NASA will launch small research satellites for several universities as part of the agency's Educational Launch of Nanosatellite, or ELaNA, mission. The satellites are manifested as an auxiliary payload on the Taurus XL launch vehicle for NASA's Glory mission, planned for liftoff in late November.

The satellites, called CubeSats because of their shape, come from Montana State University, the University of Colorado and Kentucky Space, a consortium of state universities. The University of Florida was selected as an alternate in case one of the three primary spacecraft cannot fly.

CubeSats are in a class of small research spacecraft called picosatellites. They have a size of approximately four inches, a volume of about one quart and weigh no more than 2.2 pounds.

For the first time, NASA Twitter followers can personally go inside the heart of a space shuttle mission at the agency's Johnson Space Center in Houston. NASA is hosting a unique Tweetup on Wednesday, Feb. 17 during Endeavour's STS-130 mission to the International Space Station. Endeavour is targeted to launch on Sunday, Feb. 7.

"We're excited to be hosting NASA's seventh Tweetup," said NASA astronaut Mike Massimino, who also is known as @astro_Mike. "This is the home of all of the astronauts and the historic Mission Control Center. It's an outstanding location to provide our Twitter community with an insider's view of human spaceflight. I'll be on one of the two mission control teams working at that time to keep Endeavour and space station operating safely. Hopefully a few of my Twitter followers can participate in this exciting event."

The crew of the space shuttle Atlantis' STS-129 mission will deliver a specially minted silver medallion to National Football League officials at 10 a.m. EST on Wednesday, Jan. 27, at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. The medallion will be used for the official coin toss prior to the kickoff of Super Bowl XLIV on Sunday, Feb. 7.

Shuttle commander Charlie Hobaugh, a graduate of North Ridgeville High School near Cleveland, Pilot Barry Wilmore, Mission Specialists Leland Melvin, Randy Bresnik, Bobby Satcher and Mike Foreman, from Wadsworth, Ohio, returned from their 11-day space mission to the International Space Station on Nov. 27.

At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida today, launch countdown preparations ramp up as technicians at Launch Pad 39A continue to ready space shuttle Endeavour for the STS-130 mission.

Teams prepare to close out Endeavour's aft doors for flight and are expected to be completed by Friday.

There are no issues at this time to impede an on-time liftoff to deliver Tranquility and cupola to the International Space Station.

Meanwhile, at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, the STS-130 crew will be given their L-10 physicals today and they will be reviewing stowage procedures.

Shuttle Endeavour is scheduled to launch on its 13-day mission at 4:39 a.m. EST Feb. 7.

Topics in this report:
1. Upcoming School Contact
2. JAXA Astronaut Chats with Students via ARISS Contact
3. Astronauts Participate in Simulated ARISS Contacts
4. ARISS International Meeting Held

1. Upcoming School Contact
Morioka Children's Museum of Science in Morioka, Iwate, Japan has been scheduled for an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact with JAXA astronaut Soichi Noguchi, KD5TVP on Thursday, January 28 at 06:53 UTC. The youth are currently learning about the ISS, satellite orbits and amateur radio. The contact is expected to be conducted in Japanese.

An Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) debrief session was held with Expedition 20/21 crew members Nicole Stott, KE5GJN and Robert Thirsk, VA3CSA on Tuesday, January 5. The feedback provided by the astronauts will help ARISS update program procedures.

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

On Thursday, January 7, students attending the University of Rome "Tor Vergata" Marconi Commemoration Event in Rome, Italy participated in an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact with on-orbit astronaut Jeffrey Williams, KD5TVQ. The contact was facilitated by telebridge station W6SRJ in California. An audience of 200 watched as eleven questions were asked and answered. After the contact, Princess Elettra Marconi, daughter of Guglielmo Marconi and Mr. Dieter Isakeit of ESA ESRIN (European Space Research Institute) Corporate Communication Office & Communication and Knowledge Department, sent greetings to the ISS crew. Presentations were given by ARISS mentor Francesco De Paolis as well as Mr. Augusto Cramarossa, Italian Space Agency, Head of Strategy, National and International, Mr. Massimo Pucini, Deputy Mayor of Moteporzio Catone town and Mrs. Marina Ruggeri, Director Department of Electronics Engineering - University "Tor Vergata."

NASA will hold a briefing for journalists with the next set of residents of the International Space Station at 1 p.m. CST Thursday, Jan. 21, from NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. The briefings will be broadcast live on NASA Television and the agency's Web site. Questions also will be taken from participating NASA locations.

The briefing participants are:
- Expedition 23 Flight Engineer and NASA astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson
- Expedition 23 Flight Engineer and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Skvortsov
- Expedition 23 Flight Engineer and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko

NASA has issued a follow-up Request for Information, or RFI, for ideas from education institutions, science museums and other appropriate organizations about the community's ability to acquire and publicly display orbiters after the conclusion of the Space Shuttle Program.

The original RFI in December 2008 noted that a potential shuttle recipient would have to pay an estimated $42 million for the cost of "safeing" an orbiter, preparing it for display and ferrying it to a U.S. destination airport. NASA has updated the requirements and tasks needed to make each orbiter safe for disposition. The agency will not ask recipients to provide the funds for this activity. Except for cost and scheduled delivery changes, the 2008 and 2010 RFIs are virtually the same. In this follow-up RFI, NASA revised the estimated display preparation and ferrying costs to $28.8 million.

Bill Dowdell, NASA Kennedy Space Center's deputy director for International Space Station and spacecraft processing, is available for satellite interviews from 6 to 9 a.m. EST on Friday, Jan. 22.

Dowdell will conduct the interviews from Launch Pad 39A, just outside space shuttle Endeavour's payload bay. Tranquility, the next pressurized element bound for the station, will be placed inside Endeavour on 39A for its targeted launch on Sunday, Feb. 7.

Dowdell has worked for NASA since 1989, beginning his career in the Space Shuttle Program as an agency and orbiter test director. He is NASA's manager responsible for giving the "go" to launch the station payload and the readiness of the orbiting laboratory to receive and carry out its installation. Dowdell holds a bachelor's degree in biology from Fairmont State College in Fairmont, W.Va., and a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from West Virginia University in Morgantown.