Moon Phases

August:

3rd August - last quarter
10th August - new moon
16th August - first quarter
24th August - full moon

 

September:

1st September - last quarter
8th September - new moon
15th September - first quarter
23rd September - full moon

 

Planets

August:

Mercury - Very bright, in the west after sunset

Venus - high in the north west after sunset.

Mars - reddish in colour, close to Venus.

Jupiter - Rising around 10pm in the east. High and bright in the north west sky before sunrise

Saturn - In the north west after sunset, setting around 10pm

 

September:

Mercury - low in the east before sunrise. Better viewing towards the middle of the month

Venus - high and bright in the west after dark

Mars - in the west after dark. Setting around 10pm

Jupiter - quite low in the east after dark. Will be low in the west before sunrise

Saturn - low on the western horizon after sunset. Will have disappeared late in the month.

 

Astronomy Fiordland News

August 2010

Astronomy Fiordland visited our smallest school so far. Hedgehope has a roll of just 33 students of all ages. With the juniors studying the bread and butter day and night basics the seniors hit their straps and launched into season, stars what they are made of and constellations. To those small schools that can find it difficult to offer all the major schools can, don't hesitate to see how easy and affordable it is for Astronomy Fiordland to offer a world class experience whatever the weather, no stressfull and expensive field trip hassles necessary!!

June 2010

Thick fog unfortunately prevented us from viewing the partial lunar eclipse on the 26/6 which was a shame. We get another chance in December with a full lunar eclipse. Fingers crossed! It has been a busy month for Astronomy Fiordland with two highlights leaping to mind; one being visiting our first school visit in Gore (St Marys School) for the day with the stardome. Junior students were studying night and day and the seasons, seniors looked at the Milky way and the solar system. It was a complete success with teachers already excited about our next visit! The other highlight was assisting the Otago University with the Science Waananga held in Invercargill. It was a science festival attended by maori pupils from 8 schools and included a guest speaker demonstrating exo planet finding techniques.

 

9/5/10 - 21/5/10

Passengers on board Real Journeys vessel 'Milford Wanderer' were treated to some beautiful night skies during their seven day Discovery Cruise of New Zealands southern fiords. This very remote, untouched world heritage area (accessible only by boat, helicopter or float plane) has some of the darkest skies on the planet and offered a special touch to such a unique of trip, an ancient landscape under a timeless sky. Guests aboard the ship were so keen they were up not only in the evening but before the Autumn sun to view Jupiter and its moons. This neatly ties in with some of the history the area offers such as Captain Cook and the search for longitude - the race between the clockmakers and astronomers to establish 'time' and ultimately accurate navigation.

30/4/10

Astronomy Fiordland finishes its summer viewing programme with a flourish. An aurora, a record nember of visitors, glorious weather meant it was a very enjoyable month. We ran the stardome for various end of season functions for several companies proving a big hit! Don't forget to drop us a line to see what we can do for you!

4/4/10

Clients on our regular night sky viewing trip were thrilled to see an Aurora! Particles thrown out from the sun during solar flares hit the Earths atmosphere and spiral in towards the poles giving up their energy to form aurora at heights of 100 - 200km As the sun gets more active hopefully these stunning occurences will become more common.

31/3/10

Welcome back to the constellation Te Matua a Maui (Scorpius), making its sunset debut low on the south eastern horizon.  Very much a kiwi constellation I guess you'll have to come out with us to find out why!!  It means that winter is on its way as the scorpion chases our summer constellation Orion from the sky.

5/3/10

Astronomy Fiordland is pleased to announce that all guests on either of our two excursions receive a full colour star and sky map detailing all the objects (and more) that we explore on our trips as well as reminders such as finding south with the cross.  It is purpose designed for our trips - a special souveneir of a memorable experience....and practical too!!

12/2/10

Astronomy Fiordland's stardome gets a seating upgrade!! We now feature fully padded reclining sunloungers with arm rests so guests can relax and stretch out in complete comfort as the heavens unfold before them. This furthers our commitment to a quality experience in comfort instead of squeezing more people in at the expense of the experience on our nightly 'Stardome' excursion.

1/2/10

Saturn makes its appearance in the sky later in the evening on our night sky safaris. A delight to see, ethereal almost, most guests then look down the telescope to make sure I have not put a sticker on lens to fool them!! It's THAT good!!

14/1/10

Approximately 40 Girl Guides plus their leaders spread out in the stardome with room enough for everyone to lie down and relax while staring up into the sky for another stunning Astronomy Fiordland sunset. This was a private hire with an emphasis on navigation and general earth sciences such as why we get seasons. Being part of an exciting summer camp with girls from all around Southland joining in, the stardome proved the perfect solution for learning celestial navigation. The tailored show demonstrated one of our strengths perfectly - tailoured live content of a set duration in a fun, highly exciting and unconventional environment. It was complete success with the girls taking away heaps that would not have been possible without the stardome.

8/1/10

Astronomy Fiordland is one of the best, one stop astronomy shops in the country. Not a bad acheivement for a very small town. It was no surprise to make an apperance with the stardome during the Department of Conservations summer programme. Designed with the community in mind approximately 60 people showed up to see how the DOCs 'behind the scenes' theme applied to the night sky. Not anticipating such a large amount of people the show was changed to highlights of the southern skies to maximise everyones enjoyment through increased audience participation such as calling out where to visit next in the night sky and general questions that some people have had for years. A great time was had by all! Thanks Te Anau - we enjoy being part of such a healthy community.

31/12/9

Astronomy Fiordland farewells 2009 and welcomes in 2010 with exclusive hire by Fiordland Lodge, luxury 5 star accomdation. With our entire observatory / planetarium being portable we were able to travel to our guests and have a wet or fine evening option available to match the weather. As it was a chilly westerly wind and a reasonable amount of cloud meant the stardome was used and was the perfect option to suit all nationalities and all ages. Travelling through the solar system we learned you wouldn't get to see many new years on Pluto as it takes 249 earth years to go around the sun (which equals 1 Pluto year). Then it cleared up for the fireworks! Brilliant!! Happy new year!!!

1/12

This months highlight is the rising of our summer constellation 'Orion'. Containing the great nebula it is a delight to be seen in our large telescope and will amaze even with binoculars. Look in the east for Orions belt, otherwise known romantically as 'the pot' or 'saucepan' here in New Zealand and that is exactly what it looks like. Look in the middle of the handle of the pot and bingo – you can't miss it! The keen eyed will spot it as a slight haze with the naked eye on a dark night.

1/11

The stardome bursts into life for visitors to Te Anau with this summers 'sky tonight' theme including a quick orientation of the universe so everybody knows where they fit into the big, very big picture!

1/10

This summers night sky safari starts with the undisputed highlight going to Jupiter. The moons and surface detail amaze all.

 

24/9

Astronomy Fiordlands stardome ventured to Limehills School in rural southland. In a classic demonstration of how small rural schools can benefit from our portable class leading technology we tailored a series of shows for 3 different classes. With night and day, the earth / moon relationship and the solar system explained we also created an Apollo theme that the students had been studying. Managing to get everyone back from the moon in time for lunch was the hard part - most students could have stayed all day! Our ability to travel means small town schools get access to Educational technologies previously only available to big city schools which is what most teachers commented on.

18/9

Both the stardome and large telescope of Astronomy Fiordland were needed for the Department of Conservations 'Conservation week' theme. Starting off in the stardome over 50 eager members of the public showed up to learn about light pollution and space junk in our immersive fulldome environment. The show was kept light hearted but informative and received the big thumbs up. We then ventured out into the carpark to look through the large telescope. It was a beautiful clear night and the highlight was seeing the cloud bands on Jupiter and 4 of its 64 moons and millions of stars in globular cluster 47 Tucanae. It was the first time most people had looked through a telescope so it was exciting and memorable for all!!

11/9

Crew from the Real Journeys Doubtful Sound overnight vessel the Fiordland Navigator ventured into the stardome for a trip into the highlights of the southern skies. The vessel operates in a remote world heritage area so is the ideal platform for clients and staff alike to witness the beauty of the untouched night sky. The crew were thrilled with the stardome experience and hopefully gave them the confidence to venture outside with their clients at the end of the day.

 

13th August

Pre schoolers from the Te Anau Child Care Centre and The Key Playcentre blast off to explore the solar system with a focus on the sun and moon in our immersive stardome!! The kids were the quietest they had ever been and enjoyed flying through the asteroid field....especially some of the 'bigger kids' (parents)!

30th - 31st July

Astronomy Fiordland takes New Zealands first potable full dome digital planetarium to the schools of Invercargill. 29 schools were invited for a series of demonstrations at Verdon College, Southland Girls High school and Southland Boys High School aimed at showing teachers the massive flexibility of our planetarium. A complete success with an A+ pass, 100%!! We look forward to our return and catching up with teachers and students again.

27th June - 2nd & 4 July

Astronomy Fiordland celebrated Matariki (Maori new year) with a tailored presentation of its meaning and how to find it in the sky. We also launched the New Zealand Premiere of the movie 'In Search of our Cosmic Origins' which follows the history of first telescope by Galileo, to the largest Astronomy project ever undertaken being constructed in the Chilean dessert.

4th June

Astronomy Fiordland spent the whole day with Fiordland College Seniors. They are currently studying the Solar system, Earth / Moon relationships and constellations. A good time was had by all with our tailored, interactive presentations

 

General astronomy newsfeed

July 30, 2010

J.D. Harrington Headquarters, Washington 202-358-5241 j.d.harrington@nasa.gov

Guy Webster Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-354-6278 guy.webster@jpl.nasa.gov

RELEASE: 10-182

NASA'S HIBERNATING MARS ROVER MAY NOT CALL HOME

WASHINGTON -- NASA mission controllers have not heard from the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit since March 22, and the rover is facing its toughest challenge yet -- trying to survive the harsh Martian winter.

The rover team anticipated Spirit would go into a low-power "hibernation" mode since the rover was not able to get to a favorable slope for its fourth Martian winter, which runs from May through November. The low angle of sunlight during these months limits the power generated from the rover's solar panels. During hibernation, the rover suspends communications and other activities so available energy can be used to recharge and heat batteries, and to keep the mission clock running.

On July 26, mission managers began using a paging technique called "sweep and beep" in an effort to communicate with Spirit.

"Instead of just listening, we send commands to the rover to respond back to us with a communications beep," said John Callas, project manager for Spirit and Opportunity at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. "If the rover is awake and hears us, she will send us that beep."

Based on models of Mars' weather and its effect on available power, mission managers believe that if Spirit responds, it most likely will be in the next few months. However, there is a very distinct possibility Spirit may never respond.

"It will be the miracle from Mars if our beloved rover phones home," said Doug McCuistion, director of NASA's Mars Exploration Program in Washington. "It's never faced this type of severe condition before -- this is unknown territory."

Because most of the rover's heaters were not being powered this winter, Spirit is likely experiencing its coldest internal temperatures yet -- minus 67 degrees Fahrenheit. During three previous Martian winters, Spirit communicated about once or twice a week with Earth and used its heaters to stay warm while parked on a sun-facing slope for the winter. As a result, the heaters were able to keep internal temperatures above minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit.

Spirit is designed to wake up from its hibernation and communicate with Earth when its battery charge is adequate. But if the batteries have lost too much power, Spirit's clock may stop and lose track of time. The rover could still reawaken, but it would not know the time of day, a situation called a "mission-clock fault." Spirit would start a new timer to wake up every four hours and listen for a signal from Earth for 20 minutes of every hour while the sun is up.

The earliest date the rover could generate enough power to send a beep to Earth was calculated to be around July 23. However, mission managers don't anticipate the batteries will charge adequately until late September to mid-October. It may be even later if the rover is in a mission-clock fault mode. If Spirit does wake up, mission managers will do a complete health check on the rover's instruments and electronics.

Based on previous Martian winters, the rover team anticipates the increasing haziness in the sky over Spirit will offset longer daylight for the next two months. The amount of solar energy available to Spirit then will increase until the southern Mars summer solstice in March 2011. If we haven't heard from it by March, it is unlikely that we will ever hear from it.

"This has been a long winter for Spirit, and a long wait for us," said Steve Squyres, the principal investigator for NASA's two rovers who is based at Cornell University. "Even if we never heard from Spirit again, I think her scientific legacy would be secure. But we're hopeful we will hear from her, and we're eager to get back to doing science with two rovers again."

Spirit and its twin, Opportunity, began exploring Mars in January 2004 on missions planned to last three months. Spirit has been nearly stationary since April 2009, while Opportunity is driving toward a large crater named Endeavour. Opportunity covered more distance in 2009 than in any prior year. Both rovers have made important discoveries about wet environments on ancient Mars that may have been favorable for supporting microbial life.

NASA's JPL manages the Mars Exploration Rover project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington.

For more information about the rovers, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/rovers

-end-

 

July 14, 2010

Grey Hautaluoma Headquarters, Washington 202-358-0668 grey.hautaluoma-1@nasa.gov

Allard Beutel Kennedy Space Center, Fla. 321-867-2468 allard.beutel@nasa.gov

Pat Behnke Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission 850-251-2130 Pat.behnke@myfwc.com RELEASE: 10-166

NASA SUPPORTING GULF OIL SPILL WILDLIFE RECOVERY

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- NASA's Kennedy Space Center is helping with the unprecedented effort to save wildlife from the effects of the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

The first group of hatchlings from endangered sea turtle eggs brought from beaches along the northern U.S. Gulf Coast was released into the Atlantic Ocean off Kennedy's central Florida coast on July 11. Twenty-two Kemp's ridley turtles were set free on a Kennedy Space Center beach, which is part of the Canaveral National Seashore.

After being collected on June 26, the Kemp's ridley nest from Walton County, Fla., was packed in a Styrofoam box with sand and transported by a specially-equipped FexEx truck to a secure, climate-controlled facility at Kennedy where it was monitored until incubation was complete. Most of the nests that will be collected are from loggerhead turtles, but nests from leatherback and green turtles, in addition to Kemp's ridley, may be brought to the Kennedy hatchery.

Video of the hatchery at Kennedy, the nest and release of the first group of hatchlings is airing on NASA Television's Video File segment. For NASA TV downlink information, schedules and links to streaming video, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

Still images are available at:

http://mediaarchive.ksc.
nasa.gov/index.cfm

In an effort to have a minimal impact on the initial incubating eggs and hatchling releases, there are no opportunities currently planned for news media to visit the Kennedy hatchery or view a turtle release. However, as the ocean release process is refined, it is expected media opportunities will be scheduled. Media who want to be added to a notification list for opportunities should contact Pat Behnke at the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

The release and relocation work is part of an environmental endeavor by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the National Park Service, NOAA, FedEx and conservationists to help minimize the risk to this year's sea turtle hatchlings from impacts of the oil spill. During the next several months, this plan involves carefully moving an anticipated 700 nests to Kennedy that have been laid on Florida Panhandle and Alabama beaches.

The Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1963 as an overlay of Kennedy Space Center, where it shares the land with space shuttle launch pads, rockets and research and development facilities. As part of the Deepwater Horizon Response, six brown pelicans, four laughing gulls and one common tern also were released at Kennedy on June 6.

The complete turtle relocation plan, along with other wildlife related plans and recommended wildlife protocols, is available at:

http://www.fws.gov/northflorida

For information about the Deepwater Horizon Response, visit:

http://www.
deepwaterhorizonresponse.com

For more information about the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's oil spill response, visit:

http://myfwc.com/OilSpill
/index.htm

For information about NASA's Kennedy Space Center, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/kennedy

-end-

 

July 15, 2010

J.D. Harrington Headquarters, Washington 202-358-5241 j.d.harrington@nasa.gov

Donna Weaver Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Md. 410-338-4493 dweaver@stsci.edu

Jeffrey Linsky University of Colorado, Boulder 303-492-7838 jlinsky@jila.colorado.edu

RELEASE: 10-167

NASA FINDS SUPER HOT PLANET WITH UNIQUE COMET-LIKE TAIL

WASHINGTON -- Astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have confirmed the existence of a baked object that could be called a "cometary planet." The gas giant planet, named HD 209458b, is orbiting so close to its star that its heated atmosphere is escaping into space.

Observations taken with Hubble's Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS) suggest powerful stellar winds are sweeping the cast-off atmospheric material behind the scorched planet and shaping it into a comet-like tail.

"Since 2003 scientists have theorized the lost mass is being pushed back into a tail, and they have even calculated what it looks like," said astronomer Jeffrey Linsky of the University of Colorado in Boulder, leader of the COS study. "We think we have the best observational evidence to support that theory. We have measured gas coming off the planet at specific speeds, some coming toward Earth. The most likely interpretation is that we have measured the velocity of material in a tail."

The planet, located 153 light years from Earth, weighs slightly less than Jupiter but orbits 100 times closer to its star than the Jovian giant. The roasted planet zips around its star in a short 3.5 days. In contrast, our solar system's fastest planet, Mercury, orbits the sun in 88 days. The extrasolar planet is one of the most intensely scrutinized, because it is the first of the few known alien worlds that can be seen passing in front of, or transiting, its star. Linsky and his team used COS to analyze the planet's atmosphere during transiting events.

During a transit, astronomers study the structure and chemical makeup of a planet's atmosphere by sampling the starlight that passes through it. The dip in starlight because of the planet's passage, excluding the atmosphere, is very small, only about 1.5 percent. When the atmosphere is added, the dip jumps to 8 percent, indicating a bloated atmosphere.

COS detected the heavy elements carbon and silicon in the planet's super-hot 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit atmosphere. This detection revealed the parent star is heating the entire atmosphere, dredging up the heavier elements and allowing them to escape the planet.

The COS data also showed the material leaving the planet was not all traveling at the same speed. "We found gas escaping at high velocities, with a large amount of this gas flowing toward us at 22,000 miles per hour," Linsky said. "This large gas flow is likely gas swept up by the stellar wind to form the comet-like tail trailing the planet."

Hubble's newest spectrograph has the ability to probe a planet's chemistry at ultraviolet wavelengths not accessible to ground-based telescopes. COS is proving to be an important instrument for probing the atmospheres of "hot Jupiters" like HD 209458b.

Another Hubble instrument, the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS), observed the planet in 2003. The STIS data showed an active, evaporating atmosphere, and a comet-tail-like structure was suggested as a possibility. But STIS wasn't able to obtain the spectroscopic detail necessary to show a tail, or an Earthward-moving component of the gas, during transits. The tail was detected for the first time because of the unique combination of very high ultraviolet sensitivity and good spectral resolution provided by COS.

Although this extreme planet is being roasted by its star, it won't be destroyed anytime soon. "It will take about a trillion years for the planet to evaporate," Linsky said.

The results appeared in the July 10 issue of The Astrophysical Journal.

The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation between NASA and the European Space Agency. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., manages the telescope. The Space Telescope Science Institute, operated for NASA by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc. in Washington, conducts Hubble science operations.

For illustrations and more information about HD 209458b, visit:

 

http://www.nasa.gov/hubble

-end-

 

 

July 01, 2010

John Yembrick Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1100 john.yembrick-1@nasa.gov

Kyle Herring Johnson Space Center, Houston 281-483-5111 kyle.j.herring@nasa.gov

Allard Beutel Kennedy Space Center, Fla. 321-867-2468 allard.beutel@nasa.gov

RELEASE: 10-157

NASA UPDATES SHUTTLE TARGET LAUNCH DATES FOR FINAL TWO FLIGHTS

WASHINGTON -- NASA is targeting approximately 4:33 p.m. EDT on Nov. 1 for the launch of space shuttle Discovery's STS-133 mission and 4:19 p.m. EST on Feb. 26, 2011, for the liftoff of shuttle Endeavour's STS-134 flight from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The target dates were adjusted because critical payload hardware for STS-133 will not be ready in time to support the previously planned Sept. 16 launch. With STS-133 moving to November, STS-134 cannot fly as planned, so the next available launch window is in February 2011.

NASA will schedule the official launch date for each mission following the agency's Flight Readiness Reviews, which typically occur about two weeks prior to launches. All target launch dates are subject to change.

For more information about the shuttle missions and their crews, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle

The shuttle launch manifest is available at:

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

 

-end-

 

June 14, 2010

Dwayne Brown Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1726 dwayne.c.brown@nasa.gov

Tina McDowell Carnegie Institution of Washington 202-939-1120 tmcdowell@ciw.edu

RELEASE: 10-144

RESEARCH SUGGESTS WATER CONTENT OF MOON INTERIOR UNDERESTIMATED

WASHINGTON -- NASA-funded scientists estimate from recent research that the volume of water molecules locked inside minerals in the moon's interior could exceed the amount of water in the Great Lakes here on Earth.

Scientists at the Carnegie Institution's Geophysical Laboratory in Washington, along with other scientists across the nation, determined that the water was likely present very early in the moon's formation history as hot magma started to cool and crystallize. This finding means water is native to the moon.

"For over 40 years we thought the moon was dry," said Francis McCubbin of Carnegie and lead author of the report published in Monday's Online Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. "In our study we looked at hydroxyl, a compound with an oxygen atom bound with hydrogen, and apatite, a water-bearing mineral in the assemblage of minerals we examined in two Apollo samples and a lunar meteorite."

McCubbin's team utilized tests which detect elements in the parts per billion range. Combining their measurements with models that characterize how the material crystallized as the moon cooled during formation, they found that the minimum water content ranged from 64 parts per billion to 5 parts per million. The result is at least two orders of magnitude greater than previous results from lunar samples that estimated water content of the moon to be less than 1 parts per billion.

"In this case, when we talk about water on the moon, we mean water in the structural form hydroxyl," said Jim Green, director of the Planetary Science Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "This is a very minor component of the rocks that make up the lunar interior."

The origin of the moon is now commonly believed to be the result of a Mars-sized object that impacted the Earth 4.5 billion years ago. This impact put a large amount of material into Earth's orbit that ultimately compacted to form the moon. The lunar magma ocean that is thought to have formed at some point during the compacting process, began to cool. During this cooling, water either escaped or was preserved as hydroxyl molecules in the crystallizing minerals.

Previous studies found evidence of water both on the lunar surface and inside the moon by using respectively, remote sensing data from the Indian spacecraft Chandrayaan-1 and other lunar sample analysis. Carnegie researchers looked within crystalline rocks called KREEP (K for potassium; REE, for rare Earth elements; and P for phosphorus). These rocks are a component of some lunar impact melt and basaltic rocks.

"Since water is insoluble in the main silicates that crystallized, we believed that it should have concentrated in those rocks," said Andrew Steele of Carnegie and co-author of the report. "That's why we selected KREEP to analyze."

The identification of water from multiple types of lunar rocks that display a range of incompatible trace element signatures indicates that water may be at low concentrations but ubiquitous within the moon's interior, potentially as early as the time of lunar formation and magma ocean crystallization.

"It is gratifying to see this proof of the hydroxyl contents in lunar apatite," said lunar scientist Bradley Jolliff of Washington University in St. Louis. "The concentrations are very low and, accordingly, they have been until recently nearly impossible to detect. We can now finally begin to consider the implications - and the origin - of water in the interior of the moon."

The research was funded by the NASA Astrobiology, Mars Fundamental Research, and the Lunar Advanced Science and Exploration Research programs in NASA's Planetary Division in Washington.

For more information on NASA science programs, visit:

 

http://www.nasa.gov

-end-

 

June 8, 2010

Steve Cole Headquarters, Washington 202-358-0918 stephen.e.cole@nasa.gov

Louis Bergeron Stanford University News Service, Stanford, Calif. 650-725-1944 louisb3@stanford.edu RELEASE: 10-135

NASA ICEBREAKER VOYAGE TO PROBE CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACT ON ARCTIC

WASHINGTON -- NASA's first dedicated oceanographic field campaign goes to sea June 15 to take an up-close look at how changing conditions in the Arctic are affecting the ocean's chemistry and ecosystems that play a critical role in global climate change.

The "Impacts of Climate on Ecosystems and Chemistry of the Arctic Pacific Environment" mission, or ICESCAPE, will investigate the impacts of climate change on the ecology and biogeochemistry of the Chukchi and Beaufort seas. A key focus is how changes in the Arctic may be altering the ocean's ability to absorb carbon from the atmosphere. The greenhouse gas carbon dioxide is a leading cause of global warming.

Predictions of future climate change depend on knowing the details of how this carbon cycle works in different parts of the world. NASA's Earth science program conducts research into the global Earth system using satellite observations. Identifying how Earth's ecology and chemistry are influenced by natural processes and by humans is a key part of this research.

The Arctic Ocean, unlike other oceans, is almost completely landlocked, making it an ideal location to study ongoing climate changes in a marine ecosystem already heavily impacted by declining sea ice cover, ocean acidification, and an increase in incoming solar radiation. These changes are likely to modify the physics, biogeochemistry, and ecology of this environment in ways that are not well understood. Satellite remote sensing has provided some insight into these changes which ICESCAPE is designed to advance.

"The ocean ecosystem in the Arctic has changed dramatically in recent years, and it's changing much faster and much more than any other ocean in the world," said ICESCAPE chief scientist Kevin Arrigo of Stanford University. "Declining sea ice in the Arctic is certainly one reason for the change, but that's not the whole story. We need to find out, for example, where the nutrients are coming from that feed this growth if we are going to be able to predict what the future holds for this region."

ICESCAPE takes to sea onboard the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy, the United States' newest and most technologically advanced polar icebreaker. The Healy conducts a wide range of research activities, providing more than 4,200 square feet of scientific laboratory space. It is designed to break four-and-a-half feet of ice continuously at three knots and operate in temperatures as low as -50 degrees Fahrenheit.

The Healy leaves Dutch Harbor in Alaska's Aleutian Islands on June 15 and heads to the Bering Strait where it begins ocean sampling. The voyage continues across the southern Chukchi Sea and into the Beaufort Sea along northern Alaska's ocean shelf. In early July the Healy will head north into deeper waters to sample thick, multi-year sea ice and take samples within and beneath the ice.

More than 40 scientists will spend five weeks at sea sampling the physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of the ocean and sea ice. A variety of instruments will be used onboard the Healy and deployed into the ocean and on the sea ice.

An automated microscope onboard will take continuous digital photographs of phytoplankton cells for near-real time observations of the quantity of different species. Floats with near-real time satellite communication will be placed in the ocean to measure temperature and various biological and optical properties. Scientists also will work on the sea ice several hundred yards from the ship to study the condition of the ice and sample the ocean ecosystem beneath it.

Satellite observations are a key part of the ICESCAPE mission. NASA uses its satellite observations to monitor the microscopic plant and animal life in the world's oceans. This "ocean color" data gives scientists a global view of a critical ecosystem that regulates the flow of carbon into and out of the sea. Similar observations of the Arctic waters collected from the Healy during ICESCAPE will be used to improve the accuracy of the satellite data over the entire region.

ICESCAPE science teams are led by researchers from Stanford University, the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, Hanover, N.H.; Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, Calif.; Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Mass.; University of Washington, Seattle; Clark University, Worcester, Mass.; and the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences, St. George's.

ICESCAPE is funded by NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. The $10 million program is a joint effort of the Earth Science Division's Cryospheric Sciences and Ocean Biology and Biogeochemistry programs.

For information about NASA and agency programs, visit:

 

http://www.nasa.gov

-end-

 

 

May 14, 2010

Michael Curie
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
michael.curie@nasa.gov

Candrea Thomas
Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
321-867-2468
candrea.k.thomas@nasa.gov
RELEASE: 10-113

NASA'S SPACE SHUTTLE ATLANTIS LIFTS OFF TO PUT FINISHING TOUCHES ON THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- One of the final space shuttle visits to the International Space Station began at 2:20 p.m. Friday with the launch of Atlantis and six astronauts from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The mission will deliver cargo, critical spare parts and a Russian laboratory to the station.

The third of five shuttle missions planned for 2010, this was the last planned launch for Atlantis. The Russian-built Mini Research Module-1 is inside the shuttle's cargo bay. Also known as Rassvet (dawn in Russian), it will provide additional storage space and a new docking port for Russian Soyuz and Progress spacecraft. The laboratory will be attached to the bottom port of the station's Zarya module.

Commander Ken Ham is joined on the STS-132 mission by Pilot Tony Antonelli and Mission Specialists Garrett Reisman, Michael Good, Steve Bowen, and Piers Sellers, all veteran space fliers. Good and Sellers rode Atlantis into orbit on their first space missions in 2009 and 2002, respectively.

The shuttle crew is scheduled to dock to the station at 10:27 a.m. EDT on Sunday, May 16. The mission's three spacewalks will focus on storing spare components outside the station, including six batteries, a communications antenna and parts for the Canadian Dextre robotic arm.

After completing the 12-day STS-132 mission, the shuttle's first landing opportunity at Kennedy is scheduled for 8:44 a.m. on Wednesday, May 26. STS-132 is the 132nd shuttle flight, the 32nd flight for Atlantis and the 34th shuttle mission dedicated to station assembly and maintenance.

NASA's Web coverage of STS-132 includes mission information, a press kit, interactive features, news conference images, graphics and videos. Mission coverage, including the latest NASA Television schedule, is available on the main space shuttle website at: http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle NASA is providing continuous television and Internet coverage of the mission. NASA TV features live mission events, daily status news conferences and 24-hour commentary. For NASA TV streaming video, downlink and schedule information, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

Daily news conferences with STS-132 mission managers will take place at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. Johnson will operate a telephone bridge for media briefings outside of normal business hours. To use this service, reporters must have valid media credentials issued by a NASA center or issued specifically for the STS-132 mission.

Journalists planning to use the service must contact the Johnson newsroom at 281-483-5111 no later than 15 minutes prior to the start of a briefing. Newsroom personnel will verify credentials and transfer reporters to the phone bridge. Phone bridge capacity is limited, so it will be available on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Live updates to the NASA News Twitter feed will be added throughout the mission and landing. To access the feed, go to the NASA.gov homepage or visit:
http://www.twitter.com/nasa
For more information about the space station, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/station

-end-

 

May 18, 2010

Michael Curie
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
michael.curie@nasa.gov

Kelly Humphries
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
kelly.o.humphries@nasa.gov

RELEASE: 10-114

NASA'S SHUTTLE ATLANTIS BRINGING A NEW "DAWN" FOR SPACE STATION SCIENCE

WASHINGTON -- NASA's space shuttle Atlantis is delivering science experiments and a new Russian laboratory to the International Space Station, continuing the transition from station assembly to continuous scientific research through the end of the decade.

The Russian-built Mini Research Module-1, also known as Rassvet (dawn in Russian), will host a variety of biotechnology, biological science, fluid physics and educational research experiments. Rassvet was attached Tuesday morning to the bottom port of the station's Zarya module.

The shuttle crew will conduct nine short-duration experiments during the STS-132 mission and return samples from 16 space station experiments. They will help enable nearly 130 long-duration station experiments in biology, physical and materials sciences, technology development, Earth and space science.

"The Mini Research Module-1 provides important new real estate for experiments to be conducted on the space station and will be a cornerstone of Russian laboratory facilities for years to come," said Julie Robinson, International Space Station program scientist at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. "This new module enhances the station's research capabilities and enables new investigations to be performed."

The laboratory contains a pressurized compartment with eight workstations equipped with facilities such as a glove box to keep experiments separated from the in-cabin environment; two incubators to accommodate high- and low-temperature experiments and a vibration isolation platform to protect payloads and experiments. It also will be used for cargo storage.

The module contains four other workstations, complete with mechanical adapters, to install payloads into roll-out racks and shelves. On its exterior, Rassvet will piggy-back an experiment airlock destined for use outside the final Russian module, named the Multipurpose Laboratory Module, which is planned for launch in 2012.

The 2005 NASA Authorization Act designated a portion of the station as a National Laboratory, accessible to other government agencies, commercial entities and academic researchers.

Among the studies the STS-132 astronauts will conduct is the ninth in a series of U.S. National Laboratory Pathfinder experiments aimed at developing vaccines to fight disease-causing bacteria. The commercial payload will study how several different pathogenic organisms react to the microgravity environment. Previous similar experiments led to development of a potential vaccine for Salmonella bacteria that cause food poisoning. Approval from the Food and Drug Administration is being sought for this as an investigational new drug.

Another commercial National Lab pathfinder, Cells-4, will examine cellular replication to determine the use of spaceflight to enhance or improve cellular growth processes used in ground-based research. The shuttle astronauts also will participate in a first-of-its-kind Canadian experiment called Hypersole that aims to determine how the sensitivity of the sole of the foot affects balance control.

The shuttle crew delivered 10 experiments to the space station. These include: Genara-A, a European experiment that looks at how plants grow without gravity; Ferulate, a Japanese experiment to study the strength of cell walls in microgravity; Cube Lab, a low-cost, 1 kilogram platform for commercial and educational projects; an experiment that studies the properties of colloids, which are tiny solid particles suspended in liquid, in microgravity; and the Smoke and Aerosol Measurement experiment, which is a follow-on investigation to previous tests of smoke detection technology.

Several experiments will return to Earth aboard Atlantis. Among these are an European Space Agency experiment that will document the nature and distribution of radiation inside the station and create a method to measure absorption rates in biological samples; the first samples of ceramic glasses produced in Space Dynamically Responding Ultrasonic Matrix System, or SpaceDRUMS, which enables samples of materials to be processed without ever touching a container wall; samples of pharmaceutical quality intravenous fluid produced for the first time in space; and the Canadian Space Agency's Advanced Plant Experiment-CSA2, which compares the genes and tissue of white spruce (Picea glauca) grown in space with those grown on Earth to help forestry researchers understand the influence of gravity on plant physiology, growth and wood formation.

For more information about the science performed aboard the International Space Station, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/
station/science
For more information about the STS-132 mission, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle

-end-

John Yembrick
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
john.yembrick-1@nasa.gov

Candrea Thomas
Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
321-867-2468
candrea.k.thomas@nasa.gov

RELEASE: 10-124

SPACE SHUTTLE ATLANTIS RETURNS HOME AFTER ITS FINAL PLANNED MISSION

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Space shuttle Atlantis and six astronauts ended a 12-day journey of more than 4.8 million miles with an 8:48 a.m. EDT landing Wednesday at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The third of five shuttle missions planned for 2010, this was the last scheduled flight for Atlantis. The mission, designated STS-132, delivered the Russian-built Mini Research Module-1 to the International Space Station. Also known as Rassvet ("dawn" in Russian), the module provides additional storage space and a new docking port for Russian Soyuz and Progress spacecraft.

Ken Ham commanded the flight and was joined by Pilot Tony Antonelli and Mission Specialists Garrett Reisman, Michael Good, Steve Bowen and Piers Sellers.

The mission's three spacewalks focused on replacing and installing components outside the station, including replacing six batteries, installing a communications antenna and adding parts to the Canadian Dextre robotic arm.

A welcome ceremony for the astronauts will be held Thursday, May 27, in Houston. The public is invited to attend the 4 p.m. CDT event at Ellington Field's NASA Hangar 990.

Highlights from the ceremony will be broadcast on NASA Television's Video File. For NASA TV downlink information, schedules and links to streaming video, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

STS-132 was the 132nd shuttle flight, the 32nd flight for Atlantis and the 34th shuttle mission dedicated to station assembly and maintenance.

With Atlantis and its crew safely home, the stage is set for the launch of shuttle Discovery on its STS-133 mission, targeted to lift off in September 2010. Discovery's flight will deliver the Leonardo Permanent Multipurpose Module to house experiments. STS-133 also will bring critical spare components and a cargo carrier to the station. Robonaut 2, or R2, will be the first human-like robot in space when it flies on Discovery to become a permanent resident of the station.

For more information about the STS-132 mission and the upcoming STS-133 flight, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle
For information about the space station, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/station

-end-

 

April 26, 2010

Bob Jacobs
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
bob.jacobs@nasa.gov

MEDIA ADVISORY: M10-062

NASA TV CELEBRATES 20 YEARS OF HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE OPERATIONS

WASHINGTON -- NASA Television marks the 20th anniversary of on-orbit operations of the Hubble Space Telescope with a documentary that premieres Monday, April 26 at 2 p.m. EDT. It will re-air at 4 p.m., 8 p.m. and 10 p.m.

"Hubble: 20 Years of Discovery" celebrates the achievements of one of the most popular and important scientific instruments in the history of exploration. Narrated by actor and writer Brent Spiner, this special video presentation takes viewers on a journey back in time and into the farthest reaches of the cosmos.

Hubble's discoveries have revolutionized nearly all areas of current astronomical research, from planetary science to cosmology, and its images are unmistakably out of this world.

Spiner is best known for his portrayal of Lt. Commander Data, the sentient android in the iconic "Star Trek: The Next Generation" television series and films.

"Hubble: 20 Years of Discovery" also will be featured on NASA's Internet homepage http://www.nasa.gov and the agency's popular You Tube channel.

For more information about NASA TV, a broadcast schedule for the Hubble documentary and other programs, visit:

 

http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

To see videos posted on the NASA TV You Tube channel, visit:

 

http://www.youtube.com/
nasatelevision

To learn more about the Hubble Space Telescope and NASA, visit:

http://www.nasa,.gov/hubble

 

http://www.nasa.gov/
externalflash/
Hubble20

-end-

April 20, 2010

John Yembrick
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
john.yembrick-1@nasa.gov

Candrea Thomas
Kennedy Space Center, Florida
321-867-2468
candrea.k.thomas@nasa.gov

RELEASE: 10-090

SPACE SHUTTLE DISCOVERY CREW RETURNS TO EARTH AFTER FORTIFYING INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION SCIENCE

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Space shuttle Discovery and seven astronauts ended a 14-day journey of more than 6.2 million miles with a 9:08 a.m. EDT landing Tuesday at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The STS-131 mission to the International Space Station delivered science racks, new crew sleeping quarters, equipment and supplies. During three spacewalks, the crew installed a new ammonia storage tank for the station's cooling system, replaced a gyroscope for the station's navigation system and retrieved a Japanese experiment from outside the Kibo laboratory for examination on Earth.

Alan Poindexter commanded the flight and was joined by Pilot Jim Dutton and Mission Specialists Rick Mastracchio, Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger, Stephanie Wilson, Clay Anderson, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Naoko Yamazaki. Lindenburger is the last of three teachers selected as mission specialists in the 2004 Educator-Astronaut class to fly on the shuttle.

A welcome ceremony for the astronauts will be held Wednesday, April 21, in Houston. The public is invited to attend the 4 p.m. CDT event at Ellington Field's NASA Hangar 990.

Highlights from the ceremony will be broadcast on NASA Television's Video File. For NASA TV downlink information, schedules and links to streaming video, visit:

 

http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

With Discovery and its crew safely home, the stage is set for launch of shuttle Atlantis on its STS-132 mission, targeted to lift off May 14. Atlantis' 12-day flight will deliver the Russian-built Mini Research Module to the station along with six new batteries to store power gathered by the Port 6 solar arrays. Shuttle mission STS-132 is the final scheduled flight of Atlantis. Following STS-132, two more shuttle flights are scheduled before the fleet is retired.

For more information about the STS-131 mission and the upcoming STS-132 flight, visit:

 

http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle

Two STS-131 crew members, Clay Anderson and Naoko Yamazaki, used the social medium Twitter to discuss the mission. For their Twitter feeds and other NASA social media websites, visit:

 

http://www.nasa.gov/connect

Educational activities on the STS-131 mission focused on robotics and promoting careers in science, technology, engineering and math. For NASA's teacher and student resources and activities related to robotics, visit:

 

http://www.nasa.gov/education/
robotics

For information about the International Space Station, visit:

 

http://www.nasa.gov/station

-end-

April 5, 2010

John Yembrick
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
john.yembrick-1@nasa.gov

Candrea Thomas
Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
321-867-2468
candrea.k.thomas@nasa.gov
RELEASE: 10-076

NASA'S SHUTTLE DISCOVERY HEADS TO STATION AFTER PREDAWN LAUNCH

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Space shuttle Discovery lit up Florida's Space Coast sky about 45 minutes before sunrise Monday with a 6:21 a.m. EDT launch from NASA's Kennedy Space Center. The launch began a 13-day flight to the International Space Station and the second of five shuttle missions planned for 2010.

Discovery is scheduled to dock to the space station at 3:44 a.m. on Wednesday, April 7. The shuttle will deliver science experiments, equipment and supplies to the station. The flight will include three spacewalks to switch out a gyroscope on the station's truss, or backbone, install a spare ammonia storage tank, and retrieve a Japanese experiment from the station's exterior.

Inside the shuttle's cargo bay is the multi-purpose logistics module Leonardo, a pressurized "moving van" that will be attached to the station temporarily on April 7 and returned to the shuttle's cargo bay Thursday, April 15. The module is filled with supplies, new crew sleeping quarters and science racks that will be transferred to the station's laboratories. This is the final compliment of laboratory facilities that will complete the station's overall research capabilities.

"The crew of STS-131 is really honored to represent the thousands of dedicated people that make up the entire NASA, JAXA and contractor workforces," Commander Alan Poindexter said shortly before liftoff.

Poindexter's fellow crew members are Pilot Jim Dutton and Mission Specialists Rick Mastracchio, Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger, Stephanie Wilson, Clay Anderson and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Naoko Yamazaki. Dutton, Lindenburger and Yamazaki are making their first spaceflights. These three astronauts are the last rookies that will fly aboard the shuttle before its planned retirement.

Lindenburger will be the last of three teachers selected as mission specialists in the 2004 Educator-Astronaut class to fly on the shuttle. The educational activities on the STS-131 mission will focus on robotics and promoting careers in science, technology, engineering and math. For NASA's teacher and student resources and activities related to robotics, visit:

 

http://www.nasa.gov/education/
robotics

Discovery's first landing opportunity at Kennedy is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. on Sunday, April 18. The STS-131 mission will be Discovery's 38th flight and the 33rd shuttle mission dedicated to station assembly and maintenance.

NASA's Web coverage of STS-131 includes mission information, a press kit, interactive features, news conference images, graphics and videos. Mission coverage, including the latest NASA TV schedule, is available on the main space shuttle Web site at:

 

http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle

NASA is providing continuous television and Internet coverage of the mission. NASA Television features live mission events, daily status news conferences and 24-hour commentary. For NASA TV streaming video, downlink and schedule information, visit:

 

http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

Daily news conferences with STS-131 mission managers will take place at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. Johnson will operate a telephone bridge for media briefings that occur outside of normal business hours. To use this service, reporters must possess valid media credentials issued by a NASA center or issued specifically for the STS-131 mission.

Journalists planning to use the service must contact the Johnson newsroom at 281-483-5111 no later than 15 minutes prior to the start of a briefing. Newsroom personnel will verify credentials and transfer reporters to the phone bridge. Phone bridge capacity is limited, so it will be available on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Anderson and Yamazaki are sending updates about their training to their Twitter accounts and plan to tweet from orbit during the mission. They can be followed at:

 

http://www.twitter.com/
Astro_Clay

and

http://www.twitter.com/
Astro_Naoko

Live updates to the NASA News Twitter feed will be added throughout the shuttle mission and landing. To access the feed, go to the NASA.gov homepage or visit:

 

http://www.twitter.com/nasa

For more information about the space station, visit:

 

http://www.nasa.gov/station

-end-

 

March 23, 2010

John Yembrick Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1100 john.yembrick-1@nasa.gov

Candrea Thomas Kennedy Space Center, Fla. 321-867-2468
candrea.k.thomas@nasa.gov MEDIA

ADVISORY: M10-044 NASA SCHEDULES NEWS CONFERENCE ABOUT NEXT SPACE SHUTTLE LAUNCH CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- NASA managers will hold a news conference on Friday, March 26, at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida to discuss the status of the next space shuttle launch. The briefing will begin after the Flight Readiness Review, a meeting to assess preparations for shuttle Discovery's STS-131 mission to the International Space Station. Live status updates, including the start time for the news conference, will be provided during the meeting via the NASA News Twitter feed. To access the feed, go to the NASA.gov homepage or visit: http://www.twitter.com/nasa The review is expected to include the selection of an official launch date. Discovery is targeted to launch at 6:21 a.m. EDT on Monday, April 5. The briefing participants are: - Bill Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for Space Operations - John Shannon, Space Shuttle Program manager - Pete Nickolenko, STS-131 launch director NASA Television and the agency's Web site will carry the live briefing. Reporters may ask questions from participating NASA locations and should contact their preferred NASA center to confirm participation. For NASA TV streaming video, downlink and scheduling information, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/ntv For STS-131 crew and mission information, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle

-end-

 

March 18, 2010

John Yembrick Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1100 john.yembrick-1@nasa.gov Kelly

Humphries Johnson Space Center, Houston 281-483-5111 kelly.o.humphries@nasa.gov

RELEASE: 10-066 SOYUZ LANDING CAPS MILESTONE SPACE STATION MISSION WASHINGTON -- Expedition 22 Commander Jeff Williams and Flight Engineer Max Suraev landed their Soyuz TMA-16 spacecraft on the steppes of Kazakhstan Thursday, wrapping up a five-and-a-half-month stay aboard the International Space Station. Suraev, the Soyuz commander, was at the controls of the spacecraft as it undocked at 4:03 a.m. EDT from the station's Poisk module. The duo landed at 7:24 a.m. at a site northeast of the Kazakh town of Arkalyk. Working in frigid temperatures, Russian recovery teams were on hand at the landing site to help the crew exit the Soyuz vehicle and readjust to gravity. The crew members will return to the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, outside of Moscow. Williams and Suraev launched aboard the Soyuz TMA-16 spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Sept. 30, 2009. As members of the Expedition 21 and 22 crews, they spent 167 days on the station, presiding over the completion of the complex's U.S. segment. The astronauts supported two space shuttle flights and helped install the Tranquility module, the cupola viewing port and a second Russian docking module. Scientific research aboard the station continued to ramp up with the increase in available crew time and laboratory facilities. Williams now has logged 362 total days in space, placing him fourth on the all-time U.S. list of long-duration space travelers. Peggy Whitson, who has spent 377 days in space, tops that list. The station now is occupied by Expedition 23 Commander Oleg Kotov and Flight Engineers Soichi Noguchi and T.J. Creamer. A new trio of Expedition 23 flight engineers -- Alexander Skvortsov, Tracy Caldwell Dyson and Mikhail Kornienko -- will launch from the Baikonour Cosmodrome on April 2 and join the current station crew with a docking on April 4. For information about the space station, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/station

-end-

 

Feb. 19, 2010

Michael Curie Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1100 michael.curie@nasa.gov

Candrea Thomas Kennedy Space Center, Florida 321-867-2468
Candrea.k.thomas@nasa.gov


MEDIA ADVISORY: M10-031

SPACE SHUTTLE CREW "ENDEAVOURS" A RETURN TO EARTH SUNDAY

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Space shuttle Endeavour and its six-member crew are
expected to return to Earth on Sunday, Feb. 21 after a 14-day mission. NASA managers will evaluate weather conditions at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida before permitting Endeavour to land.

Sunday landing opportunities at Kennedy are at 10:16 p.m. and 11:51 p.m. EST. There are additional opportunities at 1:20 a.m. and 2:55 a.m. EST Monday at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., a backup landing site. For recorded updates about landing, call 321-867-2525.

If Endeavour lands Sunday in Florida as scheduled, NASA officials will hold a briefing to discuss the mission no earlier than midnight. The participants will be: - Mike Moses, space shuttle launch integration manager - Mike Leinbach, shuttle launch director

After touchdown, the astronauts will undergo routine physical examinations
and meet with their families. Because of the late hour, the crew will not
participate in a post-landing news conference, but a crew statement from the runway is expected. The news events will be broadcast live on NASA
Television and the agency's Web site.

The Kennedy news center will open for landing activities at 6 p.m. Sunday
and remain open through Monday. The STS-130 media badges are in effect
through landing. The media accreditation building on State Road 3 will be
open Sunday from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. The last bus will depart from the news
center for the Shuttle Landing Facility one hour before landing.

If the landing is diverted to Edwards, news media should call the NASA
Dryden Flight Research Center public affairs office at 661-276-3449. Dryden
has limited facilities available for previously accredited journalists.

The NASA News Twitter feed is updated throughout the shuttle mission and
landing. To follow, visit:


http://www.twitter.com/nasa


For NASA TV downlink information, schedules and links to streaming video,
visit:


http://www.nasa.gov/ntv


For the latest information about the STS-130 mission and accomplishments,
visit:


http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle


For more information about the space station and its crew, visit:


http://www.nasa.gov/station


-end-





Feb. 8, 2010

Katherine Trinidad Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1100
katherine.trinidad@nasa.gov

Candrea Thomas Kennedy Space Center, Fla. 321-867-2468
candrea.k.thomas@nasa.gov

RELEASE: 10-037

LAUNCH OF NASA'S SHUTTLE ENDEAVOUR SPARKS EARLY MONDAY SUNRISE

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Space shuttle Endeavour lit up the predawn sky above
Florida's Space Coast on Monday with a 4:14 a.m. EST launch from NASA's
Kennedy Space Center. The shuttle's last scheduled night launch began a
13-day flight to the International Space Station and the final year of
shuttle operations.

Endeavour's STS-130 mission will include three spacewalks and the delivery
of the Tranquility node, the final major U.S. portion of the station.
Tranquility will provide additional room for crew members and many of the
space station's life support and environmental control systems.

Attached to Tranquility is a cupola with seven windows, which houses a
robotic control station. The windows will provide a panoramic view of Earth,
celestial objects and visiting spacecraft. After the node and cupola are
added, the orbiting laboratory will be approximately 90 percent complete.

Shortly before liftoff, Commander George Zamka said, "Thanks to the great
team that got Tranquility, cupola and Endeavour to this point. And thanks
also to the team that got us ready to bring Node 3 and cupola to life. We'll
see you in a couple of weeks. It's time to go fly."

Zamka is joined on the flight by Pilot Terry Virts and Mission Specialists
Kathryn Hire, Stephen Robinson, Nicholas Patrick and Robert Behnken. Virts
is making his first trip to space.

Endeavour's first landing opportunity at Kennedy is scheduled for Saturday,
Feb. 20, at 10:01 p.m. The STS-130 mission will be Endeavour's 24th flight
and the 32nd shuttle mission dedicated to station assembly and maintenance.

NASA's Web coverage of STS-130 includes mission information, interactive
features, news conference images, graphics and videos. Mission coverage,
including the latest NASA TV schedule, is available on the main space
shuttle Web site at:



http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle


NASA is providing continuous television and Internet coverage of the
mission. NASA Television features live mission events, daily status news
conferences and 24-hour commentary. For NASA TV streaming video, downlink
and schedule information, visit:



http://www.nasa.gov/ntv


Daily news conferences with STS-130 mission managers will take place at
NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. Johnson will operate a telephone
bridge for media briefings that occur outside of normal business hours. To
use this service, reporters must possess valid media credentials issued by a
NASA center or issued specifically for the STS-130 mission.

Journalists planning to use the service must contact the Johnson newsroom at
281-483-5111 no later than 15 minutes prior to the start of a briefing.
Newsroom personnel will verify credentials and transfer reporters to the
phone bridge. Phone bridge capacity is limited, so it will be available on a
first-come, first-serve basis.

Patrick, who holds a doctorate in mechanical engineering from the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, plans to tweet from orbit during the
mission. He can be followed at:



http://www.twitter.com/
Astro_Nicholas


Live updates to the NASA News Twitter feed will be added throughout the
shuttle mission and landing. To access the NASA News Twitter feed, visit:



http://www.twitter.com/nasa


For more information about the space station, visit:



http://www.nasa.gov/station


-end-




Feb. 02, 2010

J.D. Harrington Headquarters, Washington 202-358-5241
j.d.harrington@nasa.gov

Ray Villard Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore 410-338-4514
villard@stsci.edu

RELEASE: 10-029

SUSPECTED ASTEROID COLLISION LEAVES TRAILING DEBRIS

WASHINGTON -- NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has observed a mysterious
X-shaped debris pattern and trailing streamers of dust that suggest a
head-on collision between two asteroids. Astronomers have long thought the
asteroid belt is being ground down through collisions, but such a smashup
has never been seen before.

Asteroid collisions are energetic, with an average impact speed of more than
11,000 miles per hour, or five times faster than a rifle bullet. The
comet-like object imaged by Hubble, called P/2010 A2, was first discovered
by the Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research, or LINEAR, program sky survey
on Jan. 6. New Hubble images taken on Jan. 25 and 29 show a complex
X-pattern of filamentary structures near the nucleus.

"This is quite different from the smooth dust envelopes of normal comets,"
said principal investigator David Jewitt of the University of California at
Los Angeles. "The filaments are made of dust and gravel, presumably recently
thrown out of the nucleus. Some are swept back by radiation pressure from
sunlight to create straight dust streaks. Embedded in the filaments are
co-moving blobs of dust that likely originated from tiny unseen parent
bodies."

Hubble shows the main nucleus of P/2010 A2 lies outside its own halo of
dust. This has never been seen before in a comet-like object. The nucleus is
estimated to be 460 feet in diameter.

Normal comets fall into the inner regions of the solar system from icy
reservoirs in the Kuiper belt and Oort cloud. As comets near the sun and
warm up, ice near the surface vaporizes and ejects material from the solid
comet nucleus via jets. But P/2010 A2 may have a different origin. It orbits
in the warm, inner regions of the asteroid belt where its nearest neighbors
are dry rocky bodies lacking volatile materials.

This leaves open the possibility that the complex debris tail is the result
of an impact between two bodies, rather than ice simply melting from a
parent body.

"If this interpretation is correct, two small and previously unknown
asteroids recently collided, creating a shower of debris that is being swept
back into a tail from the collision site by the pressure of sunlight,"
Jewitt said.

The main nucleus of P/2010 A2 would be the surviving remnant of this
so-called hypervelocity collision.

"The filamentary appearance of P/2010 A2 is different from anything seen in
Hubble images of normal comets, consistent with the action of a different
process," Jewitt said. An impact origin also would be consistent with the
absence of gas in spectra recorded using ground-based telescopes.

The asteroid belt contains abundant evidence of ancient collisions that have
shattered precursor bodies into fragments. The orbit of P/2010 A2 is
consistent with membership in the Flora asteroid family, produced by
collisional shattering more than 100 million years ago. One fragment of that
ancient smashup may have struck Earth 65 million years ago, triggering a
mass extinction that wiped out the dinosaurs. But, until now, no such
asteroid-asteroid collision has been caught "in the act."

At the time of the Hubble observations, the object was approximately 180
million miles from the sun and 90 million miles from Earth. The Hubble
images were recorded with the new Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3), which is
capable of detecting house-sized fragments at the distance of the asteroid
belt.

For Hubble images and more information, visit:



http://www.nasa.gov/hubble


-end-

 

 

 

 

 

Jan. 26, 2010

Dwayne Brown
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1726
dwayne.c.brown@nasa.gov

Guy Webster
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-354-6278
guy.webster@jpl.nasa.gov

RELEASE: 10-024

NOW A STATIONARY RESEARCH PLATFORM, NASA'S MARS ROVER SPIRIT STARTS A NEW CHAPTER IN RED PLANET SCIENTIFIC STUDIES

WASHINGTON -- After six years of unprecedented exploration of the Red Planet, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit no longer will be a fully mobile robot. NASA has designated the once-roving scientific explorer a stationary science platform after efforts during the past several months to free it from a sand trap have been unsuccessful.

The venerable robot's primary task in the next few weeks will be to position itself to combat the severe Martian winter. If Spirit survives, it will continue conducting significant new science from its final location. The rover's mission could continue for several months to years.

"Spirit is not dead; it has just entered another phase of its long life," said Doug McCuistion, director of the Mars Exploration Program at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "We told the world last year that attempts to set the beloved robot free may not be successful. It looks like Spirit's current location on Mars will be its final resting place."

Ten months ago, as Spirit was driving south beside the western edge of a low plateau called Home Plate, its wheels broke through a crusty surface and churned into soft sand hidden underneath.

After Spirit became embedded, the rover team crafted plans for trying to get the six-wheeled vehicle free using its five functioning wheels -the sixth wheel quit working in 2006, limiting Spirit's mobility. The planning included experiments with a test rover in a sandbox at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., plus analysis, modeling and reviews. In November, another wheel quit working, making a difficult situation even worse.

Recent drives have yielded the best results since Spirit became embedded. However, the coming winter mandates a change in strategy. It is mid-autumn at the solar-powered robot's home on Mars. Winter will begin in May. Solar energy is declining and expected to become insufficient to power further driving by mid-February. The rover team plans to use those remaining potential drives for improving the rover's tilt. Spirit currently tilts slightly toward the south. The winter sun stays in the northern sky, so decreasing the southward tilt would boost the amount of sunshine on the rover's solar panels.

"We need to lift the rear of the rover, or the left side of the rover, or both," said Ashley Stroupe, a rover driver at JPL. "Lifting the rear wheels out of their ruts by driving backward and slightly uphill will help. If necessary, we can try to lower the front right of the rover by attempting to drop the right-front wheel into a rut or dig it into a hole."

At its current angle, Spirit probably would not have enough power to keep communicating with Earth through the Martian winter. Even a few degrees of improvement in tilt might make enough difference to enable communication every few days.

"Getting through the winter will all come down to temperature and how cold the rover electronics will get," said John Callas, project manager at JPL for Spirit and its twin rover, Opportunity. "Every bit of energy produced by Spirit's solar arrays will go into keeping the rover's critical electronics warm, either by having the electronics on or by turning on essential heaters."

Even in a stationary state, Spirit continues scientific research.

"There's a class of science we can do only with a stationary vehicle that we had put off during the years of driving," said Steve Squyres, a researcher at Cornell University and principal investigator for Spirit and Opportunity. "Degraded mobility does not mean the mission ends abruptly. Instead, it lets us transition to stationary science."

One stationary experiment Spirit has begun studies tiny wobbles in the rotation of Mars to gain insight about the planet's core. This requires months of radio-tracking the motion of a point on the surface of Mars to calculate long-term motion with an accuracy of a few inches.

"If the final scientific feather in Spirit's cap is determining whether the core of Mars is liquid or solid, that would be wonderful -- it's so different from the other knowledge we've gained from Spirit," said Squyres.

Tools on Spirit's robotic arm can study variations in the composition of nearby soil, which has been affected by water. Stationary science also includes watching how wind moves soil particles and monitoring the Martian atmosphere.

Spirit and Opportunity landed on Mars in January 2004. They have been exploring for six years, far surpassing their original 90-day mission. Opportunity currently is driving toward a large crater called Endeavor and continues to make scientific discoveries. It has driven approximately 12 miles and returned more than 133,000 images.

JPL manages the rovers for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. For more information about Spirit and Opportunity, visit:

 

http://www.nasa.gov/rovers

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Jan. 21, 2010

Steve Cole
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-0918
stephen.e.cole@nasa.gov

Leslie McCarthy
Goddard Institute for Space Studies, New York
212-678-5507
leslie.m.mccarthy@nasa.gov

RELEASE: 10-017

NASA RESEARCH FINDS LAST DECADE WAS WARMEST ON RECORD, 2009 ONE OF WARMEST YEARS

WASHINGTON -- A new analysis of global surface temperatures by NASA scientists finds the past year was tied for the second warmest since 1880. In the Southern Hemisphere, 2009 was the warmest year on record.

Although 2008 was the coolest year of the decade because of a strong La Nina that cooled the tropical Pacific Ocean, 2009 saw a return to a near-record global temperatures as the La Nina diminished, according to the new analysis by NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York. The past year was a small fraction of a degree cooler than 2005, the warmest on record, putting 2009 in a virtual tie with a cluster of other years -- 1998, 2002, 2003, 2006, and 2007 -- for the second warmest on record.

"There's always interest in the annual temperature numbers and a given year's ranking, but the ranking often misses the point," said James Hansen, GISS director. "There's substantial year-to-year variability of global temperature caused by the tropical El Nino-La Nina cycle. When we average temperature over five or ten years to minimize that variability, we find global warming is continuing unabated."

January 2000 to December 2009 was the warmest decade on record. Looking back to 1880, when modern scientific instrumentation became available to monitor temperatures precisely, a clear warming trend is present, although there was a leveling off between the 1940s and 1970s.

In the past three decades, the GISS surface temperature record shows an upward trend of about 0.36 degrees F (0.2 degrees C) per decade. In total, average global temperatures have increased by about 1.5 degrees F (0.8 degrees C) since 1880.

"That's the important number to keep in mind," said GISS climatologist Gavin Schmidt. "The difference between the second and sixth warmest years is trivial because the known uncertainty in the temperature measurement is larger than some of the differences between the warmest years."

The near-record global temperatures of 2009 occurred despite an unseasonably cool December in much of North America. High air pressures from the Arctic decreased the east-west flow of the jet stream, while increasing its tendency to blow from north to south. The result was an unusual effect that caused frigid air from the Arctic to rush into North America and warmer mid-latitude air to shift toward the north. This left North America cooler than normal, while the Arctic was warmer than normal.

"The contiguous 48 states cover only 1.5 percent of the world area, so the United States' temperature does not affect the global temperature much," Hansen said.

GISS uses publicly available data from three sources to conduct its temperature analysis. The sources are weather data from more than a thousand meteorological stations around the world, satellite observations of sea surface temperatures, and Antarctic research station measurements.

Other research groups also track global temperature trends but use different analysis techniques. The Met Office Hadley Centre in the United Kingdom uses similar input measurements as GISS, for example, but it omits large areas of the Arctic and Antarctic where monitoring stations are sparse.

Although the two methods produce slightly differing results in the annual rankings, the decadal trends in the two records are essentially identical.

"There's a contradiction between the results shown here and popular perceptions about climate trends," Hansen said. "In the last decade, global warming has not stopped."

For more information about GISS's surface temperature record, visit:

 

http://data.giss.nasa.gov/
gistemp/

For video and still images about this story, visit:

 

http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/
goto?010557

For more information about NASA and agency programs, visit:

 

http://www.nasa.gov

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Jan. 6, 2010

J.D. Harrington
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-5241
j.d.harrington@nasa.gov

Whitney Clavin
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-354-4673
whitney.clavin@jpl.nasa.gov

RELEASE: 10-005

NASA'S WISE EYE SPIES FIRST GLIMPSE OF THE STARRY SKY; INFRARED ALL-SKY SURVEYING TELESCOPE SENDS BACK FIRST IMAGES FROM SPACE

WASHINGTON -- NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, has
captured its first look at the starry sky that it will soon begin
surveying in infrared light.

Launched on Dec. 14, WISE will scan the entire sky for millions of
hidden objects, including asteroids, "failed" stars and powerful
galaxies. WISE data will serve as navigation charts for other
missions such as NASA's Hubble and Spitzer Space Telescopes, pointing
them to the most interesting targets WISE finds.

A new WISE infrared image was taken shortly after the space
telescope's cover was removed, exposing the instrument's detectors to
starlight for the first time. The picture shows 3,000 stars in the
Carina constellation. It can be viewed online at:

 

http://www.nasa.gov/
mission_pages/WISE/
multimedia/
wise20100106.html

The image covers a patch of sky about three times larger than the full
moon. The patch was selected because it does not contain any
unusually bright objects, which could damage instrument detectors if
observed for too long. The picture was taken while the spacecraft was
staring at a fixed patch of sky and is being used to calibrate the
spacecraft's pointing system.

When the WISE survey begins, the spacecraft will scan the sky
continuously as it circles the globe, while an internal scan mirror
counteracts its motion. This allows WISE to take "freeze-frame"
snapshots every 11 seconds, resulting in millions of images of the
entire sky.

"Right now, we are busy matching the rate of the scan mirror to the
rate of the spacecraft, so we will capture sharp pictures as our
telescope sweeps across the sky," said William Irace, the mission's
project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena,
Calif.

To sense the infrared glow of stars and galaxies, the WISE spacecraft
cannot give off any detectable infrared light of its own. This is
accomplished by chilling the telescope and detectors to ultra-cold
temperatures. The coldest of WISE's detectors will operate at less
than 8 Kelvin, or minus 445 Fahrenheit.

The first sky survey will be complete in six months, followed by a
second scan of one-half of the sky lasting three months. The WISE
mission ends when the frozen hydrogen that keeps the instrument cold
evaporates away, an event expected to occur in October 2010.

Preliminary survey images are expected to be released six months
later, in April 2011, with the final atlas and catalog coming after
another 11 months in March 2012. Selected images will be released to
the public beginning in February 2010.

JPL manages WISE for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington.
The mission was competitively selected under NASA's Explorers
Program, managed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt,
Md. The science instrument was built by the Space Dynamics Laboratory
in Logan, Utah, and the spacecraft was built by Ball Aerospace &
Technologies Corp. in Boulder, Colo. Science operations and data
processing take place at the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center
at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

More information about the WISE mission is available online at:

 

http://www.nasa.gov/wise

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Jan. 4, 2010

Michael Curie
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
michael.curie@nasa.gov

Victor Scott
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
victor.j.scott@nasa.gov

 

RELEASE: 10-004

MOON ROCK GAINS TRAVELING COMPANION FOR HISTORIC RETURN TO SPACE

HOUSTON -- A moon rock collected during the historic Apollo 11 mission
more than 40 years ago will be heading back to space and a new home
aboard the International Space Station, sharing quarters with a piece
of Mt. Everest.

On May 20, 2009, former NASA astronaut Scott Parazynski carried the
rock to the top of Mt. Everest where he collected a rock from the
world's highest mountain to accompany the lunar sample for its return
to space.

During an event Jan. 6 at Space Center Houston, Parazynski will
present both rocks to NASA astronaut and STS-130 mission Commander
George Zamka. Zamka will deliver the rocks to the space station
during space shuttle Endeavour's mission next month.

Collected from the Sea of Tranquility on the lunar surface, the moon
rock and its Mt. Everest companion will be displayed inside the
station's Tranquility module, which the STS-130 crew will deliver to
the station.

During the presentation, Parazynski will share the story of his
journey to the top of the world and what inspired him to carry along
the lunar sample, followed by an audience question and answer
session. The event is scheduled from 11 a.m. to noon CST in the Blast
Off Theater in the Mission Status Center at Space Center Houston.
NASA Television will air a recording of the event at 3:30 p.m.

Parazynski and Zamka will be available for interviews from noon to
12:30 p.m. Reporters interested in attending should contact Victor
Scott at 281-483-4942 or via e-mail at:

victor.j.scott@nasa.gov

Updates, photos and videos during the presentation will be posted on
NASA's Johnson Space Center Twitter feed and can be followed using
the hashtag #moon_everest. From 12:30 to 1 p.m., Parazynski will
answer questions live via Twitter. To follow Johnson on Twitter,
visit:

http://www.twitter.com/
NASA_Johnson

For information about NASA and agency programs, visit:

 

http://www.nasa.gov

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