[img]http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/489334main_exp26_launch2_med_thum.jpg[/img]
Expedition 26 Flight Engineer Catherine Coleman is seated in the Soyuz TMA-20 during its ascent to orbit. Coleman and Flight Engineers Dmitry Kondratyev and Paolo Nespoli (both out of frame) launched on time to the International Space Station. Credit: NASA TV

While three Expedition 26 crew members are hard at work in space, another trio is preparing for a 2:09 p.m. EST (1:09 a.m. Thursday, Baikonur time) launch today from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan.

Flight Engineers Oleg Skripochka and Alexander Kaleri are conducting a Russian experiment designed to detect depressurization. The experiment’s purpose is to increase spaceflight safety by detecting pressure leaks inside a spacecraft and understanding how they occur.

Wed, 15 Dec 2010 07:46:53 AM CST

On 21 December 2000, astronaut William Shepherd turned from his usual activities aboard the newly occupied International Space Station (ISS). Floating over to a “ham” radio attached to a station bulkhead, he called the Burbank School in Burbank, Illinois and was soon talking with 14 enthusiastic students from grades 1–8. This month, amateur radio operators world-wide celebrate the tenth anniversary of this first school contact from ISS.