China this week launches its most ambitious space mission yet, a sign of rising confidence as Beijing cements its status as a space power and potential future competitor to the United States.

The Shenzhou 7 mission, to launch as early as Thursday, will be the first to carry a full complement of three astronauts, one of whom will perform China's first spacewalk, or EVA for "extra-vehicular activity." It is China's third manned mission.

http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/080922-ap-zhenzhou-countdown.html

The Atlantis astronauts aim to complete a critical training exercise at Kennedy Space Center this week while managers sort out the effects of Hurricane Ike and minor technical problems on an Oct. 10 target launch date.

Mission commander Scott Altman and his crew jetted to KSC for standard emergency training and a two-day practice countdown that will culminate Wednesday with a launch-day dress rehearsal.

http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/ft-080922-sts125-rehearsalarrive.html

My son and I are going back to Kennedy Space Center this weeken for another tour.
The tours will be free this weekend. We are also going up to see the shuttle lift off in October.
Should be alot of fun.

73 Kc8fks

An International Space Station Expedition 17 ARISS school contact has been planned with participants at Michael Sobell Sinai School, Harrow, Middlesex, United Kingdom on 25 September. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 1134 UTC.

The contact will be a telebridge contact between stations NA1SS and WH6PN. The contact should be audible over Hawaii. Interested parties are invited to listen in on the 145.80 MHz downlink. The participants are expected to conduct the conversation in English.

The Michael Sobell Sinai School opened in 1981 and is the largest Jewish Primary School in Europe. It caters for children aged 3-11 and offers a challenging curriculum and the highest standard of education. It receives excellent Ofsted reports on a consistent basis.

Topics in this report:
1. Upcoming School Contacts - Status
2. Richard Garriott - ISS Flight
3. GSFC LaunchFest Update
4. ASTC - ARISS Presentation
5. ARRL Posts ARISS Update
6. ARISS Volunteer Receives Award

1. Upcoming School Contacts - Status
The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) team continues its work on scheduling the next school radio contacts. Johnson Space Center was closed the week of September 15 due to Hurricane Ike, delaying contact approvals. Scheduling is expected to resume this week.

2. Richard Garriott - ISS Flight
Richard Garriott, W5KWQ, will fly with the Expedition 18 crew to the ISS on Soyuz TMA-13 which is scheduled to launch on October 12, 2008. He plans to participate in several Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contacts during his mission. A press release has been posted. See: http://www.rac.ca/ariss/Garriott PR Final.doc

Aside from the obvious financial limitations which restrict space tourism to the rich and the ridiculously rich, there are also significant training programs and testing to be completed before proceeding to lift-off.

To gain a better insight into this training, well-known video game programmer and designer Richard Garriott, who is preparing for his own space adventure in October, is detailing in a blog what he and others have to go through in order to make it into orbit as a space traveler.

Garriott has been in training since the beginning of the year and told CNN the first major thing to surprise him was the intensity of preparations.

Ive haven't played with the satellite in a couple of years now. From what Im understanding the ISS repeater is out and not working..? Any help is appreciated.
Thank you, Rob H (kc8zsu)

Through multiple agreements with NASA, the Russian Space Agency, RSC Energia, Space Adventures Ltd, and ARISS (Amateur Radio on the International Space Station), Richard Garriott will fly to ISS and will communicate with students, ham radio operators, friends, and family world-wide using the ARISS amateur radio station on-board the ISS.

Richard Garriott, with the amateur radio callsign, W5KWQ is the sixth private citizen to be flown by the Russian space agency to the ISS. A legendary video game programmer and designer, Garriott will be traveling to orbit this October and will speak with hundreds of students while thousands more listen in during a series of ten-minute ham radio contacts. His on-orbit stay on Soyuz and ISS is planned for October 12 - 22, 2008.

Topics in this report 1. Upcoming School Contact - Status 2. Boy Scouts Contact Successful 3. ARISS at Launchfest 4. Garriott Prepares for Ham Radio Activities 1. Upcoming School Contact - Status The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) team continues working to schedule the next contact. Contact approvals for the week have been delayed due to the closure of Johnson Space Center, which was closed for Hurricane Ike. 2. Boy Scouts Contact Successful On Saturday, September 13, Prairielands Council Scouts attending the Space Jamboree at Chanute Air Force Base in Rantoul, Illinois participated in an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact with Greg Chamitoff, KD5PKZ. Telebridge station WH6PN in Hawaii assisted with the contact. Thirteen Scouts were able to ask 17 questions of the astronaut during the pass. Scout leaders replayed the question and answer session later in the day for all 3,000 Scouts attending the Jamboree. The audio was fed into the EchoLink AMSAT server and Internet Radio Linking Project (IRLP) Reflector 9010. The News-Gazette printed a press release for the event: