The first of three spacewalks in nine days by Commander Michael
Lopez-Alegria and Flight Engineer Sunita Williams wrapped up Wednesday
at 6:09 p.m. EST. During the 7-hour 55-minute excursion, the
spacewalkers reconfigured one of two cooling loops for the Destiny
module, rearranged electrical connections and secured the starboard
radiator of the P6 truss after retraction.

Having a real, live astronaut on hand for the occasion helped to make an Amateur Radio contact with the International Space Station's NA1SS even more special for 11 fourth and fifth graders at Romeo Elementary School in Dunnellon, Florida. When the contact with Mission Specialist Suni Williams, KD5PLM, was done, NASA Educator Astronaut Joe Acaba, KE5DAR, joined the students in their enthusiasm. Acaba, who once taught at Dunnellon Middle School, made several informational presentations to the entire school before and after the January 17 event, says Larry Phelps, K4OZS, of the Silver Spring Radio Club (SSRC), which handled Earth station duties.

On Thursday, December 14, astronaut Tim Kopra and future space participant Charles Simonyi took and passed their amateur radio license exams.

Callsigns have since been issued. Charles Simonyi received the callsign KE7KDP and Timothy Kopra was issued the callsign KE5LUT.

Charles Simonyi KE7KDP an architect of Microsoft's Word and Excel programs, paid Russia more than $20 million for a round-trip ride to the station and a stay aboard the orbiting lab during April.

Eleven electrical engineering students at The College of New Jersey had a hand in designing some of the software defined radio (SDR) hardware that will fly aboard SuitSat-2. The college seniors signed up last fall for "Software Defined Radio," taught by adjunct professors Bob McGwier, N4HY, and Frank Brickle, AB2KT -- both members of the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) SuitSat-2 team. [img]http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2006/11/09/101/SuitSat-1-in-Space-1-sm.jpg[/img]

The all-ham crew of the International Space Station will undertake what NASA is calling "an unprecedented series" of four spacewalks during the next few weeks. Expedition 14 Commander Mike Lopez-Alegria, KE5GTK, and Flight Engineer Suni Williams, KD5PLB, will kick off the spacewalk string January 31 with a six-and-a-half-hour excursion. Subsequent spacewalks are set for February 4 and 8 using US spacesuits. Lopez-Alegria and Flight Engineer Mikhail Tyurin, RZ3FT, will conduct the fourth spacewalk later in February using Russian spacesuits. NASA says the US spacewalks will bring on line new portions of the station's cooling system, expanded with components activated during the December space shuttle mission. Among other tasks, Lopez-Alegria and Williams also will assist in the retraction of heat-rejecting radiators on the station's P6 truss, install some external devices to stow cargo and install cabling for a new power transfer system for future shuttle flights. On the fourth spacewalk, Lopez-Alegria and Tyurin will remove a stuck antenna from the Russian Progress 23 cargo spacecraft to ensure it can safely undock in April. NASA TV ( http://www.nasa.gov/ntv ) will cover these events.

If she keeps up her current pace, ISS Expedition 14 Flight Engineer Suni Williams, KD5PLB, could set a new record in the number of Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) school contacts. Since arriving on the space station in late December aboard the shuttle Discovery, Williams has logged five ARISS ham radio contacts with schools, starting the first week in January. Recently she told youngsters at Dilworth Elementary School in San Jose, California, that viewing the entire planet Earth from space is the most impressive thing she's seen to date. She also confirmed that the lack of gravity aboard the ISS does affect the human body.

An ARISS member sent a message congratulating Sunita Williams on the fine job she has been doing with her ARISS contacts.
She responded with a note indicating that she really enjoys the contacts as they have been informative and interesting, and she looks forward to participating in many more.
Thank you Sunita!

Students at two LaSalle County schools made history today. They had the privledge of connecting with the International Space Station this morning.

It's getting closer to contact time. These 6th, 7th and 8th graders from St. Anthonys School and Northlawn Junior High School are getting ready for their conversation with the International Space Station.

For a month and a half now the students have worked on the science project. Teachers from each of the schools selected the 19 students to talk to astronaut Sonny Williams aboard the International Space Station.

Full story and video at http

The crew aboard the International Space Station will receive a new shipment of food, fuel and supplies from a Russian Progress spacecraft due to dock with the station on Friday, Jan. 19. NASA Television will broadcast the arrival live.

New gear is helping the astronauts on the International Space Station kick off a new year. Flight Engineer Suni Williams set up hardware for the Test of Reaction and Adaptation Capabilities -- or TRAC -- investigation that is designed to test crew members' hand and eye coordination before, during and after missions. Crew members also completed the final operations of a biological experiment on the impact of varying levels of light and gravity on plant root growth. The final images of samples in the European Modular Cultivation System were taken and downlinked, and the samples were stowed in a freezer for eventual return to Earth.