S.P.Korolev Energia Press Release:

At S.P. Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation Energia the next meeting of the General Designer’s Review Board chaired by N.N. Sevastiyanov, the Corporation President, General Designer, took place, with the focus on the Russian Segment of the International Space Station (ISS), forthcoming launch of Soyuz TMA-10 space vehicle and completion of Soyuz TMA-9 flight.

The following was heard according to the agenda:
Report on the status of Soyuz TMA-10 manned transport space vehicle launch processing (speaker: Yu.I. Grigoriev, RSC Energia Deputy General Designer, Director of Orbital Complex Programs);

Report on the Soyuz-FG launch vehicle flight readiness to launch the Soyuz TMA-10 space vehicle flight readiness to launch the Soyuz TMA-10 space vehicle (speakers: D.A. Baranov, GNP RKTs TsSKB – Progress Deputy General Director, Chief Designer; K.K. Popov, RSC Energia Deputy General Designer);

Sea Launch Press Release:

Long Beach, Calif., March 22, 2007 – Sea Launch Company has entered into an agreement with SES to use the Land Launch vehicle, initially slated to launch the AMC-21 communications satellite, for the launch of another, yet to be determined, satellite of the SES group, planned in the mid-2009 time-frame.

"We are pleased to offer this contract flexibility to SES so that we can support their future fleet development requirements," said Rob Peckham, president and general manager of Sea Launch. "We look forward to working with SES on this mission and genuinely appreciate their confidence in us and in our system. Our team is demonstrating continuous progress toward the introduction of the new Land Launch service."

Land Launch will use a Zenit-3SLB vehicle to launch this medium weight satellite into geosynchronous transfer orbit from the Baikonur Space Center in Kazakhstan. Both the satellite and the launch vehicle will be integrated and launched from the Zenit processing and launch facilities at Baikonur.

NASA Press Release:

HOUSTON - The Expedition 14 crew continued work this week on scientific experiments and increased the bandwidth on the International Space Station's computer network.

Commander Michael Lopez-Alegria and Flight Engineer Suni Williams spent time working with experiments that may hold the key to several aspects of long-duration space flight as NASA looks forward to missions back to the moon and on to Mars or other destinations.

Each served as test subject and operator for the Anomalous Long Term Effects in Astronauts' Central Nervous System experiment that examines how cosmic radiation affects brain waves. As test subjects, they wore an electroencephalograph cap that records readings of their brain functions, and over that, a special helmet with Italian-designed instruments that records the amount and types of cosmic rays passing through the station. Since cosmic radiation is even more prevalent at greater distances from Earth, the research could lead to countermeasures important to the safety and productivity of future explorers.

NASA Press Release:

Mission: STS-117 - 21st International Space Station Flight (13A) - S3/S4 Truss Segment Solar Arrays
Vehicle: Atlantis (OV-104)
Location: Vehicle Assembly Building
Launch Date: Targeted for April 2007
Launch Pad: 39A
Crew: Sturckow, Archambault, Reilly, Swanson, Forrester and Olivas
Inclination/Orbit Altitude: 51.6 degrees/122 nautical miles

In high bay No. 1 of the Vehicle Assembly Building, work is under way to repair hail damage to the STS-117 external fuel tank, ET-124. Special scaffolding and access platforms have been erected to allow access to the tank and orbiter for inspections and repairs. Foam repairs on the liquid hydrogen tank, which is located on the bottom of the ET, are complete.

Repairs to the orbiter thermal protection system tiles are complete, and technicians completed non-destructive evaluations of the vehicle's reinforced carbon carbon panels on the left wing leading edge, using thermography equipment. No damage was detected.

Shuttle Program managers met on Wednesday to assess the damage and repair status, and decided to continue work on repairing ET-124. Managers will meet again in early April to decide whether to use ET-124 or substitute a new tank, ET-117, which is scheduled to arrive at KSC on April 10.