ISS Fan Club - get in touch with the International Space Station

ARISS Status March 8, 2010

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 15:01:45 -0500

Topics in this report:
1. Upcoming School Contacts
2. JAXA Astronaut Enjoys ARISS Contact with Alma Mater
3. ARISS to Receive Boselli Award
4. Astronaut Training Status

1. Upcoming School Contacts
An Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact has been scheduled with Ikaruga Elementary School in Taishi Town, Hyogo, Japan on Tuesday, March 9 at 07:28 UTC. In the classroom, students learned about their local environment as well as that of the earth on a global scale, and studied environmental issues such as global warming. They also researched the ISS to prepare for this contact. This activity is a crew pick of JAXA astronaut Soichi Noguchi who is an alumnus of the school.

Senator Proposes Bill to Extend Space Shuttle Program

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 09:31:23 -0500

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) introduced legislation Wednesday that would keep NASA flying the space shuttle program two years beyond its planned 2010 retirement.

The proposed bill would also require the space agency to study options for a heavy-lift launcher that could be ready to deliver U.S. astronauts to the International Space Station by the end of 2013 and beyond low Earth orbit by the end of 2018.

Hutchison's bill, if enacted, would deal a setback to U.S. President Barack Obama's plan to retire NASA's space shuttle fleet after four more flights and rely on Russia, and eventually commercial U.S. firms to deliver crew and cargo to the orbiting outpost.

NAA Announces the ISS as Winner of the 2009 Robert J. Collier Trophy

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 18:04:11 -0500

Arlington, Virginia, March 3, 2010 – The National Aeronautic Association (NAA) announced at their Annual Spring Awards Luncheon that the International Space Station has been selected as the recipient of the 2009 Robert J. Collier Trophy, “For the design, development, and assembly of the of the world’s largest spacecraft, an orbiting laboratory that promises new discoveries for mankind and sets new standards for international cooperation in space.”

The Collier Trophy will be formally presented at the Annual Collier Dinner to be held on Thursday, May 13, at the Crystal Gateway Marriott in Arlington, Virginia.

NASA Pioneer Aaron Cohen Dies

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 15:32:28 -0500

Spaceflight pioneer Aaron Cohen, a former director of NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, died Thursday, Feb. 25, after a lengthy illness. He was 79.

Cohen had a 33-year career with NASA. He was a steady hand at the helm of Johnson as NASA recovered from the shuttle Challenger tragedy and returned the space shuttle to flight. Cohen left the agency in 1993 to accept an appointment as a professor at his alma mater, Texas A&M University. At the time, he was serving as acting deputy administrator at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

"Aaron Cohen was one of my early mentors here in NASA and he was instrumental in the success of numerous pivotal achievements in human space flight." said NASA Administrator Charles F. Bolden from Headquarters in Washington. "His engineering expertise and rigor were tremendous assets to our nation and NASA. Aaron provided the critical and calm guidance needed at the Johnson Space Center to successfully recover from the Challenger accident and return the space shuttle to flight. We will miss him as a colleague, mentor, and a friend. Our hearts go out to his wife, Ruth, and the rest of his family."

Kansas Students Connect With International Space Station Crew For Out Of This World Conversation

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 15:31:43 -0500

Astronauts orbiting 220 miles above Earth will discuss science and living in space with students from Mueller Aerospace and Engineering Discovery Magnet School in Wichita, Kan., on Tuesday, March 2.

The call between the students and International Space Station Commander Jeff Williams and Flight Engineers T.J. Creamer and Soichi Noguchi will take place from 10:35 to 10:55 a.m. CST. The event will be held at Exploration Place in Wichita. Reporters interested in attending the event should contact Susan Arensman of Wichita Public Schools at 316-973-4582.

NASA has a number of employees who work in the station's mission operations who are from Wichita or attended Wichita State University. Journalists interested in speaking with these employees should contact Kelly Humphries at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston at 281-483-5111.

ARISS Status March 1, 2010

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 13:48:39 -0500

Topics in this report:
1. Upcoming School Contact
2. Timothy Creamer Chats with Doncaster Students via ARISS Contact
3. ARISS Annual Report 2009 Posted
4. ARISS News on Amateur Radio Newsline

1. Upcoming School Contact
Expedition 22 astronaut Soichi Noguchi, KD5TVP will participate in an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact with Hamasuka Junior High School in Chigasaki City, Kanagawa, Japan on Thursday, March 4. This is a direct contact and is scheduled for 10:09 UTC. Noguchi is an alumnus of the school.

2. Timothy Creamer Chats with Doncaster Students via ARISS Contact

Space Station 98% Complete with 4 Shuttle Flights Remaining

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 13:02:40 -0500

With the successful landing of the space shuttle Endeavour Sunday night, the International Space Station is on the verge of completion after $100 billion and 11 years of construction. NASA plans just four more missions to wrap up its few remaining station deliveries.

For Endeavour, in particular, Sunday's shuttle landing marked the beginning of the end. The spacecraft is the youngest of NASA's three aging space shuttles and engineers quickly began working to prepare it to launch one final spaceflight in July.

"We'll go into that with our heads held high," shuttle launch director Mike Leinbach said after the landing. "It's a little bit [of a] sad note, but a great ending to a great mission and we're looking forward to the next one."

ARISS Status February 22, 2010

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 11:44:18 -0500

Topocs in this report:
1. Upcoming School Contact
2. ARISS International Team Meeting Held
3. ARISS News on Amateur Radio Newsline
4. ARISSat-1 Meeting Held

1. Upcoming School Contact
An Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact has been scheduled with Doncaster Primary School in Doncaster, Victoria, Australia on Thursday, February 25 at 08:23 UTC. Astronaut Timothy Creamer, KC5WKI will make the connection through telebridge ground station VK4KHZ in Australia. The contact has been integrated into school subjects such as physics, space, geography and English.

Endeavour and Station Crews Say Goodbye

Fri, 19 Feb 2010 12:06:02 -0500

The hatches between space shuttle Endeavour and the International Space Station were closed at 3:08 a.m. EST Friday. During 9 days, 52 minutes of joint operations, the station got a new module and a viewport offering a valuable, enjoyable vantage.

Hatch closure came after a farewell ceremony by the two crews. Endeavour Commander George Zamka, Pilot Terry Virts and Mission Specialists Kathryn Hire, Stephen Robinson, Nicholas Patrick and Robert Behnken said their goodbyes in the Harmony module to Station Commander Jeff Williams and Flight Engineers Maxim Suraev, Oleg Kotov, Soichi Noguchi and T.J. Creamer.

President Obama Speaks to Orbiting Astronauts

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 10:25:14 -0500

Image above: Aboard the International Space Station, the Expedition 22 crew, dressed in blue shirts, and the STS-130 crew talk with President Barack Obama. Image credit: NASA TV

All 11 astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station and space shuttle Endeavour received a congratulatory phone call from President Barack Obama Wednesday. The president was accompanied at the White House by congressional leaders and a dozen middle school students from across the country who are in Washington, D.C. for a national engineering competition.

ARISS Status February 15, 2010

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 07:31:54 -0500

Topics in this report:
1. Astronaut Training Status
2. ARRL QST Covers ARISS News
3. ARISSat-1 Meeting to be Held

1. Astronaut Training Status
Astronaut Ron Garan participated in an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) program training session and plans to study for his amateur radio license. He is scheduled to fly with the Expedition 27 crew in March 2011.

Expedition 23 cosmonauts, both prime and backup crew members, received training on the ARISS radio equipment. See: http://www.energia.ru/en/iss/iss23/photo_02-09.html

2. ARRL QST Covers ARISS News
The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) published an ARISS (Amateur Radio on the International Space Station) news item in its March 2010 issue of QST. Under "This Just In" is an item about the record number of ARISS educational activities coordinated in 2009. The ARRL monthly journal has a circulation of 150,000.

Astronauts Move Space Station Docking Port to New Home

Tue, 16 Feb 2010 05:33:23 -0500

Astronauts moved an old docking port to a new spot on the International Space Station late Monday in the second straight day of tricky crane work 220 miles above Earth.

The astronauts used the station's 57-foot (17-meter) robotic arm to attach the old docking adapter, a cone-shaped connecting piece, from the top of the orbiting lab to the outboard end of its newest room Tranquility.

The crane work ended at 9:28 p.m. EST (0228 Tuesday GMT) and came one day after a new observation deck was plucked from the end of the Tranquility module and attached to a bottom port, where its seven windows are expected to give astronauts unprecedented views of Earth and space.

Shuttle Astronauts Complete First Spacewalk

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 08:03:48 -0500

Endeavour shuttle astronauts Robert Behnken and Nicholas Patrick are back inside the International Space Station after successfully completing all their planned chores for their first spacewalk to deliver the outpost’s new Tranquility node and Cupola. They completed their work at 3:49 a.m. EST (0849 GMT).

Total spacewalking time: 6 hours, 32 minutes.

It was the first spacewalk for Patrick and fourth for Behnken, who ended with more than 25 hours of cumulative time working in space. Together, the two astronauts helped install Tranquility (crewmates Terry Virts and Kathryn Hire used the station’s robotic arm to actually move it). They also stored some equipment for a later spacewalk and removed an old tool carrier platform from the station’s Dextre maintenance robot.

Shuttle Astronauts Get Hearty Welcome at Station

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 06:12:36 -0500

With broad smiles and hearty hugs, the six Endeavour astronauts received a warm welcome as they entered the International Space Station just after 2:16 a.m. EST (0716 GMT). The two crews joined into one as the station flew 216 miles above the coast of western Australia. The two vehicles docked about two hours earlier.

"We're happy to see our friends," station commander Jeffrey Williams told his guests after they floated aboard. "Some of us are really happy because we haven't seen many people other than the crew for a long time."

The station is currently home to two American astronauts, two Russian cosmonauts and a Japanese astronaut. The station astronauts said they had made a special "Welcome" sign for their guests and greeted them with hearty laughs, at times saying "Welcome aboard!" and "It's good to see you!"

ARISS Status February 8, 2010

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 17:42:51 -0500

Topics in this report:
1. Astronaut T. J. Creamer Enjoys ARISS Contact with Riley Ave. Students
2. Principal has Good Memories of First ARISS Contact
3. ISS Ham Debrief Held with Frank De Winne
4. ARISSat-1 Status Report Posted

1. Astronaut T. J. Creamer Enjoys ARISS Contact with Riley Ave. Students
On Tuesday, February 2, astronaut Timothy Creamer, KC5WKI spoke with Riley Avenue Elementary School students through an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact. The Calverton, New York youth spent weeks preparing for the contact, studying space and the solar system during Science and creating rockets and robots in Art class. The Peconic Amateur Radio Club helped coordinate the contact and provided the equipment used. A Riley fourth grader and newly licensed ham acted as the control operator during the contact.