After two days of orbital pursuit, Space Shuttle Discovery and the STS-116 crew reached the International Space Station. The two spacecraft linked up at 5:12 p.m. EST as they flew over southeast Asia.

The arrival of Discovery sets the stage for the continuation of station construction and a week of joint operations. Inside Discovery's payload bay is the P5 integrated truss structure. The STS-116 crew will conduct three spacewalks to install the P5 and to reconfigure and redistribute power generated by the station. The first spacewalk is scheduled to kick off at 3:42 p.m. Tuesday.

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The two-day chase will come to a close today when Space Shuttle Discovery docks with the International Space Station. The orbital linkup is scheduled to take place at 5:05 p.m. EST.

The STS-116 crew will begin rendezvous operations around 11:37 a.m. today. Commander Mark Polansky will guide Discovery through a back-flip maneuver about an hour before docking to allow the station's Expedition 14 crew to take pictures of Discovery's heat shield.

Source: http://www.amsat.org/amsat/archive/sarex/48hour/msg00175.html

The Phase I amateur radio gear in the FGB appears to have developed an intermittent audio issue that will require some crew time to be scheduled in order to try and determine the cause of the problem. This system has been used primarily for school contacts since the packet system associated with that radio began exhibiting problems during Expedition 6.

The Phase II system in the ISS service module has not been operating properly since August 2006 when the default settings for the radio changed. The radio transmits and receives fine and continues to be used for school contacts but until the radio is reprogrammed, only intermittent operations will be possible. A computer designated for amateur radio operations that will allow reprogramming of the radio is planned to arrive on the next Progress vehicle in 2007. Until the radio is reprogrammed, it is unlikely that any of the automatic modes (Packet and APRS, SSTV or the Crossband Repeater) will be operating or will only operate for brief periods of time.

Space Shuttle Discovery is on its way to the International Space Station. Expedition 14 awaits the STS-116 crew delivering with it the P5 truss segment and a new station crew member. Discovery lifted off at 7:47 p.m. EST Saturday from Kennedy Space Center, Fla. The space shuttle will dock with the station Monday afternoon.

Source: http://ftp.amsat.org/amsat/archive/sarex/48hour/msg00172.html

NASA has rescheduled the launch of the shuttle Discovery to Saturday, December 9, at 8:47 PM EST (Sunday, December 10, 0147 UTC). Postponed because of weather conditions, the mission to the International Space Station (ISS) will carry three radio amateurs, one of whom -- US astronaut SuniWilliams, KD5PLB -- will join ISS Expedition 14 in progress. She'll replace European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Reiter, DF4TR, whose duty tour has spanned Expeditions 13 and 14.

An International Space Station Expedition 14 ARISS school contact has been planned with students at Erweiterte Realschule Weiskirchen, Germany on Friday 8 Dec. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 21:50 UTC.

The contact will be a direct between stations RS0ISS and DN1ERW . The contact should be audible in most of Europe. Interested parties are invited to listen in on the 145.80 MHz downlink. Additional listening options are listed below. The participants are expected to conduct the conversation in German.

Toothaches in space and the possibility of intelligent life on other planets were among the topics that piqued the curiosity of students in Germany and Canada when they spoke via ham radio with the ISS. The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) program arranged the back-to-back contacts on November 20. During what may have been the first-ever ARISS school contact in German, youngsters gathered at the Museum for Industry in Mannheim, Germany, to speak with European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Reiter, DF4TR. One wanted to know what would happen if he or one of the other ISS crew members developed a toothache.

A unique, state-of-the-art science instrument -- one that couldrevolutionize how astronauts conduct chemical and biological research inspace -- awaits launch this week aboard Space Shuttle Discovery.

Developed by a science team led by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Centerin Huntsville, Ala., the Lab-On-a-Chip Application Development PortableTest System, or LOCAD-PTS, is part of the STS-116 mission's sciencepayload, bound Dec. 7 for the International Space Station.

Source http://www.amsat.org/amsat/archive/sarex/48hour/msg00139.html

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - NASA will begin the countdown for Space Shuttle Discovery's STS-116 mission at 11 p.m. EST Monday, Dec. 4, at the T-43 hour point. During this mission, Discovery's crew will rewire the International Space Station, bringing electrical power on line from solar arrays launched earlier this year. The Kennedy Space Center, Florida, launch team will conduct the countdown from Firing Room 4 of the Launch Control Center. The countdown includes 27 hours, 36 minutes of built-in hold time leading to a preferred launch time at 9:35 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 7. The launch window extends an additional five minutes.

Expedition 14 Commander Mike Lopez-Alegria and Flight Engineers Mikhail Tyurin and Thomas Reiter prepared this week for the planned arrival of Space Shuttle Discovery which launches next week. The crew reviewed the STS-116 mission plans, packed equipment to be returned to Earth, and prepared the station's Quest airlock, spacesuits and spacewalking tools. Reiter will be replaced aboard the station by astronaut Sunita Williams, arriving on Discovery.

Source: http://ftp.amsat.org/amsat/archive/sarex/48hour/msg00135.html