Topics in this report:
1. Upcoming School Contacts
2. Expedition 23 Astronaut Speaks with Japanese Youth via ARISS

1. Upcoming School Contacts
An Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact has been scheduled for Walnut Creek Elementary School in Azle, Texas on Monday, March 29 at 15:08 UTC. Students researched and created models of selected space objects and gave presentations of their work to the class. Retired Lockheed employees and members of local radio clubs gave demonstrations of satellite communications to the youth. The school recently formed an amateur radio club and students have enjoyed learning what radios can do.

The space shuttle Discovery is set to launch April 5 on one of NASA's few remaining shuttle flights to the International Space Station, mission managers announced Friday after settling concerns over potential valve leaks.

Discovery is slated to blast off from a seaside launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 6:21 a.m. EDT (1021 GMT) on Easter Monday. It is one of NASA's final four shuttle missions before the fleet is retired later this year.

http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/sts131-shuttle-launch-date-set-1003...