Columbus , the laboratory built by the European Space Agency (ESA), is now packed inside space shuttle Atlantis' payload bay. It is the culmination of years of design and engineering work aimed at creating Europe's primary component for the International Space Station (ISS). At 23 feet long and 15 feet in diameter, the cylindrical segment is designed to host specialized experiments examining how humans react to microgravity and the effect of space on various fluids and objects such as crystals. Two Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) antennas have been installed on the nadir side of Columbus. NASA is currently planning on a launch date of Thursday, December 6 for Atlantis.

According to ARRL ARISS Program Manager Rosalie White, K1STO, a record number of Amateur Radio on the International Space Station school contacts have been made during 2007 -- 74, to be exact. This is nearly twice the highest number of school contacts the astronauts and the ARISS Team handled in previous years. "Though the ARISS Team's expectations are a little lower for being able to achieve this level of contact activity in 2008, this is a good time to file an application and begin making preparations for your school to have an ARISS contact," White said.

The 2007 Amateur Radio activity was led by the energetic participation of astronauts Sunita Williams, KD5PLB, and Clay Anderson, KD5PLA. They have significantly reduced the backlog of schools waiting for a contact. The ARISS Team plans to award a Certificate of Appreciation to Anderson. The astronaut set a new record for ARISS school contacts. White said, "A successful ARISS contact with a school in Quebec was the 39th contact made by Expedition 15 crew members, surpassing the record set by the Expedition 12 crew for the most contacts made during an International Space Station expedition."

Spacewalkers Peggy Whitson and Dan Tani completed Saturday's spacewalk at 11:54 a.m. EST. The 7 hour and 4 minute excursion started an hour and 10 minutes early. They completed their main tasks well ahead of the timeline then moved on to perform some get-ahead work.

+ Read more about Saturday's spacewalk at http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition16/eva_1...

The two spacewalkers moved the 300-pound, 18.5 foot Loop B fluid tray from the station's main truss to the port side of Destiny and completed fluid and electrical connections.

Tani did an inspection of a Solar Alpha Rotary Joint that had previously shown increased power consumption and vibration while rotating as it followed the Sun. Whitson deployed and mated cables to be used as part of the Station to Shuttle Power Transfer System, or SSPTS. A portable foot restraint was also installed on Node 2 for upcoming spacewalks when the European Columbus laboratory is installed on the STS-122 mission.

A 6-hour, 30-minute spacewalk by International Space Station Commander Peggy Whitson and Flight Engineer Dan Tani will continue the external outfitting of the Harmony node in its new position in front of the U.S laboratory Destiny.

The spacewalk is scheduled to begin at 6 a.m. EST Saturday from the U.S. airlock Quest. As was the case in the Nov. 20 spacewalk, Whitson, the lead spacewalker, will wear the suit with the red stripes while Tani will be in the suit with the barber-pole stripes.

After leaving the airlock and setting up tools and equipment, Whitson will remove, vent and stow an ammonia jumper, part of a temporary cooling loop. Removing it allows connection of the hookup of the permanent Loop B ammonia cooling loop on a second fluid tray on the station's exterior.

The research capacity of the International Space Station is set to double during a December NASA mission that is a milestone for European spaceflight.

The European Space Agency's Columbus laboratory packed inside space shuttle Atlantis' payload bay is the culmination of years of design and engineering work aimed at creating Europe's primary component for the space station.

At 23 feet long and 15 feet in diameter, the cylindrical segment is designed to host specialized experiments examining how humans react to microgravity and the effect of space on various fluids and objects such as crystals.

The ANDE satellite (NO-61) is about to deorbit within the next four weeks, possibly as early as Dec 16.
See: http://www.ew.usna.edu/~bruninga/ande-ops.html

There is a award certificate available for operations in the last ten days of the life of ANDE.
See: http://www.ande-deorbit.com/award.shtml

Ron H, AH6RH
Honolulu, HI

The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) covered Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) in its December issue of QST.

Under "Media Hits" (page 12) is a paragraph about the Macomb Daily and the Detroit Free Press -- two articles talking about the September ARISS contact with Martin Luther King Academy in Mount Clemens, Michigan.

On page 62 is a section about the ARRL/TAPR (Tucson Amateur Packet Radio) 26th Annual Digital Communications Conference held on September 28-30, in Hartford, Connecticut. A list is given on the presentation topics, including a talk on SuitSat-2.

International Space Station Commander Peggy Whitson and Flight Engineer Dan Tani wound up a 7-hour, 16-minute spacewalk to outfit the Harmony node in its new position in front of the U.S laboratory Destiny at 12:26 p.m. EST Tuesday.

They completed scheduled tasks and did three get-ahead jobs in the spacewalk, which began about 50 minutes early.

After leaving the Quest airlock and setting up tools and equipment, Whitson removed, vented and stowed an ammonia jumper, part of a temporary cooling loop. Removing it allowed connection of the hookup of the permanent ammonia cooling loop on a fluid tray on the station's exterior.

A 6-hour, 40-minute spacewalk by International Space Station Commander Peggy Whitson and Flight Engineer Dan Tani will begin the external outfitting of the Harmony node in its new position in front of the U.S laboratory Destiny.

The spacewalk is scheduled to begin at 5 a.m. EST Tuesday from the U.S. airlock Quest. Whitson, the lead spacewalker, will wear the suit with the red stripes while Tani will be in the suit with the barber-pole stripes.

After leaving the airlock and setting up tools and equipment, Whitson will remove, vent and stow an ammonia jumper, part of a temporary cooling loop. Removing it allows connection of the hookup of the permanent ammonia cooling loop on a fluid tray on the station's exterior.

The Ontario County Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Services (RACES) planned a few events in honor of local native Pam Melroy's STS-120 mission. Midlakes Intermediate School in Clifton Springs, New York was one of eight schools that participated in a video Web conference with Sandy Magnus, KC5FYE, on October 31 which was viewed by 3447 students and 160 teachers. The conference received television and newspaper coverage.
On November 2, the school held an "Amateur Radio Day" in which nearly 300 students and 25 teachers participated. The day began with an assembly, followed by a number of activities. Local amateur radio operators gave an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) and satellite presentation. They provided an outdoor antenna exercise, demonstrated tracking software and covered wave theory with a signal generator and oscilloscope. There was also an outdoor transmitter hunt, a special event HF station and a "Send you name in Morse Code" exercise. An Internet Radio Linking Project (IRLP) contact was made through node 5400 in Manchester, England. Media outlets reported on the event. Students and teachers requested information on how to get licensed. The radio club will supply Technician License Manuals to the school's library.