The next mission to the International Space Station is scheduled to launch Saturday, October 1, at 0354 UTC from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Onboard the Soyuz transporter will be Expedition 12 Commander Bill McArthur, KC5ACR, Flight Engineer Valery Tokarev and space tourist Greg Olsen, KC2ONX, of Princeton, New Jersey. McArthur--who also will serve as NASA ISS Science Officer--and Tokarev will stay on the orbiting complex for six months. Olsen's 10-day ISS visit is being arranged with the Federal Space Agency of the Russian Federation (FSA) by Space Adventures. Like Dennis Tito and Mark Shuttleworth before him, Olsen is believed to be paying in the vicinity of $20 million for the privilege of being the third civilian "space explorer," as Space Adventures called Olsen when it announced his pending voyage this past summer. While in space, Olsen plans to conduct Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) school group QSOs with two schools in New Jersey and one in New York. Following joint crew operations, Expedition 11 Commander Sergei Krikalev, Flight Engineer John Phillips, KE5DRY, and Olsen are scheduled to return to Earth October 10 in the Soyuz vehicle now docked at the ISS.

http://www.arrl.org/

A dozen youngsters from two NASA Explorer Schools (NES) spoke September 16 via Amateur Radio with International Space Station Expedition 11 NASA Science Officer John Phillips, KE5DRY. The contact between W1ACT at the Matthew J. Kuss Middle School in Fall River, Massachusetts, and NA1SS in space was arranged by the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) program. The audience of more than 100 parents, faculty members, fellow students and dignitaries was split between two locations, reports Roland Daignault, N1JOY, of the Fall River Amateur Radio Club/Bristol County Repeater Association. Club members, who have set up a club station and conducted licensing classes at Kuss Middle School, assisted in the contact.

http://www.arrl.org/

This thursday, 29 Sept on two morning passes over
the Eastern USA, Naval Academy students will
attempt a special experiment via PCSAT2.

They will watch for APRS or UI packets heard via
the PCSAT2 145.825 uplink and will QSL those
packets by VOICE on the 437.975 downlink. The
two passes involved will be 0850 EDT and 1026 EDT.

http://www.amsat.org/amsat/archive/sarex/48hour/msg06984.html

Commander William McArthur and Flight Engineer Valery Tokarev, the 12th International Space Station crew, are scheduled to launch from the
Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan a few minutes before midnight EDT Sept. 30 to begin a 182-day stay in space.

With them will be American Greg Olsen, the third private citizen in space, flying under a contract with the Russian Federal Space Agency. He
will spend about eight days on the station.

http://www.amsat.org/amsat/archive/sarex/48hour/msg06980.html