Youngsters visiting Hiroshima Children's Museum in Japan July 4 were among the latest earthlings to have the opportunity to speak via Amateur Radio with the crew of the International Space Station. The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) program arranged the direct 2-meter contact between 8J4CM at the museum and NA1SS in space. Expedition 13 astronaut Jeff Williams, KD5TVQ, answered 15 of the kids' questions. One youngster wanted to know if it was hard to live in space.

http://www.arrl.org/

President George W. Bush offered his best wishes to the crews of
NASA's Space Shuttle Discovery and International Space Station
Tuesday. In a private phone call from the White House at 10:35 a.m.
EDT, the president told the astronauts that they represent the best of service and exploration, and he thanked them for the job they are doing.

http://www.amsat.org/amsat/archive/sarex/48hour/msg08043.html

Mission Specialists Mike Fossum and Piers Sellers successfully completed
STS-121's third and final spacewalk at 2:31 p.m. EDT today. The
demonstration of orbiter heat shield repair techniques was the objective
of the 7-hour, 11-minute excursion outside Space Shuttle Discovery and
the International Space Station.

The spacewalkers tested repair techniques on pre-positioned heat shield
materials in the payload bay. Among the tools they used were a
space-certified caulk gun and a variety of spatulas to manipulate the
test materials.

http://www.amsat.org/amsat/archive/sarex/48

Mission Specialists Mike Fossum and Piers Sellers successfully completed STS-121's third and final spacewalk at 2:31 p.m. EDT today. The demonstration of orbiter heat shield repair techniques was the objective of the 7-hour, 11-minute excursion outside Space Shuttle Discovery and the International Space Station. The spacewalkers tested repair techniques on pre-positioned heat shield materials in the payload bay. Among the tools they used were a space-certified caulk gun and a variety of spatulas to manipulate the test materials. The duo also used an infrared camera to get a 60-second recording of two damaged tile samples. The camera is designed to capture temperature gradients that will indicate invisible damage.