OCEAN WIND POWER MAPS REVEAL POSSIBLE WIND ENERGY SOURCES

WASHINGTON -- Efforts to harness the energy potential of Earth's ocean
winds could soon gain an important new tool: global satellite maps
from NASA. Scientists have been creating maps using nearly a decade
of data from NASA's QuikSCAT satellite that reveal ocean areas where
winds could produce wind energy.

The new maps have many potential uses including planning the location
of offshore wind farms to convert wind energy into electric energy.
The research, published this week in Geophysical Research Letters,
was funded by NASA's Earth Science Division, which works to advance
the frontiers of scientific discovery about Earth, its climate and
its future.

"Wind energy is environmentally friendly. After the initial energy
investment to build and install wind turbines, you don't burn fossil
fuels that emit carbon," said study lead author Tim Liu, a senior
research scientist and QuikSCAT science team leader at NASA's Jet
Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. "Like solar power, wind
energy is green energy."

QuikSCAT, launched in 1999, tracks the speed, direction and power of
winds near the ocean surface. Data from QuikSCAT, collected
continuously by a specialized microwave radar instrument named
SeaWinds, also are used to predict storms and enhance the accuracy of
weather forecasts.

Wind energy has the potential to provide 10 to 15 percent of future
world energy requirements, according to Paul Dimotakis, chief
technologist at JPL. If ocean areas with high winds were tapped for
wind energy, they could potentially generate 500 to 800 watts of
energy per square meter, according to Liu's research. Dimotakis notes
that while this is slightly less than solar energy (which generates
about one kilowatt of energy per square meter), wind power can be
converted to electricity more efficiently than solar energy and at a
lower cost per watt of electricity produced.

According to Liu, new technology has made floating wind farms in the
open ocean possible. A number of wind farms are already in operation
worldwide. Ocean wind farms have less environmental impact than
onshore wind farms, whose noise tends to disturb sensitive wildlife
in their immediate area. Also, winds are generally stronger over the
ocean than on land because there is less friction over water to slow
the winds down - there are no hills or mountains to block the wind's
path.

Ideally, offshore wind farms should be located in areas where winds
blow continuously at high speeds. The new research identifies such
areas and offers explanations for the physical mechanisms that
produce the high winds.

An example of one such high-wind mechanism is located off the coast of
Northern California near Cape Mendocino. The protruding land mass of
the cape deflects northerly winds along the California coast,
creating a local wind jet that blows year-round. Similar jets are
formed from westerly winds blowing around Tasmania, New Zealand, and
Tierra del Fuego in South America, among other locations. Areas with
large-scale, high wind power potential also can be found in regions
of the mid-latitudes of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, where winter
storms normally track.

The new QuikSCAT maps, which add to previous generations of QuikSCAT
wind atlases, also will be beneficial to the shipping industry by
highlighting areas of the ocean where high winds could be hazardous
to ships, allowing them to steer clear of these areas.

Scientists use the QuikSCAT data to examine how ocean winds affect
weather and climate, by driving ocean currents, mixing ocean waters,
and affecting the carbon, heat and water interaction between the
ocean and the atmosphere.

JPL manages QuikSCAT for NASA. For more information about QuikSCAT,
visit:

http://winds.jpl.nasa.gov

For more information about NASA and agency programs, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov
 

NASA AND ESA COMPLETE COMPARATIVE EXPLORATION ARCHITECTURE STUDY

WASHINGTON -- Over the last 6 months, representatives from NASA and
the European Space Agency, or ESA, have been engaged in a detailed
assessment of potential programs and technologies that when conducted
cooperatively could one day support a human outpost on the moon.

Findings from the study included a significant mutual interest in the
potential development of lunar cargo landing systems, communication
and navigation systems, lunar orbital infrastructures, and lunar
surface systems, such as habitats or mobility systems. The study also
identified the significant value gained from redundant human crew
transportation capability.

"We are very pleased to have worked with ESA on this comparative
architecture assessment," said Geoff Yoder, director of NASA's
Exploration Systems Mission Directorate Integration Office in
Washington. "Since the announcement of the U.S. Space Exploration
Policy, NASA has sought and welcomed input from its international
partners on NASA's lunar architecture plans in areas of mutual
interest. As future exploration plans mature around the world, it is
becoming increasingly important that we seek compatibilities between
NASA's plans and those of its potential future partners. The work we
did with ESA will serve as a model for discussions with other
potential partners as we begin to implement this very exciting
mission."

NASA and ESA experts briefed the results of their Comparative
Architecture Assessment this week during an ESA sponsored integrated
architecture review held at ESA's European Space Research and
Technology Centre in Noordwijk, The Netherlands.

"ESA is preparing itself for a round of decisions that will mark
Europe's role in human spaceflight and exploration for the decades to
come," said Bruno Gardini, manager of ESA's Exploration Program.
"After the satisfaction of the successful deployment of the Columbus
module and Automated Transfer Vehicle, we are looking forward to
enhancing our role in the partnership for a sustained and robust
space exploration program, where human spaceflight is the
cornerstone. The moon is surely an important case study and useful
test bed to thoroughly prepare for more distant destinations. This
architecture work is very useful to prioritize our proposals to
European decision-makers and define a European strategy."

The study assessed the degree to which NASA and ESA's lunar
exploration architecture concepts could complement, augment, or
enhance the exploration plans of one another. Technical teams from
each agency engaged in a series of joint, qualitative assessments of
the potential scientific and exploration benefits from collaboration
between the ESA capabilities under study and NASA's space
transportation systems and lunar surface exploration architecture
concepts.

NASA is studying lunar surface exploration architecture concepts to
support humans returning to the moon before 2020. Consistent with the
principles of the Global Exploration Strategy -- a framework for
coordinating space exploration plans of 14 participating agencies
from around the world -- NASA is pursuing its lunar exploration plans
under an "open architecture" approach. This approach will maximize
opportunities for international and commercial participation. NASA's
architecture concept calls for the transportation of astronauts and
hardware to the moon using the Ares I and Ares V launch vehicles, the
Orion crew exploration vehicle, and the Altair lunar lander, which
are all currently under development by NASA.

ESA is studying scenarios and associated architectures for human space
exploration, building upon its extensive human space flight
experience, including its contributions to the International Space
Station program. While ESA's studies are currently at a conceptual
stage, some of the scenarios assessed as part of this joint study
included potential future use of an automated, Ariane 5-based lunar
cargo landing system; European developed communication and navigation
systems; and ESA-developed human-rated systems, such as a crew
transportation system and orbital outposts.

For more information on NASA's plans to explore the moon, Mars, and
beyond, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/exploration
 

NASA EXTENDS SPACE STATION CARGO DELIVERY CONTRACT

HOUSTON - NASA has awarded Lockheed Martin Integrated Systems Inc. in
Houston, a one-year contract extension valued at $42 million to
provide integration services for cargo delivery to and from the
International Space Station.

Lockheed Martin has held the station's cargo mission contract since
January 2004. The one-year extension will bring the total value of
the contract to $338 million.

The contract provides cargo packing for delivery to and from the space
station, consisting of pressurized and unpressurized science and
logistics carriers, assembly hardware and crew support. It also
involves determining the most efficient way to pack the cargo,
verifying the adequacy of the integrated carriers, packing the
pressurized cargo into sub-carriers and returning the cargo to the
providers once it returns to Earth. The contract also provides
sustaining engineering for NASA carriers.

The extension begins Oct. 1, 2008, and is the first of two such
options provided for in the original contract.

Major subcontractors include United Space Alliance LLC and Bastion
Technologies Inc., both in Houston; Command Technologies Inc. in
Warrenton, Va.; Teledyne Brown Engineering Inc. in Huntsville, Ala.,
and EADS Astrium Space Transportation, Bremen, Germany. The work will
be performed at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston and at the
NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

For more information about the space station, visit:

 

NASA SETS LAUNCH DATES FOR REMAINING SPACE SHUTTLE MISSIONS

HOUSTON -- Following a detailed, integrated assessment, NASA selected
target launch dates for the remaining eight space shuttle missions on
the current manifest in 2009 and 2010. The manifest includes one
flight to the Hubble Space Telescope, seven assembly flights to the
International Space Station, and two station contingency flights,
planned to be completed before the end of fiscal year 2010. The
agency previously selected Oct. 8 and Nov. 10 as launch dates for
Atlantis' STS-125 mission to service Hubble and Endeavour's STS-126 /
ULF-2 mission to supply the space station and service both Solar
Alpha Rotary Joints on the port and starboard end of its truss
backbone that supports equipment and solar arrays.

The approved target dates are subject to change based on processing
and other launch vehicle schedules. They reflect the agency's
commitment to complete assembly of the station and to retire the
shuttle fleet as transition continues to the new launch vehicles,
including Ares and Orion.

SHUTTLE FLIGHTS IN 2009

Feb. 12 -- Discovery (STS-119 / 15A) will kick off a five-flight 2009
with its 36th mission to deliver the final pair of U.S. solar arrays
to be installed on the starboard end of the station's truss. The
truss serves as the backbone support for external equipment and spare
components, including the Mobile Base System. Lee Archambault will
command the 14-day flight that will include four planned spacewalks.
Joining him will be pilot Tony Antonelli and mission specialists John
Phillips, Steve Swanson, Joseph Acaba, Richard Arnold and Japan
Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Koichi Wakata. Wakata will
replace Sandy Magnus on the station as a flight engineer. STS-119
marks the 28th shuttle flight to the station.

May 15 -- Endeavour (STS-127 / 2JA) sets sail on its 23rd mission with
the Japanese Kibo Laboratory's Exposed Facility and Experiment
Logistics Module Exposed Section, the final permanent components of
the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's contribution to the station
program. During the 15-day mission, Endeavour's crew will perform
five spacewalks and deliver six new batteries for the P6 truss, a
spare drive unit for the Mobile Transporter and a spare boom assembly
for the Ku-band antenna. Mark Polansky will be Endeavour's commander
with Doug Hurley as pilot. Mission specialists will be Christopher
Cassidy, Tom Marshburn, Dave Wolf, Tim Kopra and Canadian Space
Agency astronaut Julie Payette. Kopra will become a station flight
engineer replacing Koichi Wakata, who will return home with the
STS-127 crew. It will be the 29th shuttle flight to the station.

July 30 -- Atlantis (STS-128 / 17A) launches on its 31st flight, an
11-day mission carrying science and storage racks to the station. In
the payload bay will be a Multi-Purpose Logistics Module holding
science and storage racks. Three spacewalks are planned to remove and
replace a materials processing experiment outside the European Space
Agency's Columbus module and return an empty ammonia tank assembly.
The mission includes the rotation of astronaut Nicole Stott for Tim
Kopra, who will return to Earth with the shuttle crew. The remaining
crew members have yet to be named. STS-128 marks the 30th shuttle
flight dedicated to station assembly and outfitting.

Oct. 15 -- Discovery's (STS-129 / ULF-3) 37th mission will focus on
staging spare components outside the station. The 15-day flight
includes at least three spacewalks. The payload bay will carry two
large External Logistics Carriers holding two spare gyroscopes, two
nitrogen tank assemblies, two pump modules, an ammonia tank assembly,
a spare latching end effector for the station's robotic arm, a spare
trailing umbilical system for the Mobile Transporter and a
high-pressure gas tank. Canadian Space Agency astronaut Bob Thirsk
will return home aboard Discovery with its crew, which has yet to be
named. STS-129 marks the 31st shuttle mission devoted to station
assembly.

Dec. 10 -- Endeavour (STS-130 / 20A) will close 2009 with its 24th
mission to deliver the final connecting node, Node 3, and the Cupola,
a robotic control station with six windows around its sides and
another in the center that provides a 360-degree view around the
station. At least three spacewalks are planned during the 11-day
mission. The 32nd station assembly mission by a shuttle does not yet
have a crew named.

SHUTTLE FLIGHTS IN 2010

Feb. 11 -- Atlantis (STS-131 / 19A) begins its 32nd mission as the
first flight in 2010, carrying a Multi-Purpose Logistics Module
filled with science racks that will be transferred to laboratories of
the station. The 11-day mission will include at least three
spacewalks to attach a spare ammonia tank assembly outside the
station and return a European experiment that has been outside the
Columbus module. It will be the 33rd shuttle mission to the station.
The crew has yet to be named.

April 8 -- Discovery's (STS-132 / ULF-4) 38th mission will carry an
integrated cargo carrier to deliver maintenance and assembly
hardware, including spare parts for space station systems. In
addition, the second in a series of new pressurized components for
Russia, a Mini Research Module, will be permanently attached to the
bottom port of the Zarya module. The Russian module also will carry
U.S. pressurized cargo. The first Russian Mini Research Module to go
to the station is scheduled to launch on a Russian rocket in the
summer of 2009.

Additionally, at least three spacewalks are planned to stage spare
components outside the station, including six spare batteries, a boom
assembly for the Ku-band antenna and spares for the Canadian Dextre
robotic arm extension. A radiator, airlock and European robotic arm
for the Russian Multi-purpose Laboratory Module also are payloads on
the flight. The laboratory module is scheduled for launch on a
Russian rocket in 2011. The mission marks the 34th mission to the
station. The STS-132 crew has yet to be named.

May 31 -- Endeavour's (STS-133 / ULF-5) 25th mission will carry
critical spare components that will be placed on the outside of the
station. Those will include two S-band communications antennas, a
high-pressure gas tank, additional spare parts for Dextre and
micrometeoroid debris shields. At least three spacewalks are planned
to be carried out by the crew, which has yet to be named. The 15-day
mission will be the 35th to the station.

For the shuttle launch manifest, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/iss_manifest.html

For details on upcoming shuttle missions and their crews, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle
 

ASTRONAUT BARBARA MORGAN TO LEAVE NASA HOUSTON -- Veteran space shuttle astronaut Barbara R. Morgan will leave NASA in August to become an educator at Idaho's Boise State University. NASA's first educator astronaut, Morgan logged more than 305 hours in space aboard shuttle Endeavour's STS-118 assembly mission to the International Space Station in August 2007. She operated the shuttle and station robotic arms to install hardware, inspect the orbiter and support spacewalks. Morgan also served as loadmaster for the transfer of supplies between the shuttle and station, taught lessons from space to schoolchildren on Earth and served on the flight deck during re-entry and landing. "Barbara has served NASA and the Astronaut Office with distinction over the course of her career," Astronaut Office chief Steve Lindsey said. "From the Teacher in Space Program to her current position as a fully qualified astronaut, she has set a superb example and been a consistent role model for both teachers and students. She will be missed." Morgan previously served as the backup to payload specialist Christa McAuliffe in the Teacher in Space Program. McAuliffe and six fellow astronauts lost their lives in the Challenger accident on Jan. 28, 1986. Morgan, who was an elementary schoolteacher in McCall, Idaho, before being selected as McAuliffe's backup, returned to teaching after the accident. She was selected to train as a mission specialist in 1998 and named to the STS-118 crew in 2002. "It is really tough to leave NASA," Morgan said. "It is a great organization with great people doing great things. We're going back to the moon and on to Mars. I'm especially proud that we have three other teachers who are astronauts, and there will be others in the future. I'm very excited to go to work for Boise State University. I like everything about it, and it's going to be wonderful helping exploration by working full time for education." Three other educator mission specialists, Richard Arnold, Joseph Acaba and Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger, are training for future spaceflights. Arnold and Acaba are assigned to fly on the STS-119 space shuttle mission to the station in 2009. Morgan will serve as Distinguished Educator in Residence at Boise State, providing vision and leadership to the state of Idaho on science, technology, engineering and math education. Highlights of Morgan's NASA career will be available on NASA Television's video file. For NASA TV downlink information, schedules and links to streaming video, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/ntv For more biographical information about Morgan, visit: http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/morgan.html For information about NASA and agency programs, visit: http://www.nasa.gov

NASA AWARDS INFORMATION MANAGEMENT AND COMMUNICATIONS SUPPORT CONTRACT CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- NASA has selected Abacus Technology Corporation of Chevy Chase, Md., to provide information management and communications support at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The contract begins on Oct. 1 with a five-year base period and four one-year options to extend performance. It is a cost-plus-award-fee contract with indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract line items. If all options are exercised and the maximum amount of work is ordered, the total potential value of the contract is approximately $898 million. Abacus Technology Corporation will furnish resources, including management, personnel, equipment and supplies to support Kennedy's work, including voice communications, visual imaging and timing, transmission and cable systems, administrative phones, institutional computer networks, network IT security, publications, library, and computer services. Selected services also may be provided to the U.S. Air Force at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and Patrick Air Force Base as IDIQ efforts. For information about NASA and agency programs, visit: http://www.nasa.gov

NASA'S PHOENIX MARS LANDER PUTS SOIL IN CHEMISTRY LAB, TEAM DISCUSSES NEXT STEPS TUCSON, Ariz. -- NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander placed a sample of Martian soil in the spacecraft's wet chemistry laboratory today for the first time. Results from that instrument, part of Phoenix's Microscopy, Electrochemistry and Conductivity Analyzer, are expected to provide the first measurement of the acidity or alkalinity of the planet's soil. The analysis of this and other soil samples will help researchers determine whether ice beneath the soil ever has melted, and whether the soil has other qualities favorable for life. The Phoenix team is discussing what sample to deliver next to the lander's other analytical instrument, which bakes and sniffs soil to identify volatile ingredients. Engineers have identified possible problems in the mechanical and electrical operation of that instrument, the Thermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer, or TEGA. Scientists are studying information provided by TEGA's analysis of the first Martian soil sample put in that instrument. The instrument has eight single-use oven cells; each cell can analyze one sample. When doors for a second TEGA oven were commanded open last week, the doors opened only partway. Later, the team determined that mechanical interference may prevent doors on that oven and three others from opening fully. The remaining three ovens are expected to have one door that opens fully and one that opens partially, as was the case with the first oven used. "The tests we have done in our test facility during the past few days show the robotic arm can deliver the simulated Martian soil through the opening with the doors in this configuration," said William Boynton of the University of Arizona, Tucson, lead scientist for TEGA. "We plan to save the cells where doors can open wider for accepting ice samples." Scientists believe the first soil sample delivered to TEGA was so clumpy that soil particles clogged a screen over the opening. Four days of vibration eventually succeeded at getting the soil through the screen. However, engineers believe the use of a motor to create the vibration may also have caused a short circuit in wiring near that oven. Concern about triggering other short circuits has prompted the Phoenix team to be cautious about the use of other TEGA cells. Subsequent soil samples for TEGA will be delivered with a different method than the first. The newer method will sprinkle soil into the instrument to make it easier for particles to get through the screens. The Phoenix mission is led by Peter Smith at the University of Arizona with project management at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., and the development partnership at Lockheed Martin in Denver. International contributions are from the Canadian Space Agency; the University of Neuchatel, Switzerland; the universities of Copenhagen and Aarhus, Denmark; Max Planck Institute, Germany; and the Finnish Meteorological Institute. EDITOR'S NOTE: NASA and the University of Arizona, Tucson, will hold a news media teleconference at 10:30 a.m. PDT, Thursday, June 26, to discuss science results and provide an update on future science gathering plans. To participate in the teleconference, news media should phone the JPL Media Relations Office at 818-354-5011 by 10 a.m. PDT, June 26, to obtain the dial-in number and passcode. For more information about the mission, visit:

NASA SPACECRAFT REVEAL LARGEST CRATER IN SOLAR SYSTEM PASADENA, Calif. -- New analysis of Mars' terrain using NASA spacecraft observations reveals what appears to be by far the largest impact crater ever found in the solar system. NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and Mars Global Surveyor have provided detailed information about the elevations and gravity of the Red Planet's northern and southern hemispheres. A new study using this information may solve one of the biggest remaining mysteries in the solar system: why does Mars have two strikingly different kinds of terrain in its northern and southern hemispheres? The huge crater is creating intense scientific interest. The mystery of the two-faced nature of Mars has perplexed scientists since the first comprehensive images of the surface were beamed home by NASA spacecraft in the 1970s. The main hypotheses have been an ancient impact or some internal process related to the planet's molten subsurface layers. The impact idea, proposed in 1984, fell into disfavor because the basin's shape didn't seem to fit the expected round shape for a crater. The newer data is convincing some experts who doubted the impact scenario. "We haven't proved the giant-impact hypothesis, but I think we've shifted the tide," said Jeffrey Andrews-Hanna, a postdoctoral researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge. Andrews-Hanna and co-authors Maria Zuber of MIT and Bruce Banerdt of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., report the new findings in the journal Nature this week. A giant northern basin that covers about 40 percent of Mars' surface, sometimes called the Borealis basin, is the remains of a colossal impact early in the solar system's formation, the new analysis suggests. At 5,300 miles across, it is about four times wider than the next-biggest impact basin known, the Hellas basin on southern Mars. An accompanying report calculates that the impacting object that produced the Borealis basin must have been about 1,200 miles across. That's larger than Pluto. "This is an impressive result that has implications not only for the evolution of early Mars, but also for early Earth's formation," said Michael Meyer, the Mars chief scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington. This northern-hemisphere basin on Mars is one of the smoothest surfaces found in the solar system. The southern hemisphere is high, rough, heavily cratered terrain, which ranges from 2.5 to 5 miles higher in elevation than the basin floor. Other giant impact basins have been discovered that are elliptical rather than circular. But it took a complex analysis of the Martian surface from NASA's two Mars orbiters to reveal the clear elliptical shape of Borealis basin, which is consistent with being an impact crater. One complicating factor in revealing the elliptical shape of the basin was that after the time of the impact, which must have been at least 3.9 billion years ago, giant volcanoes formed along one part of the basin rim and created a huge region of high, rough terrain that obscures the basin's outlines. It took a combination of gravity data, which tend to reveal underlying structure, with data on current surface elevations to reconstruct a map of Mars elevations as they existed before the volcanoes erupted. "In addition to the elliptical boundary of the basin, there are signs of a possible second, outer ring - a typical characteristic of large impact basins," Banerdt said. JPL manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. For more information about the mission, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/mro

NASA AWARDS SPACE SHUTTLE MAIN ENGINE CONTRACT MODIFICATION

WASHINGTON -- NASA has signed a $16.8 million contract modification to
space shuttle main engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne
Inc. of Canoga Park, Calif., to incorporate an employee retention
plan implemented by the company. Incentives are being provided to
eligible personnel to ensure mission success and construction of the
remaining engines to support space shuttle requirements through
September 2010.

Retention of the knowledgeable and skilled space shuttle main engine
workforce is necessary to produce the remaining shuttle hardware.
This contract modification supports the agency's priorities of safely
flying and retiring the space shuttles.

The contract will end Sept. 30, 2010. This modification brings the
total value of the contract, awarded in January 2002, to $2.181
billion.

The three main engines are 14 feet long and seven and a half feet in
diameter at the nozzle exit. They are liquid propellant rocket
engines that have a combined thrust of more than 1.2 million pounds.
Along with the solid rocket boosters, they provide the thrust to
launch the shuttle.

For more information about NASA's Space Shuttle Program, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle


UNIVERSITY FACULTY AND STUDENTS TO 'ROCKON!' WITH NASA

WALLOPS ISLAND, Va. -- University faculty and students from across the
country will RockOn! with NASA during a workshop June 22 - 27 at
NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island in Virginia. During
RockOn!, they will learn the basics of building experiments for
flight on suborbital rockets.

RockOn! teams will build the experiments from kits developed by
students from the Colorado Space Grant Consortium and learn about the
steps and procedures for creating payloads for flight. Each
experiment package will include a Geiger counter and sensors for
measuring temperature, acceleration and pressure. The experiments
then will be integrated into payload cans for launch.

The week will culminate with the launching of the experiments early in
the morning June 27 aboard a NASA Orion sounding rocket. The 20-foot
tall, single-stage rocket is expected to fly to an altitude of 41
miles. After launch and payload recovery, participants will do
preliminary data analysis and discuss their results.

"The NASA Sounding Program historically has been a program for
scientists, engineers and technicians to develop the skills necessary
for developing and building advanced satellites and other
spacecraft," said Phil Eberspeaker, chief of the NASA Sounding
Program office at Wallops.

Almost 60 people from universities in 22 states and Puerto Rico are
participating in RockOn!. Eighty-percent of the participants are
faculty members.

"This workshop will equip faculty with the skills and knowledge to
start their own student-led sounding rocket payload programs at their
university or college," said Chris Koehler, director of the Colorado
Space Grant Consortium in Boulder. "This workshop adds a new level of
hands-on programs for higher education students. It is expected that
many of the participants will have students come to Wallops to fly
their own sounding rocket payloads in the coming years."

NASA's Space Grant program sponsors university-based consortia that
focus on developing our nation's future scientist and engineers, as
well as improving science, engineering and technology education.
Using the lessons learned through RockOn!, participants will work to
make flight experiments a part of the educational process at their
home institutions.

"The workshop builds on NASA's interest in reaching out to
universities for engagement with sounding rocket payload research and
educational experiences," said Mary Sandy, director of the Virginia
Space Grant Consortium in Hampton, Va. "It taps into the National
Space Grant College and Fellowship Program interest in having
students and faculty participate in space experimentation and real
space missions."

For more information on NASA education programs on the Internet,
visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/education


NASA FINDS NEW TYPE OF COMET DUST MINERAL

HOUSTON -- NASA researchers and scientists from the United States,
Germany and Japan have found a new mineral in material that likely
came from a comet.

The mineral, a manganese silicide named Brownleeite, was discovered
within an interplanetary dust particle, or IDP, that appears to have
originated from comet 26P/Grigg-Skjellerup. The comet originally was
discovered in 1902 and reappears every 5 years. The team that made
the discovery is headed by Keiko Nakamura-Messenger, a space
scientist at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.

"When I saw this mineral for the first time, I immediately knew this
was something no one had seen before," said Nakamura-Messenger. "But
it took several more months to obtain conclusive data because these
mineral grains were only 1/10,000 of an inch in size."

A new method of collecting IDPs was suggested by Scott Messenger,
another Johnson space scientist. He predicted comet
26P/Grigg-Skjellerup was a source of dust grains that could be
captured in Earth's stratosphere at a specific time of the year.

In response to his prediction, NASA performed stratospheric dust
collections, using an ER-2 high-altitude aircraft flown from NASA's
Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. The
aircraft collected IDPs from this particular comet stream in April
2003. The new mineral was found in one of the particles. To determine
the mineral's origin and examine other dust materials, a powerful new
transmission electron microscope was installed in 2005 at Johnson.

"Because of their exceedingly tiny size, we had to use
state-of-the-art nano-analysis techniques in the microscope to
measure the chemical composition and crystal structure of Keiko's new
mineral," said Lindsay Keller, Johnson space scientist and a
co-discoverer of the new mineral. "This is a highly unusual material
that has not been predicted either to be a cometary component or to
have formed by condensation in the solar nebula."

Since 1982, NASA routinely has collected cosmic and interplanetary
dust with high-altitude research aircraft. However, the sources of
most dust particles have been difficult to pin down because of their
complex histories in space. The Earth accretes about 40,000 tons of
dust particles from space each year, originating mostly from
disintegrating comets and asteroid collisions. This dust is a subject
of intense interest because it is made of the original building
blocks of the solar system, planets, and our bodies.

The mineral was surrounded by multiple layers of other minerals that
also have been reported only in extraterrestrial rocks. There have
been 4,324 minerals identified by the International Mineralogical
Association, or IMA. This find adds one more mineral to that list.

The IMA-approved new mineral, Brownleeite, is named after Donald E.
Brownlee, professor of astronomy at the University of Washington,
Seattle. Brownlee founded the field of IDP research. The
understanding of the early solar system established from IDP studies
would not exist without his efforts. Brownlee also is the principal
investigator of NASA's Stardust mission.

The comet researchers include Messenger; John Jones, a co-discoverer
of the mineral from Johnson; Simon Clemett and Michael Zolensky in
Johnson's Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science
Directorate; Russ Palma, Minnesota State University at Mankato;
Robert Pepin, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis; Wolfgang Kl?ck,
R?ntgenanalytik Messtechnik GmbH, Germany; and Hirokazu Tatsuoka,
Shizuoka University, Japan.

For additional information on NASA programs, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov


 

NASA AIRCRAFT EXAMINE IMPACT OF FOREST FIRES ON ARCTIC CLIMATE

WASHINGTON -- As the summer fire season heats up, NASA aircraft are
set to follow the trail of smoke plumes from some of Earth's
northernmost forest fires, examining their contribution to arctic
pollution and implications for climate change.

Starting June 29, NASA's DC-8 and P-3B aircraft, based at a Canadian
military base in Cold Lake, Alberta, will begin their final
three-week deployment of the Arctic Research of the Composition of
the Troposphere from Aircraft and Satellites, or ARCTAS, mission. A
third NASA aircraft, the B-200 King Air, will fly from Yellowknife,
Canada. The mission is the most extensive field campaign ever to
study the chemistry of the Arctic's lower atmosphere. The three
airborne laboratories are equipped to fly through the smoke plumes of
northern-latitude forest fires. The resulting data, when combined
with simultaneous satellite measurements, could reveal the impact of
forest fires on the arctic atmosphere.

"The summer campaign will focus on boreal forest fire emissions," said
Jim Crawford, manager of the Tropospheric Chemistry Program at NASA
Headquarters in Washington. "Coupled with the observations of arctic
haze during the spring deployment based in Alaska, these data will
improve our understanding of the relative importance of these two
influences on arctic atmospheric composition and climate."

Boreal forests, which span Earth's northern latitudes, have seen a
rise in natural forest fires during the last decade. Researchers have
debated the degree to which these fires contribute to the Arctic's
atmosphere compared to other sources, such as human-caused emissions
from lower latitudes. The ARCTAS flights through smoke plumes, over
and downwind from their source, will reveal their composition and
transport path.

Researchers also will use the data to examine how the chemistry of
smoke plumes changes over time and distance. Plume chemistry can
contribute to the formation of ozone in the lower atmosphere.
Particulates in smoke plumes can affect Earth's radiation balance
with consequences for climate change.

The mission also is expected to help researchers interpret data from
NASA satellites orbiting over the Arctic. NASA's Cloud-Aerosol Lidar
and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation, or CALIPSO, satellite
can measure the height of various plume components in the atmosphere,
information critical to predicting plume movement. Researchers will
use data from ARCTAS to validate observations from CALIPSO and other
satellites to improve model predictions of fire impacts on chemistry
and climate.

"Aircraft experiments provide the greatest possible detail on the
state of the atmosphere, but only for short, intense periods of
sampling," Crawford said. "By conducting these flights in tight
coordination with satellites and computer models, airborne
observations lead to improvements in the interpretation of satellite
observations and better representation of atmospheric processes in
chemistry and climate models. This improves our confidence in models'
ability to monitor and predict future changes."

The Yellowknife site also will host a portable science station from
Pennsylvania State University that collects ground-based ozone and
aerosol measurements, in conjunction with daily launches of
balloon-borne instruments planned by Environment Canada and the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The ARCTAS flights are being coordinated with research flights being
conducted by the French space agency Centre National d'Etudes
Spatiales, and the German Aerospace Center from Kangerlussuaq,
Greenland.

The summer deployment of ARCTAS follows a spring deployment based in
Fairbanks, Alaska. That mission focused on atmospheric composition,
pollution transport pathways, and the formation of "arctic haze,"
which is fueled by sunlight that causes chemical reactions in
pollutants that accumulate over the winter.

For more information about the ARCTAS mission on the Web, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/arctas

For information about NASA and agency programs, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov

 

NASA AWARDS CONTRACT FOR CONSTELLATION SPACESUIT FOR THE MOON

WASHINGTON -- NASA has awarded a contract to Oceaneering International
Inc. of Houston, for the design, development and production of a new
spacesuit system. The spacesuit will protect astronauts during
Constellation Program voyages to the International Space Station and,
by 2020, the surface of the moon.

The subcontractors to Oceaneering are Air-Lock Inc. of Milford, Conn.,
David Clark Co. of Worcester, Mass., Cimarron Software Services Inc.
of Houston, Harris Corporation of Palm Bay, Fla., Honeywell
International Inc. of Glendale, Ariz., Paragon Space Development
Corp. of Tucson, Ariz., and United Space Alliance of Houston.

"The award of the spacesuit contract completes the spaceflight
hardware requirements for the Constellation Program's first human
flight in 2015," said Jeff Hanley, Constellation program manager at
NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. Contracts for the Orion crew
capsule and the Ares I rocket were awarded during the past two years.


The cost-plus-award-fee spacesuit contract includes a basic
performance period from June 2008 to September 2014 that has a value
of $183.8 million. During the performance period, Oceaneering and its
subcontractors will conduct design, development, test, and evaluation
work culminating in the manufacture, assembly, and first flight of
the suit components needed for astronauts aboard the Orion crew
exploration vehicle. The basic contract also includes initial work on
the suit design needed for the lunar surface.

"I am excited about the new partnership between NASA and Oceaneering,"
said Glenn Lutz, project manager for the spacesuit system at Johnson.
"Now it is time for our spacesuit team to begin the journey together
that ultimately will put new sets of boot prints on the moon."

Suits and support systems will be needed for as many as four
astronauts on moon voyages and as many as six space station
travelers. For short trips to the moon, the suit design will support
a week's worth of moon walks. The system also must be designed to
support a significant number of moon walks during potential six-month
lunar outpost expeditions. In addition, the spacesuit and support
systems will provide contingency spacewalk capability and protection
against the launch and landing environment, such as spacecraft cabin
leaks.

Two contract options may be awarded in the future as part of this
contract. Option 1 covers completion of design, development, test and
evaluation for the moon surface suit components. Option 1 would begin
in October 2010 and run through September 2018, under a
cost-plus-award fee structure with a total value of $302.1 million.

Option 2 provides for the Orion suit production, processing and
sustaining engineering under a cost-plus-award fee or a
firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract
structure with a maximum value of $260 million depending on hardware
requirements. Option 2 would begin at the end of the basic
performance period in October 2014, and would continue through
September 2018.

Images and animation of the new designs, as well as more information
about NASA's Constellation Program, are available online at:

http://www.nasa.gov/constellation

To view a feature on the evolution of spacesuits, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/externalflash/spacesuit_gallery


 

NASA TV AIRS HIGH-DEF DAY IN THE LIFE OF A SPACE STATION ASTRONAUT HOUSTON -- NASA Television will provide a high-definition glimpse of life in space with a special Video File to be broadcast beginning May 22. During his final weeks aboard the International Space Station, astronaut Garrett Reisman has filmed many daily activities in orbit that are anything but routine. A compilation of Reisman's video diaries will be broadcast in high definition, or HD, beginning at 4 p.m. CDT, Thursday, May 22. The footage also will air Friday, May 23, and Tuesday, May 27, from 5 to 8 a.m., 12 to 2 p.m. and 4 to 7 p.m. each day. The special NASA TV Video File also will be broadcast in standard-definition on NASA TV immediately following the regularly scheduled daily Video File broadcasts. Reisman, a New Jersey native, has been serving as a flight engineer and NASA science officer aboard the station since arriving on space shuttle mission STS-123 in March. He will return to Earth on the STS-124 flight, targeted to launch to the station on May 31. For technical information on how to receive the special broadcast in high definition, and for NASA TV streaming video, downlink and scheduling information, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/ntv For more information about the International Space Station and its crew, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/station

NASA PHOENIX MISSION READY FOR MARS LANDING

WASHINGTON -- NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander is preparing to end its long
journey and begin a three-month mission to taste and sniff fistfuls
of Martian soil and buried ice. The lander is scheduled to touch down
on the Red Planet May 25.

Phoenix will enter the top of the Martian atmosphere at almost 13,000
mph. In seven minutes, the spacecraft must complete a challenging
sequence of events to slow to about 5 mph before its three legs reach
the ground. Confirmation of the landing could come as early as 7:53
p.m. EDT.

"This is not a trip to grandma's house. Putting a spacecraft safely on
Mars is hard and risky," said Ed Weiler, associate administrator for
NASA's Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in
Washington. "Internationally, fewer than half the attempts have
succeeded."

Rocks large enough to spoil the landing or prevent opening of the
solar panels present the biggest known risk. However, images from the
High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, detailed enough to show individual rocks
smaller than the lander, have helped lessen that risk.

"We have blanketed nearly the entire landing area with HiRISE images,"
said Ray Arvidson of Washington University in St. Louis, chairman of
the Phoenix landing-site working group. "This is one of the least
rocky areas on all of Mars and we are confident that rocks will not
detrimentally impact the ability of Phoenix to land safely."

Phoenix uses hardware from a spacecraft built for a 2001 launch that
was canceled in response to the loss of a similar Mars spacecraft
during a 1999 landing attempt. Researchers who proposed the Phoenix
mission in 2002 saw the unused spacecraft as a resource for pursuing
a new science opportunity.

Earlier in 2002, NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter discovered that plentiful
water ice lies just beneath the surface throughout much of
high-latitude Mars. NASA chose the Phoenix proposal over 24 other
proposals to become the first endeavor in the Mars Scout program of
competitively selected missions.

"Phoenix will land farther north on Mars than any previous mission,"
said Phoenix Project Manager Barry Goldstein of NASA's Jet Propulsion
Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

The solar-powered robotic lander will manipulate a 7.7-foot arm to
scoop up samples of underground ice and soil lying above the ice.
Onboard laboratory instruments will analyze the samples. Cameras and
a Canadian-supplied weather station will supply other information
about the site's environment.

"The Phoenix mission not only studies the northern permafrost region,
but takes the next step in Mars exploration by determining whether
this region, which may encompass as much as 25 percent of the Martian
surface, is habitable," said Peter Smith, Phoenix principal
investigator at the University of Arizona, Tucson.

One research goal is to assess whether conditions at the site ever
have been favorable for microbial life. The composition and texture
of soil above the ice could give clues to whether the ice ever melts
in response to long-term climate cycles. Another important question
is whether the scooped-up samples contain carbon-based chemicals that
are potential building blocks and food for life.

The Phoenix mission is led by Smith with project management at JPL.
The development partnership is with Lockheed Martin, Denver.
International contributions are from the Canadian Space Agency; the
University of Neuchatel, Switzerland; the universities of Copenhagen
and Aarhus, Denmark; the Max Planck Institute, Germany; and the
Finnish Meteorological Institute.

For more about the Phoenix mission on the Web, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/phoenix

HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS FLY HIGH IN NASA AERONAUTICS COMPETITION

HAMPTON, Va. -- NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate has
selected the winners of its high school contest to describe the
passenger and cargo aircraft of the future.

Tom Neuman, a senior from George Walton Comprehensive High School in
Marietta, Ga., and Aditya Singh, a senior from Anglo-Chinese Junior
College in Singapore, won top prizes for essays about their concepts
for multi-functional personal air vehicles.

More than 140 teenagers from 50 schools across the United States and
15 foreign countries submitted 65 entries in four categories: U.S.
individual, U.S. team, non-U.S. individual and non-U.S. team. The top
teams were three eleventh-graders from West High School in Torrance,
Calif., and three ninth-graders from the National High School of
Computer Science, Tudor Vianu, Bucharest, Romania.

"It is wonderful to see high school students from all over the world
thinking about the future of aeronautics and writing down their ideas
about potential solutions for the challenges facing the global
aviation enterprise," said Juan Alonso, manager of the mission
directorate's Fundamental Aeronautics Program. "The students'
inventiveness and creativity is extremely impressive."

NASA's Fundamental Aeronautics Program sponsored the annual
competition. The entries were reviewed by NASA managers and
engineers. The judges based their scores on how well students focused
their papers and how well they addressed four basic criteria:
informed content, creativity and imagination, organization, and
writing.

NASA will award the top scoring papers from the U.S. with a trophy and
a cash prize of $1,000 for the individual award winner and $1,500 for
the team. Non-U.S. students will receive a trophy, but are not
eligible for cash prizes. All participants will receive a NASA
certificate and a personal letter of commendation.

A complete list of winners of the high school contest can be found at:

http://aero.larc.nasa.gov

For more information about NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission
Directorate, visit:

http://aeronautics.nasa.gov
 

NASA NETWORK CONNECTS STUDENTS FOR WEB RETROSPECTIVE SERIES

HAMPTON, Va. -- As part of NASA's 50th anniversary celebration, the
Digital Learning Network will host a series of live webcasts with
students across the country May 13-21. The series will highlight the
contributions of each NASA center to a specific topic in NASA
history. The webcasts also will focus NASA's present and future
efforts in space exploration.

NASA's Digital Learning Network allows the next generation of
explorers to connect with scientists, engineers and researchers
without leaving the classroom. Through interactive videoconferencing,
the network provides distance-learning events designed to educate
through demonstrations and real time interactions with NASA experts.

The 50th anniversary series webcasts are (all times EDT):

Go Flight, May 13, 1 p.m. to 2 p.m.
The year is 1958. Nothing would ever be the same. For the first time,
the United States sent a man-made device into space. This new
frontier of exploration required ingenuity and creativity. NASA's
Johnson Space Center and NASA's Kennedy Space Center will host a web
cast to re-live the significant past events of these two centers
while realizing that future milestones of NASA will be accomplished
by the students inside today's classroom.

Astronomy: Bringing the Past to Light, May 14, 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. and 3
p.m. to 4 p.m.
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and NASA's Jet Propulsion
Laboratory are combining forces to bring the rich history and science
of telescopes to light. This interactive learning event will peer
back through time to "first light" for Galileo's refractor, highlight
the evolution of the telescope into today's large mountaintop
reflectors, and focus in on the present and future promise of NASA's
space-based great observatories. Witness the inspiring trek of
innovation and discovery as NASA continues to explore for answers
that power our future.

Advancements in Aeronautics, May 20, 11 a.m. to noon
Fly away with NASA's Langley and Dryden Flight Research Centers to
learn about their roles in the development of aeronautics during
NASA's 50 years. Combined, the two centers have been studying
aviation for more than 90 years. Learn more about this fascinating
area of science and how NASA's advancements have benefited mankind.

Propulsion: Past, Present and Future, May 20, 1:10 p.m. to 2:10 p.m.
NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center and NASA's Stennis Space Center
were built to examine Newton's three fundamental laws of motion
through testing large-scale engines used for propulsion, eventually
taking man to the moon. In recent years, both centers were key in the
development of the Space Shuttle Program, taking NASA from the
conceptual stages to the final flight three years from now. As the
shuttle is retired, Marshall and Stennis look to a new era of space
exploration, taking man back to the moon and beyond to new frontiers.


Wind Tunnels and Their Use in Aerospace, May 21, 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. and
2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
You have just put your design idea for your new aircraft or rocket on
paper but if you build it, will it fly? Learn how scientists and
engineers at NASA have answered this question over the past 50 years
without leaving the ground. Take a journey with the Digital Learning
Network and see how NASA uses wind tunnel facilities for aviation and
aerospace research.

To watch the live webcasts, visit:

http://dln.nasa.gov/dln

 

NASA AWARDS CONTRACT FOR ARES I MOBILE LAUNCHER

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- NASA's Kennedy Space Center has awarded a
contract to Hensel Phelps of Orlando, Fla., for the construction of
the Ares I mobile launcher for the Constellation Program. Ares I is
the rocket that will transport the Orion crew exploration vehicle,
its crew and cargo to low Earth orbit. The contract includes an
option for an additional Ares I mobile launcher. It is a firm
fixed-price contract with a value of $263,735,000, if all options are
exercised.

The mobile launcher will support the Ares I and the vehicle's
associated ground support equipment. It will be used in the assembly,
testing and servicing of the Ares I at existing Kennedy facilities.
The mobile launcher will transport the Ares I rocket to the launch
pad and provide ground support for launches. The mobile launcher
consists of the main support structure that comprises the base, tower
and facility ground support systems, which include power,
communications, conditioned air, water for cooling, wash-down, and
ignition over-pressure protection.

Hensel Phelps will supply all labor, materials and equipment necessary
for construction of the Ares I mobile launcher. Ground support
equipment, such as umbilicals, propellant and gases, instrumentation,
controls and communications, necessary to support the Ares I rocket
will be provided and installed under a separate contract or
contracts.

The tower of the mobile launcher will have multiple platforms for
personnel access and will be approximately 390 feet tall.
Construction will take place at the mobile launcher park site area
located north of Kennedy's Vehicle Assembly Building at the space
center in Florida.

For more information about NASA's Constellation Program, visit

http://www.nasa.gov/constellation

 

NASA AWARDS EXTERNAL TANK CONTRACT MODIFICATION

WASHINGTON -- NASA has signed a $39.5 million contract modification
with Lockheed Martin Space Systems, New Orleans, to implement an
external tank program employee retention plan. Incentives are being
provided to eligible external tank personnel to ensure mission
success and construction of the remaining external tanks to support
Space Shuttle Program requirements through September 2010.

Retention of the knowledgeable and skilled external tank workforce is
necessary to produce the remaining shuttle hardware and safely
execute all remaining contract requirements. This modification
supports the agency's priorities of safely flying the space shuttle
and completing construction of the International Space Station.

The contract will end September 30, 2010. This modification brings the
total value of the contract, awarded in October 2000, to $2.967
billion. The contract calls for the delivery of 18 external tanks to
NASA. Eleven tanks remain to be delivered.

Work will be performed at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New
Orleans; NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.; and
NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Fla.

Lockheed Martin builds, assembles and tests the space shuttle external
tanks for NASA at the Michoud facility. The external tank holds the
liquid hydrogen fuel and liquid oxygen for the shuttle's three main
engines. It is the largest single component of the space shuttle and
the only part of the shuttle that is not reused.

At 154 feet tall, the tank is taller than a 15-story building, with a
diameter of about 27.5 feet. During launch, the tank acts as the
structural backbone for the shuttle orbiter and the solid rocket
boosters attached to it. For more information about NASA's Space
Shuttle Program, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle

 

ASTRONAUTS TO MAKE VIRTUAL CONNECTION WITH STUDENTS

GREENBELT, MD -- Astronauts flying on a space shuttle mission to
service the Hubble Space Telescope for a final time will speak to
middle school students across America simultaneously at 1:15 p.m.
EDT, April 30, from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt,
Md.

Through NASA's Digital Learning Network (DLN), students at five middle
schools and an invited student audience at Goddard will talk to the
shuttle crew. Topics of discussion will include details about the
upcoming STS-125 mission to service Hubble. Astronauts also will
discuss career diversity among the crew. Each has a doctorate degree
in a science, technology, engineering and mathematics discipline.

The goal of the DLN is to enhance NASA's capability to deliver unique
content by linking students and educators with NASA experts. The DLN
offers videoconferencing or Webcasting at no charge, providing
interactive educational experiences to students and teachers from
kindergarten to college across the country and around the world.

Schools selected to participate are Junior High School 145 Arturo
Toscanini, Bronx, New York; Brenham Junior High School, Brenham,
Texas; and South Puget Intertribal Planning Agency, Shelton,
Washington. Two NASA Explorer Schools, Greencastle-Antrim Middle
School, Greencastle, Pennsylvania, and Middle School at Parkside,
Jackson, Michigan, also will participate.

Anyone can view the 45-minute event live at http://dln.nasa.gov/dln/.

For more information about the Hubble Space Telescope, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/hubble

NASA SELECTS CONTRACTOR FOR LANDSAT DATA CONTINUITY MISSION SPACECRAFT

WASHINGTON -- NASA has selected General Dynamics Advanced Information
Systems, Inc., to build the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM)
spacecraft.

Under the terms of the $116,306,179 delivery order, General Dynamics
Advanced Information Systems will be responsible for the design and
fabrication of the LDCM spacecraft bus, integration of the government
furnished instruments, satellite-level testing, on-orbit satellite
check-out, and continuing on-orbit engineering support. They also
will provide a spacecraft/observatory simulator.

LDCM is a component of the Landsat Program conducted jointly by NASA
and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) of the Department of Interior.
NASA is providing the LDCM spacecraft, the instruments, the launch
vehicle, and the mission operations element of the ground system.
USGS is providing the mission operations center and ground processing
systems, as well as the flight operations team.

The delivery order was awarded under NASA's Rapid II Indefinite
Delivery Indefinite Quantity Contract. The Rapid II contract is for
core spacecraft systems, with non-standard services such as
operations, launch services, components and studies to meet the
government's space science, Earth science and technology needs.

The contract includes fabrication and testing of the spacecraft with
mission specific design modifications; generation of interface
control documents, instrument and full spacecraft integration;
testing, shipment to the launch site, launch vehicle integration
support and on-orbit checkout.

With a five-year design lifetime, the LDCM satellite will continue the
series of measurements begun with the Landsat-1 mission for the
collection, archiving and distribution of multi-spectral imagery.
This imagery will provide global, synoptic, and repetitive coverage
of the Earth's land surfaces at a scale where natural and
human-induced changes can be detected, differentiated, characterized
and monitored over time.

The LDCM goal is consistent with the Landsat programmatic goals
derived from the Land Remote Sensing Act of 1992. This policy
requires that the Landsat Program provide data into the future that
is sufficiently consistent with previous Landsat data to allow the
detection and quantitative characterization of changes in or on the
land surface of the globe.

The LDCM was conceived as a follow-on mission to the highly successful
Landsat series of missions that have provided coverage of the Earth's
continental surfaces since 1972. The data from these missions
constitute the longest continuous record of the Earth's surface as
seen from space.

More information about NASA and agency programs on the Web, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov
 

NASA OFFERS EDUCATIONAL ONLINE GAMING OPPORTUNITY TO DEVELOPERS

WASHINGTON -- Educators soon may be able take the "learning can be
fun" adage to another level using computer-simulation games with new
technologies created by NASA and a yet-to-be-selected game developer.


NASA Learning Technologies sponsored a workshop today to present its
concept of delivering NASA content through a Massively Multiplayer
Online (MMO) educational game to interested development partners.
Designed to enhance learning in science, technology, engineering, and
mathematics (STEM), such an online educational game would draw
players into a synthetic environment that can serve as a powerful
"hands-on" tool for teaching a range of complex subjects.

"NASA will continue to pursue innovative strategies to encourage
students to improve their interest and performance in STEM and
related careers," said Dr. Joyce Winterton, NASA assistant
administrator for education. "The use of online educational games can
capture student interest in NASA's missions and science."

The daylong workshop provided more than 200 potential development
partners the opportunity to learn directly from NASA officials about
the vision, goals, and expectations for the development of an MMO
educational game. Participants heard top NASA scientists and
education officials talk about NASA's future plans for space
exploration and how the agency is planning to leverage the game to
enhance education efforts across the country.

The Learning Technologies Project Office is collaborating with the
Innovative Partnerships Program Office at NASA's Goddard Space Flight
Center to develop the project's business strategy, which includes a
formal request for proposals for development partners and planning
for today's workshop. The Innovative Partnerships Program Office acts
as a matchmaker between NASA and commercial businesses, research
institutions, and other government laboratories to form mutually
beneficial collaborative agreements for research and licensing.

Workshop sessions underscored the importance of stimulating STEM, the
value of NASA partnerships to the U.S. economy, and information about
current and future science missions. Participants at the workshop
also were provided with the opportunity to register for one-on-one
briefing sessions with NASA officials to discuss specific questions
about the request for proposals.

The power of games as educational tools rapidly is gaining
recognition. Virtual worlds with scientifically accurate simulations
could permit learners to experiment with chemical reactions in living
cells, practice operating and repairing expensive equipment, and
experience microgravity. The goal is to make it easier to grasp
complex concepts and transfer this understanding quickly to practical
problems.

NASA's MMO educational game will function as a persistent, synthetic
environment supporting education as a laboratory, a massive
visualization tool, and a collaborative workspace that simultaneously
draws students into challenging game-play.

NASA Learning Technologies expects the MMO to appeal mainly to
teenagers, ranging from middle-schoolers through high-school and
college students.

For more information, visit:

http://ipp.gsfc.nasa.gov/mmo
 

NASA AWARDS LAUNCH SERVICES CONTRACT TO SPACEX

WASHINGTON -- NASA has awarded Space Exploration Technologies, or
SpaceX, a NASA Launch Services contract for the Falcon 1 and Falcon 9
launch vehicles.

The NASA Launch Services contracts are multiple awards to multiple
launch service providers. Twice per year, there is an opportunity for
existing and emerging domestic launch service providers to submit
proposals if their vehicles meet the minimum contract requirements.

The contract is an Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ)
contract where NASA may order launch services through June 30, 2010,
for launches to occur through December 2012. Under the NASA Launch
Services IDIQ contracts, the potential total contract value is
between $20,000 and $1 billion, depending on the number of missions
awarded.

The contract seeks a launch capability for payloads weighing 551
pounds or heavier into a circular orbit of 124 miles at an orbital
inclination of 28.5 degrees. Payloads would be launched to support
three NASA mission directorates: Science, Space Operations and
Exploration Systems.

Because an IDIQ contract has been awarded to SpaceX, it can compete
for NASA missions using the Falcon 1 and Falcon 9 launch vehicles as
specified by the NASA Launch Services contract process.

NASA's Launch Services Program at Kennedy Space Center is responsible
for program management. This award to SpaceX adds to the stable of
launch vehicles available to NASA under previously awarded contracts.
The original request for proposal was issued in 1999.

For information about NASA and agency programs, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov
 

NASA TO BROADCAST EARTH VIEWS IN HIGH DEFINITION TELEVISION HOUSTON -- Since humans first flew in space, nothing has captivated astronauts more than the view of home out the window of their spacecraft. In honor of Earth Day, April 22, NASA will make those views available to people here on Earth with an event highlighting imagery taken by astronauts and the science behind it. For the first time ever, NASA Television will air a special hour-long broadcast of views of Earth taken in High Definition, or HD, by astronauts on past space shuttle and International Space Station missions. The special HD broadcast will air between 6 a.m. and 8 a.m. EDT on Friday, April 18, and replay at the same time on Monday, April 21. It will air every hour from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, April 22. The Friday HD broadcast will feature a silent version of the Earth views. The broadcasts on Monday and Tuesday will include a discussion of the views by Dr. Justin Wilkinson, a scientist with the Crew Earth Observations Office at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. The footage also will air on standard NASA TV during regularly scheduled Video File broadcasts. For technical information on how to receive the special broadcast in high definition, and for NASA TV streaming video, downlink and scheduling information, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/ntv For more information about NASA's Earth Day events, and the space shuttle and space station programs, visit:

NASA TURNS GREEN WITH NATIONWIDE EARTH DAY ACTIVITIES WASHINGTON -- NASA centers across America will roll out the green carpet April 22 to celebrate Earth Day and reporters are invited to hear first hand about the agency's contributions to understanding and protecting our environment. NASA Earth research missions study all aspects of our planet, from its oceans, land surfaces and atmosphere, to its biosphere and cryosphere. NASA is a world leader in studying the cause and effects of climate change now and in the future. NASA research contributes to improved air and water quality and promotes healthier lands and wildlife habitats. The agency operates dedicated Earth science spacecraft and conducts research with instruments aboard other national and international satellites. NASA plans several new missions in the next few years, with two launching in 2008. Decision makers around the world use NASA Earth science data to support policy making and resource management decisions. With the world's largest contingent of dedicated Earth scientists and engineers, NASA will host interactive activities that span a variety of topics. NASA also will mark the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 8 Earthrise photograph, which was credited for inspiring environmental movements in the late 1960s and 1970s. Bill Anders, the Apollo 8 astronaut who took the famous "Earthrise" photo, will be available for live NASA Television interviews from 7 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. EDT on Earth Day. Joining Anders will be a NASA scientist to discuss present day NASA Earth science research. Media interested in arranging for live interviews with Anders should contact Al Feinberg on 202-358-1058 by 4 p.m. EDT Friday, or DC Agle at 818-393-9011 by 7 p.m. EDT Monday. NASA TV also will air a special hour-long High-Definition TV broadcast of Earth views taken in HD by astronauts on past space shuttle and space station missions. The HD broadcast will air on the morning of Friday, April 18, from 6 to 8 a.m. EDT, and replay during the same time on Monday, April 21. On Earth Day, the HD broadcast will air from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. EDT. The footage also will be broadcast on standard NASA TV during the regular Video File hours those days. For information on how to receive the special HD broadcast, and information about NASA TV streaming video, downlink and scheduling, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/ntv To commemorate Earth Day on NASA's Web site, http://www.nasa.gov, the agency will feature several new items, including the 10 most outstanding Earth views taken by astronauts aboard the space station. Web features also will highlight a breathtaking series of nighttime images of city lights from orbit gathered by astronaut Don Pettit, who lived aboard the station in 2003. Pettit narrates the imagery, which he gathered using a special mechanism he developed to steady the camera and track cities as the station flew overhead at five miles per second. The site also will provide opportunities for visitors to share their opinions. NASA Earth Day center activities include: Ames Research Center at Moffet Field, Calif. -- A media availability on Earth Day for reporters to interview Earth scientists and experts -- A Directors Colloquium on April 17, co-sponsored with the GREEN Team, focusing on "Monitoring and Modeling the Life Support Systems of Planet Earth" Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. -- Panel discussions and presentations, including researchers Peter Hildebrand and James Hansen Glenn Research Center in Cleveland -- Presentation by Mark Shanahan, the Ohio governor's energy advisor Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va. -- EarthFest (April 26) features lectures, panel discussions and interactive Earth activities -- "Park and Walk Day." Employees are encouraged to park their cars on Earth Day and walk to meetings, reducing the NASA carbon footprint Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. -- "One Green Step for Man -- One Green Planet for Mankind" public event that includes presentations and a tree planting dedication Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Miss. -- Community fair featuring Earth photo contests, exhibits by local environmental agencies and demonstrations of Earth-friendly products Wallops Flight Research Facility on Wallops Island, Va. -- Public event (April 26) featuring presentations and activities, including a scavenger hunt For more information about these activities, please contact the public affairs office at the individual NASA field center. For more on NASA's Earth science activities, visit:

NASA STATEMENT ON STUDENT ASTEROID CALCULATIONS WASHINGTON -- The Near-Earth Object Program Office at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., has not changed its current estimates for the very low probability (1 in 45,000) of an Earth impact by the asteroid Apophis in 2036. Contrary to recent press reports, NASA offices involved in near-Earth object research were not contacted and have had no correspondence with a young German student, who claims the Apophis impact probability is far higher than the current estimate. This student's conclusion reportedly is based on the possibility of a collision with an artificial satellite during the asteroid's close approach in April 2029. However, the asteroid will not pass near the main belt of geosynchronous satellites in 2029, and the chance of a collision with a satellite is exceedingly remote. Therefore, consideration of this satellite collision scenario does not affect the current impact probability estimate for Apophis, which remains at 1 in 45,000.

NEW NASA MOON MISSION BEGINS INTEGRATION OF SCIENCE INSTRUMENTS GREENBELT, Md. -- Several instruments that will help NASA characterize the moon's surface have been installed on the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO. The powerful equipment will bring the moon into sharper focus and reveal new insights about the celestial body nearest Earth. Engineers and technicians on the LRO Integration and Test Team work almost around the clock in a clean room at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., to ready the spacecraft for testing and eventual launch later this year. "The spacecraft really is coming together now," said Cathy Peddie, LRO deputy project manager at Goddard. "We are in the space assembly homestretch and making solid progress. You can begin to see what LRO will look like in all of its glory." Four of six instruments have been mated to the spacecraft, with one to be installed soon and one to arrive in the near future. The instruments are: The Lyman-Alpha Mapping Project was built and developed at the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio. The instrument will map the entire lunar surface in the far ultraviolet spectrum and search for surface ice and frost in the polar regions. It will provide images of permanently shadowed regions that are illuminated only by starlight. The Cosmic Ray Telescope for the Effects of Radiation, or CRaTER, was built and developed by Boston University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston. CRaTER will characterize the lunar radiation environment, allowing scientists to determine potential impacts to astronauts and other life. It also will test models on the effects of radiation and measure radiation absorption by a type of plastic that is like human tissue. The results could aid in the development of protective technologies to help keep future lunar crew members safe. Diviner Lunar Radiometer Experiment was built and developed by the University of California, Los Angeles, and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. Diviner will measure surface and subsurface temperatures from orbit. It will identify cold traps and potential ice deposits as well as rough terrain and other landing hazards. The Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter was conceived and built by scientists and engineers at Goddard. The instrument will measure landing site slopes and lunar surface roughness and generate high resolution three-dimensional maps of the moon. The instrument also will measure and analyze the lunar topography to identify both permanently illuminated and shadowed areas. The Russian-built Lunar Exploration Neutron Detector has arrived from the Institute for Space Research in Moscow. The detector will create high-resolution maps of hydrogen distribution and gather information about the neutron component of lunar radiation. Its data will be analyzed for evidence of water ice near the moon's surface. The remaining instrument, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera from Arizona State University in Tempe, Ariz., will provide high resolution imagery to help identify landing sites and characterize the moon's topography and composition. It should arrive at Goddard in May. Also on board will be the Mini-RF Technology Demonstration experiment sponsored by NASA's Exploration Systems and Space Operations Mission Directorates. The miniaturized radar will be used to image the polar regions and search for water ice. The communications capabilities of the system also will be tested during the mission. The satellite is scheduled to launch from NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Fla., in late 2008 on an Atlas V rocket. It will spend one year in low polar orbit on its primary exploration mission, with the possibility of three more years to collect additional detailed scientific information about the moon and its environment. That information will help ensure a safe and productive human return to the moon. The spacecraft is being built and managed by Goddard for the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. It will transition to the Science Mission Directorate in 2010. For more information about LRO on the Web, visit:

NASA COMPLETES FIRST FULL-SCALE MOTOR TEST FOR ORION SPACECRAFT WASHINGTON -- NASA has completed the first full-scale rocket motor test for the Constellation Program's Orion spacecraft, a test of a solid rocket that will be used to jettison the craft's launch abort system. Now under development, Orion will be America's next human spacecraft, designed to fly to the International Space Station and be part of a space flight system to return humans to the moon. The Orion jettison motor will separate the craft's launch abort system from the Orion crew module during launch. The Orion launch abort system is a larger solid rocket motor system that will provide a safe escape for the crew in an emergency on the launch pad or during the climb to orbit. The test completed late last month is a critical milestone in NASA's preparations for a series of flight tests planned to begin late this year of the full Orion abort system. "This was a major success for the Orion launch abort system team," said Mark Cooper, NASA's integrated product team lead for launch abort system propulsion at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. "The test provided valuable data on motor performance that will allow design and analytical refinements by our contactor team. The test is the culmination of intense and focused work by the entire jettison motor team." The jettison motor static test firing was conducted by Aerojet Corporation in Sacramento. NASA has partnered with Lockheed Martin Corporation, Orbital Sciences Corporation, and Aerojet to supply the jettison motor. NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., manages the Orion launch abort system design and development effort with partners and team members from Marshall. For still and video imagery to accompany this release, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/constellation For more information about NASA's plans to return to the moon and go beyond, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/exploration

NASA AWARDS SPACE STATION WATER CONTRACT TO HAMILTON SUNDSTRAND WASHINGTON -- NASA has awarded a sole-source contract to Hamilton Sundstrand Space Systems International Inc., Windsor Locks, Conn., for water production services aboard the International Space Station. The firm fixed-price contract has a potential value of $65 million and extends through Sept. 30, 2014. Hamilton Sundstrand will provide equipment that uses the station's excess carbon dioxide and hydrogen to produce water and methane. The methane will be vented into space, and the water will be fed into the station's waste water system, where it will undergo treatment before it is used. Under the contract, NASA will not buy hardware, but instead will purchase the water service. If the system does not work, NASA will not pay for it. "This is a fundamental shift in the way we do business," said Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA associate administrator for Space Operations. "In the business arrangement we have negotiated for water production services, the contractor is responsible for all system development and performance. The only requirements we have imposed are those associated with safety and interfaces. This provides a procurement and technology test bed for future exploration systems, which need to operate in an environment far from Earth, where routine resupply is not feasible." The equipment employs a chemical process known as a Sabatier reaction. The process is named for French Nobel laureate and chemist Paul Sabatier, who discovered that hydrogen and carbon dioxide produce methane and water at elevated temperatures and pressures. The Hamilton Sundstrand-provided hardware will be flown during shuttle mission STS-130, which is targeted for launch in late 2009. A checkout of the system is planned for May 2010. Hamilton Sundstrand will retain title to the hardware and ensure it meets NASA's space station safety and interface requirements. Water is used on the space station for a variety of purposes, including drinking, food preparation, oxygen generation, electronic equipment cooling and hygiene. About half of the station's water needs are obtained through recycling. The rest of its water currently is transported by the space shuttle or supply ships, including the Russian Progress and European Automated Transfer Vehicle. "We are very excited to provide this service to NASA," said Ed Francis, Hamilton Sundstrand Space, Land & Sea vice president and general manager. "Our experience providing environmental control and life support systems and other hardware for the space station gives us the insight needed to recognize areas we can help NASA. This is a great example of how NASA and industry can work together to benefit both." Hamilton Sundstrand provides a number of systems for the space station, including those that control electrical power and process water, waste and air. The company has been the prime contractor to NASA for astronaut spacesuits since 1981. For information about the International Space Station, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/station For information about NASA and agency programs, visit: http://www.nasa.gov

STEPHEN HAWKING SPEAKS AT NASA 50TH ANNIVERSARY EVENT WASHINGTON -- On Monday, April 21, Professor Stephen Hawking of the University of Cambridge will be the featured speaker at a lecture that is part of a series honoring NASA's 50th anniversary. The title of Hawking's lecture is "Why we should go into space." The event will be held at the George Washington University's Morton Auditorium at 3 p.m. EDT. Admission is by invitation only, but reporters are welcome to attend. NASA television will broadcast the event live on the Web at: http://www.nasa.gov/ntv News media representatives should R.S.V.P. by calling 703-556-4861 or e-mailing LM_NASA@hayespr.com. NASA was created by the National Aeronautics and Space Act and began operations on Oct. 1, 1958. The 50th anniversary NASA lecture series features prominent speakers to discuss the benefits that space exploration, scientific discovery and aeronautics research provide in addressing global issues such as the economy, education, health, science and the environment. Lockheed Martin Corporation of Bethesda, Md., is co-sponsoring the two-year lecture series. Hawking's lecture also is being co-sponsored by the Space Policy Institute at George Washington University's Elliott School. For more information about the NASA 50th Anniversary Lecture Series, visit:

NASA EXTENDS CASSINI'S GRAND TOUR OF SATURN PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA is extending the international Cassini-Huygens mission by two years. The historic spacecraft's stunning discoveries and images have revolutionized our knowledge of Saturn and its moons. Cassini's mission originally had been scheduled to end in July 2008. The newly-announced two-year extension will include 60 additional orbits of Saturn and more flybys of its exotic moons. These will include 26 flybys of Titan, seven of Enceladus, and one each of Dione, Rhea and Helene. The extension also includes studies of Saturn's rings, its complex magnetosphere, and the planet itself. "This extension is not only exciting for the science community, but for the world to continue to share in unlocking Saturn's secrets," said Jim Green, director, Planetary Science Division, NASA Headquarters, Washington. "New discoveries are the hallmarks of its success, along with the breathtaking images beamed back to Earth that are simply mesmerizing." "The spacecraft is performing exceptionally well and the team is highly motivated, so we're excited at the prospect of another two years," said Bob Mitchell, Cassini program manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. Based on findings from Cassini, scientists think liquid water may be just beneath the surface of Saturn's moon, Enceladus. That's why the small moon, only one-tenth the size of Titan and one-seventh the size of Earth's moon, is one of the highest-priority targets for the extended mission. Cassini discovered geysers of water-ice jetting from the Enceladus' surface. The geysers, which shoot out at a distance three times the diameter of Enceladus, feed particles into Saturn's most expansive ring. In the extended mission, the spacecraft may come as close as 15 miles from the moon's surface. Cassini's observations of Saturn's largest moon, Titan, have given scientists a glimpse of what Earth might have been like before life evolved. They now believe Titan possesses many parallels to Earth, including lakes, rivers, channels, dunes, rain, snow, clouds, mountains and possibly volcanoes. "When we designed the original tour, we really did not know what we would find, especially at Enceladus and Titan," said Dennis Matson, the JPL Cassini project scientist. "This extended tour is responding to these new discoveries and giving us a chance to look for more." Unlike Earth, Titan's lakes, rivers and rain are composed of methane and ethane, and temperatures reach a chilly minus 290 degrees Fahrenheit. Although Titan's dense atmosphere limits viewing the surface, Cassini's high-resolution radar coverage and imaging by the infrared spectrometer have given scientists a better look. Other activities for Cassini scientists will include monitoring seasons on Titan and Saturn, observing unique ring events, such as the 2009 equinox when the sun will be in the plane of the rings, and exploring new places within Saturn's magnetosphere. Cassini has returned a daily stream of data from Saturn's system for almost four years. Its travel scrapbook includes nearly 140,000 images and information gathered during 62 revolutions around Saturn, 43 flybys of Titan and 12 close flybys of the icy moons. More than 10 years after launch and almost four years after entering into orbit around Saturn, Cassini is a healthy and robust spacecraft. Three of its science instruments have minor ailments, but the impact on science-gathering is minimal. The spacecraft will have enough propellant left after the extended mission to potentially allow a third phase of operations. Data from the extended mission could lay the groundwork for possible new missions to Titan and Enceladus. Cassini launched Oct. 15, 1997, from Cape Canaveral, Fla., on a seven-year journey to Saturn, traversing 2.2 billion miles. It is one of the most scientifically capable spacecraft ever launched, with a record 12 instruments on the orbiter and six more instruments on the European Space Agency's Huygens probe, which piggybacked a ride to Titan on Cassini. Cassini receives electrical power from three radioisotope thermoelectric generators, which generate electricity from heat produced by the natural decay of plutonium. The spacecraft was captured into Saturn orbit in June 2004 and immediately began returning data to Earth. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project between NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. For more information on the Cassini-Huygens mission, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/cassini

NASA SPACECRAFT FINE TUNES COURSE FOR MARS LANDING PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA engineers have adjusted the flight path of the Phoenix Mars Lander, setting the spacecraft on course for its May 25th landing on the Red Planet. "This is our first trajectory maneuver targeting a specific location in the northern polar region of Mars," said Brian Portock, chief of the Phoenix navigation team at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. The mission's two prior trajectory maneuvers, made last August and October, adjusted the flight path of Phoenix to intersect with Mars. NASA has conditionally approved a landing site in a broad, flat valley informally called "Green Valley." A final decision will be made after NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter takes additional images of the area this month. The orbiter's High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera has taken more than three dozen images of the area. Analysis of those images prompted the Phoenix team to shift the center of the landing target 8 miles southeastward, away from slightly rockier patches to the northwest. Navigators used that new center for planning today's maneuver. The landing area is an ellipse about 62 miles by 12 miles. Researchers have mapped more than five million rocks in and around that ellipse, each big enough to end the mission if hit by the spacecraft during landing. Knowing where to avoid the rockier areas, the team has selected a scientifically exciting target that also offers the best chances for the spacecraft to set itself down safely onto the Martian surface. "Our landing area has the largest concentration of ice on Mars outside of the polar caps. If you want to search for a habitable zone in the arctic permafrost, then this is the place to go," said Peter Smith, principal investigator for the mission, at the University of Arizona, Tucson. Phoenix will dig to an ice-rich layer expected to lie within arm's reach of the surface. It will analyze the water and soil for evidence about climate cycles and investigate whether the environment there has been favorable for microbial life. "We have never before had so much information about a Mars site prior to landing," said Ray Arvidson of Washington University in St. Louis. Arvidson is chairman of the Phoenix landing-site working group and has worked on Mars landings since the first successful Viking landers in 1976. "The environmental risks at landing -- rocks and slopes -- represent the most significant threat to a successful mission. There's always a chance that we'll roll snake eyes, but we have identified an area that is very flat and relatively free of large boulders," said JPL's David Spencer, Phoenix deputy project manager and co-chair of the landing site working group. Today's trajectory adjustment began by pivoting Phoenix 145 degrees to orient and then fire spacecraft thrusters for about 35 seconds, then pivoting Phoenix back to point its main antenna toward Earth. The mission has three more planned opportunities for maneuvers before May 25 to further refine the trajectory for a safe landing at the desired location. In the final seven minutes of its flight on May 25, Phoenix must perform a challenging series of actions to safely decelerate from nearly 13,000 mph. The spacecraft will release a parachute and then use pulse thrusters at approximately 3,000 feet from the surface to slow to about 5 mph and land on three legs. "Landing on Mars is extremely challenging. In fact, not since the 1970's have we had a successful powered landing on this unforgiving planet. There's no guarantee of success, but we are doing everything we can to mitigate the risks," said Doug McCuistion, director of NASA's Mars Exploration Program at NASA Headquarters in Washington. For more information about Phoenix, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/phoenix

NASA EARTH SCIENTIST TO HEAD PROGRAMS OFFICE IN SCIENCE DIRECTORATE WASHINGTON -- Michael R. Luther has been named deputy associate administrator for programs in NASA's Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. Ed Weiler, associate administrator for the directorate, made the announcement Wednesday. Luther will be responsible for overseeing the safe and successful execution of the directorate's 36 missions currently in formulation and development, as well as 54 operating science missions. Prior to this appointment, Luther was deputy director for programs in the Science Mission Directorate's Earth Science Division. "Mike brings an unprecedented amount of knowledge in overall science programs along with extensive experience in Earth research. That experience will be invaluable as we prepare for upcoming Earth-related launches and campaigns," said Weiler. Luther began his tenure at NASA Headquarters in 1987 and has served as program manager of the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite and Earth science flight program director. He has worked at NASA since 1981 when he joined Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va. In 2005, Luther received the NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal. "It is an honor and a privilege to assist Ed Weiler and Deputy Associate Administrator Chuck Gay in managing the world's premier civilian space science organization," Luther said. Luther's predecessor, Todd May, who served in the position since 2007, will return to Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. NASA's Science Mission Directorate conducts research and scientific programs to observe the Earth, study space weather and explore the solar system and the universe beyond. To achieve these scientific goals, NASA manages a diverse constellation of spacecraft and conducts an assortment of grant-based research programs. For information about NASA and agency programs, visit: http://www.nasa.gov

NASA LAUNCHES NEW SCIENCE WEB SITE WASHINGTON -- NASA's Science Mission Directorate has launched a new Web site that provides enhanced and engaging information about NASA's vast scope of scientific endeavors and achievements. The site will provide in-depth coverage of NASA's past, present and future science missions with features that include: - Interactive tables and searches for Earth, heliophysics, planetary and astrophysics missions - Insight into dark matter and dark energy, planets around other stars, climate change, Mars and space weather - Resources for researchers including links to upcoming science solicitations and opportunities - A mapping of science questions for NASA science missions and the data they produce - A citizen-scientist page with access to resources that equip the public to engage in scientific investigation - Expanded "For Educators" and "For Kids" pages to provide access to a broader range of resources for learning the science behind NASA missions - Easy-to-navigate design and an improved search engine to help find information Visit the new NASA science Web site at: http://nasascience.nasa.gov

SHAPING THE MOONSCAPE: WORKERS READY COURSE FOR NASA'S 15TH ANNUAL GREAT MOONBUGGY RACE IN HUNTSVILLE, ALA., APRIL 4-5 HUNTSVILLE, Ala. -- Each year around this time, John Tripp walks across a lunar surface, pondering the challenges ahead for explorers brave enough to take on its cratered terrain. For now, his "moon" is a winding ribbon of cement footpaths looped around Huntsville's famed U.S. Space and Rocket Center, where Tripp is a construction foreman. By month's end, a half-mile of the paths will be transformed into a harsh lunar landscape that will test the engineering savvy and physical endurance of about 400 high school and college students on 68 teams converging here April 4-5 for NASA's 15th annual Great Moonbuggy Race. The event is organized by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville. The students, hailing from 20 states, Puerto Rico, Canada, India and Germany, are coming to race lightweight moonbuggies they designed, based on the original lunar rovers first used during the Apollo 15 moon mission in 1971. Tripp's construction team will greet them with 17 unique course obstacles, built of plywood and old tires, and covered with 20 tons of gravel and 5 tons of sand. All of it will be reshaped into moon-like ridges, craters, sandy basins and lava-etched "rilles." The course was designed in 1993 by Dr. Larry Taylor, a lunar geologist at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, Dr. J.M. Wersinger, a physics professor at Auburn University in Auburn, Ala., and Marshall's University Affairs Officer Dr. Frank Six. It proved so challenging that race planners began adding hay bales for added safety; about 175 bales will line the course this year. Even so, seatbelts are a requirement. The students appear ready for the challenge. For two days, their vehicles will brave the course against the backdrop of some of America's most famous rockets and space vehicles. Cheered on by hundreds of friends and spectators, they'll vie for cash prizes and trophies awarded by NASA and corporate sponsors. Each moonbuggy starts the competition disassembled and folded for transport -- like the actual rovers flown to the moon in the early 1970s. Each buggy must fit into a space no larger than 4 feet in width, height and length. It must be carried in "collapsed" mode to the starting line, assembled, then checked for all required parts -- fenders, a flag and simulated hardware, including batteries, a communications antenna, radio and TV camera. Then, they're off. Each rover is piloted by two students: one male, one female. The buggies race against the clock instead of each other. Drivers push hard to conquer each obstacle without exceeding the race's 15-minute time limit -- a new rule in 2008. Tripp keeps the moonbuggy course safe, but tough. As the person in charge of the course for the past 13 years, he's made a science of getting the right blend of sand and rock, and building the right combinations of steep and shallow features. He has to stay sharp, he said, because student builders grow ever more sophisticated, refining their designs from year to year to field sturdier buggies. The schools also consult with each another. Veterans compare concepts and give new teams free insight. "That camaraderie is exciting to see," says Tammy Rowan, manager of Marshall's Academic Affairs Office, which organizes the race each year. "The race doesn't just pit schools against one another. It's a shared experience for students who love math, science and engineering. We hope it shows them the community and partnership that awaits them in these career fields, and provides practical, hands-on experience to reinforce their class work." Tripp admits he enjoys making the experience a true challenge. His course never fails to keep the pit crews in NASA's repairs tent busy on race day - welding snapped struts, and replacing bent wheels and sprockets. But most teams push through and Tripp likes that too. "Some of them reach the end and just fall over exhausted," Tripp said. "But they get there. That's what it's all about." The 2008 race is sponsored by NASA's Space Operations Mission Directorate, along with the Northrop Grumman Corp., The Boeing Company and Teledyne Brown Engineering, all of Huntsville. Additional contributors include the America