WASHINGTON -- NASA is targeting May 31 as the launch date for shuttle Discovery's STS-124 mission to deliver the large Japanese Kibo Pressurized Module to the International Space Station. The liftoff time is approximately 5:01 p.m. EDT.

NASA decided to reschedule Discovery's target launch date from May 25 to May 31 after shipment of the mission's external fuel tank from its assembly plant at the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans to Florida was delayed by weather. The tank arrived at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on March 26.

Additionally, NASA elected to move the liftoff date in order to avoid having the launch team work through the Memorial Day weekend.

1. Upcoming School Contacts Shanghai Youth Centre of Science and Technology Education in Xuhui, Shanghai, China has been scheduled for an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact on Tuesday, April 1 at 08:10 UTC. The Centre is an after school educational facility that educates teenagers in science and technology. It has its own radio club, callsign BY4AY, which focuses on educating students in science and radio communications and in fabricating electronic toys. An Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact has been scheduled with Osnovna skola Pazin in Pazin, Croatia on Monday, April 7 at 14:52 UTC. Eight hundred students are enrolled at the school which has offered technical classes in robotics, electronics and computer science for the past ten years. Students from Pazin's two high schools are also expected to attend this event. The schools hope to pique the students' interest in space and electronics through this educational activity.

NASA will hold a briefing at 1 p.m. CDT Wednesday, April 2, to preview the activities of the next residents of the International Space Station and to look back at the accomplishments of the current station crew. The briefing will originate from NASA's Johnson Space Center and will be broadcast live on NASA Television. Questions will be taken from reporters at participating NASA locations.

Conducted on the eve of the docking of the Jules Verne European Automated Transfer Vehicle to the station, the briefing will focus on the upcoming Expedition 17 mission. Expedition 17 Commander Sergei Volkov and Flight Engineer Oleg Kononenko, along with South Korean Spaceflight Participant So-yeon Yi, will launch April 8 on a Soyuz spacecraft from Kazakhstan. They will join NASA astronaut Garrett Reisman, who has been aboard the station since March 12.

The Expedition 16 crew members aboard the International Space Station continued their preparations to receive Europe's new unpiloted resupply ship, the Jules Verne Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV).

At 2 a.m. EDT, Thursday, the ATV fired it engines, bringing it out of a parking orbit and putting it into position to make its first demonstration approach to the station. During its first approach, which is scheduled for Saturday, the ATV will fire its engines several times to bring it approximately two miles from the station. Once in position, the ATV will conduct thruster firings and other systems tests before it pulls back into a phasing orbit.

An International Space Station Expedition 16 ARISS school contact has been planned with participants at the Shanghai Youth Centre of Science and Technology Education, Xuhui, Shanghai, China on 01 April. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 08:06 UTC.

The contact will be a direct between stations NA1SS and BY4AY. The contact should be audible over Eastern China. Interested parties are invited to listen in on the 145.80 MHz downlink. The participants are expected to conduct the conversation in English.

Shanghai Youth Center of Science & Technology Education (SYCSTE), an institution directly under the Shanghai Education committee, was founded on June 1 1957 and it is one of the earliest after-school educational centers for teenager in China. SYCSTE has actively played an important role in the provision of guidance, training, coordination, service and demonstration for the science and technology education carried by different districts and regions in Shanghai and has promoted the great popularization and improvement of science and technology education for Shanghai's teenagers. The above activities are carried out in accordance with the demands of quality-oriented education and the curriculum and textbook reforms, following the characteristics and rules of after-school education. Through training, guidance and activities, SYCSTE devotes itself to cultivating and enhancing students' abilities. We have been operating the SYCSTE Amateur Radio Club (Club call: BY4AY) since 04 May. 1987. We primarily educate students on learning techniques for radio communications and making electronic toys, as well as mastering the practical operation for amateur radio communications. Over 20 license-hiders have graduated form our club at present. The main purpose of our club is to expos our students to the interesting world of natural science. And through various experiments, students achieve a true feeling of satisfaction by reaching targets set by themselves.

After 16 days in space and 250 orbits of the Earth, space shuttle Endeavour touched down at 8:39 p.m. EDT Wednesday at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, bringing the STS-123 mission to a flawless end.

But for the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), whose Kibo laboratory module is finally taking shape aboard the International Space Station, this flight was merely the beginning.

"We are quite honored that Mr. Doi contributed to the construction of the space station," said JAXA vice president Kaoru Mamiya, referring to STS-123 Mission Specialist Takao Doi. "It's the first step for our Kibo construction, and we hope that next time, the main module will be added to the station."

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - The space shuttle Endeavour crew is expected to complete its 16-day flight to the International Space Station with a landing at NASA's Kennedy Space Center on Wednesday, March 26.

The STS-123 mission began March 11 and delivered the first segment of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Kibo laboratory and the Canadian Space Agency's two-armed robotic system, known as Dextre. The flight also brought a new crew member to the station and will return an astronaut who has spent nearly seven weeks aboard the complex.

NASA managers will evaluate weather conditions at Kennedy before permitting Endeavour to return to Earth. Wednesday landing opportunities at Kennedy are at 7:05 p.m. EDT and 8:39 p.m. The shuttle's backup sites for landing, Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., and White Sands Space Harbor, N.M., will not be activated Wednesday.

An International Space Station Expedition 16 ARISS school contact has been planned with participants at the Kodomo Support Project, Kyoto, Japan on 26 March. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 10:41 UTC.

The contact will be a direct between stations NA1SS and 8N3KRP. The contact should be audible over Most of Japan. Interested parties are invited to listen in on the 145.80 MHz downlink. The participants are expected to conduct the conversation in English.

"NPO(Non Profit Organization) The Child Support Project" was established in April 2006 in Kyoto, aimed at helping and networking parents, people and communities related to child care and education. The establishment of the community coexisting mutually and supporting each other is the main purpose of "NPO the Child Support Project". All the members of "NPO The Child Support Project" agreed to apply for "ARISS School Contact" and enthusiastically started to prepare for the application in July 2006. Children, who will be joining this program are from elementary and junior high school in Kyoto. They have been chosen by general public advertisement. Most are from Shichijo junior high school and two of the members are from elementary school.

1. Upcoming School Contacts The Non Profit Organization Kodomo Support Project in Kyoto, Japan has been approved for an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact on Wednesday, March 26 at 10:41 UTC. The Project was established in 2006 to provide a network for parents and the community to support the social, mental and physical education of children. Participants will learn about wireless communication, space and science technology. Shanghai Youth Centre of Science and Technology Education in Xuhui, Shanghai, China has been scheduled for an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact on Tuesday, April 1 at 08:10 UTC. The Centre is an after school educational facility that educates teenagers in science and technology. It has its own radio club, callsign BY4AY, which focuses on educating students in science and radio communications and in fabricating electronic toys.

With the final STS-123 spacewalk complete, flight day 14 of the STS-123 mission will see the crew of space shuttle Endeavour prepare for the end of their visit to the station. The orbiter will undock Monday and return to Earth Wednesday.

Mission Specialists Robert L. Behnken and Mike Foreman completed the fifth spacewalk of STS-123 at 10:36 p.m. EDT Saturday. Rick Linnehan, also a mission specialist, coordinated their activities from inside the orbiting complex made up of space shuttle Endeavour and the International Space Station.

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