Sorry for the long packet silence on ISS. The packet radio system was expected to be quiet for some time due to the EVAs that were done in early July. I was on business travel for three weeks after that and have not been able to check on the situation. The closure of the Johnson Space center due to the threat of a tropical storm has further delayed my efforts to investigate. I'll try and see what might be going on but at this point anything I would have to offer would be wild speculation. Hopefully, it is nothiing serious and the system can be quickly reactivated.

Kenneth - N5VHO
ISS Ham project engineer

Dextre was in the spotlight Monday aboard the International Space Station.

For the first time since the station's Special Purpose Dextrous Manipulator was assembled and activated during STS-123 in March, controllers on the ground began a comprehensive series of tests on the Canadian-built robotic system, also known as Dextre. Controllers tested one of the system's shoulder roll joints Monday.

Expedition 17 Commander Sergei Volkov worked to replace an electronics box used to power the orientation of the solar arrays on the Zvezda Service Module.

In the complex's Russian Segment, Flight Engineer Oleg Kononenko performed maintenance on the purification system in the Elektron oxygen generator.