BEIJING, August 31 (RIA Novosti) - China will begin the construction of its own orbital space station in 2020, the Sina news service said on Monday, citing a top official with the country's manned spaceflight program.

Gu Yidong said that China would sent two or three space labs into orbit in 2010-2015, while the basic module of the space station is to be orbited by 2020.

The spacecrafts will "form the basic orbital complex of the Chinese space station" when docked together, he said.

According to earlier Chinese media reports, China plans to send a manned mission to the Moon by 2030 and subsequently build a lunar base to send missions to other planets in the Solar System, such as Mars. By 2050, China plans to develop and launch a research probe to space bodies outside the Solar System.

An International Space Station school contact has been planned with participants at Craigmore High School, Blakeview, South Australia, Australia on 2 September. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 00:48 UTC.
The duration of the contact is approximately 9 minutes and 30 seconds.

The contact will be direct between NA1SS and VK5LZ. The contact should be audible parts of Australia. Interested parties are invited to listen in on the 145.80 MHz downlink. The contact is expected to be conducted in English.

Craigmore High School is approximately 35 Km north of Adelaide, the capital city of South Australia. It is a comprehensive school for students from Year 8 to Year 12 with an age range from 12 to 17. The students are predominantly from an English speaking background. However recently a number of refugees, mainly from Africa, have enrolled at the school. We have a student enrollment of approximately 950 with 80 staff.

Topics in this release:
1. Upcoming School Contacts
2. ARISS Contact Between Michael Barratt and Tenison Woods College
3. Volkssterrenwacht Urania Participates in ARISS Contact with De Winne
4. ARRL Article on STS-128 Crew
5. ARRL Article on ARISS Satellite
6. ARISS News on Amateur Radio Newsline
7. Astronaut Training Status

1. Upcoming School Contacts
Craigmore High School in Blakeview, South Australia, Australia has been scheduled for an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact on Wednesday, September 2 at 00:48 UTC. The school is located approximately 35 Km north of Adelaide, the capital city of South Australia. It encourages participation in projects sponsored by the government and private industry and has established an amateur radio station at the school.

Fri, 28 Aug 2009 11:18:13 PM CDT

With seven astronauts and a host of experiments and equipment on board, space shuttle Discovery completed a flawless ascent into orbit Friday night to begin a two-day chase of the International Space Station. With Commander Rick "C.J. " Sturckow at the controls, the shuttle lifted off on-time at 11:59 p.m. EDT from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The crew will rendezvous and dock with the station Sunday and the crew will begin transferring equipment to the outpost during the 13-day mission.

After flying up on Discovery, Nicole Stott will trade places with station resident Tim Kopra, who went into space last month aboard Endeavour.

Thu, 27 Aug 2009 12:27:56 PM CDT

The Mission Management Team has concluded with the decision to target launch for Friday, Aug. 28 at 11:59 p.m. EDT instead of 12:22 a.m. Friday morning.

The additional time will allow teams to plan in case they see the same reading that happened with the liquid hydrogen fill and drain valve that caused Tuesday afternoon's launch scrub during tanking.

The MMT will meet again on Friday at noon.

A news conference will be held on NASA TV later this afternoon to discuss the decision.

Wed, 26 Aug 2009 07:35:49 PM CDT

Teams at Kennedy Space Center have completed a portion of the testing of a liquid hydrogen fill and drain valve in space shuttle Discovery's main propulsion system. The valve opened and closed when commanded five different times with no issues. This "cycle testing" of Discovery began at 6:28 p.m. EDT and finished at 6:59 p.m.

Teams are now performing a pressure test of the propulsion system, and recording the leak rate of small amounts of liquid hydrogen. Data from tonight's tests will be brought to tomorrow's mission management team for evaluation at the noon meeting.

Tue, 25 Aug 2009 09:23:35 PM CDT

NASA is targeting space shuttle Discovery for a launch attempt Friday morning at 12:22 a.m., mission management team Chairman Mike Moses said. Engineers will evaluate a liquid hydrogen valve that developed problems during tanking operations Tuesday evening. Detailed test data about the valve will be examined before Discovery's fuel tank is loaded with propellant ahead of Friday morning's launch attempt.

Tue, 25 Aug 2009 10:57:53 AM CDT

Launch of space shuttle Discovery was postponed early this morning due to lingering thunderstorms in the vicinity of the launch pad. Launch has been rescheduled for Wednesday, Aug. 26 at 1:10 a.m. EDT.

The mission management team will meet at 3 p.m. today to give the "go- no go" for tanking operations. The current STS-128 launch day weather forecast is 70 percent favorable conditions for tanking and launch. The primary concern is cumulus clouds and showers within 20 nautical miles of the shuttle landing facility at the time of launch.

Launch commen

With the impending launch of the STS-128 space shuttle mission slated for early Tuesday morning, the International Space Station's Expedition 20 crew spent Monday working on its regular science and maintenance activities and preparing for the shuttle's arrival.

Commander Gennady Padalka and Flight Engineer Roman Romanenko performed some regular maintenance activities in the station's Russian segment. Padalka cleaned fan screens in the docking compartment, and Romanenko did some work on the segment's life support system.

Flight Engineer Mike Barratt worked on the Lab-on-a-Chip Application Development-Portable Test System (LOCAD-PTS) experiment. LOCAD uses small cartridges and a handheld device to detect the presence of bacteria. Later, Barratt did some maintenance work on spacesuit water tanks. He also participated in an amateur radio session with students at Tenison Woods College in Mount Gambier, South Australia.

Topics in this report:
1. Upcoming School Contacts
2. Timothy Kopra Participates in ARISS Contact with KIPP:3D Academy
3. ARISS Contact Held with Peruvian University
4. Successful ARISS Contact with Scouts of Maur
5. Thirsk Participates in ARISS Contact with Nova East Star Party
6. ARISS International Team Meeting Held
7. Make Magazine Posts SuitSat Article

1. Upcoming School Contacts
An Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact has been approved for Tenison Woods College in Mount Gambier, South Australia. The contact is scheduled for Monday, August 24 at 07:19 UTC via telebridge station W6DUE in Maryland. The contact has been integrated into the curriculum's astronomy and physics units through participation in hands-on activities.