An International Space Station Expedition 18 ARISS school contact has been planned with participants at St. Teresa's School, South Wairarapa, New Zealand on 20 November. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 0430 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.

St Teresa's School in Featherston is located 65Kms north from Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand. It is a small rural school of 125 pupils in a district of 3 schools and covers an age range 5-13 years. There are 70 girls and 55 boys with 5 full time and 3 part time teachers. The district of South Wairarapa is a farming community, dairying, sheep and cattle farms, grapes are also grown near by for a small but significant wine industry. Olives, apples and pears are grow here

Topics in this report: 1. Upcoming School Contacts 2. Australian School Contact Successful 3. International Education Week - ARISS Contact Successful 4. Japanese Club Talks to ISS Astronaut 5. ARRL Publishes ARISS News 6. NASA Birthday Celebration Includes ARISS Students 7. NASA Cites Article on ARISS Students 1. Upcoming School Contacts Planning continues for Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) school contacts. New approvals are expected this week. 2. Australian School Contact Successful On Monday, November 10, Anderson's Creek Primary School in Warrandyte, Victoria, Australia experienced a very successful Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact via telebridge station VK5ZAI in Kingston, South Australia. Ten students asked two questions each of astronaut Mike Fincke, KE5AIT. An audience of over 230 witnessed the event including the mayor, sergeant, representative from Rotary, Bendigo Bank and the Warrandyte High School principal. There were also many representatives including the president from the local Wireless Institute. The majority of the teaching staff also joined in. The Herald Sun sent a photographer before and during the event and published an article in the paper and online. The Education Times, the Victorian Teacher newspaper, also conducted an interview and will publish a story in its next edition. The Victorian Space Science Education Centre published an account of the event in their emailed newsletter to teachers, and a student was also interviewed on ABC 774 Melbourne radio station.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Space shuttle Endeavour and its seven-member crew lifted off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center at 7:55 p.m. EST Friday to repair and remodel the International Space Station.

Endeavour's STS-126 mission will carry to space about 32,000 pounds, which includes supplies and equipment necessary to double the crew size from three to six members in spring 2009. The new station cargo includes additional sleeping quarters, a second toilet, a water reclamation system and a resistance exercise device.

The mission's four planned spacewalks primarily will focus on servicing the station's two Solar Alpha Rotary Joints, which allow the outpost's solar arrays to track the sun. The starboard SARJ has had limited use since September 2007.

NASA Television will air interviews with each of the seven astronauts who will fly to the Hubble Space Telescope beginning at 8 a.m. EDT, on Monday, Aug. 11.

The crew includes Commander Scott Altman, Pilot Gregory C. Johnson, and mission specialists Michael Good, Megan McArthur, John Grunsfeld, Mike Massimino and Andrew Feustel.

Media also may obtain copies of the interviews by contacting the Johnson Space Center Media Resource Center in Houston at 281-483-4231 . For transcripts of the interviews, and more information on the space shuttle and the mission to Hubble, visit:

An International Space Station Expedition 18 ARISS school contact has been planned with participants at Newcomers Club in Saitama, Iruma, Sitama, Japan on 15 November. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 1028 UTC.

The contact will be a direct contact between stations NA1SS and JK1ZAM. The contact should be audible over eastern Asia. Interested parties are invited to listen in on the 145.80 MHz downlink. The participants are expected to conduct the conversation in English.

After the first school contact in Japan, many children wanted to get their amateur license. In Saitama area, about 30 children got the amateur licenses. Therefore, we organized the newcomers club and applied for the school contact. Already we are teaching about the orbit of a satellite and so on. Also, the students are learning how to QSO.

An International Space Station Expedition 18 ARISS school contact has been planned with participants of International Education Week (Poolesville High School in Poolesville, MD, Academia Cotopaxi in Quito, Ecuador and Enloe Magnet High School in Raleigh, NC) on 14 November. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 1505 UTC.

The contact will be a telebridge contact between stations NA1SS and WH6PN. The contact should be audible over Hawaii. Interested parties are invited to listen in on the 145.80 MHz downlink. The participants are expected to conduct the conversation in English.

Hello to All.

I was amazed! :-)) Today I have received the QSL from the QSO between NA1SS OP:Richard W5KWQ and me ON4LEA.

Look at http://www.rbo.be/ISS.htm to see the QSL.

Vy 73 to all!

Topics in this report 1. Upcoming School Contacts 2. Spanish Students Speak to ISS via Radio 3. Successful Australian Contact 4. India University Contact Successful 5. Successful ARISS Simulated Contacts 6. ARRL Articles on Garriott Mission 7. Interview on SuitSat 8. Astronaut Makes General Contacts 9. ARISS SSTV Web Site Status 1. Upcoming School Contacts An Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact has been scheduled in conjunction with International Education Week (November 17 - 21). The contact is slated for Friday, November 14 at 15:02 UTC via telebridge station WH6PN in Hawaii. Three schools will participate: Poolesville High School in Poolesville, Maryland, Enloe Magnet High School in Raleigh, North Carolina, and Academia Cotopaxi in Quito, Ecuador. On Tuesday, November 18, the schools will participate in another session with an expert panel. Former astronaut Don Thomas, KC5FVF, will talk about space exploration and ARISS Chairman Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, will give an ARISS overview. Amateur radio operators from around the world will also tie in to give talks about amateur radio and their countries.

An International Space Station Expedition 18 ARISS school contact has been planned with participants at Anderson's Creek, Primary School, Warrandyte, Victoria, Australia on 10 November. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 0803 UTC.

The contact will be a telebridge contact between stations NA1SS and VK5ZAI. 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.

Anderson's Creek Primary School is situated 30 kilometres northeast of Melbourne and has over 340 students. It is nestled in a tranquil natural environment. The school is surrounded by native vegetation that invites parrots, galahs and the sound of laughing kookaburras. Its architectural design encourages cooperative teaching and is very much a community based school which places great importance on the partnership between parents and teachers. There is a strong emphasis on the use of information technology in our classrooms.

After 10 days on the International Space Station (ISS), Richard Garriott, W5KWQ, returned to Earth October 23 on Soyuz TMA-12. Garriott is the son of Owen Garriott, W5LFL, who in 1983 was the first ham to make QSOs from space. While Richard was on board the ISS, he too made QSOs, furthering what has now become a family tradition. "This mission to the ISS fulfilled a lifelong dream to experience spaceflight, just as my father first did 25 years ago [on STS-9]," Richard said. "It's an honor to be the first American to follow a parent into space." Richard took off from Star City in Kazakhstan on October 12.