot of work to be done there. We check out the flight control system. We check out the reaction control system jets, make sure they’re all working OK. And then the very next day we come, come back and that’s landing day. *Are you looking forward to sharing your experiences with the public once you’ve returned?* Yeah, certainly I look forward to talking about the mission and trying to relate what it’s like to be a crew member for one of these missions. *What’s your favorite part of spaceflight?* There are a lot of things that are great about having the privilege of flying in space. Certainly the ascent is an unbelievable feeling of energy that is getting the vehicle and you accelerated to 17,500 mph. The microgravity environment is fun and makes certain things easier to do. A lot of other things it actually makes harder to do. Looking out the window is a fantastic experience. But personally, for me, I think the best part about it is working with a really great group of people, both the folks on the crew and the thousands of people that are responsible for making these missions a success. Working with this very dedicated group on something that is really, really complicated …. to me it seems like it’s one of the most complicated things we do as humans is flying people on these, on space shuttles, on these very complicated space station missions. So working hard on something like that, with that kind of goal, and then being successful and the feeling of satisfaction I get from that makes that the best part of being part of this mission for me. *Scott Kelly, commander of STS-118, thank you for talking with us today.* You’re welcome.

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STS-118 Countdown Rehearsal Set to Begin
by Arthur Rowe 17 Jul '07

17 Jul '07

SUBMITTED BY ARTHUR N1ORC - AMSAT A/C #31468 *STS-118 Countdown Rehearsal Set to Begin* Image above: From left to right are Mission specialists Alvin Drew, Barbara R. Morgan, Dave Williams, Rick Mastracchio, Tracy Caldwell, Pilot Charlie Hobaugh, and Commander Scott Kelly. Photo credit: NASA + View Full Size Image <http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/170419main_118_crew_tcdt-lg.jpg> <http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/170419main_118_crew_tcdt-lg.jpg> *07.16.07 - 7:45 p.m. EDT* The seven-member crew of STS-118 arrived at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Monday evening for the terminal countdown demonstration test. Often referred to as TCDT, the test is a final round of prelaunch training that concludes with a simulated launch countdown for the crew and the launch team. Space Shuttle Endeavour arrived at Launch Pad 39A early July 11 after an overnight rollout from the Vehicle Assembly Building. The STS-118 payload -- including the S5 truss, SPACEHAB module and external stowage platform 3 -- was delivered July 8 to the pad's payload changeout room. The STS-118 mission will be the 22nd flight to the International Space Station and first flight for Endeavour since 2002. Launch is targeted for the evening of Aug. 7. *Mission Information* + STS-118 Mission Overview <http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts118/index.html> + STS-117 Mission Archive <http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts117/main/index…>

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Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2007-07-17 03:00 UTC
by AJ9N＠aol.com 17 Jul '07

17 Jul '07

Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2007-07-17 03:00 UTC Quick list of scheduled contacts and events: Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children, Orlando, Florida, telebridge via W6SRJ Tue 2007-07-17 18:20 UTC 73 deg via W6SRJ Watch for simulcast on IRLP and Echolink. (***) Challenger Learning Center of Lucas County, Oregon, Ohio, direct via KB9UPS Wed 2007-07-25 11:38 UTC 49 deg Watch for simulcast on IRLP and Echolink. (***) Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school contacts is 304. Total number of ARISS supported terrestrial contacts is 1. QSL information may be found at: http://www.arrl.org/ARISS/arissfaq.html http://www.rac.ca/ariss/oindex.htm#QSL's ISS callsigns: DP0ISS, NA1SS, RS0ISS ***************************************************************************** The schedule page has been updated as of 2007-07-17 03:00 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 2007-07-08 00:00 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 have been rumors in the past indicating 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 15 on orbit: Fyodor Yurchikhin RN3FI Dr. Oleg Kotov Clayton Anderson KD5PLA Expedition 15 future: Daniel Tani KD5DXE ***************************************************************************** 73, Charlie Sufana AJ9N One of the ARISS operation team mentors ************************************** Get a sneak peek of the all-new AOL at http://discover.aol.com/memed/aolcom30tour

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informal proposal for ARISS
by Patrick McGrane 16 Jul '07

16 Jul '07

Greetings from Patrick N2OEQ This is primarily to the attention of the principal ARISS members. Many years have gone by with very little casual amateur radio activity from the various crews of the ISS. The majority of activity has been formal school contacts. Over the years, the primary function of ARISS operation has been unattended packet digipeating. The time constraints on the crews have been noted. Faced with the reality that the crews have far greater advanced means of communicating with others on the ground, I am not surprised the amateur radio has not appealed to them for casual use. Considering the fact that the crew members are rarely active aside from school contacts, I propose that the ARISS group reconsider future plans of equipment used by the crew and instead consider ways of providing equipment whose operation would be independant of the crew. Projects similar to the columbus project. One example might be interfacing the new future equipment on HF etcetera for unattended cross-band operation or audio playback operation. The older D700 could be used for packet bouncing and the other equipment could be used for Phone operation. The power capability of the International Space Station is ideally suited for providing a simple to recieve and use, amateur radio station in space to attract new users. Both digital and Phone use could be provided simultaneously. Please consider using the ISS capability with minimal crew intervention. If they call CQ in the future, thats fine, but there sure is a lot of time going by in between. I no longer monitor the ISS frequencies as much as I did. When astronauts travel to Mars in future years, instantaneous radio communications will be useless so perhaps now is a good time to start designing for automated communications. Thanks for considering this. Perhaps its time for robotic amateur radio on the ISS. Any other ideas? thank you, 73

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STS-118 Countdown Rehearsal Set to Begin
by Arthur Rowe 14 Jul '07

14 Jul '07

SUBMITTED BY ARTHUR N1ORC - AMSAT A/C #31468 *STS-118 Countdown Rehearsal Set to Begin* Image above: Space Shuttle Endeavour stands at Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39A. Photo credit: NASA/Ken Thornsley + View Full Size Image <http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/170419main_07pd1831.jpg> *07.13.07 - 10 a.m. EDT* The seven-member crew of STS-118 is set to arrive at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Monday for the terminal countdown demonstration test. Often referred to as TCDT, the test is a final round of prelaunch training that concludes with a simulated launch countdown for the crew and the launch team. Space Shuttle Endeavour arrived at Launch Pad 39A early July 11 after an overnight rollout from the Vehicle Assembly Building. The STS-118 payload -- including the S5 truss, SPACEHAB module and external stowage platform 3 -- was delivered July 8 to the pad's payload changeout room. The STS-118 mission will be the 22nd flight to the International Space Station and first flight for Endeavour since 2002. Launch is targeted for the evening of Aug. 7. *Mission Information* + STS-118 Mission Overview <http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts118/index.html> + STS-117 Mission Archive <http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts117/main/index…>

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Oxygen Generation System Producing Oxygen
by Arthur Rowe 14 Jul '07

14 Jul '07

SUBMITTED BY ARTHUR N1ORC - AMSAT A/C #31468 *Oxygen Generation System Producing Oxygen* ISS015-E-15680 --- Clay Anderson with a spacesuit in the Quest Airlock of the ISS image above: Astronaut Clay Anderson, Expedition 15 flight engineer, poses with an Extravehicular Mobility Unit spacesuit in the Quest Airlock of the International Space Station. Image credit: NASA TO VIEW IMAGE GO TO: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html The U.S. Oxygen Generation System (OGS) is up and running and producing oxygen. After a day of fits and starts with the new system Thursday, environmental systems officers spent Thursday night resetting software system limits on fluid flow and sensor readings that caused multiple shutdowns of the OGS Thursday. Perseverance paid off Friday morning when the ECLSS console reported that the OGS had passed all of its tests and was producing oxygen as planned. The OGS is running in a "test mode." It is expected to be shut off over the weekend. Flight controllers plan to turn the OGS on periodically, probably once a month, until the point two years from now when it will be turned on to support a six-person crew. The crew is also continuing preparations for the spacewalk on July 23 by Flight Engineer Clay Anderson and Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin. The three crew members performed calf volume and body mass measurements. These tests provide a rough index of body deconditioning in zero-gravity and the effectiveness of countermeasures. An error condition in the EarthKAM camera required early termination of the current session. Yurchikhin continued work on the Russian computers, while Flight Engineer Oleg Kotov continued gathering and transferring excess equipment and trash to the ISS Progress 24. + Read more about Expedition 15 <http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition15/index.ht…> + View crew daily timelines <http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/timelines/index.html>

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Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2007-07-13 03:30 UTC
by AJ9N＠aol.com 13 Jul '07

13 Jul '07

Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2007-07-13 03:30 UTC Quick list of scheduled contacts and events: Maples Collegiate, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, direct via VE4NSA Successful Thu 2007-07-12 16:45 UTC 79 deg (***) Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children, Orlando, Florida, telebridge via W6SRJ Tue 2007-07-17 18:20 UTC 73 deg via W6SRJ Challenger Learning Center of Lucas County, Oregon, Ohio, direct via KB9UPS (***) Wed 2007-07-25 11:38 UTC 49 deg (***) Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school contacts is 304. (***) Total number of ARISS supported terrestrial contacts is 1. QSL information may be found at: http://www.arrl.org/ARISS/arissfaq.html http://www.rac.ca/ariss/oindex.htm#QSL's ISS callsigns: DP0ISS, NA1SS, RS0ISS ***************************************************************************** The schedule page has been updated as of 2007-07-13 03:30 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 2007-07-08 00:00 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 have been rumors in the past indicating 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 15 on orbit: Fyodor Yurchikhin RN3FI Dr. Oleg Kotov Clayton Anderson KD5PLA Expedition 15 future: Daniel Tani KD5DXE ***************************************************************************** 73, Charlie Sufana AJ9N One of the ARISS operation team mentors ************************************** Get a sneak peak of the all-new AOL at http://discover.aol.com/memed/aolcom30tour

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Oxygen Generation System Activation Continues
by Arthur Rowe 12 Jul '07

12 Jul '07

SUBMITTED BY ARTHUR N1ORC - AMSAT A/C #31468 *Oxygen Generation System Activation Continues* Image above: The International Space Station moves away from Space Shuttle Atlantis on June 19, 2007. Image credit: NASA TO VIEW ISS IMAGE GO TO: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html Flight Engineer Clay Anderson this morning activated the Oxygen Generation System (OGS) in the U.S. Lab for a test drive of the new system. The system, which will augment the ability to produce oxygen for the complex from the Russian Elektron system, will be vital in its future support of a six-person crew beginning in the spring of 2009. After operating normally, with good pump, fan and water flow readings, the system shut down. Ground controllers are troubleshooting the reason for the shutdown as they continue to work out the minor growing pains with the fledgling system. The station residents continued packing discarded items in the ISS Progress 24 cargo craft that will be cast off on Aug. 1. With all trash gathered and stowed from the U.S. side, Flight Engineer Oleg Kotov collected and stowed the Russian segment excess hardware and waste. The jettison of the craft will make room at the Pirs Docking Compartment for the arrival of the new ISS Progress 26 resupply vehicle on Aug. 5. The crew also participated in an educational event at Johnson Space Center Wednesday. The event was by and for Texas Aerospace Scholars, Clear Lake High School students, interns, co-ops, and STS-118 crew members Scott Kelly, Barbara Morgan and David Williams. + Read more about Expedition 15 <http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition15/index.ht…> + View crew daily timelines <http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/timelines/index.html>

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STS-118 CREW STATUS
by Arthur Rowe 11 Jul '07

11 Jul '07

SUBMITTED BY ARTHUR N1ORC - AMSAT A/C #31468 *STS-118 11 JULY 2007 * sts118s002 -- STS-118 crewImage above: The crew members of STS-118 pose for their official portrait. Pictured from the left are mission specialists Richard A. (Rick) Mastracchio, Barbara R. Morgan, Pilot Charles O. Hobaugh, Commander Scott J. Kelly and mission specialists Tracy E. Caldwell, Canadian Space Agency's Dafydd R. (Dave) Williams, and Alvin Drew Jr. Credit: NASA TO VIEW IMAGE GO TO: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts118/index.html Space Shuttle Endeavour's STS-118 mission is the 22nd shuttle flight to the International Space Station. It will continue space station construction by delivering a third starboard truss segment. + Visit the STS-118 Educators' Resource Page <http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/STS-118_index.html> U.S. Navy Commander Scott J. Kelly will command the seven-person crew of STS-118. U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Col Charles O. Hobaugh will be Endeavour's pilot. Veteran astronauts Richard A. Mastracchio and Dr. Dafydd (Dave) Williams of the Canadian Space Agency will be returning to space for their second missions. Barbara R. Morgan, Tracy E. Caldwell, Ph. D., and Benjamin Alvin Drew round out the crew as mission specialists. + Read the May 3, 2007, press release <http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2007/may/HQ_07099_Drew_on_118.html> + Read the April 26, 2007, press release <http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2007/apr/HQ_07093_Williams_Return.html> + Read the April 16, 2007, press release <http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2007/apr/HQ_07089_shuttle_manifest.html> + Read the May 17, 2006, press release <http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2006/may/HQ_06221_Shuttle_crew_announcement…> + Read the Dec. 12, 2002, press release <http://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/news/releases/2002/h02-249.html>

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Endeavour Arrives at Launch Pad 39A
by Arthur Rowe 11 Jul '07

11 Jul '07

SUBMITTED BY ARTHUR N1ORC - AMSAT A/C #31468 *Endeavour Arrives at Launch Pad 39A* Space Shuttle Endeavour at Launch Pad 39A. Image above: Space Shuttle Endeavour stands at Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39A. Photo credit: NASA/Ken Thornsley + View Full Size Image <http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/170419main_07pd1831.jpg> *07.11.07 - 1:45 p.m. EDT* Space Shuttle Endeavour is in place at Launch Pad 39A after an overnight journey from the Vehicle Assembly Building. Moving at less than one mile an hour atop the crawler-transporter, the shuttle assembly began the 3.4-mile trip at 8:10 p.m. EDT June 10 and arrived at the pad at 2:30 a.m. July 11. Endeavour was "hard down" -- or secured in place -- on the pad at 3:02 a.m. During the STS-118 mission, Endeavour will carry into orbit the S5 truss, SPACEHAB module and external stowage platform 3. The payload was delivered July 8 to the launch pad's payload changeout room. NASA is quickly gearing up for the shuttle's next visit to the International Space Station, targeted for launch Aug. 7 at 7:02 p.m. The mission will mark the first flight of Mission Specialist Barbara Morgan, the teacher-turned-astronaut whose association with NASA began more than 20 years ago. STS-118 will be the first flight for Endeavour since 2002. *Mission Information* + STS-118 Mission Overview <http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts118/index.html> + STS-117 Mission Archive <http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts117/main/index…>

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Space Shuttle Endeavour Moves to Launch Pad
by Arthur Rowe 11 Jul '07

11 Jul '07

SUBMITTED BY ARTHUR N1ORC - AMSAT A/C 331468 > July 11, 2007 > > John Yembrick > Headquarters, Washington > 202-358-0602 > > George Diller > Kennedy Space Center, Fla. > 321-867-2468 > > > > SPACE SHUTTLE ENDEAVOUR MOVES TO LAUNCH PAD > > CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Space shuttle Endeavour completed a 3.4-mile > journey to launch pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Fla., on > Wednesday shortly after 3 a.m. EDT. > > After a one-day weather delay, Endeavour left Kennedy's Vehicle > Assembly Building at 8:10 p.m., Tuesday, traveling at less than 1 mph > atop a massive crawler-transporter. While at the pad, the shuttle > will undergo final testing, payload installation and a "hot fire" > test of auxiliary power units. After final testing, the rotating > service structure will be moved around the vehicle to protect it from > the elements. > > Endeavour is targeted to lift off Aug. 7 on an 11-day STS-118 mission > to the International Space Station. Endeavour's crew includes > Commander Scott Kelly, Pilot Charlie Hobaugh and mission specialists > Tracy Caldwell, Rick Mastracchio, Barbara Morgan, Alvin Drew and > Canadian Space Agency astronaut Dave Williams. > > The crew is due to arrive at Kennedy's Shuttle Landing Facility at > approximately 7 p.m. on July 16 to participate in the Terminal > Countdown Demonstration Test, a launch dress rehearsal. Media > interested in attending should arrive at Kennedy's press site by 5:30 > p.m. for transportation to the facility. > > Video file of rollout will be available on NASA Television. For NASA > TV downlink information, schedules and links to streaming video, > visit: > > > > http://www.nasa.gov/ntv > > > > For information about the STS-118 crew and mission, visit: > > > > http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle > > > -end- > > > > > >

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Expedition 15 Conducts Emergency Exit Drill
by Arthur Rowe 11 Jul '07

11 Jul '07

SUBMITTED BY ARTHUR N1ORC - AMSAT A/C #31468 *Expedition 15 Conducts Emergency Exit Drill* - jJULY 10TH, 2007 Image above: The profile of the atmosphere and a setting sun are featured in this image photographed by an Expedition 15 crew member on the International Space Station. Image credit: NASA TO VIEW IMAGE GO TO:http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html The Expedition 15 crew members conducted a mandatory emergency exit drill Tuesday to simulate their response to a rapid depressurization of the station. Russian and U.S. specialists were standing by at both control centers for questions and comments. During the drill, the group proceeded through a series of checkpoints, determining and verifying various settings, measurements and configurations. They stepped through the process of preparing the ISS Progress 24 cargo ship for undocking and moved along the emergency exit path toward the docked Soyuz TMA-10 spacecraft. Flight Engineer Clay Anderson conducted his first seven-day Sleep-Wake Actigraphy and Light Exposure during Spaceflight experiment session by completing a questionnaire. Anderson also completed his first session with a cognitive assessment experiment by performing a psychological evaluation exercise. The exercise is a timed questionnaire test of cognitive abilities routinely performed by astronauts onboard the station. The crew also continued to monitor the loading of new software into the Russian segment system computers. + Read more about Expedition 15 <http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition15/index.ht…> + View crew daily timelines <http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/timelines/index.html>

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Canadian Astronaut to Discuss Role on Next Shuttle Flight
by Arthur Rowe 10 Jul '07

10 Jul '07

SUBMITTED BY ARTHUR N1ORC - AMSAT A/C #31468 > July 10, 2007 > > Katherine Trinidad > Headquarters, Washington > 202-358-3749 > > James Hartsfield > Johnson Space Center, Houston > 281-483-5111 > > MEDIA ADVISORY: M07-085 > > CANADIAN ASTRONAUT TO DISCUSS ROLE ON NEXT SHUTTLE FLIGHT > > HOUSTON - Canadian Space Agency astronaut and physician Dave Williams, > who is set to launch in August aboard NASA's space shuttle Endeavour, > will be available for satellite interviews from 3 to 5 p.m. EDT(1900 TO 2100 UTC)on Friday, July 13TH, 2007 > Williams, a former emergency room physician, will be making his second > spaceflight. He first flew as a mission specialist aboard space > shuttle Columbia on the STS-90 mission in April 1998. During the > Endeavour mission, designated STS-118, he will conduct at least two > spacewalks to continue assembly of the International Space Station. > > The Canadian Space Agency selected Williams, a native of Saskatoon, > Saskatchewan, Canada, as an astronaut in 1992. He began training with > NASA three years later. His career includes participating in two > missions as a crew member in the Aquarius Underwater Research > Facility off the Florida coast. > > For complete biographical information about Williams, visit: > > http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/williams.html > > For NASA Television downlink, schedule and steaming video information, > visit: > > http://www.nasa.gov/ntv > > For more information about the STS-118 mission and its crew, visit: > > http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle > > > -end- > > > > To subscribe to the list, send a message to: > hqnews-subscribe(a)mediaservices.nasa.gov > To remove your address from the list, send a message to: > hqnews-unsubscribe(a)mediaservices.nasa.gov > >

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Endeavour to Depart Tonight for Launch Pad 39A
by Arthur Rowe 10 Jul '07

10 Jul '07

SUBMITTED BY ARTHUR N1ORC - AMSAT A/C #31468 *Endeavour to Depart Tonight for Launch Pad 39A* The payload canister containing the S5 truss is lifted into the payload changeout room at Launch Pad 39A. Image above: The payload canister is lifted off its transporter up to the payload changeout room. Inside the canister are the S5 truss, SPACEHAB module and external stowage platform 3, the payload for mission STS-118. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett + Full Size Image <http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/181850main_07pd1811.jpg> *07.10.07 - 8:30 a.m. EDT* The rollout of Space Shuttle Endeavour to Launch Pad 39A is expected to begin tonight. Originally planned for this morning, the move was canceled by NASA managers because unfavorable weather was predicted to arrive in the launch area before the vehicle would be secured at the pad. The crawler-transporter will carry the space shuttle assembly on the 3.4-mile journey to the launch pad, a trip that typically takes six to seven hours. NASA TV will provide highlights of the rollout. + Watch NASA TV <http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html> + NASA TV Schedule <http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/MM_NTV_Breaking.html> During the STS-118 mission, Endeavour will carry into orbit the S5 truss, SPACEHAB module and external stowage platform 3. The payload was delivered Sunday to the launch pad's payload changeout room. NASA is quickly gearing up for the shuttle's next visit to the International Space Station, targeted for an Aug. 7 launch. The mission will mark the first flight of Mission Specialist Barbara Morgan, the teacher-turned-astronaut whose association with NASA began more than 20 years ago. STS-118 will be the first flight for Endeavour since 2002. *Mission Information* + STS-118 Mission Overview <http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts118/index.html> + STS-117 Mission Archive <http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts117/main/index…>

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Crew Continues to Resolve Software Problems
by Arthur Rowe 10 Jul '07

10 Jul '07

SUBMITTED BY ARTHUR N1ORC - AMSAT A/C 331468 LATEST NEWS *Crew Continues to Resolve Software Problems* ISS015-E-13630 --- Fyodor Yurchikhin performs maintenance on telemetry hardwareImage above: Fyodor Yurchikhin wears communication headgear as he does maintenance on telemetry hardware in the Zvezda Service Module. Image credit: NASA TO VIEW IMAGE GO TO: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin and Flight Engineer Oleg Kotov continued to monitor the upload of new software into the Russian segment computers. Meanwhile Flight Engineer Clay Anderson helped them stow items no longer needed on the station in the ISS Progress 24 cargo craft. The Progress craft is scheduled to undock on Aug. 1. Kotov and Anderson each completed mandatory computer-based Crew Medical Officer proficiency training. The training session is done once a month. Late Friday, Anderson delayed his sleep period to handle a file-server crash. Flight controllers and Anderson worked hard for several hours to repair the Station Support Computer File Server. The server was reloaded with Expedition 15 software and all functions were restored with no impact to station operations. Anderson also set up and activated the EarthKAM hardware for a new session. The camera is at the Lab science window and takes pictures by remote operation from the ground, without crew interaction. EarthKAM is an education program that enables thousands of students to photograph Earth from space. The student requests are uplinked to a laptop, which then activates the camera at specified times and receives the digital images from the camera for subsequent downlink. + Read more about Expedition 15 <http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition15/index.ht…> + View crew daily timelines <http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/timelines/index.html>

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Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2007-07-08 00:00 UTC
by AJ9N＠aol.com 08 Jul '07

08 Jul '07

Upcoming ARISS Contact Schedule as of 2007-07-08 00:00 UTC Quick list of scheduled contacts and events: Challenger Learning Center of Alaska, Kenai, Alaska, direct via KL7XJ Successful Sat 2007-07-07 19:47:44 UTC 13 deg (***) Maples Collegiate, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, direct via VE4NSA Thu 2007-07-12 16:45 UTC 79 deg Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children, Orlando, Florida, telebridge via W6SRJ Tue 2007-07-17 18:20 UTC 73 deg via W6SRJ Total number of ARISS ISS to earth school contacts is 303. (***) Total number of ARISS supported terrestrial contacts is 1. QSL information may be found at: http://www.arrl.org/ARISS/arissfaq.html http://www.rac.ca/ariss/oindex.htm#QSL's ISS callsigns: DP0ISS, NA1SS, RS0ISS ***************************************************************************** The schedule page has been updated as of 2007-07-08 00:00 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 2007-07-08 00:00 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 have been rumors in the past indicating 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 15 on orbit: Fyodor Yurchikhin RN3FI Dr. Oleg Kotov Clayton Anderson KD5PLA Expedition 15 future: Daniel Tani KD5DXE ***************************************************************************** 73, Charlie Sufana AJ9N One of the ARISS operation team mentors ************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com.

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ISS STATUS REPORT #SS07-33
by Arthur Rowe 06 Jul '07

06 Jul '07

SUBMITTED BY ARTHUR N1ORC - AMSAT A/C #31468 July 6, 2007 John Yembrick Headquarters, Washington 202-358-0602 John Ira Petty Johnson Space Center, Houston 281-483-5111 STATUS REPORT: SS07-33 INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION STATUS REPORT: SS07-33 HOUSTON - Expedition 15 Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin and Flight Engineer Clay Anderson this week finished preparing their spacesuits for a planned July 23 spacewalk. Yurchikhin and Flight Engineer Oleg Kotov also continued evaluating the computers on the Russian segment of the International Space Station. During the U.S. spacewalk, Yurchikhin and Anderson will jettison a support post for an exterior video camera and a 1,400-pound, refrigerator-sized tank that is no longer needed. The tank, known as the Early Ammonia Servicer, was designed to replenish ammonia to the temporary cooling system on the station in the event of a coolant leak. The spacewalkers also will replace a faulty Remote Power Control Module to restore backup power to the station's Mobile Transporter railcar, which is needed for the space shuttle STS-118 mission. Other tasks include cleaning the Unity node's nadir Common Berthing Mechanism seals for the relocation of Pressurized Mating Adapter-3. PMA-3 must be moved before the station's Harmony node arrives on shuttle mission STS-120, which is targeted for late October. Yurchikhin and Kotov worked on the Russian computers during the past week, visually inspecting and photographing cables and connectors on the command processing unit. Although there is no conclusive evidence of what caused the problems during shuttle Atlantis' visit last month, the inspections did yield some valuable information. The voltage readings on cables and connectors for the secondary power system appeared normal with the exception of one relay. Also, some corrosion was found on a second connector and a third was discolored. Troubleshooting continues. In addition, the crew and flight controllers completed software upgrades this week for computers on the U.S. and Russian segments. The upgrades to the U.S. computers will allow the addition of the Harmony node, the European Space Agency's Columbus module and the Japanese Kibo Experiment Module during upcoming shuttle flights. Plans are proceeding for the launch of the next Russian cargo ship, the ISS Progress 26, which will deliver to the station new computers, equipment, food, fuel, water and other supplies. Launch is scheduled for Aug. 2, with docking planned on Aug. 5. Also this week, Anderson discussed the progress of his mission and life aboard the station during an educational in-flight event with students at the Clay Center for Arts and Sciences in Charleston, W.Va. For more about the crew's activities and station sighting opportunities, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/station

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ISS STATUS REPORT #SS07-32
by Arthur Rowe 06 Jul '07

06 Jul '07

SUBMITTED BY ARTHUR N1ORC - AMSAT A/C 331468 John Yembrick Headquarters, Washington 202-358-0602 John Ira Petty Johnson Space Center, Houston 281-483-5111 June 29, 2007 STATUS REPORT: SS07-32 International Space Station Status Report: SS07-32 HOUSTON -- After the departure of the space shuttle Atlantis, Expedition 15 Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin and Flight Engineer Oleg Kotov returned to their daily operations aboard the International Space Station this week, while newly arrived Flight Engineer Clay Anderson began conducting scientific experiments. Atlantis landed in California June 22 after delivering a new starboard truss segment and a set of solar arrays to the station. Returning on the shuttle was Sunita Williams, who lived and worked aboard the orbiting complex for six months. Anderson succeeded Williams on the station and arrived with the Atlantis crew on June 10. Anderson performed his first Saturday Science activity on June 23, showing younger television viewers how Newton's laws apply to sports activities, even in the microgravity of space. On Monday, Anderson began work with a nutrition experiment. He collected blood and urine samples and began logging all of the food and drinks he consumed. The experiment tracks many vitamins and minerals essential for good health. It is the most comprehensive in-flight study to date of human physiological changes during long-duration spaceflight. Also, Anderson and Kotov did a medical emergency exercise, and Yurchikhin replaced one of three transmitters on the Russian Regul communications system. The crew inspected the lights and power systems and performed a routine examination of the windows on the Russian Zvezda service module on Tuesday. Wednesday was filled with science. Each crew member completed medical tests and periodic fitness evaluations, and worked with a variety of Russian experiments. Kotov spent about two hours using a multimeter to do resistance checks on the computer system in the Zvezda service module. The two major computer systems there continue to function well, with two of three "lanes," or data paths, of each system operating. Anderson wore an acoustic dosimeter on Thursday to check station noise levels. He also worked with the Microgravity Science Glovebox in an unsuccessful effort to complete a leak check. Troubleshooting continues. Yurchikhin and Kotov spent more than two hours with the Russian Profilaktika experiment, which looks at measures to counteract the long-term effects of microgravity. Yurchikhin also worked with the Matryoshka radiation detection experiment and Kotov inventoried medical equipment inventory. On Friday, Anderson did a routine cleaning of spacesuit cooling loops. Yurchikhin and Kotov worked in the Russian segment, replacing current converter units in the Zarya module. For more about the crew's activities and station sighting opportunities, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/station <http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html>

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