QUOTATION OF THE DAY

"We've come full circle since 1961, back to when we had yet to show we
could launch people into space. We will be hitching rides from the
Russians to go to the space station that is mainly ours."
STEVEN J. DICK,
<http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/09/science/space/09wilford.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha3>
a retired NASA chief historian, on the last launching in the space
shuttle program.

Playstation(R)Home Users Can Watch Nasa's Shuttle Launch Together

Feb. 23, 2011

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

Linda Rosner
ArtisansPR
310-837-6008
lrosner@artisanspr.com

RELEASE: 11-052

PLAYSTATION(R)HOME USERS CAN WATCH NASA'S SHUTTLE LAUNCH TOGETHER

WASHINGTON -- NASA's final liftoff of space shuttle Discovery will be
available in a unique "social viewing" environment available through
Sony Computer Entertainment America's PlayStation(R)Home for
PlayStation(R)3 computer entertainment system.

Discovery's launch on Thursday, Feb. 24 at 4:50 p.m. EST is the first
live streaming event to be offered by Sunset Yacht, a premium
personal space from LOOT, Sony DADC's interactive entertainment
development team. Users will be able to chat via Bluetooth headsets
with others watching the launch - all from inside the PlayStation
Home social gaming environment.

"We're excited about this new way for people to experience the
exhilaration of human spaceflight as part of a larger community,"
said David Weaver, NASA associate administrator for the Office of
Communications. "In addition to the other two shuttle launches
planned for April and June, NASA looks forward to sharing more of our
endeavors with PlayStation users."

In addition to live streamed events, the Sunset Yacht's NASA TV
channel will offer hundreds of videos offering spectacular views of
the universe from past and current NASA missions. A gallery of
podcasts showcasing several missions including the Mars Science
Laboratory and Voyager spacecraft also will be available from the
agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena.

"The launch of the space shuttle Discovery provides a wonderful
opportunity to introduce people to the fun of social viewing," said
LOOT Managing Director David Sterling. "Users can share this
experience with their friends, regardless of where those friends
happen to be in the world."

For information about the shuttle Discovery's mission to the
International Space Station and the crew, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle

NASA Television also will cover shuttle Discovery's launch For NASA TV
streaming video, scheduling and downlink information, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

For more information about Sunset Yacht, visit:

http://blog.us.playstation.com/

"PlayStation", is a registered trademark of Sony Computer
Entertainment Inc.

NASA'S Neowise Completes Scan For Asteroids And Comets

Feb. 2, 2011

Trent Perrotto/Dwayne Brown
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-5241/1726
trent.j.perrotto@nasa.gov
dwayne.c.brown@nasa.gov

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

RELEASE: 11-029

NASA'S NEOWISE COMPLETES SCAN FOR ASTEROIDS AND COMETS

WASHINGTON -- NASA's NEOWISE mission has completed its survey of small
bodies, asteroids and comets, in our solar system. The mission's
discoveries of previously unknown objects include 20 comets, more
than 33,000 asteroids in the main belt between Mars and Jupiter, and
134 near-Earth objects (NEOs). The NEOs are asteroids and comets with
orbits that come within 28 million miles of Earth's path around the
sun.

NEOWISE is an enhancement of the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer,
or WISE, mission that launched in December 2009. WISE scanned the
entire celestial sky in infrared light about 1.5 times. It captured
more than 2.7 million images of objects in space, ranging from
faraway galaxies to asteroids and comets close to Earth.

In early October 2010, after completing its prime science mission, the
spacecraft ran out of frozen coolant that keeps its instrumentation
cold. However, two of its four infrared cameras remained operational.
These two channels were still useful for asteroid hunting, so NASA
extended the NEOWISE portion of the WISE mission by four months, with
the primary purpose of hunting for more asteroids and comets, and to
finish one complete scan of the main asteroid belt.

"Even just one year of observations from the NEOWISE project has
significantly increased our catalog of data on NEOs and the other
small bodies of the solar systems," said Lindley Johnson, NASA's
program executive for the NEO Observation Program.
Now that NEOWISE has successfully completed a full sweep of the main
asteroid belt, the WISE spacecraft will go into hibernation mode and
remain in polar orbit around the Earth, where it could be called back
into service in the future.

In addition to discovering new asteroids and comets, NEOWISE also
confirmed the presence of objects in the main belt that already had
been detected. In just one year, it observed about 153,000 rocky
bodies out of approximately 500,000 known objects. Those include the
33,000 that NEOWISE discovered.

NEOWISE also observed known objects closer and farther to us than the
main belt, including roughly 2,000 asteroids that orbit along with
Jupiter, hundreds of NEOs and more than 100 comets.

These observations will be key to determining the objects' sizes and
compositions. Visible-light data alone reveals how much sunlight
reflects off an asteroid, whereas infrared data is much more directly
related to the object's size. By combining visible and infrared
measurements, astronomers also can learn about the compositions of
the rocky bodies -- for example, whether they are solid or crumbly.
The findings will lead to a much-improved picture of the various
asteroid populations.

NEOWISE took longer to survey the whole asteroid belt than WISE took
to scan the entire sky because most of the asteroids are moving in
the same direction around the sun as the spacecraft moves while it
orbits the Earth. The spacecraft field of view had to catch up to,
and lap, the movement of the asteroids in order to see them all.

"You can think of Earth and the asteroids as racehorses moving along
in a track," said Amy Mainzer, the principal investigator of NEOWISE
at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. "We're moving
along together around the sun, but the main belt asteroids are like
horses on the outer part of the track. They take longer to orbit than
us, so we eventually lap them."

NEOWISE data on the asteroid and comet orbits are catalogued at the
NASA-funded International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Center, a
clearinghouse for information about all solar system bodies at the
Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge, Mass. The science
team is analyzing the infrared observations now and will publish new
findings in the coming months.

When combined with WISE observations, NEOWISE data will aid in the
discovery of the closest dim stars, called brown dwarfs. These
observations have the potential to reveal a brown dwarf even closer
to us than our closest known star, Proxima Centauri, if such an
object does exist. Likewise, if there is a hidden gas-giant planet in
the outer reaches of our solar system, data from WISE and NEO-WISE
could detect it.

The first batch of observations from the WISE mission will be
available to the public and astronomical community in April.
"WISE has unearthed a mother lode of amazing sources, and we're having
a great time figuring out their nature," said Edward (Ned) Wright,
the principal investigator of WISE at UCLA.

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

For more information about WISE, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/wise

NASA Finds Earth-Size Planet Candidates In Habitable Zone, Six Planet System

Feb. 02, 2011

Trent Perrotto
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-0321
trent.j.perrotto@nasa.gov

Michael Mewhinney/Rachel Hoover
Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.
650-604-3937/650-604-0643
michael.s.mewhinney@nasa.gov, rachel.hoover@nasa.gov

RELEASE: 11-030

NASA FINDS EARTH-SIZE PLANET CANDIDATES IN HABITABLE ZONE, SIX PLANET SYSTEM

WASHINGTON -- NASA's Kepler mission has discovered its first
Earth-size planet candidates and its first candidates in the
habitable zone, a region where liquid water could exist on a planet's
surface. Five of the potential planets are near Earth-size and orbit
in the habitable zone of smaller, cooler stars than our sun.

Candidates require follow-up observations to verify they are actual
planets. Kepler also found six confirmed planets orbiting a sun-like
star, Kepler-11. This is the largest group of transiting planets
orbiting a single star yet discovered outside our solar system.

"In one generation we have gone from extraterrestrial planets being a
mainstay of science fiction, to the present, where Kepler has helped
turn science fiction into today's reality," said NASA Administrator
Charles Bolden. "These discoveries underscore the importance of
NASA's science missions, which consistently increase understanding of
our place in the cosmos."

The discoveries are part of several hundred new planet candidates
identified in new Kepler mission science data, released on Tuesday,
Feb. 1. The findings increase the number of planet candidates
identified by Kepler to-date to 1,235. Of these, 68 are approximately
Earth-size; 288 are super-Earth-size; 662 are Neptune-size; 165 are
the size of Jupiter and 19 are larger than Jupiter.

Of the 54 new planet candidates found in the habitable zone, five are
near Earth-sized. The remaining 49 habitable zone candidates range
from super-Earth size -- up to twice the size of Earth -- to larger
than Jupiter.

The findings are based on the results of observations conducted May 12
to Sept. 17, 2009, of more than 156,000 stars in Kepler's field of
view, which covers approximately 1/400 of the sky.

"The fact that we've found so many planet candidates in such a tiny
fraction of the sky suggests there are countless planets orbiting
sun-like stars in our galaxy," said William Borucki of NASA's Ames
Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif., the mission's science
principal investigator. "We went from zero to 68 Earth-sized planet
candidates and zero to 54 candidates in the habitable zone, some of
which could have moons with liquid water."

Among the stars with planetary candidates, 170 show evidence of
multiple planetary candidates. Kepler-11, located approximately 2,000
light years from Earth, is the most tightly packed planetary system
yet discovered. All six of its confirmed planets have orbits smaller
than Venus, and five of the six have orbits smaller than Mercury's.
The only other star with more than one confirmed transiting planet is
Kepler-9, which has three. The Kepler-11 findings will be published
in the Feb. 3 issue of the journal Nature.

"Kepler-11 is a remarkable system whose architecture and dynamics
provide clues about its formation," said Jack Lissauer, a planetary
scientist and Kepler science team member at Ames. "These six planets
are mixtures of rock and gases, possibly including water. The rocky
material accounts for most of the planets' mass, while the gas takes
up most of their volume. By measuring the sizes and masses of the
five inner planets, we determined they are among the lowest mass
confirmed planets beyond our solar system."

All of the planets orbiting Kepler-11 are larger than Earth, with the
largest ones being comparable in size to Uranus and Neptune. The
innermost planet, Kepler-11b, is ten times closer to its star than
Earth is to the sun. Moving outward, the other planets are
Kepler-11c, Kepler-11d, Kepler-11e, Kepler-11f, and the outermost
planet, Kepler-11g, which is half as far from its star as Earth is
from the sun.

The planets Kepler-11d, Kepler-11e and Kepler-11f have a significant
amount of light gas, which indicates that they formed within a few
million years of the system's formation.

"The historic milestones Kepler makes with each new discovery will
determine the course of every exoplanet mission to follow," said
Douglas Hudgins, Kepler program scientist at NASA Headquarters in
Washington.

Kepler, a space telescope, looks for planet signatures by measuring
tiny decreases in the brightness of stars caused by planets crossing
in front of them. This is known as a transit.

Since transits of planets in the habitable zone of sun-like stars
occur about once a year and require three transits for verification,
it is expected to take three years to locate and verify Earth-size
planets orbiting sun-like stars.

The Kepler science team uses ground-based telescopes and the Spitzer
Space Telescope to review observations on planetary candidates and
other objects of interest the spacecraft finds.

The star field that Kepler observes in the constellations Cygnus and
Lyra can only be seen from ground-based observatories in spring
through early fall. The data from these other observations help
determine which candidates can be validated as planets.

For more information about the Kepler mission, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/kepler

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NASA's Hubble Finds Most Distant Galaxy Candidate Ever Seen in Universe]

WASHINGTON -- Astronomers have pushed NASA's Hubble Space Telescope to
its limits by finding what is likely to be the most distant object
ever seen in the universe. The object's light traveled 13.2 billion
years to reach Hubble, roughly 150 million years longer than the
previous record holder. The age of the universe is approximately 13.7
billion years.

The tiny, dim object is a compact galaxy of blue stars that existed
480 million years after the big bang. More than 100 such
mini-galaxies would be needed to make up our Milky Way. The new
research offers surprising evidence that the rate of star birth in
the early universe grew dramatically, increasing by about a factor of
10 from 480 million years to 650 million years after the big bang.

"NASA continues to reach for new heights, and this latest Hubble
discovery will deepen our understanding of the universe and benefit
generations to come," said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, who was
the pilot of the space shuttle mission that carried Hubble to orbit.
"We could only dream when we launched Hubble more than 20 years ago
that it would have the ability to make these types of groundbreaking
discoveries and rewrite textbooks."

Astronomers don't know exactly when the first stars appeared in the
universe, but every step farther from Earth takes them deeper into
the early formative years when stars and galaxies began to emerge in
the aftermath of the big bang.

"These observations provide us with our best insights yet into the
earlier primeval objects that have yet to be found," said Rychard
Bouwens of the University of Leiden in the Netherlands. Bouwens and
Illingworth report the discovery in the Jan. 27 issue of the British
science journal Nature.

This observation was made with the Wide Field Camera 3 starting just a
few months after it was installed in the observatory in May 2009,
during the last NASA space shuttle servicing mission to Hubble. After
more than a year of detailed observations and analysis, the object
was positively identified in the camera's Hubble Ultra Deep
Field-Infrared data taken in the late summers of 2009 and 2010.

The object appears as a faint dot of starlight in the Hubble
exposures. It is too young and too small to have the familiar spiral
shape that is characteristic of galaxies in the local universe.
Although its individual stars can't be resolved by Hubble, the
evidence suggests this is a compact galaxy of hot stars formed more
than 100-to-200 million years earlier from gas trapped in a pocket of
dark matter.

"We're peering into an era where big changes are afoot," said Garth
Illingworth of the University of California at Santa Cruz. "The rapid
rate at which the star birth is changing tells us if we go a little
further back in time we're going to see even more dramatic changes,
closer to when the first galaxies were just starting to form."

The proto-galaxy is only visible at the farthest infrared wavelengths
observable by Hubble. Observations of earlier times, when the first
stars and galaxies were forming, will require Hubble's successor, the
James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).

The hypothesized hierarchical growth of galaxies -- from stellar
clumps to majestic spirals and ellipticals -- didn't become evident
until the Hubble deep field exposures. The first 500 million years of
the universe's existence, from a z of 1000 to 10, is the missing
chapter in the hierarchical growth of galaxies. It's not clear how
the universe assembled structure out of a darkening, cooling fireball
of the big bang. As with a developing embryo, astronomers know there
must have been an early period of rapid changes that would set the
initial conditions to make the universe of galaxies what it is today.

"After 20 years of opening our eyes to the universe around us, Hubble
continues to awe and surprise astronomers," said Jon Morse, NASA's
Astrophysics Division director at the agency's headquarters in
Washington. "It now offers a tantalizing look at the very edge of the
known universe -- a frontier NASA strives to explore."

Hubble 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 (STScI) conducts Hubble science operations. STScI is
operated for NASA by the Association of Universities for Research in
Astronomy, Inc., in Washington.

For more information about Hubble, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/hubble

Commemorating Challenger

NASA marks 25th anniversary of Challenger accident

June Scobee Rodgers, left, widow of Dick Scobee, commander of space shuttle Challenger, and William Gerstenmaier, NASA Associate Administrator for Space Operations, place a wreath at the Space Mirror Memorial at a remembrance ceremony to mark the 25th Anniversary of space shuttle Challenger at the Kennedy Space Center visitor complex in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Friday, Jan. 28, 2011. On the memorial, top left, are the names of the astronauts that perished in Challenger. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Hundreds gathered at NASA's launch site Friday to mark the 25th anniversary of the Challenger disaster, receiving words of hope from the widow of the space shuttle's commander.

The chilly outdoor ceremony drew space agency managers, former astronauts, past and present launch directors, family and friends of the fallen crew — and schoolchildren who weren't yet born when the space shuttle carrying a high school teacher from Concord, N.H., erupted in the sky.

The accident on Jan. 28, 1986 — just 73 seconds into flight — killed all seven on board, including schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe. story-->>

NASA Research Team Reveals Moon Has Earth-Like Core]

Jan. 6, 2011

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

Janet Anderson
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.
256-544-0034
janet.l.anderson@nasa.gov
RELEASE: 11-004

NASA RESEARCH TEAM REVEALS MOON HAS EARTH-LIKE CORE

WASHINGTON - State-of-the-art seismological techniques applied to
Apollo-era data suggest our moon has a core similar to Earth's.

Uncovering details about the lunar core is critical for developing
accurate models of the moon's formation. The data sheds light on the
evolution of a lunar dynamo -- a natural process by which our moon
may have generated and maintained its own strong magnetic field.

The team's findings suggest the moon possesses a solid, iron-rich
inner core with a radius of nearly 150 miles and a fluid, primarily
liquid-iron outer core with a radius of roughly 205 miles. Where it
differs from Earth is a partially molten boundary layer around the
core estimated to have a radius of nearly 300 miles. The research
indicates the core contains a small percentage of light elements such
as sulfur, echoing new seismology research on Earth that suggests the
presence of light elements -- such as sulfur and oxygen -- in a layer
around our own core.

The researchers used extensive data gathered during the Apollo-era
moon missions. The Apollo Passive Seismic Experiment consisted of
four seismometers deployed between 1969 and 1972, which recorded
continuous lunar seismic activity until late-1977.

"We applied tried and true methodologies from terrestrial seismology
to this legacy data set to present the first-ever direct detection of
the moon's core," said Renee Weber, lead researcher and space
scientist at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.

In addition to Weber, the team consisted of scientists from Marshall;
Arizona State University; the University of California at Santa Cruz;
and the Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris in France. Their
findings are published in the online edition of the journal Science.

The team also analyzed Apollo lunar seismograms using array
processing, techniques that identify and distinguish signal sources
of moonquakes and other seismic activity. The researchers identified
how and where seismic waves passed through or were reflected by
elements of the moon's interior, signifying the composition and state
of layer interfaces at varying depths.

Although sophisticated satellite imaging missions to the moon made
significant contributions to the study of its history and topography,
the deep interior of Earth's sole natural satellite remained a
subject of speculation and conjecture since the Apollo era.
Researchers previously had inferred the existence of a core, based on
indirect estimates of the moon's interior properties, but many
disagreed about its radius, state and composition.

A primary limitation to past lunar seismic studies was the wash of
"noise" caused by overlapping signals bouncing repeatedly off
structures in the moon's fractionated crust. To mitigate this
challenge, Weber and the team employed an approach called seismogram
stacking, or the digital partitioning of signals. Stacking improved
the signal-to-noise ratio and enabled the researchers to more clearly
track the path and behavior of each unique signal as it passed
through the lunar interior.

"We hope to continue working with the Apollo seismic data to further
refine our estimates of core properties and characterize lunar
signals as clearly as possible to aid in the interpretation of data
returned from future missions," Weber said.

Future NASA missions will help gather more detailed data. The Gravity
Recovery and Interior Laboratory, or GRAIL, is a NASA Discovery-class
mission set to launch this year. The mission consists of twin
spacecraft that will enter tandem orbits around the moon for several
months to measure the gravity field in unprecedented detail. The
mission also will answer longstanding questions about Earth's moon
and provide scientists a better understanding of the satellite from
crust to core, revealing subsurface structures and, indirectly, its
thermal history.

NASA and other space agencies have been studying concepts to establish
an International Lunar Network -- a robotic set of geophysical
monitoring stations on the moon -- as part of efforts to coordinate
international missions during the coming decade.

For more information about NASA science exploration missions, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/topics/moonmars

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NASA's Kepler Mission Discovers Its First Rocky Planet]

Jan. 10, 2011

Trent J. Perrotto
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-0321
trent.j.perrotto@nasa.gov

Rachel Hoover
Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.
650-604-0643
rachel.hoover@nasa.gov

RELEASE: 11-007

NASA'S KEPLER MISSION DISCOVERS ITS FIRST ROCKY PLANET

WASHINGTON -- NASA's Kepler mission confirmed the discovery of its
first rocky planet, named Kepler-10b. Measuring 1.4 times the size of
Earth, it is the smallest planet ever discovered outside our solar
system.

The discovery of this so-called exoplanet is based on more than eight
months of data collected by the spacecraft from May 2009 to early
January 2010.

"All of Kepler's best capabilities have converged to yield the first
solid evidence of a rocky planet orbiting a star other than our sun,"
said Natalie Batalha, Kepler's deputy science team lead at NASA's
Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif., and primary author of
a paper on the discovery accepted by the Astrophysical Journal. "The
Kepler team made a commitment in 2010 about finding the telltale
signatures of small planets in the data, and it's beginning to pay
off."

Kepler's ultra-precise photometer measures the tiny decrease in a
star's brightness that occurs when a planet crosses in front of it.
The size of the planet can be derived from these periodic dips in
brightness. The distance between the planet and the star is
calculated by measuring the time between successive dips as the
planet orbits the star.

Kepler is the first NASA mission capable of finding Earth-size planets
in or near the habitable zone, the region in a planetary system where
liquid water can exist on the planet's surface. However, since it
orbits once every 0.84 days, Kepler-10b is more than 20 times closer
to its star than Mercury is to our sun and not in the habitable zone.

Kepler-10 was the first star identified that could potentially harbor
a small transiting planet, placing it at the top of the list for
ground-based observations with the W.M. Keck Observatory 10-meter
telescope in Hawaii.

Scientists waiting for a signal to confirm Kepler-10b as a planet were
not disappointed. Keck was able to measure tiny changes in the star's
spectrum, called Doppler shifts, caused by the telltale tug exerted
by the orbiting planet on the star.

"The discovery of Kepler 10-b is a significant milestone in the search
for planets similar to our own," said Douglas Hudgins, Kepler program
scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "Although this planet
is not in the habitable zone, the exciting find showcases the kinds
of discoveries made possible by the mission and the promise of many
more to come," he said.

Knowledge of the planet is only as good as the knowledge of the star
it orbits. Because Kepler-10 is one of the brighter stars being
targeted by Kepler, scientists were able to detect high frequency
variations in the star's brightness generated by stellar
oscillations, or starquakes. This analysis allowed scientists to pin
down Kepler-10b's properties.

There is a clear signal in the data arising from light waves that
travel within the interior of the star. Kepler Asteroseismic Science
Consortium scientists use the information to better understand the
star, just as earthquakes are used to learn about Earth's interior
structure. As a result of this analysis, Kepler-10 is one of the most
well characterized planet-hosting stars in the universe.

That's good news for the team studying Kepler-10b. Accurate stellar
properties yield accurate planet properties. In the case of
Kepler-10b, the picture that emerges is of a rocky planet with a mass
4.6 times that of Earth and with an average density of 8.8 grams per
cubic centimeter -- similar to that of an iron dumbbell.

Ames manages Kepler's ground system development, mission operations
and science data analysis. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in
Pasadena, Calif., managed Kepler mission development.

Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corp. in Boulder, Colo., developed the
Kepler flight system and supports mission operations with the
Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of
Colorado in Boulder. The Space Telescope Science Institute in
Baltimore archives, hosts and distributes the Kepler science data.

Kepler is NASA's 10th Discovery Mission and is funded by NASA's
Science Mission Directorate at the agency's headquarters. For more
information about the Kepler mission, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/kepler

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NASA'S Fermi Catches Thunderstorms Hurling Antimatter Into Space]

Jan. 10, 2011

Trent Perrotto
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-0321
trent.j.perrotto@nasa.gov

Janet Anderson
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.
256-544-6162
janet.l.anderson@nasa.gov

RELEASE: 11-008

NASA'S FERMI CATCHES THUNDERSTORMS HURLING ANTIMATTER INTO SPACE

WASHINGTON -- Scientists using NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope
have detected beams of antimatter produced above thunderstorms on
Earth, a phenomenon never seen before.

Scientists think the antimatter particles were formed in a terrestrial
gamma-ray flash (TGF), a brief burst produced inside thunderstorms
and shown to be associated with lightning. It is estimated that about
500 TGFs occur daily worldwide, but most go undetected.

"These signals are the first direct evidence that thunderstorms make
antimatter particle beams," said Michael Briggs, a member of Fermi's
Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM) team at the University of Alabama in
Huntsville (UAH). He presented the findings Monday, during a news
briefing at the American Astronomical Society meeting in Seattle.

Fermi is designed to monitor gamma rays, the highest energy form of
light. When antimatter striking Fermi collides with a particle of
normal matter, both particles immediately are annihilated and
transformed into gamma rays. The GBM has detected gamma rays with
energies of 511,000 electron volts, a signal indicating an electron
has met its antimatter counterpart, a positron.

Although Fermi's GBM is designed to observe high-energy events in the
universe, it's also providing valuable insights into this strange
phenomenon. The GBM constantly monitors the entire celestial sky
above and the Earth below. The GBM team has identified 130 TGFs since
Fermi's launch in 2008.

"In orbit for less than three years, the Fermi mission has proven to
be an amazing tool to probe the universe. Now we learn that it can
discover mysteries much, much closer to home," said Ilana Harrus,
Fermi program scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

The spacecraft was located immediately above a thunderstorm for most
of the observed TGFs, but in four cases, storms were far from Fermi.
In addition, lightning-generated radio signals detected by a global
monitoring network indicated the only lightning at the time was
hundreds or more miles away. During one TGF, which occurred on Dec.
14, 2009, Fermi was located over Egypt. But the active storm was in
Zambia, some 2,800 miles to the south. The distant storm was below
Fermi's horizon, so any gamma rays it produced could not have been
detected.

"Even though Fermi couldn't see the storm, the spacecraft nevertheless
was magnetically connected to it," said Joseph Dwyer at the Florida
Institute of Technology in Melbourne, Fla. "The TGF produced
high-speed electrons and positrons, which then rode up Earth's
magnetic field to strike the spacecraft."

The beam continued past Fermi, reached a location, known as a mirror
point, where its motion was reversed, and then hit the spacecraft a
second time just 23 milliseconds later. Each time, positrons in the
beam collided with electrons in the spacecraft. The particles
annihilated each other, emitting gamma rays detected by Fermi's GBM.

Scientists long have suspected TGFs arise from the strong electric
fields near the tops of thunderstorms. Under the right conditions,
they say, the field becomes strong enough that it drives an upward
avalanche of electrons. Reaching speeds nearly as fast as light, the
high-energy electrons give off gamma rays when they're deflected by
air molecules. Normally, these gamma rays are detected as a TGF.

But the cascading electrons produce so many gamma rays that they blast
electrons and positrons clear out of the atmosphere. This happens
when the gamma-ray energy transforms into a pair of particles: an
electron and a positron. It's these particles that reach Fermi's
orbit.

The detection of positrons shows many high-energy particles are being
ejected from the atmosphere. In fact, scientists now think that all
TGFs emit electron/positron beams. A paper on the findings has been
accepted for publication in Geophysical Research Letters.

"The Fermi results put us a step closer to understanding how TGFs
work," said Steven Cummer at Duke University. "We still have to
figure out what is special about these storms and the precise role
lightning plays in the process."

NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope is an astrophysics and particle
physics partnership. It is managed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight
Center in Greenbelt, Md. It was developed in collaboration with the
U.S. Department of Energy, with important contributions from academic
institutions and partners in France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Sweden
and the United States.

The GBM Instrument Operations Center is located at the National Space
Science Technology Center in Huntsville, Ala. The team includes a
collaboration of scientists from UAH, NASA's Marshall Space Flight
Center in Huntsville, the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial
Physics in Germany and other institutions.

For more Fermi information, images and animations, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/fermi

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NASA Completes Space Station, Fosters Commercial Spaceflight And Makes Amazing Discoveries During Ambitious Year Of Exploration

Dec. 20, 2010
Katherine Trinidad
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-3749
katherine.trinidad@nasa.gov
RELEASE: 10-333
NASA COMPLETES SPACE STATION, FOSTERS COMMERCIAL SPACEFLIGHT AND MAKES AMAZING DISCOVERIES DURING AMBITIOUS YEAR OF EXPLORATION
WASHINGTON -- NASA in 2010 set a new course for human spaceflight,
helped rewrite science textbooks, redefined our understanding of
Earth's nearest celestial neighbor, put the finishing touches on one
of the world's greatest engineering marvels, made major contributions
to life on Earth, and turned its sights toward the next era of
exploration.
"This year, NASA's work made headlines around the world," NASA
Administrator Charles Bolden said. "More importantly, it enlarged our
understanding of the universe and our home planet, inspired people,
and opened new frontiers for our dreams and aspirations."
"NASA achievements this year across the spectrum -- from science, to
aeronautics, education and human spaceflight - provided incredible
value to our nation," NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver said. "We
continue to build upon our rich history, taking on new challenges and
doing the things that no one else can do -- all for the benefit of
humanity."
The following are some of NASA's top stories for the past calendar
year:
PRESIDENT OBAMA LAYS OUT NEW PLANS FOR SPACE EXPLORATION
After announcing a new direction for NASA in February, President Obama
visited the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on April 15 to
discuss details of his plans for space exploration. The president
committed NASA to a series of developmental goals leading to new
spacecraft for reaching low Earth orbit and new technology for
potential missions beyond the moon. Discussing his ambitious goals
for human spaceflight, the president said of his strategy, "We will
not only extend humanity's reach in space -- we will strengthen
America's leadership here on Earth."
http://www.nasa.gov/about/obamaspeechfeature.html

SPACE STATION CELEBRATES 10 YEARS OF HABITATION AND GETS ANOTHER
DECADE FOR RESEARCH
NASA and its international partners celebrated 10 years of permanent
human habitation on the International Space Station on Nov. 2. More
than 600 different research and technology development experiments
have been conducted aboard the orbiting lab, many of which are
producing advances in medicine, environmental systems and our
understanding of the universe. As the station transitions from its
assembly phase to use as a unique scientific outpost, NASA is
investing in the laboratory's future by ensuring a wide pool of
organizations outside the agency have access. The NASA Authorization
Act of 2010, in addition to extending station operations until at
least 2020, also directed NASA to select an independent, nonprofit
research management organization to develop and manage a portion of
the U.S. share of the station as a national laboratory.
With NASA's space shuttle fleet nearing retirement, three missions
helped put finishing touches on the station this year. The STS-130
mission in February delivered a cupola with seven windows and a
robotic control station. The cupola provides a panoramic view of
Earth, celestial objects and visiting spacecraft. The STS-131 mission
in April delivered science racks and new crew sleeping quarters. In
May, the STS-132 crew delivered the Russian-built Mini Research
Module-1 known as Rassvet to the orbiting laboratory. The module
provides additional storage space and serves as a new docking port
for Russian Soyuz and Progress spacecraft.
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/living/10years.html

http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle

COMPANIES MAKE HUGE STRIDES AS FIRST COMMERCIAL SPACECRAFT
SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHED AND RECOVERED
Commercial companies made major progress in 2010, highlighted by
SpaceX's successful Dec. 8 launch of the Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon
capsule. The flight was the first for NASA's Commercial Orbital
Transportation Services (COTS) program, which is developing
commercial supply services to the International Space Station. SpaceX
became the first commercial company to launch and return a spacecraft
from low Earth orbit. After NASA's space shuttle retires, SpaceX is
expected to launch at least 12 missions to carry cargo to and from
the station. The Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft also are being
designed to eventually carry astronauts into low Earth orbit.
Orbital Sciences Corp., the other participant in the COTS program, had
a successful year also. In November, Orbital test-fired the
first-stage rocket engine for its Taurus II rocket and opened the
mission control center that will support the company's COTS program
missions. The company shipped the Taurus II stage-one core in
December to NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia for assembly.
Orbital is under contract with NASA to fly eight cargo missions to
the International Space Station.
http://www.nasa.gov/offices/c3po/home/spacexfeature.html

http://www.nasa.gov/exploration

NASA AIDS TRAPPED CHILEAN MINERS
NASA responded in late August to a request from the government of
Chile for technical advice to assist with the rescue of 33 trapped
miners in a copper and gold mine near Copiapo. As part of its
support, NASA sent two medical doctors, a psychologist and an
engineer to Chile. The team offered expert advice about medical,
nutritional and behavioral health issues based on the agency's long
experience in protecting humans in the hostile environment of space.
NASA also provided suggestions regarding the rescue cages designed to
transport the miners out of the mine. Dr. Michael Duncan, deputy
chief medical officer in the Space Life Sciences Directorate at
NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, led the team. The other
members were physician James Polk and psychologist Albert Holland
from Johnson; and Clint Cragg, principal engineer with the NASA
Engineering and Safety Center at the agency's Langley Research Center
in Hampton, Va.
http://www.nasa.gov/ news/chile_assistance.html

NASA-FUNDED RESEARCH DISCOVERS LIFE BUILT WITH TOXIC CHEMICAL
NASA-funded researchers conducting tests in the harsh environment of
California's Mono Lake discovered the first known microorganism on
Earth that is able to thrive and reproduce using the toxic chemical
arsenic. The microorganism substituted arsenic for phosphorus in its
cell components. Carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus and
sulfur are the basic building blocks of all known forms of life on
Earth. Researchers successfully grew microbes from the lake on a diet
that was lean on phosphorus, but included generous helpings of
arsenic. The research team included scientists from the U.S.
Geological Survey, Arizona State University, Lawrence Livermore
National Laboratory, Duquesne University in Pittsburgh and the
Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource in Menlo Park.
http://www.nasa.gov/topics/universe/features/astrobiology_toxic_chemical.html

NASA AIDS U.S. DISASTER RESPONSE TO GULF OF MEXICO OIL SPILL
NASA aided the U.S. response to the Deepwater Horizon BP oil spill.
Advanced remote-sensing instruments on NASA Earth-observing
satellites and aircraft provided data on the spill's location, oil
concentrations, and impact on ecosystems in the Gulf of Mexico. NASA
data were distributed to federal and state agencies and organizations
that worked to contain the spill and lead recovery efforts. NASA also
sent several research aircraft to make targeted observations that
continue to help federal and state agencies document changes in the
marshes, swamps, bayous, and beaches along the Gulf Coast.
http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/oilspill/index.html

NASA-FUNDED RESEARCH FINDS POTENTIALLY HABITABLE EXOPLANET
A team of planet hunters sponsored by NASA and the National Science
Foundation announced the discovery of a planet with three times the
mass of Earth orbiting a nearby star in a zone that might allow the
planet to support life. The research placed the planet in an orbit
where liquid water could exist on the planet's surface. If confirmed,
the find would be the most Earth-like exoplanet yet discovered and a
strong candidate for the first that is potentially habitable. To
astronomers, a potentially habitable planet is one that could support
life, not necessarily one that humans would find hospitable. This
discovery was the result of more than a decade of observations using
the W. M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii, one of the world's largest
optical telescopes.

http://www.nasa.gov/topics/universe/features/gliese_581_feature.html

NEW EYE ON THE SUN DELIVERS STUNNING FIRST IMAGES
NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, or SDO, returned initial images
that confirmed an unprecedented new capability for scientists to
better understand our sun's dynamic processes. Images from the
spacecraft showed never-before-seen detail of material streaming
outward and away from sunspots. Others showed extreme close-ups of
activity on the sun's surface. The spacecraft also provides images of
the sun with 10 times greater resolution than high-definition
television in a broad range of ultraviolet wavelengths. These solar
events can greatly affect Earth. Launched on Feb. 11, SDO is the most
advanced spacecraft ever designed to study the sun.
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sdo/news/first-light.html

COMET GIVES UP SECRETS TO EPOXI
NASA's EPOXI spacecraft successfully flew past comet Hartley 2 on Nov.
4, providing unprecedented images and giving scientists new
information about the comet's volume and material erupting from its
surface. The EPOXI spacecraft revealed a cometary snowstorm. The
snowstorm was created by carbon-dioxide jets spewing out tons of
golf-ball to basketball-sized fluffy ice particles from the
peanut-shaped comet's rocky ends. At the same time, a different
process was causing water vapor to escape from the comet's smooth
mid-section. The information sheds new light on the nature of comets
and their role in the formation of planets. EPOXI is an extended
mission that used the Deep Impact spacecraft.
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/epoxi/epoxi20101104b.html

NASA UNCOVERS THE MOON'S BURIED TREASURES
Scientists announced in 2010 new data about the moon uncovered by
NASA's Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite, or LCROSS, and
the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO. Scientists determined the
soil in the moon's shadowy craters is rich in useful materials,
including water in the form of mostly pure ice crystals. Researchers
also found the moon is chemically active and has a water cycle. By
understanding the processes and environments that determine the
delivery of water to the moon, where water ice is, and the active
water cycle, future mission planners may be able to better determine
which locations will have easily-accessible water.
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/news/lro-lcross-impact.html

NASA CREATES OFFICE OF THE CHIEF TECHNOLOGIST, EMBARKS ON
TECHNOLOGY-ENABLED FUTURE
NASA created a new Office of the Chief Technologist in February and
named Bobby Braun to lead the effort. A professor of space technology
at Georgia Tech and former engineer at NASA's Langley Research
Center, Braun leads the new Space Technology Initiative targeting
technologies that could be transformational in their ability to
improve the agency's knowledge and capabilities, while reducing cost
and expanding the reach of future aeronautics, science and
exploration missions. In December, NASA provided the National
Research Council (NRC) with 14 technology area roadmaps drafted by
agency experts as NASA works toward a long-range
technology-investment plan. An NRC panel will gather public comments
on the draft technology plans and make recommendations back to NASA
by January 2012.
http://www.nasa.gov/oct

SOCIAL MEDIA AND WEBSITES HELP PUBLIC ENGAGE WITH NASA
NASA expanded its online engagement of the public and was honored to
be recognized as a government leader in social media and web use.
People now can find NASA, the agency's centers, programs and projects
on more than 200 locations across Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, YouTube
and UStream. The agency's website, NASA.gov, won its second
consecutive Webby award in 2010, and was joined this year by two
other Webby-winning NASA sites, NASA Home and City 2.0, and Global
Climate Change. NASA.gov expanded its reach with the release of a new
video player that was used to view six million videos in its first
eight months. A version of the site focusing on breaking news, videos
and social media updates was optimized for mobile devices.
NASA launched partnerships with geolocation services Gowalla and
Foursquare to engage with people at the agency-related sites they
visit. More than four million people have viewed NASA videos on the
agency's YouTube channel. The NASA App now is available for iPhone,
iPad and iPod Touch. NASA also made the online engagement personal by
inviting hundreds of participants to multiple Tweetup events that
provided behind-the-scenes access across the agency. Find all the
ways to connect and collaborate with NASA at:
http://www.nasa.gov/connect

NASA PURSUES NEW AIRCRAFT CONCEPTS AND GREEN AVIATION TECHNOLOGY
NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate focused again in 2010
on green aviation initiatives that seek to reduce aircraft noise,
emissions and fuel consumption, and ensure the safe evolution of the
aviation system. In April, NASA completed an 18-month research effort
to visualize the passenger airplanes of the future. The advanced
concept studies for airplanes that may enter service in 20-25 years
produced exotic new designs for developing airframe and propulsion
technologies enabling significantly quieter, cleaner, and more
fuel-efficient aircraft, with better passenger comfort.
http://www.nasa.gov/topics/aeronautics/features/future_airplanes_index.html

SUMMER OF INNOVATION PROGRAMS FOCUS ON MIDDLE-SCHOOLERS
NASA kicked off a new education initiative called the Summer of
Innovation in June 2010. The program aligns with President Obama's
Educate to Innovate campaign and seeks to keep middle school students
engaged in meaningful science, technology, engineering and math
activities during the summer break. In the 2010 pilot year, NASA
reached more than 78,000 students across the country through more
than 150 events and activities led by NASA and about 130 partners in
13 states and the District of Columbia. Plans for the 2011 Summer of
Innovation program are under way. The agency hopes to significantly
expand the number of participating students as the effort matures and
grows.
http://www.nasa.gov/soi

NASA Television's Video File newsfeed will include items featuring
these top stories beginning at noon EST, Dec. 20. For NASA TV
streaming video, schedules and downlink information, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

Visitors to NASA's website can vote on the top NASA story of the year
at:
http://www.nasa.gov/news/10_YIR_poll.html

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Got $42 mil handy? Get your own Space Shuttle!

In this image provided by NASA the space shuttle Endeavour, fresh from the STS-126 mission and mounted atop its modified Boeing 747 carrier aircraft, flew over California's Mojave Desert on its way back to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday Dec. 10, 2008. NASA's soon-to-be-retired space shuttles are up for grabs. The space agency said Wednesday Dec. 17, 2008 it's looking for ideas on where and how best to display its space shuttles once they stop flying in a few years. Beware: NASA estimates it will cost about $42 million to get each shuttle ready and get it where it needs to go, and the final tab could end up much more. The estimate includes $6 million to ferry the spaceship atop a modified jumbo jet to the closest major airport. (AP Photo/NASA)

NASA's Shuttle Endeavour Launches On Home Improvement Mission

Nov. 14, 2008

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: 08-294

NASA'S SHUTTLE ENDEAVOUR LAUNCHES ON HOME IMPROVEMENT MISSION

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Space shuttle Endeavour and its seven-member
crew lifted off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center at 7:55 p.m. EST
Friday to repair and remodel the International Space Station.

Endeavour's STS-126 mission will carry to space about 32,000 pounds,
which includes supplies and equipment necessary to double the crew
size from three to six members in spring 2009. The new station cargo
includes additional sleeping quarters, a second toilet, a water
reclamation system and a resistance exercise device.

The mission's four planned spacewalks primarily will focus on
servicing the station's two Solar Alpha Rotary Joints, which allow
the outpost's solar arrays to track the sun. The starboard SARJ has
had limited use since September 2007.

Shortly before launch, Commander Chris Ferguson thanked the teams that
helped make the launch possible.

"It's our turn to take home improvement to a new level after 10 years
of International Space Station construction," he said. "Endeavour is
good to go."

Joining Ferguson on Endeavour's 15-day flight are Pilot Eric Boe and
Mission Specialists Donald Pettit, Steve Bowen, Heidemarie
Stefanyshyn-Piper, Shane Kimbrough and Sandra Magnus. Magnus will
replace current station crew member Greg Chamitoff, who has lived on
the outpost since June. She will return to Earth on Discovery's
STS-119 mission, targeted for February 2009.

NASA is providing continuous television and Internet coverage of
Endeavour's mission, which is the 124th shuttle flight, the 22nd for
Endeavour and the 27th shuttle mission to the station. NASA
Television features live mission events, daily mission status news
conferences and 24-hour commentary. NASA TV is webcast at:

http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

NASA's Web coverage of STS-126 includes current mission information,
interactive features, news conference images, graphics and videos.
Mission coverage, including the latest NASA TV schedule, also is
available on the main space shuttle Web site at:

http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle

Daily news conferences with STS-126 mission managers will take place
at NASA's Johnson Space Center, Houston. During normal business hours
of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. EST Monday through Friday, reporters may ask
questions from participating NASA locations. Please contact your
preferred NASA facility by its daily close of business to confirm its
availability before each event.

On Monday, Nov. 17, the mission status briefing at 3:30 p.m. EST will
include NASA's International Space Station Program Manager Mike
Suffredini. He will discuss the station's upcoming 10th anniversary.
The station's first element, the Zarya module, was launched on Nov.
20, 1998. The briefing will originate from Johnson. NASA Television's
Video File will broadcast highlights from the station's past 10
years, beginning at 10 a.m. on Nov. 17.

For NASA TV streaming video, downlink and schedule information, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

Johnson will operate a telephone bridge for media briefings that occur
outside of normal business hours. To be eligible to use this service,
reporters must possess a valid media credential issued by a NASA
center or for the STS-126 mission. Media 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 in which they wish to
participate. Newsroom personnel will verify their credentials and
transfer them to the phone bridge. The capacity of the phone bridge
is limited and will be available on a first-come, first-serve basis.

For information about the International Space Station, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/station

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NASA Teleconference to Replace Televised Dawn Mission Briefing

June 25, 2007

Dwayne Brown
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1726

MEDIA ADVISORY: M07-72

NASA TELECONFERENCE TO REPLACE TELEVISED DAWN MISSION BRIEFING

WASHINGTON - NASA has scheduled a media teleconference at 2:30 p.m.
EDT, Tuesday, June 26, in place of the previously planned media
science briefing about the Dawn mission. Dawn will explore the two
largest objects in the asteroid belt in an effort to answer questions
about the formation of our solar system.

Mission managers will discuss several issues that need to be resolved
before Dawn's July 7-11 launch window. The briefing participants are:

-- Todd May, deputy associate administrator for programs, Science
Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters, Washington

-- Jim Adams, deputy director, Planetary Science Division, Science
Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters, Washington

Media interested in participating in the teleconference should call
888-398-6118. The passcode is "Dawn." Reporters who want to listen
only may call 321-867-1220, 1240 or 1260.

Live audio of the teleconference will be streamed at:

http://www.nasa.gov/newsaudio

For more information about NASA and agency programs, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov

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Shuttle Atlantis Crew Returns Home After Successful Mission

June 22, 2007

John Yembrick
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-0602

George Diller
Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
321-867-2468

RELEASE: 07-142

SHUTTLE ATLANTIS CREW RETURNS HOME AFTER SUCCESSFUL MISSION

EDWARDS, Calif. -- The space shuttle Atlantis and its crew are home
after completing a 14-day journey of more than 5.8 million miles in
space. Atlantis' STS-117 mission successfully increased the power
capability of the International Space Station, preparing for the
future delivery of European and Japanese laboratories.

Atlantis' Commander Rick Sturckow, Pilot Lee Archambault and mission
specialists Jim Reilly, Patrick Forrester, Steven Swanson, John
"Danny" Olivas and Sunita Williams landed at Edwards Air Force Base,
Calif., Friday at 3:49 p.m. EDT.

Atlantis' crew attached the new S3/S4 solar array truss segment on the
right side of the station's backbone, deployed a new set of solar
arrays, and retracted the Port 6 starboard solar array back into its
box. The station has a new look with two symmetrical solar panels
mounted on each end of the station's truss.

Reilly, Olivas, Swanson and Forrester, with the help of crewmates,
made four spacewalks to complete the construction tasks. They
activated the truss segment and the Solar Alpha Rotary Joint, which
allows the new arrays to track the sun, and helped fold the Port 6
array. During the third spacewalk, the crew repaired a 4-by-6 inch
raised corner of a thermal blanket on the port side Orbital
Maneuvering System pod. Aerodynamic forces during Atlantis' ascent
lifted the blanket.

While the crew worked in space, ground teams were troubleshooting a
problem with Russian computers that help control the station's
attitude. Russian specialists worked closely with teams in the United
States to recover the computer capabilities.

NASA astronaut and station Flight Engineer Clayton Anderson, who
launched with the crew aboard Atlantis, remained on the station. He
is scheduled to return home aboard space shuttle Discovery on a
mission targeted for launch in October. Anderson replaced Williams,
who set a new record for a single, long-duration spaceflight by a
woman with 195 days. She arrived at the station in December 2006
aboard space shuttle Discovery.

STS-117 was the 118th space shuttle flight, the 21st flight to the
station, the 28th flight for Atlantis and the first of four missions
planned for 2007.

Several inspections in orbit revealed no critical damage, and
Atlantis' thermal protection system was declared safe for re-entry on
flight day 13. Weather concerns prevented the crew from returning to
NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Fla., the primary end-of-mission landing
site. In 7-10 days, Atlantis will be transported approximately 2,500
miles from California to Florida on the back of a modified 747 jumbo
jet. Once at Kennedy, Atlantis will be separated from the aircraft to
begin immediate processing for its next flight, targeted for December
2007.

With Atlantis and its crew safely home, the stage is set for the next
phase of International Space Station assembly. Preparations continue
for space shuttle Endeavour's launch, targeted for August, on the
STS-118 mission to deliver the S5 truss segment to the station.

For more on the STS-117 mission and the upcoming STS-118 mission,
visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle

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NASA Awards Payload Processing Contract

June 22, 2007

Katherine Trinidad
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-3749

George Diller
Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
321-867-2468

CONTRACT RELEASE: C07-26

NASA AWARDS PAYLOAD PROCESSING CONTRACT

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - NASA's Launch Services Program has awarded a
pair of indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contracts to
Astrotech Space Operations in Titusville, Fla., and Spaceport Systems
International in Colorado Springs, Colo. The companies will provide
the necessary facilities to perform payload processing services for
NASA missions launching from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. The
aggregate value of available firm-fixed-price orders under the two
contracts could be worth up to $35 million over a maximum of four
years, which includes two 1-year options.

Astrotech and Spaceport Systems International will use their
respective Vandenberg facilities to support the final assembly of
spacecraft and encapsulate them before they are taken to the launch
pad. While processing requirements differ depending on the spacecraft
and mission, they usually include final assembly and testing,
integration with a third stage or adapter, propellant loading and
spin balancing. Such tasks typically begin about three months before
the scheduled launch.

Astrotech is a subsidiary of SPACEHAB, Inc., Webster, Texas, and
operates payload processing facilities in Titusville and at
Vandenberg. The company was incorporated in 1984 as a commercial
launch payload processor.

Spaceport Systems International is in partnership with ITT
Corporation, White Plains, N.Y. The company's facilities are used to
process payloads for NASA and commercial interests.

For information about NASA and agency programs, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov

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Simulated Trip to Mars Is Planned

Simulated Trip to Mars Is Planned from PhysOrg.com

(AP) -- If you have planetary vision, want to be on the cutting edge and don't get bored easily, the European Space Agency may be looking for you. It is looking for 12 volunteers for a simulated mission to Mars that will last up to 520 days in "extreme isolation and confinement."[...]

NASA Trying Again to Land Space Shuttle

NASA Trying Again to Land Space Shuttle from PhysOrg.com

(AP) -- NASA managers said they plan to land the space shuttle Atlantis safely Friday, but the weather would determine the time and location.[...]

Moon jobs will tax mental health of workers

Moon jobs will tax mental health of workers from PhysOrg.com

Think your job is tough? Can’t wait for summer vacation to “get away from it all”? Just wait, says a Rutgers University—Camden researcher. In the not-too-distant future, some jobs will challenge workers placed far, far away from it all. On the moon, in fact.[...]

NASA Authorizes Contract for Ares I Materials

June 21, 2007

Beth Dickey/Melissa Mathews
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-2087/1272

Kim Newton
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.
256-544-0034
CONTRACT RELEASE: C07-25

NASA AUTHORIZES CONTRACT FOR ARES I MATERIALS

WASHINGTON -- NASA has authorized a contract with a maximum value of
$16.7 million with Alcoa North American Rolled Products of
Bettendorf, Iowa, to supply aluminum lithium plates and metal ingots
for early development of the Ares I crew launch vehicles upper stage.
The firm fixed-price contract has a period of performance through
Aug. 5, 2008.

Ares I is an in-line, two-stage rocket that will transport to low
Earth orbit the Orion crew exploration vehicle containing up to six
astronauts. The first stage will consist of a single reusable solid
rocket booster similar to those used on the space shuttle, with an
additional fifth segment. The second, or upper, stage will consist of
a J-2X main engine fueled by liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen
propellants.

For information about NASA's Constellation Program, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/constellation

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NASA Announces Space Shuttle Atlantis Landing Times for Friday

June 21, 2007

John Yembrick
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-0602

George Diller
Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
321-867-2468

MEDIA ADVISORY: M07-71

NASA ANNOUNCES SPACE SHUTTLE ATLANTIS LANDING TIMES FOR FRIDAY

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Space shuttle Atlantis' crew members are
spending an extra day in orbit after weather Thursday at the prime
landing site at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Fla., prevented them
from coming home.

The crew will have several opportunities to land Atlantis on Friday:
two at Kennedy and three at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. The
landing times are approximate and subject to change. All times are
EDT:

Primary landing site: Kennedy Space Center
2:18 p.m. landing (de-orbit burn at 1:16 p.m.)
3:54 p.m. landing (de-orbit burn at 2:52 p.m.)

Backup landing site: Edwards Air Force Base
3:49 p.m. landing (de-orbit burn at 2:46 p.m.)
5:24 p.m. landing (de-orbit burn at 4:21 p.m.)
6:59 p.m. landing (de-orbit burn at 5:58 p.m.)

If needed, there are additional landing opportunities Saturday at all
three of the space shuttle's landing sites: Kennedy, Edwards and
White Sands Space Harbor, N.M.

For more on the STS-117 mission, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle

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