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http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html

Atlantis Set to Launch on Friday

Sept. 7, 6:40 p.m. EDT
Space Shuttle Atlantis and the STS-115 crew is set to launch Friday morning on an assembly mission to the International Space Station. The launch time for Atlantis is targeted for 11:41 a.m.

During a Thursday evening news conference Wayne Hale, Space Shuttle Program manager, said the decision to fly came about after a lively and inclusive meeting with space shuttle mission managers and engineers held in the early afternoon. "If you ever wanted to see the difference between the old NASA and the new NASA, you should've been over there today. There was a chance for everyone to participate." Hale continued to say that the Mission Management team's vote to fly on Friday was nearly unanimous.

The decision to launch follows analysis of an issue found with one of Atlantis' three electricity-generating fuel cells, which was discovered during pre-launch preparations earlier this week. NASA engineers have determined that any failure of the suspect fuel cell during the mission poses no danger to Atlantis and its crew. They also believe two fuel cells alone would provide Atlantis with enough power to accomplish the major goals of the mission.

The conditions at Kennedy Space Center for Friday's launch look promising with only a 30 percent chance that weather could ground the flight. The primary weather concerns for the morning launch are of cumulus clouds or isolated thunderstorms in the area.
 
BIG FULL MOON: Can't sleep? It must be the moonlight. Tonight's full Moon is the biggest and brightest of 2006.

What makes it big? Answer: The Moon's lopsided orbit. One side of the Moon's orbit is 50,000 km closer to Earth than the other side. The two sides are called, respectively, perigee, from Greek, meaning "close to Earth," and apogee, meaning "far from Earth." Tonight's Moon is at perigee.

http://www.spaceweather.com/swpod2006/06sep06/Ayiomamitis1_strip2.jpg

To illustrate the difference, apogee vs. perigee, Anthony Ayiomamitis of Athens, Greece, took these two pictures when the Moon was at opposite ends of its elliptical orbit. The perigee Moon is about 12% larger.
 
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html

Atlantis' Launch Scrubbed Due to ECO Sensor Problem

Sept. 8, 10:54 a.m. EDT
The launch of Space Shuttle Atlantis has been scrubbed until Saturday due to a problem with one of the vehicle's fuel system sensors. The new launch time is targeted for 11:14 a.m. EDT.

Earlier in today's countdown, launch controllers detected a problem with one of the four ECO sensors inside the hydrogen portion the space shuttle's orange external tank. The sensors monitor hydrogen levels inside of the tank and trigger the orbiter's engines to shutdown when gas levels drop below a specified level.
+ See ECO Sensor Description

NASA Launch Director Mike Leinbach explained the issue to the crew adding that the launch weather for Saturday looks good and controllers will just have watch to see how the shuttle responds once the tank is again fueled for flight.
 
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html

Expedition 13 Welcomes STS-115 Aboard Station

The six STS-115 astronauts entered the International Space Station for the first time at 8:30 a.m. EDT where they were greeted by the station’s Expedition 13 crew. STS-115 arrived at 6:48 this morning when Space Shuttle Atlantis linked up with the station.

The two crews are now turning to their attention to beginning STS-115’s major task at the station, the installation and outfitting of the P3/P4 integrated truss structure and solar arrays. STS-115 is the first station assembly mission since STS-113 in late 2002.

The P3/P4 truss arrived at the station in Atlantis’ payload bay. The crews will use the shuttle robotic arm to hand off the truss to the station arm at about 10:45 a.m. After the truss is attached to the station on Tuesday, the STS-115 crew will conduct three spacewalks to outfit and prepare the truss and arrays for operation.

Mission Specialists Joe Tanner and Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper are scheduled to begin a new pre-spacewalk procedure called “camping out” when they enter the station’s Quest Airlock at about 2:40 p.m. They will stay in the Airlock until they start the mission’s first spacewalk Tuesday morning.

“Camping out” helps the spacewalkers to begin the spacewalk earlier by reducing the amount of time typically required for the pre-breathe exercise and some spacewalk preparations.

Before docking, Commander Brent Jett and Pilot Chris Ferguson commanded Atlantis to do a back flip maneuver, which allowed the Expedition 13 crew to photograph Atlantis' heat shield. Those pictures will be downlinked to engineers on the ground for analysis.
 
http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/space/09/18/space.female.tourist/index.html

Female space tourist blasts off
September 18, 2006

MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) -- It was a first in the annals of space history. A Russian-built rocket carrying the world's first female space tourist blasted off Monday in Kazakhstan on a flight to the international space station.

Anousheh Ansari, a telecommunications entrepreneur, was accompanied by a U.S.-Russian crew on the Soyuz TMA-9 capsule.

The Iranian-born American will go down in the record books in a couple of ways. She's the first woman to pay her way into space and the first person of Iranian descent to get there. Ansari is the fourth space tourist.

Her colleagues on the flight, American Michael Lopez-Alegria and Russian Mikhail Tyurin, are starting a six-month stint in space. But Ansari will return to Earth in 10 days with the outgoing U.S.-Russian crew.

"The flight is normal, the crew feel fine," a flight controller at Mission Control near Moscow said according to Reuters news service.

In an exclusive interview with CNN, Ansari said she knows people will be watching -- a belief confirmed by the comments posted on her blog, anoushehansari.com.(Watch Anshari prepare for her lifelong dream -- 2:42)

"Me being the first female has inspired a lot of women and girls in Iran, especially being Iranian, and I've received numerous e-mails, messages of different sorts saying how proud of me they are."

Ansari's left Iran at the age of 16 just a few years after the Islamic Revolution, in part because her family wanted her to pursue her passion for the sciences to the fullest extent possible.

When she arrived, she knew next to no English except for a few verses from the song "My Favorite Things," from the film "The Sound of Music."

But within the next several years, Ansari had taught herself English, earned a university degree and landed a job at MCI earning a little more than $26,000. There she met her husband.

She and her husband soon quit their jobs at MCI, cashed in their retirement savings, and ran up their credit cards to finance a telecommunications company they opened.

In 2000, they sold that company for more than half-a-billion dollars to Sonus Networks Inc. A year later, Fortune magazine estimated her personal wealth at about $180 million dollars. The stock price of Sonus has since plummeted, and Ansari is being sued for insider trading.

The Ansaris would not comment on the lawsuit, other than to note that she is no longer a Sonus officer, according to The Associated Press.

No ordinary sightseer

Ansari is contractually barred from saying how much she's paying for her seat, but indicated that it's similar to the estimated $20 million dollars the three space tourists before her reportedly paid.

Her trip comes amid strained Iranian-American relations, but Ansari said she has no plans to make political statements. She will, however, be wearing flags representing both countries on her uniform.

"I hope this shows that the people can be separated from the politics," Ansari said. "If you look at Iranians interacting with Americans -- sometimes inside Iran, sometimes outside Iran -- in most cases from what I've seen it's always a pleasant experience."

Ansari trained for the voyage for six month in Russia.

She learned Russian and about the Soyuz module taking her to and from the international space station and its life support systems.

That extensive preparation is one reason why she dislikes the term "space tourist."

"I think tourists are people who basically decide to go to some place and put a camera around their neck, and basically buy a ticket and go there. They don¹t prepare. ...They don¹t go through a lot of preparations. I spent six months here, and had to learn many different systems, and many new different technologies to take this journey, so I don¹t think tourism [does] justice to this event," Ansari said.

Ansari has invested heavily into her fascination with space. She and another relative put up a significant portion of the $10 million reward for the winner of the Ansari X Prize. The X Prize was awarded to the first private company to build a rocket capable of two manned suborbital flights.

While her journey is about fulfilling her childhood dream, Ansari also plans to use her experience to help with a project to develop suborbital spacecraft. She hopes the project will make space travel more affordable and accessible to more people.
 
http://www.arrl.org/?artid=6777

Civilian space traveler set to try Amateur Radio from ISS after all (Sep 14, 2006) -- The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) program now says US businesswoman Anousheh Ansari, who will travel to the International Space Station September 18 as part of the Russian Soyuz TMA-9 "taxi mission," will attempt some Amateur Radio contacts while in space. Earlier indications from Ansari, 39, were that she had decided not to get a license and would not do any ham radio contacts. A tentative schedule calls for Ansari to speak with students at George Washington University, her alma mater, on Friday, September 22. "Anoushe wishes to talk with US-licensed school children in random QSOs," ARRL ARISS Liaison Rosalie White, K1STO, says. "She will be on the air at various times from Thursday, September 21, until Tuesday, September 26, using RS0ISS." Because of third-party traffic rules, Ansari may only speak with Amateur Radio licensees. Ansari has had training on the ARISS gear but because of her tight training schedule has not been able to get her license. Space Adventures Ltd is handling arrangements for Ansari's mission. She's a last-minute stand-in for Daisuke "Dice-K" Enomoto as the fourth private citizen -- and the first female civilian -- to fly to the ISS. She'll spend approximately 10 days in space.
 
http://www.wesh.com/news/9883666/detail.html

Piece Of Debris Near Shuttle Concerns Mission Managers
September 19, 2006

HOUSTON -- NASA's mission managers are discussing an object that may have come off the space shuttle Atlantis.

Flight controllers spotted the small black object floating near the shuttle shortly after astronauts fired their thrusters in a routine pre-landing test at about 2:30 a.m., WESH 2 News space specialist Dan Billow reported.

Flight controllers want to know if the object might be part of the heat shield that protects the shuttle when it comes back to Earth.

Damage to the heat shield, in an extreme case, could require emergency repairs by the astronauts or a return to the space station.

Mission managers have told the astronauts to delay some of their landing preparations so that Mission Control can use the shuttle's camera system to look for the place where the object may have come from.

The object could be harmless and insignificant. Mission managers are scheduled to brief the public about the problem at noon.

Even if NASA works out its technical issues, the weather could affect Wednesday's scheduled landing. Forecasters are watching a front that is moving through Florida.

The shuttle is currently scheduled to land at the Kennedy Space Center at 5:57 a.m.
 
TOUCHDOWN!

Picture perfect and the night heads up display landing was AWESOME!

Welcome home Atlantis~ :nana:
 
http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/space/09/28/mars.opportunity/index.html

What an Opportunity! Mars rover reaches new milestone
September 28, 2006

ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- Nearly three years after landing on Mars, the rover "Opportunity" has reached a region of the planet that may provide the best clues yet about the history of the red planet.

The golf cart-sized robot is now overlooking Victoria Crater, half a mile wide, 230 feet deep. NASA has just released pictures of the area transmitted by Opportunity.

"The thing we've been looking forward to is to dig deeper into the Martian crust," said Bruce Banerdt, Mars Exploration Rover Project Scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. (Watch Opportunity's pictures from the crater -- 2:56)

"For geologists, deeper usually means farther back in time. By going down deeper, in a place five times bigger than the last crater, we hope to see the history of Mars."

But for Banerdt and about 50 other scientists working on the project, what is just as amazing as what may come out of Victoria Crater is the fact that Opportunity, and its sister rover Spirit, are still going strong nearly 1,000 days into their field work on Mars.

The longevity of the little robots is beyond the wildest dreams of some working on the project.

"We would have been happy with 30, maybe 90 days," said Ray Arvidson, deputy principal investigator for Spirit and Opportunity. Arvidson is based at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.

The two rovers are working on opposite sides of the planet. Both are outfitted with the basic tool kit of a field geologist, gathering information on rock formations, soil, and atmosphere.

The Victoria Crater will be the third region examined by Opportunity, and could provide the best evidence that water, and perhaps life, could have existed there. (Explore the crater)

Opportunity first examined rock layers inside the Eagle Crater, near its landing spot January 24, 2004. Geological evidence gathered there showed that water had once flowed there, and wind had once blown there.

"Rocks we've seen everywhere were formed in shallow lakes," said Arvidson. "At some time they were in contact with water. And the older you go, there's more evidence that this liquid was close to the surface," he said.

The second destination was a crater called Endurance, where Opportunity spent nine months examining exposed layers of rock about 23 feet thick.

"Lo and behold, it looked like shallow lakes. Water was definitely involved, possibly on the surface," said Arvidson.

Then, on its trek from Endurance to Victoria, the rover documented wind and water activity with shifting dunes and rising and falling levels of groundwater. Analysis of the minerals found there showed the ancient water was acidic.

The rock formations in Victoria Crater are thicker still, and older than the two areas already examined. That will likely give scientists the ability to look even further into the planet's past.

In examining the three craters so far, Opportunity has logged 5.7 miles. Spirit has traveled 3.7 miles. The rovers can move about 44 yards per day.

Arvidson says for the scientists working on the rovers, every day they are still working "is like another day for a kid in a candy store."

"We don't have major discoveries every week. But we do expect some major new discoveries when we get inside Victoria," he said.

Among the surprises: The rovers have stumbled upon three meteorites, metallic masses made of nickel and iron that had fallen to the planet's surface from somewhere else in outer space.

And to show how genuinely surprised scientists are at the long duration of the rovers, scientists recently had to solve a problem similar to the "Y2K" crisis of 1999-2000. In the latest revision of software sent to the rovers, programmers had to add a fourth digit to the assignment of tasks for each Mars day. When the rovers were designed, no one could imagine they would still be thriving more than 999 sols, or Mars days.

Is that a good kind of problem to have?

"Absolutely!" said Banerdt.

Banerdt said Spirit and Opportunity were designed to work interactively with scientists, and to question and even refuse commands that they interpret as dangerous to their survival.

"We built them to be very conservative, to question our commands," said Banerdt. "First they check to make sure the commands were not corrupted in transmission. After that, they have quite a bit of autonomy. They can take paths we did not program into them. They can go around rocks, back up, turn. There's a lot of artificial intelligence that's been delivered into these," he said.

For instance, the rovers have "hazard cameras" installed at wheel level. If they "see" an obstacle they do not expect, or cannot identify, they can stop, take a picture of the questionable item, and wait for the scientists at JPL to interpret it and send further orders.

"It's definitely good to be conservative. There aren't many repair shops between here and Mars!" said Banerdt.

Spirit and Opportunity's longevity have also provided unique opportunities for troubleshooting and creative thinking.

Spirit's right front wheel stopped working early this year. Anyone who has had to deal with a grocery cart with a bum wheel can probably relate to the frustration that causes.

But the rocket scientists on the case came up with a successful workaround: Put Spirit in reverse.

"We can't drive it on as steep a slope as we did before, and we have to take extra care in charting its path to keep it off deep soil," said Arvidson.

Another benefit of the overachieving rovers is the ability to use another spacecraft, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, to get a coordinated view of whatever area the rovers are looking at from the ground. The Reconnaissance Orbiter, which just got into its mapping orbit a few weeks ago, is expected to have some high resolution images of Victoria crater available soon.

What's the big picture of the information gained from these little robots?

"The Mars Exploration Rovers provide a piece of the puzzle," said Banerdt. "The puzzle of the history of Mars, how it formed, what conditions were like early on, and throughout its history. Could it have been conducive to life there? That's the kind of really big picture, to understand how life can start and survive in the universe beyond the earth we know. Mars is a crucial part of this puzzle," said Banerdt.
 
Hubble Space Telescope (part 1)

NASA engineers power up Hubble telescope
www.chinaview.cn 2006-10-14 16:55:20

BEIJING, Oct. 14 (Xinhuanet) -- A simple toggle on and off of an electrical relay was all it took Friday for NASA engineers to restore power to the Hubble Space Telescope's main camera. It was the second time this year the camera had shut down.

Power was restored to one of three detectors on the Advanced Camera for Surveys after an electrical relay suspected as the cause of the shutdown was switched on and off. NASA engineers believe the debris interfered with the electrical contact, the Space Telescope Science Institute said in a statement.

The institute said the detector will be monitored for the rest of the week. Observations will resume next week if its performance remains stable.

The Baltimore-based institute coordinates use of the orbiting telescope, launched in 1990 by the space shuttle, which has revolutionized astronomy with some of the most striking images ever seen in space.

NASA has scheduled a meeting Oct. 27 on the safety of a shuttle mission to service the Hubble to keep it working until a replacement is launched in 2011. The agency canceled a previously scheduled Hubble mission following the loss of the shuttle Columbia in 2003. That decision prompted an outcry from scientists and the public and forced NASA to reconsider.

The Hubble's main camera consists of three electronic cameras, filters and dispersers that detect light from the ultraviolet to the near infrared. Installed in 2002, it has given the clearest pictures yet of galaxies forming in the very early universe.

source
 
http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/space/11/09/space.shuttle.ap/index.html

Discovery creeps to launch pad
POSTED: 4:09 p.m. EST, November 9, 2006

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (AP) -- Space shuttle Discovery was moved to the launch pad Thursday to await a launch that could be as early as December 6 -- an effort to avoid potential New Year's Eve computer glitches.

The worry is that shuttle computers aren't designed to make the change from the 365th day of the old year to the first day of the new year while in flight. NASA has never had a shuttle in space December 31 or January 1.

"We've just never had the computers up and going when we've transitioned from one year to another," said Discovery astronaut Joan Higginbotham. "We're not really sure how they're going to operate."

Starting December 7, launch opportunities would be available as late as December 17 or 18. With a 12-day mission, that would mean the shuttle is back on Earth before New Year's Eve.

However, NASA was quick to say that even if the shuttle crew finds itself still in space on January 1, procedures could be devised to make a transition if necessary.

"Under some weird circumstance ... if we have an 'Oh my god,' and we have to be up there, I am sure we would figure out a way to operate the vehicle safely," said Steve Oswald, a vice president for Boeing Co., the parent company of the builders and designers of NASA's shuttles. "It just wouldn't be flying in the normal certified mode that we are used to flying."

If Discovery gets off the ground next month, it will be the third shuttle flight of the year, and only the fourth since the 2003 Columbia disaster.

It also will be the first night launch in four years. NASA required daylight launches after Columbia to make sure engineers had clear photos of the shuttle's external fuel tank; falling foam from Columbia's tank damaged its wing, dooming the shuttle and its seven astronauts.

NASA managers believe illumination from the space shuttle's booster rockets should allow for photos at night during the first two minutes, and radar should be able to detect any falling debris. Astronauts also are able to inspect the shuttle for damage while in flight.

During the 12-day mission, the astronauts will take three spacewalks to add an $11 million addition to the international space station and rewire the space lab's electrical system. The shuttle will also drop off U.S. astronaut Sunita Williams and bring home German astronaut Thomas Reiter, who has been at the space station since July.
 
Care to move to the moon?

link

Moon's Magnetic Patches Might Be Safe Havens for Humans
Tuesday, November 14, 2006

http://www.foxnews.com/images/239319/0_61_061114_reiner_gamma.jpg

The lunar surface is a harsh landscape: a bone-dry expanse of impact-pummelled rock whose "seas" have long been known as being misnamed.

he only precipitation is in the form of solar and cosmic radiation that gradually darkens the dust and corrupts the cells of any astronauts present.

Yet amidst this hostile landscape a number of safer havens exist where the lunar surface escapes much of this sleet of radiation.

One such benign feature, named Reiner Gamma, lies on the Moon's Earth-facing side and is marked by a 37-mile-long (60 km) bright swirl and one of the strongest magnetic fields found on the lunar surface.

"The Moon presently has no global magnetic field similar to the Earth's. The observed fields" — such as that at Reiner Gamma — "are caused by permanent magnetization of parts of the lunar crust," said Lon Hood of the University of Arizona.

Dramatic formation

These isolated pockets of lunar magnetism were discovered in the early 1970's by lunar-orbiting spacecraft. Their formation is thought to be as dramatic as their appearance.

"Current evidence suggests that impact-basin ejecta materials" — material blasted out by huge asteroid or comet impacts — "are the most likely sources of many or all of the magnetic fields," Hood said. "These ejecta contain microscopic metallic iron particles that are the carriers of the magnetization."

This material became magnetized by the strong magnetic field present at the time of impact and also by the magnetic fields generated during other large, basin-forming impacts.

Evidence for this is seen in the way swirls present on the lunar far side lie directly opposite impact basins on the Earth-facing side of the Moon.

The bright swirls of Reiner Gamma are a by-product of the contorted magnetic field arching overhead, and there are currently two models for the formation of the enigmatic swirls associated with the fields.

Two scenarios

The first hypothesis is that the swirls consist of secondary crater ejecta whose bright deposits have been preserved by a strong local crustal magnetic field.

One likely candidate for the bright ejecta preserved at Reiner Gamma is that of the nearby three-billion-year-old crater Cavalerius.

The magnetic field present over Reiner Gamma would deflect the solar wind and preserve the ejecta as a bright footprint of the magnetic field above.

The second mechanism for the swirls' formation is the relatively recent impact of a comet nucleus. Such an event would create a feature similar to Reiner Gamma and also magnetize the lunar surface.

From the perspective of human explorers, Reiner Gamma boasts one of the most scientifically interesting locations on the Moon.

"The main benefit would be to provide samples that are potentially free from solar-wind ion bombardment," Hood said. "This would be useful for understanding better the process that darkens the lunar surface and other airless silicate surfaces in the inner solar system."

Not only does the magnetic field preserve an unsullied lunar surface, but it would partially protect any astronauts strolling beneath.

"The lunar fields are strong enough to deflect solar-wind ions with energies of several kilo-electron-volts," Hood said.

Fueling interest

Reiner Gamma's magnetic shield also channels solar ions into narrow regions surrounding the feature, another boon for human exploration.

"This would concentrate solar-wind hydrogen and helium-3 locally, which might be beneficial to increase the efficiency of mining these for resource applications," Hood said.

Helium-3 is a light isotope of helium carried in the solar wind and is a potential fuel for efficient and non-polluting nuclear fusion. Hydrogen would be essential to the manufacture of water for a lunar outpost.

Only a spacecraft on the surface will be able to definitively reveal the method of Reiner Gamma's formation.

Until then, future lunar orbiters, such as NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and India's Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft, will undertake further analysis of this unusual feature.

Copyright © 2006 Imaginova Corp. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 
http://www.planetary.org/news/2006/1113_Leonid_Meteor_Shower_2006__When.html

Leonid Meteor Shower 2006 -- When, Where, and Why

The nights and early morning hours of November 17-19 mark the return of the Leonid meteor shower to the skies of Earth. Will it be worth your while to get outside and take a look? Well, that depends on which expert you listen to and where you live.

For the most part, this year's Leonid's display should be a pretty typical meteor shower. Just days away from New Moon, the sky will be free of moonlight so viewers should be able to see as many as 20 faint, fast-moving meteors per hour during its peak (the evening of November 17, early morning of November 18).

However, unlike a typical meteor shower, astronomers are predicting an unusual "outburst" of meteor activity late November 18 - early November 19 (the date it occurs depends on where you live).

Viewers along the northeastern coast of the United States and Canada, as well as people in Europe and western Africa might get to see a possible "outburst" of as many as 100-600 meteors per hour. This spike in activity is predicted for 11:45 p.m. - 1:33 a.m. EST on November 18-19 (4:45 - 6:33 UT on November 19).

This outburst is tied to Earth's passage through a particularly dense debris trail left by the comet 55P Tempel-Tuttle during its 1932 pass around the Sun. In 1969, Earth passed through this same region with rather spectacular -- though brief -- results (with viewers seeing 2-4 meteors per minute over a 30-minute period). This year's passage probably won't produce quite the same intensity as it did in 1969. Even still, astronomers are predicting anywhere from 100 to 600 meteors per hour. (The predictions vary depending on when Earth actually passes through the trail: earlier, fewer meteors -- later, more meteors.)

Even at 100 meteors per hour, the Leonids won't be as spectacular as other showers. Traditionally, the meteors that make up this shower are much smaller and therefore fainter when they hit Earth's atmosphere and burn up. In addition, these are usually fast-moving meteors, so you have to look quick for those faint streaks.

As a result, it is especially important to observe the Leonid shower from dark skies. For a change, you don't have to worry about the Moon during this shower. Its thin, waning crescent shape doesn't rise until just before sunrise on the 18th and 19th, so it won't interfere and drowned out any meteors. However, those pesky city lights will. So, if you are going to observe the shower, make an effort to drive to a location that has few if any lights nearby. (That may require quite a bit of driving these days, but it should be worth it.) Be sure and pack a lawn chair, a blanket, and a thermos filled with a hot beverage.

For more meteor shower observing tips, visit Meteor Showers: Where, When, and How to Look for Them.

Meteor showers offer a great excuse to sit outside and enjoy nature -- just be sure to pack warm clothes, these November nights get chilly.

http://www.planetary.org/explore/kids/activities/meteor_showers.html
 
==>HAMS HEADED FOR SPACE

NASA and the Russian Federal Space Agency have named two astronauts and two
cosmonauts to make up the next International Space Station crew, Expedition
15. While their duty tours will not coincide, if the current schedule holds,
there will always be at least one US and one Russian radio amateur aboard
the ISS for the next year.

Astronauts Clayton Anderson, KD5PLA, and Daniel Tani, KD5TXE, will travel to
the station next year as flight engineers. Anderson will ride to the ISS
aboard shuttle Endeavour on mission STS-118, targeted for next June, and
he'll return to Earth on shuttle Atlantis on mission STS-120, which will
carry his replacement, Tani, to the station. Tani will return via the
shuttle in October 2007. Cosmonauts Fyodor Yurchikhin, RN3FI, and Oleg Kotov
will fly to the ISS next March on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft and will spend
six months aboard the orbiting laboratory.

Yurchikhin will command Expedition 15, and Kotov will serve as station
flight engineer and Soyuz commander.

Until Anderson arrives, astronaut Sunita Williams, KD5PLB, will serve as
Expedition 15's third crew member and flight engineer. She's scheduled to
fly to the ISS on shuttle Mission STS-116 in December. Williams is reported
to be eager to do ARISS school group contacts from NA1SS.

The same shuttle flight will carry European Space Agency astronaut Christer
Fuglesang, KE5CGR/SA0AFS, Sweden's first astronaut. He will serve as a
mission specialist on his first journey into space, an 11-day ISS
construction mission.

Plans are under way to arrange for Fuglesang to carry out an ARISS school
contact with students in Thunmanskolan located in Knivsta, Sweden. The
contact would be the first ARISS school QSO with Scandinavia.
 
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