ISS Expedition 14 Commander Mike Lopez-Alegria, KE5GTK, and Flight Engineer Suni Williams, KD5PLB, recently discussed their experiences in space with students at two schools. The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) program arranged the direct VHF contacts with Boulder Hill Elementary School in Montgomery, Illinois, March 6, and with Mission Viejo High School, in Mission Viejo, California, March 9. Williams told the youngsters at Boulder Hill that the dress code in space is strictly informal. "People don't understand that up here it's just like being in your house," Williams explained, "so we can wear a T-shirt and shorts or a pair of pants if it gets a little bit cool." She pointed out that crew members need to wear pressure suits during launch and spacesuits when working outside the space station.

An International Space Station Expedition 14 ARISS school contact has been planned with students at University School, Shaker Heights, Ohio, USA on 16 March. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 16:15 UTC.

The contact will be a direct between stations NA1SS and K8RBV. The contact should be audible in the central and Eastern North America. Interested parties are invited to listen in on the 145.80 MHz downlink. The participants are expected to conduct the conversation in English.

EchoLink - The audio from this contact will be available on the EchoLink *AMSAT* (node 101 377) and the *JK1ZRW* (node 277 208) conference rooms. Please connect to the *JK1ZRW* server to keep the load light on the *AMSAT* server. This will ensure good audio quality for all listeners.

Gaston Bertels informs us that ARISS-Europe needs fund in order to complete the installation of the L/S antenna the ISS columbus module.
If you ever wanted to contribute to the ISS Amateur Radio development its time to do it now.
They still need 18.000 Euro so every little donation is important.
If you are a real ISS fan please donate a few dollars (or euro).

Here is the request from Gaston:

13 March 2007

CALL FOR DONATIONS FOR ARISS ANTENNAS ON COLUMBUS

ESA has accepted the installation of an amateur radio station onboard the

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - After traveling thousands of miles, a major component of the International Space Station is set to begin preparations for launch. The Experiment Logistics Module Pressurized Section for the Japanese Experiment Module arrived at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida early Monday, March 12. The Japanese Experiment Module is composed of three segments and is known as Kibo, which means "hope" in Japanese.

Complete release at http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2007/mar/HQ_07063_Kibo_at_KSC.html