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/

AURORA OUTLOOK: Earth is inside a solar wind stream flowing from a coronal hole on the Sun. So far geomagnetic activity remains low, but it could increase during the days ahead as solar wind gusts buffet Earth's magnetic field. The strongest gusts are expected on Jan. 23rd and 24th. High-latitude sky watchers should be alert for auroras.

73 pe2jmr

ESA published the entire transcript about the January 15 ONLINE CHAT with Frank De Winne.

Chat was held in English, Dutch and French languages and you can find it on the ESA web site. I asked to Frank a few questions...

Starshine 3 Re-entry Bulletin - January 21, 2003 (16:13UT)

Starshine 3 burned up in the the earth's upper atmosphere sometime between 0504 and 0534 UTC today. It had made 7434 revolutions around the earth between the date of its launch from Kodiak, Alaska, on September 29, 2001, and its fiery end on January 21, 2003.....

Students, do you know a great teacher? You can nominate your teacher to be an Astronaut Educator. Teachers, do you dream of an out-of-this-world classroom experience? You can apply for the Astronaut Educator program. NASA is looking for Educator Astronauts, with expertise in K-12 education, to help develop new ways to inspire the next generation of explorers. Educator Astronauts will be fully qualified members of NASA's Astronaut Corps, and will train as Mission Specialists.

http://edspace.nasa.gov/home.html

Today 01/21/2003 @ 9:39am CST

The crew aboard STS-107 will be doing a live interview with Isreali Prime minister and selected cabnet members on NASA TV.......

73's de N9OEW