ISS CELEBRATES ITS 10TH ANNIVERSARY
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The International Space Station marked a major milestone on Tuesday, 
November 2nd.  This, as it celebrated the 10-year anniversary of 
human beings living aboard the orbital outpost.

The story of the International Space Stations manned operations 
began on November 2, 2000. That's when an American astronaut and a 
Russian cosmonaut floated side by side into the station that sits 
in orbit at about than 300 km above Earth's surface.

The station's first crew was made up of Russians Yuri Gidzenko, 
Sergei Krikalev and American commander Bill Shepherd. In the 
intervening decade close to 200 people, many of them licensed radio 
amateurs have spent time on board the ISS and operated the ARISS 
ham station.

The current Expedition 25 crew is made up of Commander Doug Wheelock, 
KF5BOC along with NASA astronauts Scott Kelly and Shannon Walker, 
KD5DXB. Also on-orbit with them are Russian cosmonauts Fyodor 
Yurchikhin, RN3FI, Alexander Kaleri, U8MIR and Oleg Skripochka, 
RN3FU. The ISS has also been a hotel on-orbit for several visiting 
space tourists including Richard Garriott, W5KWQ. He is the son of 
Astronaut Owen Garriott, W5LFL, who was the first ham radio operator 
to take to the airwaves back in 1982 from the space shuttle Columbia.

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden was to have begun the event, 
speaking live to the ISS crew at 9:15 a.m. EDT from the Kennedy Space 
Center in Florida.  His remarks and the following news conference 
were broadcast live on NASA Television.

(AR-Newsline)