Space shuttle Columbia's astronauts completed an experiment studying the activity of bone cells in microgravity and began final tests with a technology demonstration designed to investigate the behavior of capillary-pumped loops in space as the 16-day international science mission completed Flight Day 10.

1999 was the 30th anniversary of Mankind's most spectacular and technically-miraculous exploration event since, perhaps, the 15th Century.

Today 1/24/03 at aprox. 14:06UTC.

The interview with the ISS crew and KRQE-TV in New Mexico, and WTSP-TV in Florida, went well. There was a problem with comms. During the WTSP-TV portion, however Ken Bowersox and Don Pettit kept the interview going and completed it with FLAIR.

I will be posting the interview as soon as I transcribe it from my recording. Also, I hope that before the end of the week I will be able to post the recordings in Wav format on my site. Check my site for the recordings. http://www.n9oew.com/ifc.htm

73's to all de N9OEW

Field School Park Ridge, Illinois

Contact is 2003-01-23 14:37 UTC, telebridge via ZS6BTD

Contact failed and is being rescheduled.

Hochwald-Gymnasium, Wadern, Germany, Direct via DN1TA

TBD 2003-02

Launch window: 2010-2108 GMT (1510-1608 EST)

Launch site: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla.

An Orbital Sciences air-launched Pegasus XL rocket will carry NASA's Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment (SORCE) satellite into orbit to make precise measurements of total solar irradiance, which is the main source of energy in the Earth's atmosphere.

more info :

http://lasp.colorado.edu/sorce/index.html

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Education Minister Limor Livnat spoke with Israel's first astronaut, Col. Ilan Ramon, on a video hook-up late this afternoon as he was circling the Earth for approximately the 80th time since ascending into space five days ago. All three of them expressed great excitement at the opportunity to communicate in this manner.

The seven astronauts aboard Columbia beamed down television views of

their smallest companions in orbit today, including insects, spiders,

fish, bees and silk worms that are part of the Space Technology and

Research Students package of experiments designed and developed by

students in six countries.

First block of ISS Achievement Award was sent today. The delivery will continue during the week and ALL requests received will be sent in the next days :)

Check the Processing Status Page to know when your IAA is flying to you !

The ISS FanClub Staff

Cape Cod National Seashore, Wellfleet, MA, Telebridge

Contact is 2003-01-18 17:02 UTC, telebridge via WH6PN

Contact was successful! Congrats to Cape Cod schools and Ken Bowersox!

Field School Park Ridge, Illinois

Contact is 2003-01-23 14:37 UTC, telebridge via ZS6BTD

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon chatted by live satellite video link-up Tuesday with the first Israeli in space, Ilan Ramon, who is serving on board the US Space Shuttle Columbia.

Get the rest of the story at:

www.nasa.gov/today/