NASA Technology Helps Detect and Treat Heart Disease and Strokes

June 6, 2007

David E. Steitz
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1730

Jane Platt
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-354-0880

RELEASE: 07-132

NASA TECHNOLOGY HELPS DETECT AND TREAT HEART DISEASE AND STROKES

PASADENA, Calif. - NASA space technology is helping doctors diagnose
and monitor treatments for hardening of the arteries in its early
stages, before it causes heart attacks and strokes.

Hospitals and doctors around the country are using ArterioVision
software initially developed at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory
(JPL), Pasadena, Calif., along with a standardized, painless,
non-invasive ultrasound examination of the carotid artery, which
carries blood from the heart to the brain.

A standard carotid ultrasound measures plaque and blood flow within
the artery. When an ultrasound is used with the software, the test
measures the thickness of the inner two layers of the carotid artery
- the intima and media. Medical Technologies International, Inc.
(MTI) of Palm Desert, Calif., patented the ArterioVision software.

Arterial thickening provides the earliest evidence of atherosclerosis,
or hardening of the arteries, the beginning stage of a disease
process that leads to heart disease and stroke. Doctors can use this
carotid intima media thickness (CIMT) measurement to calculate the
age of the patient's arteries, which does not always match the
patient's calendar age.

"You may look and feel one way on the outside, but your arteries
actually could be much older than one realizes," said Dr. Howard N.
Hodis of the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern
California, Los Angeles. "Once patients see how thick their arteries
are, there is much more incentive for them to change their lifestyle
with dietary modification and exercise," he said. "Physicians also
can use the test to monitor and change current medications."

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the new diagnostic
tool, called the ArterioVision CIMT procedure. Robert Selzer, MTI
chief engineer, worked in JPL's Image Processing Laboratory for 15
years, where the technology was developed that ultimately led to the
software used in ArterioVision.

"This is such a precise method of examining the carotid artery. It can
distinguish between 256 shades of gray at a subpixel level," Selzer
said. "You need that kind of detail to help catch heart disease as
early as you can, often before there are any outward symptoms."

During the test, a patient lies on an examination table while a
technician applies gel to the neck to image the carotid arteries,
located on both sides of the neck near the skin's surface. The
technician uses an ultrasound machine while following a patented
protocol to capture specific images of the carotid artery wall. Using
the ArterioVision software, the physician generates a CIMT
measurement and a report that identifies the patient's risk profile
when compared to people of the same gender and age.

JPL's Image Processing Laboratory was created in 1966 to receive and
make sense of spacecraft imagery. In the lab, the NASA-invented Video
Imaging Communication and Retrieval software has been used to process
pictures from numerous space missions, including the Voyagers and
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Periodic upgrades of the imaging
software have enabled greater accuracy and improved knowledge of our
solar system, and have laid the groundwork for understanding images
of all kinds.

The ArterioVision test was developed with JPL's Innovative
Partnerships Program, designed to bring benefits of the space program
to the public. "It is exciting to see this NASA-funded technology
grow in sophistication over the years and help in the battle against
one of the nation's leading health issues," said Ken Wolfenbarger,
Innovative Partnerships Program manager at JPL. The American Heart
Association says heart disease is the leading cause of death in the
United States, while strokes are third, behind all forms of cancer.

Gary F. Thompson, chairman and chief executive officer of MTI, says
the test is near and dear to his heart - literally and figuratively.
"I was the first male in my family to reach 50, so I decided to
celebrate by running the Los Angeles marathon, but I had a heart
attack halfway through it and couldn't finish," Thompson said. "None
of the non-invasive tests that I had prior to the marathon detected
my silent heart disease, and I knew there had to be something better
out there."

The California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, which manages JPL
for NASA, licensed the ArterioVision device to MTI. For more
information about ArterioVision, visit:

http://www.i-mti.com

For more information about NASA's Innovative Partnership Programs,
visit:

http://www.ipp.nasa.gov

For information about NASA and agency programs, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov

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NASA Selects IBM for Next-Generation Supercomputer Applications

June 6, 2007

David E. Steitz
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1730

Michael Mewhinney
Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.
650-604-3937

Michael Corrado
IBM Media Relations Supercomputing, Somers, N.Y.
914-766-4635

RELEASE: 07-133

NASA SELECTS IBM FOR NEXT-GENERATION SUPERCOMPUTER APPLICATIONS

MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. - On Wednesday, NASA and IBM, Armonk, N.Y.,
announced the agency has selected an IBM System p575+ supercomputer
for evaluating next-generation technology to meet the agency's future
supercomputing requirements. Supercomputers play a critical role in
many NASA missions, including new space vehicle design, global
climate studies and astrophysics research.

The IBM system is being installed at the NASA Advanced Supercomputing
(NAS) facility at the Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, Calif.,
where it is undergoing testing and evaluation. With 640 computational
cores and a peak performance of approximately 5.6 teraflops, the
system will augment the agency's existing "Columbia" system,
currently ranked as the eighth fastest supercomputer in the world.

A teraflop is a measure of a computer's speed; one teraflop can be
expressed as a trillion floating point operations per second.

"With NASA's high-end computing needs expected to continue during the
next few years, we need to keep pace with improved technologies.
IBM's system meets all the criteria for our base system evaluation,
and working closely with them, we will chart out a successful path
for the NASA supercomputing environment," said Dr. Piyush Mehrotra,
who leads the NAS applications group and is steering the technology
upgrade effort.

The NAS supports scientists and engineers throughout the United States
who work on projects such as designing spacecraft, improving weather
and hurricane models, and understanding the behavior of the sun. Many
NASA projects require large, complex calculations and sophisticated
mathematical models that can be efficiently handled only by a
supercomputer.

"The research undertaken by NASA scientists is allowing engineers to
design and build safer, more advanced spacecraft more quickly than
ever," said Dave Turek, vice president of Deep Computing for IBM.
"Computer simulation technology produces perfect prototypes for
virtual testing, reducing the need for physical testing."

The NAS technology upgrade effort used a comprehensive benchmark suite
to characterize system performance on NASA-relevant applications and
to measure job throughput for a workload in a complex,
high-performance computing environment.

The IBM p575+ supercomputer acquisition is the first of a four-phase
procurement process that eventually will replace the Columbia
supercomputer system. This phased replacement supports the
requirements of the agency Strategic Capabilities Assets Program
(SCAP) High-End Computing Capability to provide supercomputing
capability to meet the needs of NASA's programs and missions.

For more information about NASA Advanced Supercomputing facility,
visit:

http://www.nas.nasa.gov

For information about NASA and agency programs, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov

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A Piece of the Past Hitches a Ride on Next Space Shuttle Mission

June 5, 2007

Allard Beutel
Headquarters, Washington
202-3458-4769

Kathy Barnstorff
Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va.
757-864-9886

Kevin Crossett
Jamestown 2007, Jamestown, Va.
757-253-4534

Elizabeth S. Kostelny
Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities, Richmond, Va.
804-648-1889, ext. 306

RELEASE: 07-131

A PIECE OF THE PAST HITCHES A RIDE ON NEXT SPACE SHUTTLE MISSION

HAMPTON, Va. -- A small piece of early American history will become
the latest space traveler with the liftoff of NASA's space shuttle
Atlantis. Atlantis is scheduled to launch Friday, June 8 at 7:38 p.m.
EDT for the STS-117 mission to the International Space Station.

A nearly 400-year-old metal cargo tag bearing the words "Yames Towne"
and some commemorative mementoes are packed in Atlantis' middeck
floor cargo space for the roundtrip flight to the International Space
Station. Their hitchhike through the galaxy honors this year's 400th
anniversary of Jamestown, Va., the first permanent English settlement
in North America.

"We found the tag at the bottom of a well during a dig at the James
Fort," said William M. Kelso, director of archaeology at Historic
Jamestowne for the Association for the Preservation of Virginia
Antiquities. "It appears to be a discarded shipping tag from a crate
or trunk that arrived from England around 1611. The artifact clearly
marks Jamestown as a destination - our nation's first address."

NASA has teamed with Jamestown 2007 to promote the spirit of
exploration then, now and in the future. The artifacts'
out-of-this-world trip is just one of a number of events held during
the last 18 months that have commemorated the nation's pioneering
spirit.

When the one-inch in diameter artifact lands back on Earth, it will
have logged more than four million miles spanning four centuries. It
will have traveled from England to Jamestown, then to and from the
space station. Two sets of Jamestown commemorative coins, authorized
by Congress and issued by the U.S. Mint, also are on Atlantis.

The cargo tag and coin sets honoring Jamestown were handed over to
NASA's Lesa Roe, director of the Langley Research Center in Hampton,
Va., before they made their way aboard the shuttle. "NASA's proud to
be entrusted with this piece of exploration history and to extend
America's great sense of adventure, exploration and heritage into the
future of space," she said when accepting the priceless artifact.

A $5 gold piece and a silver dollar, both of which depict Jamestown
symbols, make up each commemorative coin set. When returned from
space, NASA will present one set to Virginia Governor Tim Kaine for
display at Jamestown Settlement, a 17th century living history
museum. The second set will be displayed at the National Park
Service's Historic Jamestowne Visitor Center.

NASA will return the shipping tag to Historic Jamestowne where it will
join hundreds of other artifacts in a new archaeological museum
called the Archaearium. Since 1994, archaeologists at the Jamestown
Rediscovery project have dug up more than a million items, including
the long-lost remains of James Fort. For centuries, the fort was
believed to have eroded into the James River.

NASA's vision to return to the moon then venture to Mars and beyond
continues the legacy of exploration and discovery begun 400 years ago
by America's earliest explorers. To learn more about NASA's long-term
exploration goals, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/exploration
For more information about the commemoration of Jamestown's 400th
anniversary, visit:

http://www.americas400thanniversary.com
For more information about Historic Jamestowne, visit:

http://www.historicjamestowne.org
For more information about space shuttle Atlantis' mission to the
space station, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle

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NASA Shuttle Engine Upgrades Improve Safety and Reliability

June 5, 2007

John Yembrick
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-0602

June Malone
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.
256-544-0034

RELEASE: 07-130

NASA SHUTTLE ENGINE UPGRADES IMPROVE SAFETY AND RELIABILITY

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. - A main engine computer upgrade developed by NASA's
Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., will fly on space
shuttle Atlantis during the STS-117 mission, targeted for launch June
8. The upgrade is part of NASA's continuing efforts to improve space
shuttle safety and reliability.

The Advanced Health Management System, or AHMS, will provide new
monitoring and insight into the performance of the two most critical
components of the space shuttle main engine: the high-pressure fuel
turbopump and the high-pressure oxidizer turbopump.

This latest improvement is to the controller, the on-engine computer
that monitors and controls all main engine operations. The
improvement allows an engine to shut down during launch if vibration
levels exceed safe limits. AHMS consists of advanced digital signal
processors, radiation-hardened memory and new software.

AHMS first flew on Discovery's STS-116 mission in December 2006 with a
single controller on one engine, but in monitor-only mode, meaning
AHMS collected and processed vibration data but could not shut down
the engine. AHMS will operate in active mode - the ability to shut
down an engine if an anomaly is detected - on a single engine during
the upcoming STS-117 mission and is scheduled to fly in active mode
on all three engines during the STS-118 mission later this year.

In the event of an engine shut down, the shuttle has several options
available to abort the ascent. They include returning to the launch
site, a transatlantic abort landing, landing at an alternate site in
the United States or rendezvous with the International Space Station.
Each scenario would depend on when an engine shuts down during
flight, the mission trajectory and mission specific requirements,
such as payloads.

The system uses data from three existing sensors, or accelerometers,
mounted on each of the high pressure turbopumps. It measures how much
each pump is vibrating. High-pressure fuel and high-pressure oxidizer
turbopumps rotate at approximately 34,000 revolutions per minute and
23,000 revolutions per minute, respectively. To operate at such
extreme speeds, the turbopumps are equipped with highly specialized
bearings and precisely balanced components. Output data from the
accelerometers is routed to the new digital signal processors
installed in the main engine controller. These processors analyze the
sensor readings 20 times each second, looking for vibration anomalies
that are indicative of impending failure of rotating turbopump
components such as blades, impellers, inducers and bearings. If the
magnitude of any vibration anomaly exceeds safe limits, the upgraded
main engine controller would shut down the unhealthy engine
immediately.

"The Space Shuttle Main Engine Project has, for many years, pursued a
reliable means to monitor high-pressure turbomachinery health in real
time," said Tim Kelley, deputy manager of the Space Shuttle Main
Engine Project Office. "AHMS provides that capability and
significantly improves shuttle flight safety."

AHMS is the sixth major upgrade to space shuttle main engines since
the first shuttle flight in 1981. The series of shuttle main engine
enhancements have increased safety and reliability through such
improvements as the addition of a two-duct powerhead, a single-coil
heat exchanger, a new high-pressure oxidizer turbopump, a
large-throat main combustion chamber and a new high-pressure fuel
turbopump.

The shuttle's three main engines start approximately 6.5 seconds prior
to lift-off. Once running, the solid rocket boosters ignite, and
lift-off occurs. During ascent, the solid rocket boosters burn for
approximately 120 seconds and are then jettisoned. The shuttle, still
attached to the external tank with three main engines running,
continues ascent until main engine cut-off at 510 seconds, or eight
and one-half minutes after liftoff - long enough to burn more than
500,000 gallons of fuel. The engines shut down just before the
shuttle, traveling at about 17,000 mph, reaches orbit. The three main
engines are never restarted during the mission, re-entry or landing.
The shuttle returns to Earth as a glider.

Space shuttle main engines operate at greater temperature extremes
than any mechanical system in common use today. These powerful
engines are clustered at the aft end of the shuttle and have a
combined thrust of more than 1.2 million pounds. Each is 14 feet
long, is seven and one-half feet in diameter at the nozzle exit,
weighs approximately 7,750 pounds and generates more than 12 million
horsepower.

For information about the space shuttle program, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle

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NASA Spacecraft Ready for Science-Rich Encounter With Venus

June 4, 2007

Tabatha Thompson
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-3895

Paulette Campbell
Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Md.
240-228-6792

RELEASE: 07-129

NASA SPACECRAFT READY FOR SCIENCE-RICH ENCOUNTER WITH VENUS

WASHINGTON - NASA's MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry,
and Ranging (MESSENGER) spacecraft will make its closest pass to
Venus on Tuesday, June 5. This will place the spacecraft on target
for a flyby of Mercury in January 2008. MESSENGER will be the first
probe to visit the innermost planet in more than 30 years.

Threading its path through an aim point 209 miles above the surface of
Venus, MESSENGER will use the pull of the planet's gravity to guide
it closer to Mercury. During this flyby, Venus's gravity will change
the spacecraft's direction around the sun and decelerate it from 22.7
to 17.3 miles per second.

"Typically, spacecraft have used planetary flybys to speed toward the
outer solar system," said Andy Calloway, MESSENGER mission operations
manager, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL),
Laurel, Md. "MESSENGER, headed in the opposite direction, needs to
slow down enough to slip into orbit around Mercury."

This will be MESSENGER's second pass by Venus. During its first flyby
of the planet, in October 2006, no scientific observations were made.
Venus was at superior conjunction, placing it on the opposite side of
the sun from Earth, leading to a two-week radio contact blackout
between the spacecraft and its operators. This upcoming encounter
offers opportunities for new observations of Venus's atmosphere,
cloud structure, space environment and perhaps even its surface. The
spacecraft will train most of its instruments on Venus during the
upcoming encounter.

"During the flyby we'll ensure that the spacecraft and payload remain
healthy, calibrate several of the science instruments, and practice
many of the observations planned for the Mercury flybys," said Sean
Solomon, MESSENGER principal investigator and planetary scientist at
the Carnegie Institution of Washington.

The team plans to image the upper cloud layers at visible and
near-infrared wavelengths for comparison with earlier spacecraft
observations. Magnetic field and charged particle observations will
be made to characterize the solar wind interaction with Venus and
search for solar wind pick-up ions. Ultraviolet-visible and X-ray
spectrometry will permit detailed observations of the composition of
the upper atmosphere, and MESSENGER will search for lightning on the
Venus night side.

MESSENGER will join the European Venus Express spacecraft, currently
orbiting Venus, to make new observations of the Venus environment. To
understand fully how solar wind plasma affects and controls the Venus
ionosphere and nearby plasma dynamics, simultaneous measurements are
needed of the interplanetary conditions and the particle-and-field
characteristics at Venus. The combined MESSENGER and Venus Express
observations will be the first opportunity to conduct such
two-spacecraft measurements.

"By coordinating and comparing these observations, we will be able to
maximize the science from both missions and potentially learn things
that would not be revealed by one set of observations alone," said
APL's Ralph McNutt, MESSENGER project scientist.

MESSENGER is only the second spacecraft to set sights on Mercury.
NASA's Mariner 10 sailed past the planet three times in 1974 and 1975
and took detailed images of about 45 percent of the surface. Carrying
seven scientific instruments on its compact and durable composite
frame, MESSENGER will provide the first images of the entire planet.
The mission also will collect detailed information on the composition
and structure of Mercury's crust, its geologic history, the nature of
its thin atmosphere and active magnetosphere, as well as the makeup
of its core and polar materials.

Launched in August 2004, MESSENGER has completed more than 40 percent
of its 4.9-billion mile journey to Mercury, which includes 15 loops
around the sun. An Earth flyby one year after launch and a large
propulsive maneuver in December 2005 set the spacecraft on course for
the first Venus flyby in October 2006.

Next up for MESSENGER is a trio of swings past Mercury, in January and
October 2008 and September 2009. During these flybys, the probe will
map most of the planet and determine surface and atmospheric
composition. These data will be used to help plan priorities for the
yearlong orbital mission, which begins in March 2011.

The MESSENGER project is the seventh in NASA's Discovery Program of
lower-cost, scientifically focused space missions. The Applied
Physics Laboratory built and operates the MESSENGER spacecraft and
manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate,
Washington.

For the latest news and images about the MESSENGER mission, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/messenger

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NASA Updates Space Shuttle Atlantis Prelaunch Events

June 1, 2007

John Yembrick
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-0602

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

MEDIA ADVISORY: M07-62

NASA UPDATES SPACE SHUTTLE ATLANTIS PRELAUNCH EVENTS

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - News conferences, events and operating hours
for NASA's Kennedy Space Center News Center are set for the scheduled
June 8 launch of space shuttle Atlantis on the STS-117 mission to the
International Space Station. Liftoff is slated for 7:38 p.m. EDT.

On Monday, June 4, the seven Atlantis crew members are scheduled to
arrive at the Kennedy Space Center at 6:30 p.m. EDT. Media planning
to cover the event must be at the News Center by 5 p.m. for
transportation to the Shuttle Landing Facility. Commander Rick
Sturckow will make a brief statement to the media. NASA Television
will air live coverage of the arrival and Sturckow's remarks.

NASA TV also will broadcast live countdown status briefings and news
conferences June 5-8. Complete listings of news briefing times,
participants, Kennedy News Center and media credentialing hours of
operation are available in the online version of this media advisory
at:

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/news/index.html

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

http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

For the latest information about the STS-117 crew and mission, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle

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NASA Starts Space Shuttle Atlantis Countdown June 5

June 1, 2007

John Yembrick
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-0602

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

MEDIA ADVISORY: M07-61

NASA STARTS SPACE SHUTTLE ATLANTIS COUNTDOWN JUNE 5

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - NASA will start the launch countdown for space
shuttle Atlantis' STS-117 mission at 9 p.m. EDT Tuesday, June 5, at
the T-43 hour point. The countdown includes 27 hours, 32 minutes of
built-in hold time leading to a preferred launch time at
approximately 7:38 p.m. EDT Friday, June 8. The launch window extends
an additional five minutes.

During the 11-day mission, Atlantis' crew will resume construction of
the International Space Station, working with the station crew to
install the girder-like S3/S4 truss segment, unfold a new set of
solar arrays and retract one array on the starboard side of the
station.

A detailed list of launch countdown milestones and times is available
at:

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/news/index.html

This mission is the 118th space shuttle flight, the 28th flight for
Atlantis and the 21st U.S. flight to the International Space Station.
STS-117 is scheduled to land at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Fla., on
Tuesday, June 19.

Atlantis' last mission was STS-115 in September 2006. For the upcoming
STS-117 mission, Atlantis rolled out to Launch Pad 39-A from
Kennedy's Vehicle Assembly Building on May 15. Atlantis originally
was targeted for launch in March, but a hail storm damaged foam
insulation on the shuttle's external fuel tank and forced managers to
roll the spacecraft back into the Vehicle Assembly Building to make
repairs. With the refurbishment of Pad 39-A, this launch will be the
first from the pad in four years.

STS-117 Commander Rick Sturckow, Pilot Lee Archambault and mission
specialists Jim Reilly, Patrick Forrester, Steven Swanson, John
"Danny" Olivas and Clayton Anderson are scheduled to arrive at the
Kennedy Space Center on June 4.

Expedition 15 Flight Engineer Sunita Williams will return to Earth
from the space station aboard Atlantis. The flight will carry
Expedition 15/16 Flight Engineer Clayton Anderson to the station. He
will return home aboard space shuttle Discovery on mission STS-120.

For more information about the STS-117 crew and mission to the space
station, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle

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