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Atlantis Lifts Off!

N5VHO – February 7, 2008 – 20:04
Space Shuttle

Cheers and shouts can be heard throughout the space center as Atlantis, carrying the STS-122 crew and Columbus Laboratory, roars off the launch pad into the mid-afternoon sky to begin the 24th mission to the International Space Station.

NASA astronaut Steve Frick commands a crew of six, including Pilot Alan Poindexter and Mission Specialists Leland Melvin, Rex Walheim, Stanley Love and the European Space Agency's Hans Schlegel and Leopold Eyharts. This is the first spaceflight for Poindexter, Love and Melvin.

During the 11-day mission, the crew's prime objective is to attach the European Space Agency's Columbus Laboratory to the International Space Station, adding to the station's size and capabilities.

Expedition 16 Flight Engineer Daniel Tani, who arrived at the station aboard Discovery in October, will return to Earth with the Atlantis crew as Eyharts takes his place on the station.

Source http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html

Space Shuttle
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Congratulations

N5VHO – February 8, 2008 – 04:26

All,

I would like to extend my congratulations to the ARISS-Europe team on today's successful launch of our newest on-orbit hardware delivery---additional ARISS antennas!! The antennas are mounted on the European Columbus module which flew inside the payload bay of the Space Shuttle Atlantis.

The ARISS-Europe team have been working hard and diligently for over 5 years to realize this outstanding milestone. The team faced numerous challenges, including some very severe environmental testing to get approval to fly these antenna systems.

I would like to thank Gaston Bertels, ON4WF for his outstanding leadership on this project and Dr. Pawel Kabacik at the Wroclaw University of Technology in Poland for his efforts in the antenna design and testing. And I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to all those who contributed to this project through their volunteer efforts, financial contributions and/or in-kind contributions. YOU helped us develop, test and fly these antennas.

For more information on the ARISS antennas, see: http://www.ariss-eu.org/

73, Frank Bauer, KA3HDO
ARISS International Chairman
AMSAT-NA V.P. for Human Spaceflight Programs

Source http://www.amsat.org/amsat/archive/sarex/48hour/msg01279.html

To support ARISS, visit http://www.amsat-na.com/donation.php and select "Human Spaceflight (ARISS)"

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