Shuttle Discovery last week safely landed on Earth to cap off a busy but productive trip aboard the International Space Station (ISS).  The crew stowed gear and checked to make sure flight control systems were working properly the day before departing the ISS.  The Discovery crew delivered and helped install the Harmony space module, the first room the ISS has received in more than five years.  An unscheduled repair to a solar panel tear also had to take place.

NASA over the weekend moved space shuttle Atlantis to its launch pad for its scheduled Dec. 6 launch to the ISS.  The seven-man crew is expected to arrive in Florida this week to begin dress rehearsals.  The shuttle will be responsible for helping transport a European space laboratory so it can be installed on the ISS.

The crew aboard the ISS must finish working on the new laboratory brought by Discovery and relocate it so the shuttle's docking port can be reinstalled before Atlantis arrives.

Russia ferrying paying space tourists and astronauts into space is something we’re used to, but the Russian space agency offers an interesting "souvenir" for other astronauts from other nations.  State media said Russia recently made an offer to sell the Soyuz space craft responsible for carrying the first Malaysian astronaut into space.  The spacecraft launched towards the International Space Station in early October with Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor aboard.

"I received the offer while waiting for Dr Sheikh Muszaphar's return in Russia. We are discussing the matter and if the price is right we can bring it back to Malaysia,” said Jamaluddin Jarjis, Malaysian Science, Innovation and Technology Minister.