ISS Charles Simonyi VOICE # 59.342 - 13h07UTC - 29.03.2009
very cleen audio over South America

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ISS Charles Simonyi VOICE # 59.342 13h07UTC 29.03.2009_.mp3

NASA and Lockheed Martin's Student Signatures in Space (S3) program will be one of the highlighted projects during this year's Space Day, celebrated annually on the first Friday in May. The mission of Space Day is to use space-related activities to inspire and prepare young people for careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Student Signatures in Space began in 1997 as a way to draw kids into space studies by giving them a personal connection to space. Participating schools are sent large posters for students to sign on Space Day. NASA and Lockheed Martin, of Bethesda, Md., are currently accepting school names for participation. The program is open to elementary, middle, and high schools, as well as science museums and regional Boy Scout and Girl Scout councils.

The next space tourist bound for the International Space Station could launch as early as September despite the lack of available seats aboard Russian spacecraft, the private firm arranging the multimillion-dollar joyrides announced Friday.

Eric Anderson, president and CEO of the Vienna, Va.-based space tourism company Space Adventures, said there is a chance that a paying customer could ride a Russian-built Soyuz spacecraft to the station in a seat that is currently reserved for a professional cosmonaut from Kazakhstan.

"In fact, there is a possibility that one of Space Adventures' clients could launch on Soyuz TMA-16, which is currently scheduled for launch this Sept. 30," Anderson told reporters in a teleconference.