Engineers conducted minor repairs to NASA's space shuttle Discovery late Tuesday after an errant window cover fell from the orbiter and damaged its aft section. The incident will not delay the planned launch of the orbiter.

The following is a statement from the families of the Space Shuttle Columbia mission STS-107:

"As NASA prepares to launch the Shuttle Discovery, we, the Columbia Families, would like to show our support for the STS-114 crew and all the dedication and talent of those who supported this Return to Flight effort. We have had two and one half years to reflect daily on the loss of our loved ones as the Shuttle Columbia (STS 107) broke apart over Texas on February 1, 2003.

From Amsat Sarex reflector:
The Goddard Amateur Radio Club, WA3NAN will begin shuttle retransmission with the next mission. The next mission is set for July 13, 2005. Shuttle retransmission frequencies used will remain the same. The frequencies are as follows:
Band Frequency +/- 5 kHz, QRM or Nets
80m 3.860 MHz
40m 7.185 MHz
20m 14.295 MHz
15m 21.395 MHz
19m 28.650 MHz
2m 147.450 MHz

We welcome back manned missions to space.

Any problems please send E-Mail to: hodonnel@pop500.gsfc.nasa.gov

From Amsat Sarex reflector:
At the Countdown Status Briefing today, NASA Test Director Pete Nickolenko and STS-114 payload manager Scott Higginbotham said that everyone is ready to return the Space Shuttle to flight, to return to the International Space Station, and to return the crew back safely. They reported everything is on schedule and there are no technical issues with hardware or systems. Shuttle weather officer Kathy Winters reported that weather conditions are still indicating only a 30% chance that weather could delay the launch

As the station prepares for the arrival of Discovery , the flight mode has now been changed.

Latest images of ISS over the UK have been posted here:

http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/satcom_transits/March2005.html

with a larger format video at :

http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/satcom_transits/jul10light.wmv

Regards,

John

As the launch date of the Space Shuttle's Return to Flight fast approaches, the crew of Expedition 11 continues to conduct experiments, prepare hardware for return to Earth and document the progress of Hurricane Dennis. Meanwhile, controllers on the ground coordinated a second reboost to increase the Station's altitude for Space Shuttle Discovery's upcoming rendezvous.

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html

From ARISS website:
As part of an educational outreach program, students at the United States Naval Academy, in collaboration with the DOD and ARISS, and under the direction of Bob Bruninga, WB4APR, designed and developed PCSAT2. This payload will be carried on a Materials International Space Station Experiment (MISSE5) on a Passive Experiment Container (PEC).

From ARISS website:
John Phillips, KE5DRY, and Sergei Krikalev, U5MIR, both participated in Field Day on June 25 - 26. John made 25 contacts, and although Sergei's report has not yet been submitted, he did make at least four contacts from Brazil, Thailand, S. Africa and the U.S.

http://www.rac.ca/ariss/oindex.htm

The next astronaut crew of the space shuttle Discovery arrived at their launch site today, flying in under a cloudy sky but looking forward to a July 13 space shot that NASA hopes will be the first orbiter launch since the Columbia disaster.

After a light duty three-day holiday weekend, the International Space Station Expedition 11 crew returned to work for a short, but intense
week of science experiments, spacesuit preparations and packing for the upcoming Space Shuttle mission.