The International Space Station continued to perform well Friday as the Expedition 16 crew wrapped up a productive week filled with science experiments and station maintenance.

All three crew members--Commander Peggy Whitson and Flight Engineers Yuri Malenchenko and Dan Tani--began Friday morning with a routine inspection of their orbital home, followed by the collection of their body mass measurements.

Source http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html

Launch of the Explorer 1 ( http://www.nasm.si.edu/exhibitions/GAL100/exp1.html ) satellite on January 31, 1958 marked the dawn of the Space Age for the United States, as well as the beginning of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's ( http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/index.cfm ) exploration of space. To celebrate the 50th anniversary of this historic event, the JPL Amateur Radio Club will be operating W6VIO ( https://pitfall.org/jplarc/Station/ExplorerIAnniversary ) from 1600 UTC January 28-0400 UTC February 4 using the following frequencies: 3.535, 7.035, 7.185, 14.035, 14.240, 21.035 and 21.285 MHz. An Explorer I commemorative QSL card will be available. QSL to JPL ARC, PO Box 820, La Canada, CA 91012-0820.

The HF Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP http://www.haarp.alaska.edu/ ) in Alaska and the Long Wavelength Array (LWA http://lwa.nrl.navy.mil/ ) in New Mexico are planning an additional lunar echo experiment for January 19-20. Interested radio amateurs are invited to participate in this experiment by listening for the lunar echoes and submitting reports. On January 19, listen on 6.7925 MHz from 0500-0600 UTC, and on 7.4075 MHz from 0600-0700 UTC. On January 20, listen on 6.7925 MHz from 0630-0730 UTC, and on 7.4075 MHz from 0730-0830 UTC (depending on frequency occupancy at the time of operation, it may be necessary to adjust the frequency slightly).

1. ARISS School Contacts Status Due crew schedules onboard the ISS, no Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contacts are planned at this time. The ARISS team expects contacts to resume once STS-122 launches in early February. 2. Astronaut Training Status Timothy Creamer, KC5WKI, received training on the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) basic radio operations and school contacts on Tuesday, January 8. Creamer is a backup crew member for the Expedition 18 mission. Koichi Wakata, KC5ZTA, and Soichi Noguchi, KD5TVP, will be scheduled for training on ARISS radio operations and school contacts in the near future. Wakata is scheduled to fly on Expedition 18; Noguchi is slated as his backup.

NASA managers are targeting a Feb. 7 launch date for the space shuttle Atlantis as engineers prepare to replace an electrical connector in the spacecraft's external fuel tank.

A decision on the proposed launch target could come as soon as Friday, pending coordination between shuttle and International Space Station (ISS) managers, as well as the agency's international partners, said Candrea Thomas, a spokesperson at NASA's Kennedy Space Center spaceport in Cape Canaveral, Fla.

Meanwhile, shuttle workers are expected to complete efforts to replace a suspect electrical connector on Atlantis' 15-story external tank early Friday, Thomas told SPACE.com.

1. ARISS School Contacts Status Due to ISS crew schedules, no Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contacts are planned at this time. The ARISS team expects contacts to resume once STS-122 launches in late January. 2. Astronaut Training Status Timothy Creamer, KC5WKI, is scheduled for a training session in basic radio operations and school contacts on Tuesday, January 8. Creamer is a backup crew member for the Expedition 18 mission. 3. ARISS Annual Report The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) FY2007 annual report has been written and is being finalized. It will soon be posted on the ARISS section of the AMSAT Web site.

AUSTIN, Texas - NASA scientists and a space shuttle astronaut today outlined details of a challenging mission that will repair and upgrade the Hubble Space Telescope in 2008. The Hubble servicing mission, designated STS-125, will equip the orbiting observatory with far greater capabilities than ever had before to explore the nature and history of our universe.

Space Shuttle Atlantis is scheduled to lift off in August with a crew of seven astronauts and a cargo of equipment, tools and new instruments on the fifth and final mission to service the venerable telescope, which orbits 350 miles above the Earth. The shuttle also will carry an IMAX camera to record the historic mission for a film scheduled for release in 2010.

The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) referred to Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) in its January 2008 QST. Under "This Just In" there was a section that read, "Astronauts aboard the ISS completed 74 contacts with schools during 2007, an ARISS record."

Source http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/news/

Jan. 3

NASA flight control teams and ground operations teams have been requested to protect for a Jan. 24th launch date for Space Shuttle Atlantis. As work progresses, that date will be modified as required, says John Shannon, deputy manager for the Space Shuttle Program. The schedule depends on test results and modifications to a fuel sensor system connector on the external fuel tank Atlantis will use for launch on its STS-122 mission to the International Space Station. Other launch opportunities could come between Jan. 24th and the first week of February.

The connector suspected of prompting false readings during two previous launch attempts is undergoing intensive testing at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. Engineers also will test potential modifications to the connector to certify it for flight. Marshall has a test facility that allows the connector to be subjected to the same conditions it saw during the earlier launch attempts.