SB SPACE @ ARL $ARLS007 ARLS007 Shuttle Discovery launches successfully ZCZC AS07 QST de W1AW Space Bulletin 007 ARLS007 From ARRL Headquarters Newington, CT July 26, 2005 To all radio amateurs SB SPACE ARL ARLS007 ARLS007 Shuttle Discovery launches successfully NASA's space shuttle fleet is no longer grounded. The Discovery orbiter took off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, right on schedule July 26 on the Return to Flight mission (STS-114). The Discovery flight is the first for a NASA shuttle since the Columbia disaster on February 1, 2003, that killed seven astronauts. Discovery's seven-person crew includes six Amateur Radio licensees. The spacecraft is also carrying the PCSat2 Amateur Radio payload. US Astronaut Eileen Collins, KD5EDS, is the commander for mission. The international crew also includes James Kelly, KC5ZSW; Charlie Camarda, KC5ZSY; Wendy Lawrence, KC5KII; Soichi Noguchi, KD5TVP; Andy Thomas, KD5CHF/VK5MIR, and Stephen Robinson. Thomas and Lawrence both did tours of duty aboard the Russian Mir space station and conducted many SAREX (Space Amateur Radio EXperiment) school group contacts. Discovery is undertaking a 12-day flight to deliver equipment and supplies to the International Space Station, although Amateur Radio operation by the licensed shuttle crew members from the space station's NA1SS is considered unlikely. PCSat2 will be installed outside the ISS during a spacewalk. For the latest information on the Space Shuttle's Return to Flight, visit the NASA Web site at, http://www.nasa.gov/returntoflight/main/index.html. NNNN /EX