[img]http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/160328main_021710_iss.jpg[/img] Image above: Aboard the International Space Station, the Expedition 22 crew, dressed in blue shirts, and the STS-130 crew talk with President Barack Obama. Image credit: NASA TV All 11 astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station and space shuttle Endeavour received a congratulatory phone call from President Barack Obama Wednesday. The president was accompanied at the White House by congressional leaders and a dozen middle school students from across the country who are in Washington, D.C. for a national engineering competition.

Topics in this report:
1. Astronaut Training Status
2. ARRL QST Covers ARISS News
3. ARISSat-1 Meeting to be Held

1. Astronaut Training Status
Astronaut Ron Garan participated in an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) program training session and plans to study for his amateur radio license. He is scheduled to fly with the Expedition 27 crew in March 2011.

Expedition 23 cosmonauts, both prime and backup crew members, received training on the ARISS radio equipment. See: http://www.energia.ru/en/iss/iss23/photo_02-09.html

2. ARRL QST Covers ARISS News
The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) published an ARISS (Amateur Radio on the International Space Station) news item in its March 2010 issue of QST. Under "This Just In" is an item about the record number of ARISS educational activities coordinated in 2009. The ARRL monthly journal has a circulation of 150,000.