The launch of Shuttle Endeavour on the STS 130 flight now faces a potential delay due to technical problems with the external ammonia connecting lines which are designed to provide critical cooling capability to the new Tranquility module. Tranquility is a pressurized module being brought aloft as payload in the cargo bay of Endeavour on the STS 130 mission. Launch of Endeavour is currently set for 4:39 AM on Feb. 7.

NASA spokesman Allard Beutel told me Friday afternoon Jan 8 that, “As space station and space shuttle teams prepared for February’s launch of Endeavour, a high-pressure ammonia jumper hose assembly failed during a prelaunch test Thursday. Four such hoses, which will be used to connect the new Tranquility module to the station’s cooling system, are to be installed and activated by spacewalkers during the STS-130 mission.”

Topics in this report:
1. Upcoming School Contacts
2. Cosmonaut Enjoys ARISS Contact
3. ISS Ham Debrief Scheduled

1. Upcoming School Contacts
An Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact has been scheduled for the Marconi Commemoration Event to be held at the University of Rome "Tor Vergata" in Rome, Italy on Thursday, January 7 at 09:00 UTC. Students will speak to on-orbit astronaut Jeffrey Williams via telebridge station W6SRJ in California. ESRIN (European Space Research Institute) personnel will give presentations and provide leaflets to the students.

Wisconsin Rep. Mary Williams will attend a discussion Jan. 6, 2010, among astronauts orbiting 220 miles above Earth and students from two Wisconsin schools. International Space Station Commander Jeff Williams and Flight Engineers T.J. Creamer and Soichi Noguchi will speak with students from Winter School in Winter, Wis., and Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe School in Hayward, Wis.

Williams, Creamer and Noguchi are members of the station's Expedition 22 crew. Williams is a 1976 graduate of Winter High School and considers Winter his hometown.

The live call from orbit will take place between 8:40 a.m. and 9 a.m. CST during an event at Winter High School from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. The event will include videos of the astronauts' launches to the orbiting outpost aboard Soyuz rockets. Additionally, Mike Simonson of Wisconsin Public Radio will display objects brought back from Williams' launch in Kazakhstan.

As the people of Earth rang in the new year with parties and fireworks, five astronauts celebrated the dawn of 2010 in the only way they could â€" locked inside a space station 220 miles above the planet.

NASA astronaut Jeffrey Williams, commander of the International Space Station, said New Year's Day is a unique time of celebration for his multi-cultural crew, which is made up of two Americans, two Russians and a Japanese astronaut. Space station astronauts get eight holidays a year to take time off, often choosing days from each of the countries represented on their crew.

"Of course, that provides a great opportunity to get another glimpse into the different cultures and traditions among us," Williams said in a New Year's Day message. "New Year's Day also provides that glimpse into the traditions of others but is unique in that everybody represented on board celebrates it at home. It is a common holiday among all the crewmembers."