The Expedition 19 crew aboard the orbiting International Space Station worked on science and prepared for the imminent undocking of the ISS Progress 32 spacecraft.

Flight Engineer Michael Barratt worked with the Smoke Point In Co-flow Experiment, also known as SPICE. This experiment determines the point at which gas-jet flames similar to a butane-lighter flame begin to emit soot in microgravity. Studying a soot-emitting flame is important in understanding the ability of fires to spread and in control of soot in practical combustion systems.

Flight Engineer Koichi Wakata collected samples with the Microbial Air Sampler Kit that will be used to detect microorganisms such as bacteria and fungi in the air aboard the space station. These samples are evaluated to ensure that the air quality is safe for crew members.

An Expedition 19 ARISS contact has been planned with participants at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum, Space Day, Washington, DC on 02 May. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 1523 UTC.

The contact will be a telebridge between NA1SS and W6SRJ. The contact should be audible over western N. America. Interested parties are invited to listen in on the 145.80 MHz downlink. Audio from the contact may also be available via the AMSAT conference on EchoLink and via the 9010 Discovery reflector on IRLP. The participants are expected to conduct the conversation in English.

[img]http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/160328main_iss019e009806.jpg[/img] Image above: Expedition 19 Flight Engineer Koichi Wakata squeezes honey out of a tube near the galley in the Zvezda service module of the International Space Station. Credit: NASA Tuesday proved to be a busy day for the three full-time residents aboard the International Space Station, as the Expedition 19 crew stowed tools and performed scientific experiments. Flight Engineer Mike Barratt began his day logging data for a study of crew sleep patterns and light exposure. Barratt is wearing a small wristwatch-like device that will measure light levels and record his patterns of sleep and activity throughout the week.

Topics in this report:
1. Upcoming School Contact
2. Ashland Contact Successful
3. ARISS News on Amateur Radio Newsline
4. Astronaut Training Status
5. CQ Magazine Article on ARISS Contact
6. Marcelino Canino Canino Contact Video
7. Article on Simonyi Contacts

1. Upcoming School Contact
An Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact has been scheduled for the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. on Space Day, May 2 at 15:23 UTC. This will be a telebridge contact via station W6SRJ in California. Students will be pre-recruited, but Space Day participants will also be invited to ask questions. Visitors will participate in hands-on activities, meet astronauts and learn about space from experts and museum displays.

Flight engineers Koichi Wakata and Michael Barratt worked to complete the maintenance of the station's treadmill vibration isolation system Friday. The astronauts spent several days working on the exercise unit to improve its performance after years of on-orbit use.

A second treadmill will be delivered in the summer aboard space shuttle Discovery during the STS-128 mission. The new treadmill, named Combined Operational Load Bearing External Resistance Treadmill, or COLBERT, was named after comedian Stephen Colbert.

Commander Gennady Padalka and Barratt are checking the Russian Orlan spacesuits in advance of two spacewalks planned for June 5 and June 10. The spacewalkers will relocate docking hardware inside and outside the Pirs docking compartment. This sets the stage for the arrival in November of Russia's new Mini-Research Module-2 (MRM-2). The MRM-2 will provide improved access to the Zvezda service module's zenith docking port for Soyuz and Progress space vehicles.

The PS8DX Teresina DX Group is on the air this week from Brazil's Canary Island GI97bf on AO-7, FO-29, AO-51, VO-52, SO-50, and ISS (if available).

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

NASA will hold news briefings April 23 to update reporters about the space shuttle's fifth and final servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope. NASA Television and the agency's Web site will provide live coverage of the briefings from NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston and NASA Headquarters in Washington.

Shuttle Atlantis' 11-day flight, designated STS-125, is targeted for launch May 12 and will include five spacewalks to refurbish and upgrade the telescope with state-of-the-art science instruments. As a result, Hubble's capabilities will be expanded and its operational lifespan extended through at least 2014.

Tired of those boring old tracking maps that show the space station going around and around the Earth, and wondering what the view from up there must be like?

Well, what better way to celebrate Earth Day than by taking a look at the Earth below from where the International Space Station is right now? Thanks to the wonders of the World Wide Web (the Internet, that is), real-time tracking data beamed down from the space station and the fabulous catalog of NASA handheld orbital photography -- the Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth -- you can do just that!

Here's how it works: just go to http://external.jsc.nasa.gov/events/issphotos/.

Mike Barratt, Expedition 19 flight engineer aboard the International Space Station, set up and activated a new camera Monday that will provide timely images that farmers, ranchers and foresters can use to better manage their crops and livestock.

The Agricultural Camera (AgCam) will take visible light and infrared images of the Earth below, principally of growing crops, rangeland, grasslands, forests, and wetlands in the northern Great Plains and Rocky Mountain regions of the United States.

The images will be delivered - in just one to two days -- to requesting farmers, ranchers, foresters, natural resource managers and tribal officials to help improve their environmental stewardship of the land for which they are responsible. Images will also be shared with educators for classroom use. The Agricultural Camera was built and will be operated primarily by students and faculty at the University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND.

Topics in this report:
1. Upcoming School Contacts
2. Finnish School Contact Successful
3. ARRL QST Covers ARISS News
4. ARRL Public Service Announcement
5. ARISS Presentations at Dayton Hamvention
6. ARISS News in the ARRL Letter

1. Upcoming School Contacts
An Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact has been scheduled for St. Edward School in Ashland, Ohio, U.S.A. on Monday, April 20 at 16:36 UTC. The ARISS contact has been integrated into the science curriculum which covers topics on satellite images, global positioning of satellites, telescopes, and radio waves. Students read science related books and poems, conducted informational internet searches, wrote stories and informational articles, interviewed amateur radio operators, and studied and applied science and math objectives. Media coverage is expected.