SB SPACE @ ARL $ARLS002
ARLS002 ISS Expedition 13 two-ham crew set to launch

ZCZC AS02  
QST de W1AW  
Space Bulletin 002  ARLS002
From ARRL Headquarters  
Newington, CT  March 27, 2006
To all radio amateurs

SB SPACE ARL ARLS002
ARLS002 ISS Expedition 13 two-ham crew set to launch

The International Space Station Expedition 13 crew of Commander
Pavel Vinogradov, RV3BS, and Flight Engineer Jeff Williams, KD5TVQ,
are in Baikonur, Kazakhstan, preparing for their Soyuz launch March
30 (at 0230z) to the ISS. They'll take over the ISS from the
Expedition 12 crew of Commander Bill McArthur, KC5ACR, and Valery
Tokarev. The new crew is scheduled to dock at the station April 1 at
0419z.

Brazil's first astronaut, Marcos Pontes, will join the Expedition 13
crew for the trip into space and will spend a week aboard the ISS
conducting research under a commercial agreement between the
Brazilian Space Agency and the Russian Federal Space Agency.

Brazilian telecommunications authorities have granted Pontes the
call sign PY0AEB for use on his space journey, and there are plans
for him to conduct Amateur Radio on the International Space Station
school contacts during his mission. Pontes will return to Earth
April 8 with McArthur and Tokarev, who've been in space since last
October.

McArthur and Valery Tokarev this week moved their Soyuz spacecraft
into position on the Zvezda module for the return flight. NASA
reports they've been focusing on packing and preparing for the trip
home as well as continuing several science experiments that study
plants in weightlessness and crystal growth in space. McArthur also
took time over the past week to talk via NA1SS with students in the
US, Canada and Italy.

Information on the ARISS program can be found on the web at,
http://www.rac.ca/ariss.
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