SB SPACE @ ARL $ARLS003
ARLS003 New all-ham crew now safely aboard ISS

ZCZC AS03  
QST de W1AW  
Space Bulletin 003  ARLS003
From ARRL Headquarters  
Newington, CT  April 18, 2005
To all radio amateurs

SB SPACE ARL ARLS003
ARLS003 New all-ham crew now safely aboard ISS

International Space Station Expedition 10 crew members Leroy Chiao,
KE5BRW, and Salizhan Sharipov opened the hatches between the ISS and
the newly arrived Soyuz transporter early Sunday, April 17, to
welcome Expedition 11 Commander Sergei Krikalev, U5MIR, and US
Astronaut and ISS Science Officer and Flight Engineer John Phillips,
KE5DRY. Accompanying them on the taxi flight was European Space
Agency Astronaut Roberto Vittori, IZ6ERU, of Italy.

''The two crews greeted one another with handshakes and hugs,'' NASA
reported. The first scheduled activity for the five crew members was
a safety briefing.

Krikalev, Phillips and Vittori docked with the ISS April 16. The
five space travelers will conduct nearly eight days of joint
operations. Expedition 11's Krikalev and Phillips will spend about
six months aboard the ISS. During his ISS visit, Vittori will
conduct experiments aboard the station under a commercial agreement
between ESA and the Russian space agency.

On April 18, he conducted an Amateur Radio on the International
Space Station (ARISS) school group QSO with two technical schools in
Italy. One of the schools was named for wireless pioneer Guglielmo
Marconi, and his daughter, Princess Elettra Marconi, assisted in the
event and sent greetings to the astronauts.

''With great enthusiasm I extend greetings to Roberto Vittori, who
greatly honors Italy. All my admiration,'' Princess Elettra said. ''I
think that my father, Guglielmo Marconi, would have been proud of
you for your marvelous mission. All my best wishes. I feel very
close to you. Thank you.''

Vittori will return to Earth with the Expedition 10 crew of Chiao
and Sharipov, which has been living aboard the space station since
October. The three will depart for Earth Sunday, April 24, in the
Soyuz that brought the Expedition 10 crew to the orbiting laboratory
last fall. They're scheduled to land that evening in Kazakhstan.

Over the next few days, Krikalev, 46, and Phillips, 54, will receive
extensive handover briefings from the Expedition 10 crew. NASA says
a third crew member may arrive at the ISS on the space shuttle
Atlantis. This is Krikalev's second tour of duty aboard the ISS. He
was part of the first ISS crew.
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