CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - NASA will start the launch countdown for space shuttle Endeavour's STS-118 mission at 9 p.m. EDT Saturday, Aug. 4, at T-43 hours. The countdown includes 27 hours, 3 minutes of built-in hold time leading to a preferred launch time at 7:02 p.m. EDT Tuesday, Aug. 7. The launch window extends an additional five minutes.

During the 11-day mission to the International Space Station, Endeavour's crew will add another truss segment to the expanding station, install a new gyroscope and add an external spare parts platform. The flight will have at least three spacewalks. It also will debut a new system that enables docked shuttles to draw electrical power from the station to extend visits to the outpost. If this system functions as expected, three additional days will be added to the STS-118 mission.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - On Thursday, NASA managers set Aug. 7 as the official launch date for space shuttle Endeavour's STS-118 mission to the International Space Station. Liftoff from NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Fla., is scheduled for 7:02 p.m. EDT.

Endeavour's launch date was announced following the traditional Flight Readiness Review at Kennedy. During the two-day meeting, top NASA and contractor managers assessed any risks associated with the mission and determined that the shuttle's equipment, support systems and procedures are ready for flight.

Commander Scott Kelly and his six crewmates are scheduled to arrive at Kennedy at 5 p.m. Friday, Aug. 3, for final launch preparations. The countdown is scheduled to begin at 9 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 4.

The Expedition 15 crew aboard the International Space Station continued preparations Thursday for the arrival of a Progress cargo vehicle and space shuttle Endeavour on mission STS-118 in August.

Flight Engineer Clay Anderson conducted a "walk off" of the station's robotic arm, moving it into position in advance of Endeavour's arrival. During STS-118, the crew will use the robotic arm to install the newly delivered S5 truss to the S4 solar array truss.

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As launch preparations continue for the STS-118 mission, NASA managers will gather at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday for the flight readiness review. During the two-day meeting, officials will evaluate the status of the vehicle, crew and payload and decide whether Space Shuttle Endeavour and STS-118 are officially "go" for launch.

Last week, the crew members completed the terminal countdown demonstration test. A routine element of prelaunch training, the test allowed the astronauts to try on their launch and entry suits, learn emergency procedures at the launch pad, and take part in a variety of familiarization activities and briefings. The test concluded with a countdown dress rehearsal at Launch Pad 39A.

Two International Space Station crew members Monday successfully wrapped up a 7-hour, 41-minute spacewalk that saw the removal and jettison of a refrigerator-size ammonia reservoir.

During the spacewalk Flight Engineer Clay Anderson and Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin also installed a television camera stanchion, reconfigured a power supply for an antenna assembly, and performed several get-ahead tasks.

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On Wednesday, 25 July 2007, starting around 11:38 UTC, there will be a contact between the ISS and the Challenger Learning Center of Lucas County in Oregon, Ohio, USA. This is a direct contact with the ham radio ground station KB9UPS located at the Learning Center. Please join us in listening to this event.

The audio from this event will be fed into the EchoLink *AMSAT* (101 377) and *JK1ZRW* (277 208) servers, as well as being fed into the IRLP Discovery Reflector 9010. We hope to have good two way audio from this contact.

As we do normally, as soon as audio is suitable for transmission over amateur radio, we may be able to start feeding audio of set up activities from about 25 minutes prior to the start of the actual contact into EchoLink for listeners who enjoy listening in on these proceedings.

A docked Progress 25 cargo craft will fire its thrusters on July 21 and 23 raising the International Space Station's orbit. The reboost provides the proper phasing for an upcoming Progress 26 launch and docking. The Progress firing also clears the station after the Early Ammonia Servicer (EAS) is jettisoned during a July 23 spacewalk and provides flight day three rendezvous opportunities when space shuttle Endeavour arrives on mission STS-118. In advance of the reboost, the crew is testing the command and data telemetry of the Russian computers.

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An International Space Station Expedition 15 ARISS school contact has been planned with children at the Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children in Orlando, Florida USA on 17 July. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 18:27 UTC.
The contact will be a telebridge between stations NA1SS and W6SRJ. The contact should be audible in western portions of the United States. Interested parties are invited to listen in on the 145.80 MHz downlink. In addition, the audio should be available via IRLP and EchoLink. The participants are expected to conduct the conversation in English.

Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children is located in Orlando, Florida. It is one of the few hospitals in the United States where obstetrics and children's services are combined, increasing the chances for survival of high-risk newborns as well as enhancing the quality of care for mother and child. The children who participate in this contact will be patients at the hospital. It will be an exciting surprise and enriching experience that will make their hospital stay a memorable event.

Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin and Flight Engineer Oleg Kotov continued to monitor the upload of new software into the Russian segment computers. Meanwhile Flight Engineer Clay Anderson helped them stow items no longer needed on the station in the ISS Progress 24 cargo craft. The Progress craft is scheduled to undock on Aug. 1.

Kotov and Anderson each completed mandatory computer-based Crew Medical Officer proficiency training. The training session is done once a month.

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The Expedition 15 crew members conducted a mandatory emergency exit drill Tuesday to simulate their response to a rapid depressurization of the station. Russian and U.S. specialists were standing by at both control centers for questions and comments. During the drill, the group proceeded through a series of checkpoints, determining and verifying various settings, measurements and configurations. They stepped through the process of preparing the ISS Progress 24 cargo ship for undocking and moved along the emergency exit path toward the docked Soyuz TMA-10 spacecraft.

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