Gregory H. Olsen, co-founder and chairman of the board of Sensors Unlimited, Inc. (SUI), is scheduled to launch to the International Space Station (ISS) on Saturday at 11:54 PM Eastern time (8:54 PM Pacific) on the Soyuz TMA-7 orbital spaceflight mission from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Mr Olsen, 59, due to head into space with Russian cosmonaut Valery Tokarev and US astronaut William McArthur, arrived at the ISS on Monday, after a period adjusting to conditions.

According to the report of SpaceDaily, Mr Olsen will speak with over 30 high school students during a series of ten minute sessions while in orbit, during October 5-7, 2005. The three schools selected include Princeton High School and Ridgefield Park High School in New Jersey, and Fort Hamilton High School in New York.

"I'm looking forward to connecting with the students to be able to share my experiences in space," said Greg Olsen who heads a New Jersey-based firm that makes electronic sensors for military and civilian use.

"I think it's very important to encourage the youth of today to dream big and let them know that anything is possible through hard work and dedication," he said.

"Even though Dr. Olsen will be quite busy performing technical duties and conducting scientific experiments, he will also find time to speak with students from his beloved 'home' states of New York and New Jersey," said Eric Anderson, president and CEO of Space Adventures.

Engineers have begun moving the 30-ton, 164-foot Soyuz rocket by rail to the launch pad. After the roughly two-hour journey, workers set the rocket and its Soyuz TMA-7 capsule upright, and began connecting and checking electrical and mechanical systems. Fueling will take place Friday.

Russia's workhorse Soyuz and Progress spacecraft have regularly shuttled crews and cargo to the space station, serving as the station's lifeline after the 2003 Columbia disaster grounded the U.S. shuttle fleet until earlier this year.

Source: Xinhua/agencies