[ETSList] Santa

[Drew_Moore]

==>SANTA WILL HAVE COMPANY IN THE CHRISTMAS SKY

Santa Claus will have company in the sky above most US cities on Christmas
Eve.

"The International Space Station will be visible, weather permitting, with
its two crewmen snug in sleeping bags secured to the walls, with visions
of dehydrated turkey dancing in their heads," NASA says. The ISS will pass
over cities from New York to Los Angeles and most points in between. It
will be easily visible at various times December 23-26.

There's been no information from the Amateur Radio on the International
Space Station (ARISS) <http://www.rac.ca/ariss> team to indicate that
NA1SS will be active, but it might be a good idea to monitor the
145.800-MHz downlink frequency just in case (the North American uplink
frequency is 144.49 MHz). More information is available on NASA's
Satellite Sighting Information page
<http://www.spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/sightings/cities/index.cgi>.

ISS Expedition 8 crew commander Mike Foale, KB5UAC, and cosmonaut and
flight engineer Alex "Sasha" Kaleri, U8MIR, now are more than a third of
the way into their six-month ISS duty tour. For the holiday, they will
enjoy as traditional a Christmas as possible while in orbit some 230 miles
above Earth. NASA says the crew has saved a special ration of smoked
turkey just for the occasion. They also have Velcro ornaments and a
space-saving NOMEX <http://www.dupont.com/nomex/> Christmas tree.

"The crew has special Christmas stockings, filled by Santa before they
left Earth, with special treats and gifts from family and friends," NASA
says. On Christmas Day, they will see and speak with their families via a
two-way video linkup. Back on Earth, teams of flight controllers and
experiment investigators in Houston, Texas, Huntsville, Alabama, and
Moscow will spend Christmas with the crew as well.

"Keeping the station operating well is a 24/7 job," said NASA Flight
Director Jeff Hanley. "We are sharing our holiday with our crew in
space."--NASA