The latest Keplarian Elements I downloaded from NASA seem to be off a bit when loaded into the WinOrbit tracking program. I actually got AOS later than the program indicated I should. Normally these are right on the money but this last set of numbers aren't very good. They're a minute or two early for when the actual AOS occurs. And I could still hear the ISS as it was flying away when the program told me I shouldn't be able to hear it. These latest Keps are off.

On October 16 2004, there will be a HAM/ISS booth at the Marina Air Faire, Marina Ca.
(Next to NASA)

The plan is (pending) to talk to Mike Fincke and the crew aboard ISS. Astronaut Capt. Dan Burish will also hopefelly attend in Marina.

Right a few hours after one of my voice contacts with Mike, I saw him during the celebrations for the Greece 2004 Olimpic games.
After their greeting message, Mike and Gennady performed a small free-flight inside the ISS for the crowds to admire.
It was a really nice surprice.

Alain

Not sure if this is a first or not , but yesterday , I managed to catch two transits of ISS across the sun on consecutive orbits......from one location.
Last year I managed two consecutive orbit transits , but had to re locate between passes . This time I simply stayed where I was , and waited for the station to "come back round".

Great fun , but, on what was probaly the hottest day of the year here , not recommended

The report can be found here:
http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/satcom_transits/crosby.htm

Regards,

John

Hello All,

The countries which take part in the ISS project will invest less money for the space station.
In the future fewer crew members will go to the space station, also less scientific expiriments shall be carried out.
The nasa wants to invest more money into projects such as mars and the moon.
In the year 2010 America takes all space shuttles out off service, uptill 2010 the nasa will bring new modules to the space station.
73's Cor PD0RKC

The weather in the UK has not been very good of late.As a result , the recent visible passes made by the station have been clouded out.However I did manage to record a couple of fleeting glimpses a few days ago .

The videos can be found here :
http://www.satcom.freeserve.co.uk/one.htm

Most of the main components of the complex can be seen.

Regards,

John.

Jut after 14 minutes 20 seconds astronaut Michael Fincke had to interrupt his EVA due to a loss of pression in his main oxigen bottle.

The anomaly was promptly detected by Russian Flight controllers who ordered both Fincke and Padalka to immediately reented the station.

Full story at space.com

Hi all ,

With just hours to go before the Venus transit starts I managed to catch the station crossing the sun from here in the UK at 1422 gmt today.
This is probably the last glimpse we will get of ISS before tomorrows event, and it was important that the capture showed the full transit in order to verify.....

Further to Gerry's comment about the simultaneous transit of ISS across the sun and Venus , as one of the contributors to the Spaceweather.com feature , I would like to add that we are looking for help to capture the magic moment.

Despite our efforts it seems that there will be no professional film crews on centre line to capture this unique event.

Should any fan club members be lucky enough to be under the predicted track of ISS , and manage to capture images ( Care re solar viewing precautions ).......please let me know immediately at.... john@satcom.freeserve.co.uk

Many thanks,

John

SPACE STATION TRANSIT: Astronomers like to point out that no one alive today has seen Venus transit the Sun. It's a rare event. True. But something rarer still is about to happen. On June 8th, Venus and a spaceship will cross the Sun at the same time. No one has ever seen that!

Observers located along the thin black line can see the ISS and Venus cross the Sun at the same time on June 8th.

The International Space Station (ISS) will cross the Sun four times during the 6+ hour transit of Venus. Traveling 17,000 mph, the ISS races across the solar disk in a split second, and it can only be seen from inside a narrow corridor only about one mile wide. Four of these corridors will criss-cross Europe, Africa and Asia on June 8th.

For more information check www.spaceweather.com
Many Tnx to Spaceweather.com for info
Gerry, VE6GP