The heads of the International Space Station (ISS) agencies from Canada, Europe, Japan, Russia, and the United States met in Tokyo, Japan, on March 11, 2010, to review ISS cooperation.

With the assembly of the ISS nearing completion and the capability to support a full-time crew of six established, they noted the outstanding opportunities now offered by the ISS for on-orbit research and for discovery including the operation and management of the world's largest international space complex. In particular, they noted the unprecedented opportunities that enhanced use of this unique facility provides to drive advanced science and technology. This research will deliver benefits to humanity on Earth while preparing the way for future exploration activities beyond low-Earth orbit. The ISS will also allow the partnership to experiment with more integrated international operations and research, paving the way for enhanced collaboration on future international missions.

NASA will highlight the educational activities planned on the next space shuttle mission during a news briefing at 12 p.m. CDT, Tuesday, March 9. The briefing will originate from NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston and be carried live on NASA Television and the agency's Web site. Reporters will be able to ask questions from participating NASA locations.

Astronaut and former school teacher Ricky Arnold will be joined by Cindy McArthur from the Teaching from Space Office to discuss educational activities involving astronaut and former teacher Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger during the STS-131 shuttle flight. Metcalf-Lindenburger will be the last of the three school teachers selected as mission specialists in the 2004 Educator Astronaut Class to fly on the space shuttle. Arnold and Joseph Acaba flew on the STS-119 shuttle mission in March 2009.

NASA today unveiled an interactive computer simulation that allows virtual explorers of all ages to dock the space shuttle at the International Space Station, experience a virtual trip to Mars or a lunar impact, and explore images of star formations taken by the Hubble Space Telescope.

In an effort to excite young people about space and NASA's missions, the agency has launched the online Space Communication and Navigation (SCaN) simulation, designed to entertain and educate. The interactive simulation offers a virtual 3-D experience to visualize how data travels along various space communications paths.

NASA Television will cover the landing of two current International Space Station crew members and the launch of three upcoming station residents later in March and April. Coverage begins with a broadcast of crew farewells and hatch closure aboard the station March 17, and continues with the arrival, docking and hatch opening of the new Expedition 23 crew members on April 4.

Expedition 22 Commander Jeff Williams and Soyuz Commander Max Suraev are scheduled to land in the Soyuz TMA-16 spacecraft March 18 in Kazakhstan, completing almost a half-year aboard the station.

Expedition 23 and Soyuz Commander Alexander Skvortsov, and Flight Engineers Mikhail Kornienko of Russia and Tracy Caldwell Dyson of NASA will launch April 2 on the Soyuz TMA-18 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. They will dock to the station April 4, joining Expedition 23 Commander Oleg Kotov, and Flight Engineers T.J. Creamer of NASA and Soichi Noguchi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, who have been in orbit aboard the orbiting laboratory since December 2009.

The K4T DXpedition will have two full satellite stations and one portable satellite station ready for operation from the Dry Tortugas Islands in the Gulf of Mexico (grid EL84). Plans include working phone and some CW on the linear birds, since some members of the team are CW aficionados. To help people find them, K4T will probably work CW around the target frequency listed in the table, rather than at the bottom of the transponder pass bands. FM phone is planned on the satellites listed in the table. The second repeater on AO-51 will be configured in V/U FM mode for K4T operations.

Target Frequencies for K4T Satellite Operations Satellite Downlink Uplink Mode

Florida lawmakers on Wednesday introduced legislation to extend the shuttle beyond its scheduled retirement this year and speed government development of a heavy-lift rocket.

The bill is designed to counter President Barack Obama's budget for NASA, which proposes abandoning the Constellation program to return people to the moon and would continue plans to retire the shuttle.

Obama wants to rely on Russian and commercial rockets to ferry supplies and people to the International Space Station, which he has proposed extending from 2015 to 2020.

http://www.space.com/news/florida-lawmakers

Like the knees of many other middle-aged workers, the joints of the enormous Mars Antenna need replacing. The giant radio dish is a crucial element of NASA's Deep Space Network, and has worked tirelessly at its location in Goldstone, Calif., for over 40 years.

This historic antenna, which measures 230 feet in diameter (70 meters) and communicates with deep space missions, once received Neil Armstrong's famous Apollo 11 message: "That's one small step for man; one giant leap for mankind."

Now, this laborer needs replacement of a portion of its hydrostatic bearing assembly, the system that enables the antenna to rotate horizontally. The repair will be no mean feat: It involves lifting 9 million lbs (4 million kg) of delicate scientific equipment 0.2 inches (5 mm), in order to allow the replacement of the steel runner, walls and supporting grout, which has never been done before.

The International Space Station (ISS) partners have begun reviewing their on-board hardware with the goal of certifying it for use until 2028 even as they seek ways to reduce the annual operating costs of the orbital complex, the partners said in a joint statement Thursday.

Meeting in Tokyo, the heads of space agencies from the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan and Canada expressed approval at the U.S. President Barack Obama's proposal to continue NASA use of the space station until 2020, and said operating beyond that date should also be considered.

"[T]here are no identified technical constraints to continuing ISS operations beyond the current planning horizon of 2015 to at least 2020 ... the Partnership is currently working to certify on-orbit elements through 2028," the five agencies said in a statement, adding that they share a "strong mutual interest in continuing operations and utilisation for as long as the benefits of ISS exploitation are demonstrated."