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.

The Soyuz TMA-20 spacecraft that will carry Expedition 26 Flight Engineers Catherine Coleman, Paolo Nespoli and Dmitry Kondratyev to the International Space Station this week was rolled out to the launch pad at Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan Monday morning. The trio continued to prepare for their launch on Wednesday (Thursday, Baikonur time) and docking to the station two days later.

Topics in this report:
1. AMSAT Covers ARISS Anniversary
2. Amateur Radio Newsline Reports on ARISS
3. Astronaut Training Status

1. AMSAT Covers ARISS Anniversary
The AMSAT (Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation) News Service bulletin (ANS-346) included an article on the tenth anniversary of ARISS. See: http://amsat.org/pipermail/ans/2010/000468.html

2. Amateur Radio Newsline Reports on ARISS