The Wright Flyer got only a few feet off the ground during its maiden flight in 1903, but traveled to the moon 66 years later.

A lead cargo tag that took months to cross the Atlantic Ocean from England to the nascent colony at Jamestown recently made the same crossing in minutes.

Now a plastic handle whose sole role was to make the fictional world of Star Wars look realistic is ready to take a real trip to the stars aboard space shuttle Discovery for mission STS-120.

From pieces of history to articles of pop culture, the assortment of items astronauts have taken with them into space is as varied as the world the artifacts represent.

The STS-120 and Expedition 16 crews will enter the Harmony module for the first time just before 9 a.m. EDT Saturday after Mission Specialist Paolo Nespoli and Expedition 16 Commander Peggy Whitson open the hatches. Harmony will provide the docking ports for new research laboratories from the European Space Agency and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. The laboratories will be delivered to the station on upcoming shuttle missions.

http://www.amsat.org/amsat/archive/sarex/48hour/msg01186.html

Hi folks,

Just came back from the 2007 AMSAT-NA Space Symposium in Pittsburgh. What a great conference! Frank Bauer gave a very nice overview on current and future ARISS activities and also handed out the new SuitSat certificates.

They will arrive soon. Since I am still at the airport in Pittsburgh, I will post a copy sometimes tonight when I get back to Winnipeg.

Thanks to all who made this such a great event. Your work is very much appreciated.

73, Stefan VE4NSA

Dear friends,
today I returned home from Cape Canaveral where I assisted to the launch of Space Shutttle Discovery for the STS 120 Mission.
One of the crew memeber is my brother in low Paolo Nespoli,a very very special person for all his family and friends.
He is doing a great job on the ISS to deliver Node 2.
I really hope all things will go well till the landin of the orbiter!
A big ciao to all of you,
Mario,IK2CMN