Aboard the high-flying International Space Station, the Expedition 23 crew began a new week Monday with preparations for the imminent arrival of three additional crew members and the space shuttle Discovery, as well as the regular duties of orbital life.

The three-member Expedition 23 crew will expand to six on April 4 when Flight Engineers Alexander Skvortsov, Tracy Caldwell Dyson and Mikhail Kornienko dock to the International Space Station in the Soyuz TMA-18 spacecraft.

Discovery's STS-131 mission begins with the shuttle's scheduled launch on April 5 from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Discovery will deliver a multi-purpose logistics module, or MPLM, filled with science racks to be transferred to laboratories on the station. The shuttle is slated to dock with the station on April 7.

Topics in this report:
1. Upcoming School Contacts
2. Expedition 23 Astronaut Speaks with Japanese Youth via ARISS

1. Upcoming School Contacts
An Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact has been scheduled for Walnut Creek Elementary School in Azle, Texas on Monday, March 29 at 15:08 UTC. Students researched and created models of selected space objects and gave presentations of their work to the class. Retired Lockheed employees and members of local radio clubs gave demonstrations of satellite communications to the youth. The school recently formed an amateur radio club and students have enjoyed learning what radios can do.

The space shuttle Discovery is set to launch April 5 on one of NASA's few remaining shuttle flights to the International Space Station, mission managers announced Friday after settling concerns over potential valve leaks.

Discovery is slated to blast off from a seaside launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 6:21 a.m. EDT (1021 GMT) on Easter Monday. It is one of NASA's final four shuttle missions before the fleet is retired later this year.

http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/sts131-shuttle-launch-date-set-1003...

Topics in this report:
1. Upcoming School Contacts
2. Greece Students Question Astronaut via ARISS Contact
3. Astronaut Training Status
4. ARISS International Team Meeting Held

1. Upcoming School Contacts
Shiogama Daini Junior High School in Shiogama, Japan has been scheduled for an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact on Thursday, March 25 at 07:44 UTC. To prepare for the contact, students studied astronomy and were introduced to the Hubble Space Telescope. They also learned about radio communications and some continued their studies and prepared for their amateur radio license exams.

[img]http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/160328main_exp22_undock.jpg[/img] Image above: The Soyuz TMA-16 spacecraft carrying Expedition 22 crew members Jeff Williams and Maxim Suraev undocks from the Poisk module. Credit: NASA TV Expedition 22 Commander Jeff Williams and Flight Engineer Maxim Suraev have completed their mission aboard the International Space Station after 167 days. They parachuted to a landing in their Soyuz TMA-16 descent module at 7:24 a.m. EDT in Kazakhstan. Staying behind are Flight Engineers Soichi Noguchi and T.J. Creamer and new Expedition 23 Commander Oleg Kotov. Expedition 23 officially began its increment when Williams and Suraev undocked at 4:03 a.m. from the Poisk Mini-Research Module. The trio, who will stay until June, joined Williams and Suraev after arriving in their Soyuz TMA-17 spacecraft in December 2009.

The Expedition 22 crew aboard the International Space Station conducted scientific research Tuesday while preparing for the departure of two of its members.

Flight Engineer T.J. Creamer worked on the Long Term Microgravity: A Model for Investigating Mechanisms of Heart Disease with New Portable Equipment (Card) experiment that studies blood pressure decreases when the human body is exposed to microgravity. In order to increase the blood pressure to the level it was on Earth, salt is added to the crew members' diet. To monitor this, blood pressure readings are performed at different intervals during the mission.

Topics in this report:
1. Upcoming School Contacts
2. JAXA Astronaut Participates in ARISS Contact with Alma Mater
3. Astronaut Training Status
4. ARISS News on Amateur Radio Newsline

1. Upcoming School Contacts
An Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact has been scheduled with 18 Dimotiko Scholeio Peristeriou in Athens, Greece on Tuesday, March 16 at 11:37 UTC. The contact was integrated into the school curriculum through astronomy and amateur radio lectures and special attention was given to the ISS regarding its role in humanity and science. The ISS courses were based on ESA's "ISS Education Kit." The amateur radio presentation included a demonstration of the equipment and its operation.

Senator Kay Hutchison - in conjunction with Representatives Suzanne Kosmas and Bill Posey - has produced a 37 page Bill that proposes major refinements to NASA's FY2011 proposal, and NASA's forward plan. The Bill is centered around a shuttle extension to 2015, in support of fully utilizing the International Space Station (ISS), along with saving elements of Constellation - such as Orion and a Heavy Lift Launcher (HLV).

Shuttle Extension:

Efforts to reverse the 2010 retirement date of the shuttle fleet have been ongoing for a few years, without being realized - partly due to a lack of support from successive NASA administrators.

The heads of the International Space Station (ISS) agencies from Canada, Europe, Japan, Russia, and the United States met in Tokyo, Japan, on March 11, 2010, to review ISS cooperation.

With the assembly of the ISS nearing completion and the capability to support a full-time crew of six established, they noted the outstanding opportunities now offered by the ISS for on-orbit research and for discovery including the operation and management of the world's largest international space complex. In particular, they noted the unprecedented opportunities that enhanced use of this unique facility provides to drive advanced science and technology. This research will deliver benefits to humanity on Earth while preparing the way for future exploration activities beyond low-Earth orbit. The ISS will also allow the partnership to experiment with more integrated international operations and research, paving the way for enhanced collaboration on future international missions.

NASA will highlight the educational activities planned on the next space shuttle mission during a news briefing at 12 p.m. CDT, Tuesday, March 9. The briefing will originate from NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston and be carried live on NASA Television and the agency's Web site. Reporters will be able to ask questions from participating NASA locations.

Astronaut and former school teacher Ricky Arnold will be joined by Cindy McArthur from the Teaching from Space Office to discuss educational activities involving astronaut and former teacher Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger during the STS-131 shuttle flight. Metcalf-Lindenburger will be the last of the three school teachers selected as mission specialists in the 2004 Educator Astronaut Class to fly on the space shuttle. Arnold and Joseph Acaba flew on the STS-119 shuttle mission in March 2009.