NASA Unveils New Space-Weather Science Tool

When NASA's satellite operators need accurate, real-time space-weather information, they turn to the Community Coordinated Modeling Center (CCMC) of the Space Weather Laboratory at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. The CCMC’s newest and most advanced space-weather science tool is the Integrated Space Weather Analysis (iSWA) system.

The iSWA is a robust, integrated system provides information about space weather conditions past, present, and future and, unlike many other programs currently in use, has an interface that the user can customize to suit a unique set of data requirements.

"The iSWA space-weather data analysis system offers a unique level of customization and flexibility to maintain, modify, and add new tools and data products as they become available," says Marlo Maddox, iSWA system chief developer at NASA Goddard.

iSWA draws together information about conditions from the sun to the boundary of the sun’s influence, known as the heliosphere. The iSWA systems digests information from spacecraft including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES), NASA’s Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO), the joint European Space Agency and NASA mission Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), and NASA's Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE).

Citizen scientists and science enthusiasts can also use the data, models, and tools of the iSWA system. Similar to the way in which armchair astronomers have used SOHO data to discover comets, enthusiasts will find the iSWA system a wonderful resource for increasing their familiarity with the concept of space weather.

“We are continuously evolving the iSWA system, and we hope that it will benefit not only NASA satellite operators, but also that it may also help space-weather forecasting at other agencies such as the Air Force Weather Agency and NOAA," says Michael Hesse, chief of the Space Weather Laboratory at NASA Goddard.

Space-weather information tends to be scattered over various Web sites. NASA Goddard space physicist Antti Pulkkinen says the iSWA system represents “the most comprehensive single interface for general space-weather-related information,” providing data on past and current space-weather events. The system allows the user to configure or design custom displays of the information.

This sequence of images is from a computer animation illustrating an artist's concept of Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) cannibalism. Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) are clouds of electrified, magnetic gas weighing billions of tons ejected from the sun and hurled into space with speeds ranging from 12 to 1,250 miles per second (about 20 to 2,000 kilometers per second). Solar researchers believe cannibal CMEs may be the source of 'complex ejecta' CME clouds; those with a larger and more complex structure than typical CMEs. These traits cause complex ejecta CMEs to trigger protracted magnetic storms when they envelop Earth. NASA's iSWA system is designed to collect and store data about space-weather activity like CMEs. Credit: NASA

The system compiles data about conditions on the sun, in Earth's magnetosphere -- the protective magnetic field that envelops our planet -- and down to Earth's surface. It provides a user interface to provide NASA's satellite operators and with a real-time view of space weather. In addition to NASA, the iSWA system is used by the Air Force Weather agency.

Access to space-weather information that combines data from state-of-the-art space-weather models with concurrent observations of the space environment provides a powerful tool for users to obtain a personalized “quick look” at space-weather information, detailed insight into space-weather conditions, as well as tools for historical analysis of the space-weather’s impact.

Development of the iSWA system has been a joint activity between the Office of the Chief Engineer at NASA Headquarters and the Applied Engineering and Technology Directorate and the Science and Exploration Directorate at NASA Goddard. The iSWA system is located at NASA Goddard.

The Community Coordinated Modeling Center is funded by the Heliophysics Division in the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters, and the National Science Foundation.

Related Link:

› iSWA space-weather forecasting tool Web site

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/topics/technology/features/iswa-program.html

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Giving Teachers the Tools to Inspire

Teachers found themselves on the other side of the desk this week as they played the part of student, participating in workshops and learning how to get students psyched about science during the second annual NASA STEM Educators Workshop series in Charlotte, N.C.

The three-day free workshop held at the IBM Center consisted of 40 sessions that offered elementary, middle and high school teachers creative and hands-on ways to incorporate NASA content into their classrooms.

For elementary teacher Nancy Brooks from Kannapolis, N.C., it didn't take long to find something that would spark her students' interest.

During a workshop Brooks learned how to make an end effector, which in robotics is the device at the end of a robot arm.

"It only took two Styrofoam cups, string, tape, and a little bit of practice," said Brooks who planned on having her students complete the same project the very next day.

"There are so many resources and activities here that I can take back with me and use to motivate my students to dig a little deeper," she continued.

Dynae Fullwood, aerospace education specialist from NASA's Langley Research Center, said the workshops are specifically designed to give teachers tangible resources for immediate use in the classrooms.

Fifth-grade science teacher Sharie Lanning-Lester of Crown Point Elementary in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School system participates in a workshop given by Karen Ricks of NASA Langley through the Digital Learning Network. Credit: NASA/Sean Smith

"We know teachers face an everyday challenge to make concepts exciting and interesting for students," Fullwood said.

In the hands-on lab elementary and middle school teachers examined robots and did their best to follow the instructions of their teacher Taunya Sweet, a traveling education specialist for NASA's Aerospace Education Services Project (AESP).

Similar to students, the teachers were anxious to get started and play with their robot.

"Don't touch them," cautioned Sweet. "I know these robots are interesting, but wait until after we observe them to turn them on."

In another classroom, teachers in the video conferencing lab listened as Karen Ricks from NASA Langley's Digital Learning Network discussed "Traveling to Space" over a live digital feed. Just down the hall, NASA exhibits encouraged teachers to make Post Cards from space and find their "space weight."

The sessions culminated with a guest appearance from Astronaut Leland Melvin, who only the day before gave an inspiring speech to hundreds of middle school students at the CIAA Education Day, about "living your dreams."

Melvin, who got his start in fiber optic sensors at NASA Langley and went on to become an astronaut with two missions under his belt, appealed to the teachers as a fellow educator himself.

As the co-manager of NASA's Educator Astronaut Program, Melvin travels across the country engaging students and teachers in the excitement of space exploration. He also came from a family of educators. Both of his parents were teachers.

"My dad, the educator, was my role model, my inspiration," he said.

He encouraged teachers to find their own inspiration and to continue inspire and be role models for the next generation.

Tracie Hall, an elementary school teacher from North Carolina, and Garrison Hall, a middle school teacher from South Carolina, work together to program a robot during a workshop. Credit: NASA/Sean Smith

"We need to keep the kids excited about STEM subjects," he said to a round of applause.

Melvin stressed the importance education played in his life even when he was on track to play football in NFL.

"I always had a back-up plan," Melvin said. "And that plan was education."

A pulled hamstring thwarted Melvin's dreams of playing for the Dallas Cowboys, but his enrollment in graduate school at the University of Virginia kept him on track to realize his dreams, which turned to be helping others find theirs.

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/topics/nasalife/features/2010ciaa.html

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CIAA Education Day 2010

Wednesday was about dreaming. Not day-dreaming, but the kind that will open up doors to colleges, universities, careers and most importantly futures -- maybe even with NASA.

Hundreds of middle and high school students from Charlotte packed the area's Convention Center ballroom on Wednesday as part of the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association's (CIAA) 2010 Education Day, sponsored by NASA.

NASA astronaut Leland Melvin speaks to middle school students at CIAA Education Day 2010

The CIAA, based in Hampton, Va., is America's oldest historically black college and university conference, and is made up of 11 colleges and universities along the Eastern Seaboard, including Chowan University, Elizabeth City State University, Virginia State University, and Shaw University, among others.

he morning was geared to inspire students, especially middle schoolers, who might not otherwise think about higher education opportunities, or careers, so early in the game.

Pumping up the students for the days events was Bowie State University from Maryland whose marching band, mascot, cheerleaders and dance squad had students engaged from the get-go.

Charles Ramie, a senior physics major at VSU, mingled in the crowd, helping students find their way and stopping to get a photograph with Melvin before the program began.

Ramie, who is considering interning at NASA said, "I think it's fundamental to reach middle school students when it comes to their future. I wish someone would have told me to get my stuff together when I was that young.

Astronaut Leland Melvin speaks to hundreds of middle school students during the NASA-sponsored CIAA Education Day in Charlotte, N.C. on Wed., Feb. 24. Director of Education, Roger Hathaway, and Director of University Affairs, Thom Pinelli, both from NASA's Langley Research Center look on. Credit: NASA/Sean Smith

"I really think this event will help push them to pursue higher education," he continued.

For Charlotte teachers, Education Day meant giving their students an opportunity to think toward the future and at the same time to give them the opportunity to learn more about NASA.

"I hope this event will create a sense of urgency and will spark the students' interest," said Tuere Forbes, a guidance counselor with Southwest Middle School in Charlotte. "Hopefully this experience will get the students to take what they are involved in more seriously.

Roger Hathaway, director of education at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., gave the opening remarks. He told students: "This could be your first day to realize your dreams. The nation's workforce is counting on you. We need students like you, doing the math, doing the science."

Astronaut Leland Melvin, who got his start in fiber optic sensors at NASA Langley, was the guest speaker. Melvin took the stage and mesmerized students with his life's journey. His message, "Live your dreams."

Virginia State University students Jaren Kelly, Ta'Keisha Martin and Charles Ramey buddy up with Astronaut Leland Melvin during the NASA-sponsored CIAA Education Day in Charlotte, N.C. VSU students were on-hand hoping to inspire middle schoolers to pursue higher education. Credit: NASA/Sean Smith

From football player to chemist to the NFL to graduate school, Melvin had quite the ride to becoming an astronaut.

He urged students to believe in themselves and to "live your dream" no matter what it is.

"Whether you want to be an astronaut, lawyer, college student, or Ph.D., you can do anything," he said.

Under President Obama's Educate to Innovate campaign, it is NASA's goal to increase the number of scientists, mathematicians and engineers, with an emphasis on broadening the participation of minority students.

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/topics/nasalife/features/ciaa2010.html

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NASA Ground-Breaking Unearths New Generation of Deep Space Network Antennas

PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA officials broke ground near Canberra, Australia on Wednesday, Feb. 24, beginning a new antenna-building campaign to improve Deep Space Network communications.

Following the recommendations of an independent study, NASA embarked on an ambitious project to replace its aging fleet of 70-meter-wide (230-foot-wide) dishes with a new generation of 34-meter (112-foot) antennas by 2025.

The three 70-meter antennas, located at the NASA Deep Space Network complexes at Goldstone, Calif., Madrid, Spain, and Canberra, are more than 40 years old and show wear and tear from constant use.

The new antennas, known as "beam wave guide" antennas, can be used more flexibly, allowing the network to operate on several different frequency bands within the same antenna. Their electronic equipment is more accessible, making maintenance easier and less costly. The new antennas also can receive higher-frequency, wider-bandwidth signals known as the "Ka band." This band, required for new NASA missions approved after 2009, allows the newer antennas to carry more data than the older ones.

NASA's Deep Space Network in Canberra, Australia. Image credit: NASA/JPL/CDSCC

In the first phase of the project near Canberra, NASA expects to complete the building of up to three 34-meter antennas by 2018. The decision to begin construction came on the 50th anniversary of U.S. and Australian cooperation in space tracking operations.

"There is no better way to celebrate our 50 years of collaboration and partnership in exploring the heavens with the government of Australia than our renewed commitment and investment in new capabilities required for the next five decades," said Badri Younes, deputy associate administrator for Space Communications and Navigation at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

Space Communications and Navigation is responsible for managing all NASA space communications and navigation resources and their operations. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the agency's Deep Space Network, an important component of the agency's space communications resources.

NASA's goal is to integrate all NASA communications resources into a unified, far more capable network. Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization manages the communication complex near Canberra for NASA.

NASA officials break ground on new antennas at the Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex in Australia, part of NASA's Deep Space Network. Image credit: NASA/JPL/CDSCC

A number of NASA officials were on hand. They are, left to right (in the second image): Miguel Marina, JPL's 34-meter implementation manager, Peter Vrotsos, director of network Services at NASA Headquarters, Badri Younes, deputy associate administrator for space communications and navigation at NASA Headquarters, Megan Clark, CEO of the Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), Alex Zelinsky, group executive for information services at CSIRO, Miriam Baltuck, director of the Canberra Deep Space Communications Complex, US Ambassador Jeffrey Bleich, William Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for space operations at NASA Headquarters, Charles Elachi, director of JPL. The new antennas will improve communications with spacecraft traveling the reaches of deep space and are part of an eventual plan to replace the network's 40-year-old workhorse 70-meter-wide (230-foot-wide) antennas. The first phase will take place at the complex near Canberra. The Deep Space Network is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.

The California Institute of Technology in Pasadena manages JPL for NASA.

More information about the Deep Space Network is online at: http://deepspace.jpl.nasa.gov. More information about NASA's Space Communication and Navigation Program is at: https://www.spacecomm.nasa.gov/spacecomm/.

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/topics/technology/features/dsn20100225.html

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Former NASA Ames Employee Wants Energy to Bloom Throughout the World

K.R. Sridhar used to spend his time as a researcher at NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif., looking at the sky and dreaming of ways to sustain life on Mars. Now, CEO of Bloom Energy, Sridhar heads a company that just unveiled new technology that could make energy cleaner, cheaper, more reliable and accessible to everyone in the world.

The journey from NASA to Bloom Energy started with Sridhar and a small team of university researchers working to build a fuel cell powered module to go to Mars. When their NASA project ended, the team left academic life, opened a research and development office in NASA Research Park, and began working to commercialize the fuel cell technology with a new company, ION America, which became Bloom Energy.

K.R. Sridhar holds the fuel cell technology that is equivalent to 25 watts of power. Photo Credit: Bloom Energy

"NASA is a tremendous environment for encouraging innovation - it's all about solving problems that are seemingly unsolvable. After realizing that we could make oxygen on Mars, making electrons on Earth seemed far less daunting. We're grateful to NASA for giving us a challenge with serendipitous impact for mankind," said Sridhar.

Invented over a century ago, fuel cells have been used in practically every NASA mission since the 1960s. However, they have not gained widespread acceptance because of their inherently high cost. Traditional fuel cell technology used precious metals but this technology uses sand. Sand is inexpensive, which Sridhar asserts makes the Bloom Energy technology affordable and easy to mass produce.

As more people consume more energy, Sridhar became aware that the world was heading in the wrong direction. “We would be handing our children and their children a broken planet," ventured Sridhar. “I didn’t want to sit on the sidelines and do nothing." Sridhar believed that conservation alone was not enough and that there was a “calling to our generation to find a different way to create energy."

Bloom Energy servers at eBay. Each server is the equivalent size of one parking spot. Photo Credit: Bloom Energy

"To make clean reliable energy affordable for everyone in the world," is the mission of Bloom Energy. "One in three humans lives without power," Sridhar asserted. "Energy demand exceeds supply. Global population is growing quickly." Keeping these three facts in mind, Sridhar is working to bring energy to parts of the world that don’t have power.

On Feb. 24, 2010, Bloom Energy held a press conference at the eBay town hall in San Jose, Calif. “This is a day that I have been looking forward to for a long time,” Sridhar commented. Representatives from companies that were early adapters attended, including Larry Page from Google, Inc., Bill Simon from Walmart, Brian Kelly from The Coca-Cola Company, and John Donahoe of eBay, Inc.

Former secretary of state, Colin Powell, and Arnold Schwarzeneggar, California governor, also attended the event. “This technology is an excellent example of the wave of green innovation washing over the state of California,” said Schwarzeneggar. "He [Sridhar] is someone shaping the future of energy not just for California but for the world."

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/topics/technology/features/bloom_energy.html

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"History Detectives" Investigate the Case of the Mylar Mystery

There is a mystery afoot at Goddard - the case of the mylar mystery to be exact. On January 11, 2010, "History Detective" Tukufu Zuberi, from the PBS show "The History Detectives," came to Goddard to investigate a mystery. "The History Detectives" show asks viewers to submit unusual objects or clues with a possible historical interest and then selects one as the basis of investigating an historical mystery.

In our case, Zuberi had one clue, a small, unassuming, silver sample of mylar with pink residue on one side. The mystery to be solved was whether or not this bit of mylar was from Goddard’s Echo II satelloon project. Satelloons are a combination of satellites and balloons which were constructed out of bright, metallic mylar for increased visibility.

Debbie Thomas cuts the sample to be tested during a visit from PBS's History Detectives. Credit: NASA/Debbie McCallum

During the early 1960’s, Goddard launched the Echo I and Echo II satelloon projects. The Echo projects were instrumental in letting the world see that the U.S. was a major force in the space race not very far behind Russia. Among the many contributions of the Echo programs are the first voice communication via satellite which was made by none other than then President Eisenhower and the first coast-to-coast telephone call using a satellite. In addition, the Echo programs resulted in advances in atmospheric density, solar pressure, gossamer structures, solar sailing, and transmitting videos via satellites.

NASA's first communication satellite, Echo, was a giant mylar balloon, 100 feet in diameter, that could "bounce" a radio signal from one ground station to another. Credit: NASA

History Detective Zuberi turned to retired NASA engineer and self-professed Echo satelloon historian Ron Muller for help in solving the mylar mystery. He received additional assistance in the form of testing from four members of Goddard’s Materials Engineering Branch including Michael Viens, Alejandro Montoya, Debbie Thomas, and Marjorie Sovinski.

Debbie Thomas and "History Detective" Tukufu Zuberi in a lab at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. Credit: NASA/Debbie McCallum

So, what did History Detective Zuberi and his Goddard colleagues determine? Was the silver bit of mylar from our Echo II satelloon project? For the answers to these and other questions regarding the case of the mylar mystery, stay tuned to watch a future episode of "The History Detectives" airing on PBS in the summer of 2010.

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/news/features/2010/mylar-mystery.html

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NASA's Space Shuttle Program Successfully Conducts Final Motor Test in Utah

NASA's Space Shuttle Program conducted the final test firing of a reusable solid rocket motor Feb. 25 in Promontory, Utah.

The flight support motor, or FSM-17, burned for approximately 123 seconds -- the same time each reusable solid rocket motor burns during an actual space shuttle launch. Preliminary indications show all test objectives were met. After final test data are analyzed, results for each objective will be published in a NASA report.

ATK Launch Systems, a unit of Alliant Techsystems Inc., in Promontory, north of Salt Lake City, manufactures and tests the solid rocket motors.

Final test firing of reusable solid rocket motor FSM-17 on Feb. 25 in Promontory, Utah. Image Credit: NASA

The test -- the 52nd conducted for NASA by ATK – marks the closure of a test program that has spanned more than three decades. The first test was in July 1977. The ATK-built motors have successfully launched the space shuttle into orbit 129 times.

"Today's test was a great deal more than the successful conclusion to a series of highly successful NASA/ATK-sponsored static tests that began more than three decades ago," said David Beaman, Reusable Solid Rocket Booster project manager at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. The project, part of the Space Shuttle Propulsion Office, is responsible for motor design, development, manufacturing, assembly, testing and flight performance.

Smoke curls into the Utah skies as FSM-17 completes its successful test firing. Image Credit: NASA

"These tests have built a base of engineering knowledge that continued engineering development of the reusable solid rocket motor system and the continued safe and successful launch of space shuttles," Beaman said. "They have provided an engineering model and lessons learned for additional applications in future launch systems."

The final test was conducted to ensure the safe flight of the four remaining space shuttle missions. A total of 43 design objectives were measured through 258 instrument channels during the two-minute static firing. The flight motor tested represents motors that will be used for all remaining space shuttle launches.

Flight Support Motor-17, the final solid rocket ground test motor of the Space Shuttle program. Image Credit: ATK

The space shuttle's reusable solid rocket motor is the largest solid rocket motor ever flown, the only one rated for human flight and the first designed for reuse. Each shuttle launch requires the boost of two reusable solid rocket motors to lift the 4.5-million-pound shuttle vehicle.

Mist surrounds Flight Support Motor-17 prior to a successful test on Feb. 25 in Promontory, Utah. Image Credit: NASA

During space shuttle flights, solid rocket motors provide 80 percent of the thrust during the first two minutes of flight. Each motor, the primary component of the shuttle's twin solid rocket boosters, generates an average thrust of 2.6 million pounds and is just over 126 feet long and 12 feet in diameter.

For more information about the Space Shuttle Program, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/behindscenes/final_motor_test.html

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ICESat's Notable Moments in Science

Over the last decade, NASA has launched a series of satellites to monitor the health of our planet. One such satellite -- the Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite (ICESat) -- has provided a sustained, big-picture look at ice thickness at Earth's polar regions.

Now, after seven years in orbit and 15 laser-operation campaigns, ICESat has stopped collecting science data. The last of three lasers on the satellite's Geoscience Laser Altimeter System (GLAS) ceased emitting light on Oct. 11, 2009. Attempts to restart the lasers have ended, and NASA is pursing options for satellite decommissioning.

"ICESat's loss is disappointing and it comes at a critical time," said Tom Wagner, cryosphere program manager at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "But we can't lose sight of the fact that ICESat and its team of talented scientists and engineers helped us see the Earth's polar ice caps in a new way. Those observations are feeding a new generation of models to help us figure out where the planet is headed.‬‪‬‪"

Artist's concept of ICESat. Credit: NASA

As the world's first laser-altimeter satellite, ICESat has measured Earth's surface and atmosphere in "unprecedented 3-D detail," said Jay Zwally, ICESat's project scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. "ICESat has been an outstanding success, despite disappointing limitations in the laser lifetimes. Scientific advances have been made in measuring changes in the mass of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets, polar sea ice thickness, vegetation-canopy heights, and the heights of clouds and aerosols."

In the Arctic, for example, scientists used ICESat to map Greenland's dramatic surface elevation, rising to 4,000 meters above sea level. They watched as thin, seasonal sea ice replaced thick, older sea ice as the dominant type in the Arctic Ocean. In Antarctica, scientists achieved a comprehensive inventory of lakes that actively drain or fill under the ice. At both poles, they have tracked glaciers along the coast of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets as they empty into the sea.

Despite the end of ICESat's mission, NASA's observations of Earth's polar regions continue. Operation Ice Bridge began in 2009, becoming the largest airborne survey of Earth's polar ice ever flown. For the next five years, instruments on NASA aircraft will target areas of rapid change to yield an unprecedented 3-D view of Arctic and Antarctic ice sheets, ice shelves, and sea ice. The mission will bridge the gap in satellite data until the launch of ICESat-2, planned for 2015.

"Operation Ice Bridge is allowing us to get much higher resolution data over smaller, targeted regions," said Lora Koenig of NASA Goddard, and acting project scientist for the Ice Bridge mission.

Scientists used ICESat data to show changes in elevation over the Greenland ice sheet between 2003 and 2006. Credit: NASA/Goddard's Scientific Visualization Studio

Targeted information from aircraft combined with the broad and consistent coverage from satellites contribute to a more complete understanding of Earth's response to climate change, helping scientists make better predictions of what the future might hold.

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/icesat/notable-moments.html

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Engineer Chris Randall Honored With 'Trailblazer' Award for Mentoring Students in Fields Crucial to NASA Missions

Marshall Space Flight Center aerospace engineer Chris Randall was honored Feb. 18 for his career achievements, including mentoring minority students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics -- fields crucial to NASA missions.

Randall, a Chicago native, received the "Trailblazer" award at the Black Engineer of the Year Awards ceremony in Baltimore.

Randall supports the design and development of various propulsion system components for launch vehicles. In addition to his engineering duties, he works with the Marshall Center's Office of Academic Affairs as a mentor and recruiting assistant. A graduate of Alabama A&M University in Huntsville, he helps students there with senior engineering design projects, and emphasizes the importance of technology-driven careers.

"I think it's important to spread the word to young minority students interested in technical fields of study that there are so many terrific opportunities -- including what we do here at Marshall," Randall said. "Students need positive role models who will help them get exposure to and learn about careers in science, technology, engineering and math."

Chris Randall. Image Credit: NASA/MSFC

Randall also is a participant in the NASA leadership development program called NASA’s Foundations of Influence, Relationships, Success and Teamwork program, or "FIRST."

He became a co-op at the Marshall Center in 2005, and joined the center full-time after he graduated from college in 2006. Randall has worked on life support systems for the International Space Station, component design and development for the Ares I rocket and supported the space shuttle program at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Fla.

He was nominated for the "Trailblazer" award by his supervisor, Kevin Ward.

"Chris has demonstrated extraordinary dedication and enthusiasm in efforts to motivate, encourage and inspire students to pursue technical careers," Ward said. "He has done this while serving as an excellent employee in the challenging field of aerospace engineering. Chris truly is a trailblazer -- creating paths for others."

The Black Engineer of the Year Awards are presented annually during the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math Global Competitiveness Conference. Since 1986, the conference has recognized the outstanding achievements of black professionals in companies across America.

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/topics/people/features/chris_randall.html

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Temperature Trackers Watch Our Watery World

Climatologists have long known that human-produced greenhouse gases have been the dominant drivers of Earth's observed warming since the start of the Industrial Revolution. But other factors also affect our planet's temperature. Of these, the ocean plays a dominant role. Its effects helped nudge global temperatures slightly higher in 2009, and, according to NASA scientists, could well contribute to making 2010 the warmest year on record.

Covering 71 percent of our planet's surface, the ocean acts as a global thermostat, storing energy from the sun, keeping Earth's temperature changes moderate and keeping climate change gradual. In fact, the ocean can store as much heat in its top three meters (10 feet) as the entire atmosphere does.

"The vast amount of heat stored in the ocean regulates Earth's temperature, much as a flywheel regulates the speed of an engine," said Bill Patzert, an oceanographer and climatologist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. "The ocean has a long history of capturing and giving up heat generated by both human activities and natural cycles; it is the thermal memory of the climate system."

Heat and moisture from the ocean are constantly exchanged with Earth's atmosphere in a process that drives our weather and climate. Scientists at NASA and elsewhere use a variety of direct and satellite-based measurements to study the interactions between the ocean and atmosphere.

"These interactions result in large-scale global climate effects, the largest of which is the El Niño-Southern Oscillation," explained Josh Willis, a JPL oceanographer and climate scientist. This climate pattern appears in the tropical Pacific Ocean roughly every four to 12 years and has a powerful impact on the ocean and the atmosphere. It can disrupt global weather and influence hurricanes, droughts and floods. It can also raise or lower global temperatures by up to 0.2 degrees Celsius (0.4 degrees Fahrenheit).

The oscillation pattern is made up of linked atmospheric and oceanic components. The atmospheric component is called the Southern Oscillation, a pattern of reversing surface air pressure that see-saws between the eastern and western tropical Pacific. The ocean's response to this atmospheric shift is known as either "El Niño" or "La Niña" (Spanish for "the little boy" and "the little girl," respectively).

Where the wind blows

During El Niño, the normally strong easterly trade winds in the tropical eastern Pacific weaken, allowing warm water to shift toward the Americas and occupy the entire tropical Pacific. Heavy rains tied to this warm water move into the central and eastern Pacific. El Niño can cause drought in Indonesia and Australia and disrupt the path of the atmospheric jet streams over North and South America, changing winter climate.

This image depicting the current El Niño condition in the Pacific Ocean was created with data collected by the U.S./European Ocean Surface Topography Mission/Jason-2 satellite during a 10-day period centered on Jan. 30, 2010. Image credit: NASA/JPL Ocean Surface Topography Team

Large El Niños, such as the most powerful El Niño of the past century in 1997 to 1998, tend to force Earth's average temperatures temporarily higher for up to a year or more. Large areas of the Pacific can be one to two degrees Celsius (around two to four degrees Fahrenheit) above normal, and the average temperature of the ocean surface tends to increase. The current El Niño began last October and is expected to continue into mid-2010. Scientists at NASA's Goddard Institute of Space Studies in New York estimate that if this pattern persists, 2010 may well go down as the warmest year on record.

El Niño's cold counterpart is La Niña. During La Niña, trade winds are stronger than normal, and cold water that usually sits along the coast of South America gets pushed to the mid-equatorial region of the Pacific. La Niñas are typically associated with less moisture in the air and less rain along the coasts of the Americas, and they tend to cause average global surface temperatures to drop. The last La Niña from 2007 to 2009 helped make 2008 the coolest year of the last decade. The end of that La Niña last year and subsequent transition into an El Niño helped contribute to last year's return to near-record global temperatures.

All the ocean's a stage

Both El Niño and La Niña play out on a larger stage that operates on decade-long timescales. The Pacific Decadal Oscillation, or PDO for short, describes a long-term pattern of change in the Pacific Ocean that alternates between cool and warm periods about every five to 20 years. The PDO can intensify the impacts of La Niña or diminish the impacts of El Niño. In its "cool, negative phase," warm water, which causes higher-than-normal sea-surface heights (because warmer water expands and takes up more space), forms a horseshoe pattern that connects the north, west and south Pacific with cool water in the middle. In its "warm, positive phase," these warm and cool regions are reversed, and warm water forms in the middle of the horseshoe.

Such phase shifts of the PDO result in widespread changes in Pacific Ocean temperatures and have significant global climate implications. During the 1950s and 1960s, the PDO was strongly negative, or cool, and global temperatures seemed to level off. During most of the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s, the Pacific was locked in a strong positive, or warm, PDO phase and there were many El Niños. We are currently in the early stages of a cool PDO phase that began around 2006. Cool, negative phases tend to dampen the effects of El Niños.

Willis said the PDO, El Niño and La Niña can strongly affect global warming due to increased greenhouse gases. "These natural climate phenomena can sometimes hide global warming caused by human activities, or they can have the opposite effect of accentuating it," he explained.

Wild ride

"These natural signals -- El Niños, La Niñas and PDOs -- can modulate the global record for a decade or two, giving us a wild ride with major climate and societal impacts," said Patzert. "They can have a powerful short-term influence on global temperatures in any particular year or decade. This can make it appear as if global warming has leveled off or become global cooling. But when you look at the long-term trend over the past 130 years, our world is definitely getting warmer. And that's the human-produced greenhouse gas signal."

Patzert said the recent climate record is like making a drive from the coast to the mountains. "As you rise slowly to higher and higher elevations, occasionally you hit a major speed bump, such as the 1997 to 1998 El Niño, and temperatures spike; or you hit potholes, such as cooler phases of the PDO, and temperatures dip," he said. "In the end, though, we still tend toward the top of the mountain, and the trend upwards is clear. We are driving ourselves into a warmer world."

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/elnino20100223.html

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Cassini Finds Plethora of Plumes, Hotspots at Enceladus

Newly released images from last November's swoop over Saturn's icy moon Enceladus by NASA's Cassini spacecraft reveal a forest of new jets spraying from prominent fractures crossing the south polar region and yield the most detailed temperature map to date of one fracture.

The new images from the imaging science subsystem and the composite infrared spectrometer teams also include the best 3-D image ever obtained of a "tiger stripe," a fissure that sprays icy particles, water vapor and organic compounds. There are also views of regions not well-mapped previously on Enceladus, including a southern area with crudely circular tectonic patterns.

The images and additional information are online at http://www.nasa.gov/cassini and http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov.

"Enceladus continues to astound," said Bob Pappalardo, Cassini project scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. "With each Cassini flyby, we learn more about its extreme activity and what makes this strange moon tick."

In this unique mosaic image combining high-resolution data from the imaging science subsystem and composite infrared spectrometer aboard NASA's Cassini spacecraft, pockets of heat appear along one of the mysterious fractures in the south polar region of Saturn's moon Enceladus. Image credit: NASA/JPL/GSFC/SWRI/SSI

For Cassini's visible-light cameras, the Nov. 21, 2009 flyby provided the last look at Enceladus' south polar surface before that region of the moon goes into 15 years of darkness, and includes the most detailed look yet at the jets.

Scientists planned to use this flyby to look for new or smaller jets not visible in previous images. In one mosaic, scientists count more than 30 individual geysers, including more than 20 that had not been seen before. At least one jet spouting prominently in previous images now appears less powerful.

"This last flyby confirms what we suspected," said Carolyn Porco, imaging team lead based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo. "The vigor of individual jets can vary with time, and many jets, large and small, erupt all along the tiger stripes."

A new map that combines heat data with visible-light images shows a 40-kilometer (25-mile) segment of the longest tiger stripe, known as Baghdad Sulcus. The map illustrates the correlation, at the highest resolution yet seen, between the geologically youthful surface fractures and the anomalously warm temperatures that have been recorded in the south polar region. The broad swaths of heat previously detected by the infrared spectrometer appear to be confined to a narrow, intense region no more than a kilometer (half a mile) wide along the fracture.

In these measurements, peak temperatures along Baghdad Sulcus exceed 180 Kelvin (minus 135 degrees Fahrenheit), and may be higher than 200 Kelvin (minus 100 degrees Fahrenheit). These warm temperatures probably result from heating of the fracture flanks by the warm, upwelling water vapor that propels the ice-particle jets seen by Cassini's cameras. Cassini scientists will be testing this idea by investigating how well the hot spots correspond with the jet sources.

"The fractures are chilly by Earth standards, but they're a cozy oasis compared to the numbing 50 Kelvin (-370 Fahrenheit) of their surroundings," said John Spencer, a composite infrared spectrometer team member based at Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colo. "The huge amount of heat pouring out of the tiger stripe fractures may be enough to melt the ice underground. Results like this make Enceladus one of the most exciting places we've found in the solar system."

Dramatic plumes, both large and small, spray water ice out from many locations along the famed "tiger stripes" near the south pole of Saturn's moon Enceladus. Image credit: NASA/JPL/SSI

Some of Cassini's scientists infer that the warmer the temperatures are at the surface, the greater the likelihood that jets erupt from liquid. "And if true, this makes Enceladus' organic-rich, liquid sub-surface environment the most accessible extraterrestrial watery zone known in the solar system," Porco said.

The Nov. 21 flyby was the eighth targeted encounter with Enceladus. It took the spacecraft to within about 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles) of the moon's surface, at around 82 degrees south latitude.

The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo. The composite infrared spectrometer team is based at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md., where the instrument was built.

More details are also available at the imaging team's website http://ciclops.org and the composite infrared spectrometer team's website http://cirs.gsfc.nasa.gov.
› See related images

Jia-Rui C. Cook 818-354-0850
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
jia-rui.c.cook@jpl.nasa.gov

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/cassini/whycassini/cassini20100223.html

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Mars Odyssey and Phoenix Mars Lander Missions Status Report

PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA's Mars Odyssey began a second campaign Monday to check on whether the Phoenix Mars Lander has revived itself after the northern Martian winter. The orbiter received no signal from the lander during the first 10 overflights of this campaign.

Odyssey will listen for Phoenix during 50 additional overflights, through Feb. 26, during the current campaign.

Phoenix landed on Mars on May 25, 2008, and operated successfully in the Martian arctic for about two months longer than its planned three-month mission. Operations ended when waning sunlight left the solar-powered craft with insufficient energy to keep working. The season at the Phoenix landing site is now mid-springtime, with the sun above the horizon for roughly 22 hours each Martian day. That is comparable to the illumination that Phoenix experienced a few weeks after completing its three-month primary mission.

Artist concept of Mars Odyssey. Image credit: NASA/JPL

Phoenix was not designed to withstand the extremely low temperatures and the ice load of the Martian arctic winter. In the extremely unlikely event that the lander has survived the winter and has achieved a stable energy state, it would operate in a mode where it periodically awakens and transmits a signal to any orbiter in view.

A third campaign to check on whether Phoenix has revived itself is scheduled for April 5-9, when the sun will be continuously above the Martian horizon at the Phoenix site.

Mars Odyssey is managed for NASA's Science Mission Directorate by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, is the prime contractor for the project and made the spacecraft. The successful Phoenix mission was led by Peter Smith of the University of Arizona, Tucson, with project management at JPL and development partnership at Lockheed Martin. International contributions came from the Canadian Space Agency; the University of Neuchatel, Switzerland; the universities of Copenhagen and Aarhus in Denmark; the Max Planck Institute in Germany; the Finnish Meteorological Institute; and Imperial College, London.

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/phoenix/news/phoenix20100223.html

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Cold Snaps Plus Global Warming Do Add Up

That feeling of numbness in your toes, even inside your thickest boots, is not lying to you. It's been very cold so far this winter in most of the U.S. and many places at middle latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere. Washington, D.C., London and Seoul have already shoveled themselves out from major snowfalls. And over the course of 2009, average temperatures across some parts of the U.S. were cooler than the average temperature for a baseline period of 1951-1980.

To many people’s confusion, these weather events happened against a backdrop of increasing man-made greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere that are gradually warming the planet. But scientists stress this weather does not mean that those gases are no longer exerting a warming influence. Nor does it go against the grain of basic global warming theory. Cold snaps and bouts of natural cooling that could last years are expected naturally even as the climate continues on a long-term warming trend, forced by man-made emissions.

A historic snowfall blanketed Great Britain on Jan. 7 this year. A strong high-pressure mode of a pattern called the Arctic Oscillation pushed the jet stream further south and allowed Arctic air masses to invade Northern Europe in December and January, making for unusually severe and cold weather. Image Credit: NASA, MODIS Rapid Response Team

It’s snow joke

So, what has been going on out there these past two months? As for the Arctic winter weather, it is exactly that -- Arctic. A pattern of high sea-level pressure over the Arctic has led to weaker westerly winds that typically pin cold air closer to the North pole. According to John M. Wallace, an atmospheric sciences professor at the University of Washington, the weakened jet stream has allowed cold Arctic air to creep into more southern latitudes over the U.S., Canada, Europe and Asia.

This pattern of pressure is called the “Arctic Oscillation.” The oscillation comes in two phases: a “negative phase” where there is relatively high pressure over the North pole and low pressure at the mid-latitudes (at about 45 degrees North); and a “positive phase” in which this pressure system is reversed. This winter, the Arctic Oscillation has been in an extremely negative state. This has caused unseasonably cold air masses to sweep over what are normally temperate latitudes, and unusually mild air masses to be brought in over much of the Arctic itself, Wallace explained.

Harsh winter conditions hit the mid-Atlantic region of the United States with major snowfalls just before Christmas and again in recent weeks. The Washington, D.C. area has seen record snowfall this winter. Image Credit: NASA, MODIS Rapid Response Team

“The unseasonable temperatures have been accompanied by well-above-normal sea-level pressure in the Arctic, especially over the Atlantic sector. That’s how scientists characterize the Arctic Oscillation,” Wallace said. “Winter isn’t over yet, we’re barely to the halfway mark. But this will be a winter to remember because of the Arctic Oscillation.”

Nature’s wiggles
“The bottom line is, I don’t find it extraordinary,” Wallace said. “With or without anthropogenic (man-made) warming, you’re going to have big variations in these patterns.”

The 2009 global temperature analysis released by NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) shows that, globally, 2009 was tied for the second hottest year on record. This comes as news reports and blogs question whether global warming is even occurring, given local weather conditions and the fact that warming did not occur at the same rate in the past 10 years as it did during the ‘80s and ‘90s. But here is the key: While the rate of warming slowed, the decade ending Dec. 31, 2009 was also the warmest since accurate records began in 1880, according to GISS. And neither the basic chemistry and physics of global warming nor the continuing increase in man-made greenhouse gas emissions has changed.

One spell is not enough
“Frequently heard fallacies are that ‘global warming stopped in 1998,’ or that ‘the world has been getting cooler over the past decade,’” GISS director James Hansen wrote in a recent essay called “The Temperature of Science.” “These statements appear to be wishful thinking -- it would be nice if true, but that is not what the data show.”

Hansen explains that the 5-year and 11-year temperature averages, i.e. the planet’s annual average temperature, averaged over 5 or 11 years, are valuable because they place less emphasis on single-year variability. These running averages show a consistent rise in the Earth’s temperature over the past 30 years. Further, if the El Nino effect (when unusually warm ocean temperatures occur in the tropical Pacific Ocean) is as strong in 2010 as expected, Hansen said there is a greater than 50 percent chance that it could be the warmest year in the period of instrumental data.

On the other side of the world, Arctic weather was also brought to bear on the Korean Peninsula. This image was taken on Jan. 3, 2010. Scientists say this year’s severe winter weather is still to be expected from time to time, even as increased concentrations of man-made greenhouse gases create a long-term warming trend for the planet. Image Credit: NASA, MODIS Rapid Response Team

But even if it is, like the recent harsh weather, one year or one particular spell of weather will never alone prove or disprove what is happening to the climate. Even as man-made greenhouse gases exert a consistent pressure on the climate, trapping more heat close to the surface of our planet, surface temperatures from year to year will fluctuate depending on the naturally variable forces at work around the globe. In the early 1990s, the mass of sulfates blasted into the atmosphere by the eruption of the Mt. Pinatubo volcano reflected sunlight and counteracted much of the man-made warming effect for several years. In 1998 El Nino combined with the man-made effect to give us one of the warmest years ever.

Allowing for this variability, global warming theory does not posit a linear, year-to-year increase in temperatures. Nor does it say that harsh winter weather will simply end. What it does say is that increasing concentrations of gases such as carbon dioxide and methane, with unchecked growth, will contribute a greater and greater warming influence on the world’s climate.

“The bottom line is this: there is no global cooling tr end,” Hansen wrote in his 2009 temperature analysis. “For the time being, until humanity brings its greenhouse gas emissions under control, we can expect each decade to be warmer than the preceding one.”

Key points

• Climate change is not proven nor disproven by individual warming or cooling spells. It’s the longer-term trends, of a decade or more, which place less emphasis on single-year variability, that count.
• The past couple of months have seen a particularly cold winter in parts of the U.S. and elsewhere.
• This has been the result of the “Arctic oscillation” -- a see-sawing pressure system over the North pole -- that has driven cold air into more southern latitudes.
• These cold spells, and other weather changes that are a result of naturally occurring patterns, are still consistent with a globally warming world.

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/coldweather-2009.html

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Piecing Together the Temperature Puzzle

NASA has released a new video and image gallery that illustrate how NASA satellites enable scientists to observe climate change today and make predictions for the future.

The video, “Piecing Together the Temperature Puzzle,” explores possible causes for rising global temperatures. It explains what role fluctuations in the solar cycle, changes in snow and cloud cover, and rising levels of heat-trapping greenhouse gases play in contributing to global warming.

"Piecing Together the Temperature Puzzle" illustrates how NASA satellites enable us to study possible causes of climate change.

The new gallery consists of ten spectacular satellite images of our warming planet captured during the hottest decade since modern record keeping began. The images show the kinds of events -- including melting glaciers, heat waves, and floods -- that many scientists predict will become more frequent in coming decades due to climate change.

This image, one of 10 in the gallery, shows a false-color image of Spain during a July 2004 heatwave. Credit: NASA/Goddard/MODIS Rapid Response Team

Both the video and the image gallery are part of a new multimedia collection available with the launch of the “Our Warming World” Web page on NASA’s Global Climate Change Web site. “Our Warming World” features videos, images, articles and interactive visuals that discuss rising global temperatures and the impact of greenhouse gases as the main contributor to today’s climate change.

Related Links

Visit NASA's Global Climate Change Web site to explore the image gallery:

http://climate.nasa.gov/warmingworld

Images from the gallery and the video can also be viewed and downloaded at NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio Web site.

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/warming-world.html

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NASA Unveils New Space-Weather Science Tool

When NASA’s satellite operators need accurate, real-time space-weather information, they turn to the Community Coordinated Modeling Center (CCMC) of the Space Weather Laboratory at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. The CCMC’s newest and most advanced space-weather science tool is the Integrated Space Weather Analysis (iSWA) system.

The iSWA is a robust, integrated system provides information about space weather conditions past, present, and future and, unlike many other programs currently in use, has an interface that the user can customize to suit a unique set of data requirements.

"The iSWA space-weather data analysis system offers a unique level of customization and flexibility to maintain, modify, and add new tools and data products as they become available," says Marlo Maddox, iSWA system chief developer at NASA Goddard.

iSWA draws together information about conditions from the sun to the boundary of the sun’s influence, known as the heliosphere. The iSWA systems digests information from spacecraft including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES), NASA’s Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO), the joint European Space Agency and NASA mission Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), and NASA's Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE).

Citizen scientists and science enthusiasts can also use the data, models, and tools of the iSWA system. Similar to the way in which armchair astronomers have used SOHO data to discover comets, enthusiasts will find the iSWA system a wonderful resource for increasing their familiarity with the concept of space weather.

This sequence of images is from a computer animation illustrating an artist's concept of Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) cannibalism. Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) are clouds of electrified, magnetic gas weighing billions of tons ejected from the sun and hurled into space with speeds ranging from 12 to 1,250 miles per second (about 20 to 2,000 kilometers per second). Solar researchers believe cannibal CMEs may be the source of 'complex ejecta' CME clouds; those with a larger and more complex structure than typical CMEs. These traits cause complex ejecta CMEs to trigger protracted magnetic storms when they envelop Earth. NASA's iSWA system is designed to collect and store data about space-weather activity like CMEs. Credit: NASA

“We are continuously evolving the iSWA system, and we hope that it will benefit not only NASA satellite operators, but also that it may also help space-weather forecasting at other agencies such as the Air Force Weather Agency and NOAA," says Michael Hesse, chief of the Space Weather Laboratory at NASA Goddard.

Space-weather information tends to be scattered over various Web sites. NASA Goddard space physicist Antti Pulkkinen says the iSWA system represents “the most comprehensive single interface for general space-weather-related information,” providing data on past and current space-weather events. The system allows the user to configure or design custom displays of the information.

The system compiles data about conditions on the sun, in Earth's magnetosphere—the protective magnetic field that envelops our planet—and down to Earth's surface. It provides a user interface to provide NASA's satellite operators and with a real-time view of space weather. In addition to NASA, the iSWA system is used by the Air Force Weather agency.

Access to space-weather information that combines data from state-of-the-art space-weather models with concurrent observations of the space environment provides a powerful tool for users to obtain a personalized “quick look” at space-weather information, detailed insight into space-weather conditions, as well as tools for historical analysis of the space-weather’s impact.

Development of the iSWA system has been a joint activity between the Office of the Chief Engineer at NASA Headquarters and the Applied Engineering and Technology Directorate and the Science and Exploration Directorate at NASA Goddard. The iSWA system is located at NASA Goddard.

The Community Coordinated Modeling Center is funded by the Heliophysics Division in the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters, and the National Science Foundation.

Related Link:

> iSWA space-weather forecasting tool web site

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/topics/technology/features/iswa-program.html

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Hurricane Season 2010: Tropical Storm 17P (Southern Pacific)

Seventeenth South Pacific Tropical Cyclone Forms

On February 21, the seventeenth tropical depression formed in the South Pacific Ocean. Today, February 22, the storm has strengthened into Tropical Storm 17P (TS 17P) with maximum sustained winds near 39 mph, and it was about 740 miles east-northeast of Pago Pago.

The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite, GOES-11 captured a visible image of the storm at 1800 UTC (1 p.m. ET) February 22. The storm does not appear well organized. TD 17P was located near 9.6 South latitude and 159.0 East longitude, and was moving south-southwest near 4 mph (3 knots). TS 17P was creating 15 foot-high waves in open waters.

GOES-11 captured a visible image of the Tropical Storm 17P at 1800 UTC (1 p.m. ET) February 22. Credit: NOAA/JTWC

Although TS 17P is expected to continue tracking in open waters its winds and surf may impact some land areas. So, regional warnings have been posted for the Northern Cook Islands. Currently, a gale wind warning is in effect for Penrhyn and an alert is in effect for Rakahanga, Manihiki and nearby islands.

TS 17P is in an area of wind shear, and that's limiting any intensification of the storm. It is expected to strengthen a little more over the next couple of days however, before it dissipates later this week.

Text credit: Rob Gutro, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hurricanes/archives/2010/h2010_17P.html

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NASA And NOAA Ready GOES-P Satellite For Launch

GREENBELT, Md. -- NASA is preparing to launch the NOAA Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-P (GOES-P) from Space Launch Complex 37 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. The launch is targeted for March 2, during a launch window from 6:19 to 7:19 p.m. EST.

"GOES are the backbone of NOAA's severe weather forecasts, monitoring fast-changing conditions in the atmosphere that spawn hurricanes, tornadoes, floods and other hazards," said Steve Kirkner, GOES program manager at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.

GOES-P is the third and final spacecraft to be launched in the GOES N Series of geostationary environmental weather satellites. The GOES satellites continuously provide observations of more than 50 percent of the Earth, including the continental United States, providing weather monitoring and forecast operations and a continuous and reliable stream of environmental information and severe weather warnings.

NASA's GOES-P meteorological satellite is lifted into the mobile service tower at Launch Complex 37 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Photo Credit: NASA/Jack Pfaller

In addition to weather forecasting on Earth, a key instrument onboard GOES-P, the Solar X-Ray Imager (SXI), will help NOAA continue monitoring solar conditions.

"The SXI is improving our forecasts and warnings for solar disturbances, protecting billions of dollars worth of commercial and government assets in space and on the ground, and lessening the brunt of power surges for the satellite-based electronics and communications industry," said Tom Bodgan, director of NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) in Boulder, Colo.

GOES-P joins a system of weather satellites that provide timely environmental information to meteorologists and the public. The GOES system provides data used to graphically display the intensity, path and size of storms. Early warning of impending severe weather enhances the public's ability to take shelter and protect property.

GOES-P will be launched on board a United Launch Alliance Delta IV (4, 2) launch vehicle under a FAA commercial license. The satellite will be turned over to NASA after the successful checkout is completed by Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems, El Segundo Calif.

Currently, NOAA operates GOES-12, (GOES East) and GOES-11 (GOES-West.) In late April, NOAA will activate GOES-13 to replace GOES-12 and will drift eastward from 105 degrees West longitude to 75 degrees West longitude. NOAA plans to move GOES-12 to 60 degrees West longitude to provide coverage for South America as part of the Global Earth Observing System of Systems (GEOSS). NASA handed over GOES-14, launched last June, to NOAA on December 14, 2009. It will remain in normal mode at the 105W storage longitude to provide operational X-ray Sensor coverage to NOAA's SWPC.

Once in orbit GOES-P will be designated GOES-15, checked out and then stored on-orbit and ready for activation should one of the operational GOES satellites degrade or exhaust their fuel.

Workers install NASA's GOES-P meteorological satellite onto the Delta IV stages already in place in the mobile service tower at Launch Complex 37 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Photo Credit: NASA/Jack Pfaller

NOAA manages the GOES program, establishes requirements, provides all funding and distributes environmental satellite data for the United States. NASA Goddard procures and manages the design, development and launch of the satellites for NOAA on a cost reimbursable basis. Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems built GOES-P.

For more information about the GOES-P mission and program on the Web, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/goes-p
http://goespoes.gsfc.nasa.gov
http://www.noaa.gov
http://nws.noaa.gov

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

http://www.nasa.gov

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/GOES-P/news/launch-prep.html

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