NASA is hosting Earth and space science working group meetings with officials from the China National Space Administration (CNSA) in Washington, D.C., SPACE.com has learned.

The talks, today and tomorrow, are a follow- up to NASA's most recent meetings with CNSA representatives held June 30 to July 1in Beijing. That meeting brought together CNSA officials and other interested Chinese agencies with a NASA delegation made up of representatives from the space agency's Office of External Relations and the Science Mission Directorate.

http://www.space.com/news/081202-nasa-china-talks.html

An International Space Station Expedition 18 ARISS school contact has been planned with participants at Quispamsis Elementary/Middle School, Quispamsis, New Brunswick, Canada on 04 December. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 1823 UTC.

The contact will be a direct between stations NA1SS and VE9LC. 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. The event is also planned to be streamed live at http://www.aliant.net/SpaceStation once the link is activated.

Topics in this report: 1. Upcoming School Contacts 2. New Zealand Homeschoolers Experience ARISS Contact 3. Video of ARISS - International Education Week Contact 4. CQ VHF Article on ARISS Meetings 5. ARISS Commemorative Event 1. Upcoming School Contacts Quispamsis Elementary and Middle Schools in Quispamsis, New Brunswick, Canada have been scheduled for an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact on Thursday, December 4 at 18:23 UTC. Math, Social Studies, and Literacy Skills have been emphasized through the participation of students in this project. Subjects of amateur radio, space, satellites and the ISS have been integrated in the science curriculum. Quispamsis Elementary School (QES) and the Loyalist City Amateur Radio Club (LCARC) have participated in Echo-51 Satellite contacts for the past two years. The Quispamsis Middle School has an enrichment program. Two years of students who participated in the satellite contacts at QES are also involved with this program. The amateur radio installation has been used to complement the enrichment program, and to demonstrate amateur radio to girl guides and scout troops. Children have created posters for placement in the school to publicize the event and local and national media coverage is anticipated. Bell Aliant, one of Canada's national telecom providers, will assist in providing live video of the Quispamsis Elementary/Middle School contact. It will be streamed on: http://www.aliant.net/SpaceStation. This site may be active as early as Monday afternoon. New Brunswick based provincial newspaper, the Telegraph Journal, ran a front page story on the upcoming contact. See: http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/front/article/495134.

HOUSTON -- The residents of the International Space Station will receive a new shipment of fuel, food, supplies and holiday gifts on Sunday, Nov. 30. Docking of the cargo delivery spacecraft, known as ISS Progress 31, is set for 6:23 a.m. CST. NASA Television will begin coverage of the event at 5:45 a.m.

The unpiloted Russian resupply craft is carrying more than two tons of supplies for the station's crew, Expedition 18 Commander Mike Fincke and Flight Engineers Yury Lonchakov and Sandy Magnus. The ISS Progress 31 launched at 6:38 a.m. Wednesday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Hello ISS Fans,
I have just received a message from Valentin (TSNIIMASH, Russia) about a scheduled SSTV activity from ISS during next days.
So who is interested on SSTV reception there is a good opportunity.

73 Claudio IK1SLD

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Dear friends!
I thank you for support of the project of space experiment "Shadow" at the International space station. Now proceeding of this project is temporarily braked because of the insufficient electric power allocated for the scientific equipment on Russian segment of ISS. However we are going further to continue its "cold" phase (legend "Shadow-beacon") as its results should represent independent interest more even for amateur radio, than for plasmadynamics. I shall inform on terms and conditions of carrying out of new sessions of the experiment beforehand.

Twenty-five years ago this week, Owen Garriott, W5LFL, made history by being the first amateur radio operator to talk to hams from space. Owen's historic flight on the STS-9 Space Shuttle Columbia mission was launched on November 28 and landed on December 8, 1983. Owen's ham radio adventure on STS-9 ushered in a host of outstanding outreach activities that continue today with the ARISS program.

Many will recall that first set of contacts and downlinks with Owen. Those first contacts allowed each of us to share the excitement of space exploration through Owen's first-hand eyewitness accounts. Owen's ham radio legacy enabled space travelers that have flown on the Space Shuttle, the Space Station Mir and now the International Space Station to share their journey of exploration. And Owen's son Richard, W5KWQ just a month ago carried the torch further to become the first 2nd generation amateur rdaio operator to talk to hams from space. What other hobby, except amateur radio, could or would open the communications lines of space travelers beyond that of the space agencies or international heads of state??

Space shuttle Endeavour and its crew of seven departed the International Space Station on Friday, ending a 12-day visit that left the orbiting complex with more modern and deluxe living quarters for bigger crews.

Endeavour pulled away as the two spacecraft soared 220 miles above the Pacific, just east of Taiwan.

It was a poignant moment for all involved. Space station skipper Mike Fincke was missing his shuttle friends, even before Endeavour undocked.

"Thanks for the incredible makeover and leaving the station in fantastic shape," Fincke radioed. "And thanks to your heroic efforts, we are one step closer to a six-person crew."

An International Space Station Expedition 18 ARISS school contact has been planned with participants at St Anthony's College, Shillong, India on 01 December. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 0819 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.

Founded in 1934 by Fathers of the Don Bosco Society, St.Anthony's College is one of the oldest colleges in the North East India. The college is situated in Shillong which is a picturesque hill station in India and which is considered as the ‘Scotland of the East'. Since its humble beginning 74 years ago, the college has since grown manifold in size and ranking. Today, the college has 28 departments with 120 teaching staff, 60 support staff and over 2100 students, and is considered as a premier institute of education in whole country of India. Students from the various states of the country as well as some foreign countries like Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Zambia etc study here. The College has been awarded with the highest degree of Five Stars for excellence by the National team, and is well recognized by the UGC (University Grant Commission). In everything that we do, our aim is the education of the total person, in keeping with our motto: EVER MORE BETTER EVER, the translation of the Latin Excelsior

NASA and its international partners have assigned the International Space Station's crew members through 2010. The numbering sequence of expeditions was modified to reflect the start of six-person crews.

The update to the expedition numbering begins with the docking of a Soyuz spacecraft in May 2009. That Soyuz will mark the beginning of six-person crew operations. From that point forward, expeditions will end with the undocking of a Soyuz. The expedition number will change every two to four months as new crew members arrive and depart.

The arrangement emphasizes that every six-person crew living on the station is a cohesive team. A crew member typically will stay about six months and be part of two expeditions. In addition to the Russian Soyuz, the space shuttle will continue to provide transportation for station crew members through mission STS-129, targeted for the fall of 2009.

Look too closely at the STS-126 mission patch and you might miss it. The crew emblem, which depicts space shuttle Endeavour on its way back from the International Space Station (ISS) - a scene that will be played out for real on Sunday should the current schedule and weather hold - also symbolizes the flight's primary payload.

http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/cs-081125-sts126-mission-patch.html