Because it is difficult to schedule maintenance and repair onboard the ISS, Sergey has decided to fly ISS Ham backup equipment. This hardware includes the backup Kenwood D700, SSTV and cables. The equipment is at Baikonur and will launch on the next Progress on September 12. He will not be able to bring back the current onboard equipment. The software on the D700 is thought to be Rev F, well below the current Rev I version. There are still many concerns regarding this swap-out approach by several members of the ARISS international team. It needs to be better coordinated within the team.

Space shuttle Atlantis is scheduled to roll out to Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center at 12:01 a.m. EDT on Tuesday, Sept. 2. Atlantis is targeted to lift off Oct. 8 on an 11-day mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope. This new rollout date accommodates additional work on Atlantis.

NASA Television will provide live video of Atlantis at the launch pad beginning at 6:30 a.m. on Sept. 2. Video highlights of the rollout will air on NASA TV's Video File segments.

Media are invited to a photo opportunity of the shuttle at the pad and an interview availability with Atlantis' Flow Director Angie Brewer at 8 a.m. Tuesday. Dates and times of this event are subject to change. Updates are available by calling 321-867-2525.

An International Space Station Expedition 17 ARISS school contact has been planned with participants from the Challenger Learning Center of Lucas County, Oregon, Ohio, on 01 September. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 1522 UTC.

The contact will be a direct between stations NA1SS and KB9UPS. The contact should be audible over eastern North America. Interested parties are invited to listen in on the 145.80 MHz downlink. The participants are expected to conduct the conversation in English.

Using space as a theme and the power of simulations as a teaching tool, Challenger Center programs create an exciting and cooperative learning environment that exposes students to the challenges and successes of teamwork, problem solving, communication, and decision-making. These positive learning experiences raise students' expectations of success, foster in them a long-term interest in math, science, and technology and motivate them to pursue careers in these fields.

Two of the four of the Jules Verne Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) engines fired for five minutes and two seconds Wednesday to avoid any possibility of the International Space Station coming too close to a spent Russian rocket. The successful maneuver began about 12:10 p.m. EDT.

Meanwhile, the Expedition 17 crew members aboard the station worked with science experiments and continued the transfer of cargo.

Flight Engineer Oleg Kononenko conducted a status check on the PLANTS-2 experiment that researches the growth and development of plants in microgravity. He'd harvested and replanted in that experiment on Monday.

An International Space Station Expedition 17 ARISS school contact has been planned with participants at Schulehaus Feld 1 Richterswil, Switzerland on 30 August. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 1353 UTC.

The contact will be a telebridge contact between stations NA1SS and VK4KHZ. The contact should be audible over Eastern Australia. Interested parties are invited to listen in on the 145.80 MHz downlink. The participants are expected to conduct the conversation in English.

Richterswil is situated at the lake of Zurich. Although it is not very big it has 4 train stations and direct access to the "Autobahn", the freeway, which is part of the national street system. Some of the approximately 11000 inhabitants work in Zurich, which is about 30 kilometers away. Others are employed at one of the local firms or have jobs in the neighboring towns and villages. There are five schools and several kindergardens. Richterswil hosts its own museum and many different organizations such as sports clubs, a woman's club, a parent's organization, a theatre group, several choirs and more. Every year on the second Saturday in November the "Räbechilbi" takes place. It is a huge turnip fair (actually the biggest in the world), where pictures made of turnips and lit by candles are pulled through the town by school children and the members of our many clubs. This event is always visited by thousands of people, locals as well as tourists.

Topics in this report:
1. Upcoming School Contacts
2. Successful ARISS Contact with Los Padres Scouts
3. Challenger Learning Center - ARISS Presentation
4. ARISS International Meeting Held

1. Upcoming School Contacts
Schulehaus Feld 1 in Richterswil, Switzerland has been scheduled for an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact on Saturday, August 30 at 13:53 UTC. Telebridge station VK4KHZ in Queensland, Australia will assist with the contact. To prepare for the contact, fifth graders covered the solar system and space in their studies and composed questions during their English classes. The ARISS contact will be part of a large public event covering several aspects of communication. The school will be part of a project involving radio clubs, the army, the fire brigade, rescue teams and many others. Reporters from newspapers, television and radio stations will be on site.

TEHRAN, Iran â€" State TV says Iran's space agency aims to send an astronaut to space within 10 years.

The report Thursday quotes Space Agency chief Reza Taghipoor saying the mission's timing will be decided over the next year. It gives no other details.

Iran has stepped up its space ambitions in recent years, worrying world leaders already concerned about its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

Iran would have a ways to go before a manned flight. On Sunday, Taghipoor said Iran test-fired a rocket capable of carrying a satellite into orbit. The two-stage rocket released equipment that beamed flight data back to ground control.

NASA rolled the orbiter Atlantis from its processing hangar into the Kennedy Space Center Vehicle Assembly Building Friday, finally getting enough of a break from the remnants of Tropical Storm Fay to move the spaceship from one building to another.

The quarter-mile move set the stage for a huge milestone in just about seven days.

Mated with an external tank and attached solid rocket boosters, the fully assembled shuttle will creep out to launch pad 39A next weekend, in advance of NASA's fifth and final Hubble Space Telescope service mission.

Tropical Storm Fay lingered over Central Florida and parts of KSC - much less than the 23 inches recorded on the south end of neighboring Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

NASA's Kennedy Space Center apparently avoided major damage as of Wednesday night, and the agency's next shuttle launch likely will remain on schedule.

The storm shut down the nation's shuttle homeport two consecutive days and regular operations won't resume until Friday.

But the targeted Oct. 8 launch of shuttle Atlantis and seven astronauts on a fifth and final Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission is expected to take place as planned.

"Right now, as far as we are able to tell, there will be no impact to the Oct. 8 launch date," KSC spokesman George Diller said

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Topics in this report:
1. Upcoming School Contacts
2. New Jersey Experienced Successful Contact
3. Training Session Contact Successful
4. ESC Radio Session Update
5. Reisman Debrief Held
6. Ham Radio Module Available on NASA DLN
7. ARISS on NASA ISS Science Site
8. ARRL Posts Article on ARISS
9. ARRL QST Posts ARISS News
10. ARISS Member Gives Presentation on Ham Radio and Kids

1. Upcoming School Contacts
An Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact has been slated for Tuesday, August 19 at 15:39 UTC with Los Padres Council Troop 105 in Santa Barbara, California. Boy Scouts, ages 12-17 have worked on their Astronomy, Space Exploration and Radio Merit Badges. Materials were made available to Cub Scout units to work on the Astronomy and Science belt loops and Astronomy and Science academic pins. The University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) Physics Department has made available its astronomy observation deck for the contact and provided faculty members to instruct the Scouts. The Scouts were presented with information on the ISS and its crew to prepare them for this activity and the media was notified. The Los Padres Scout ARISS contact team put together a Web site at www.n6kth.com/iss . Streaming video of the event is planned.