Views of WISE in Space

This artist's animation shows NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, rotating in space, revealing all sides of the spacecraft. The spacecraft's orbit is shown next. WISE will orbit over the poles of Earth, staying over the day-night, or terminator, line. Its telescope will always point away from Earth, and its solar panels will face the sun.

The animation then zooms out to show the sun. WISE can be seen surveying the whole sky in infrared, one strip at a time. It will take WISE just six months to map the whole sky. The animation ends with a previous view of the entire sky in infrared.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., manages the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. The mission's principal investigator, Edward Wright, is at UCLA. The mission was competitively selected under NASA's Explorers Program managed by the Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. The science instrument was built by the Space Dynamics Laboratory, Logan, Utah, and the spacecraft was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo. Science operations and data processing take place at the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. Caltech manages JPL for NASA.

More information is online at http://www.nasa.gov/wise and http://wise.astro.ucla.edu.

Animation credit: Ball/NASA/JPL-Caltech

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/WISE/multimedia/pia12468.html

NASA's Hurricane Page is All "a-Twitter"

NASA is all "a-Twitter" about its tropical cyclone research. In 2005, NASA created the NASA Hurricane and Tropical Cyclone Web page that covers NASA research on tropical cyclones around the world every day. That includes all ocean basins in both the northern and southern hemispheres. Now, NASA's Hurricane page has a companion "Twitter" page.

NASAHurricane on Twitter is updated daily and provides updates on the tropical cyclone happenings in various ocean basins. The primary source for "Tweets" is the daily storm updates from the NASA Hurricane page (www.nasa.gov/hurricane). The storm updates always include a NASA satellite image of a tropical cyclone, its most recent strength and location, and what the NASA satellite image reveals. If there are watches and warnings, the updates usually include them from the forecast source.

Image of the Twitter/NASAHurricane page. The page is updated every day on weekdays, sometimes on weekends, and covers all of the ocean basins around the world. Credit: NASA/Twitter.com

Separate Web features that highlight NASA hurricane research are also posted on the NASAHurricane Twitter site. The site also includes research features on topics such as the status of El Niňos and La Niňas, flood maps of areas inundated by tropical cyclones, hurricane videos, and more.

"The Twitter site is also used to provide up-to-the-minute updates, including watches and warnings, and background information," said Rob Gutro, manager of the NASA Hurricane Page at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. "Even though there may not be tropical activity in an ocean basin, people still want to know why and Twitter provides the vehicle to do that in an easy way on a daily basis." The Twitter NASAHurricane uses information from numerous forecast centers, including the National Hurricane Center, the Central Pacific Hurricane Center, and the U.S. Navy's Joint Typhoon Warning Center.

If there's a tropical wave that is has any potential for development, and it's cited by one of the forecast centers, NASAHurricane's Twitter will explain what it is, and where it is. For example, if there's a tropical wave in the Atlantic Ocean, Twitter provides the opportunity to highlight it and give a status on it.

NASA uses several satellites in hurricane research including Aqua, CloudSat, the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission satellite, Jason-1, the Ocean Surface Topography Mission/Jason-2, Landsat, QuikScat, and Terra. NASA also creates images from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites. NASA researches hurricanes and supplies some of the data from these satellites to NOAA, who forecast the storms. Each storm update on the NASA Hurricane page, and subsequently posted on Twitter, will reference what at least one of these satellites is seeing in a current tropical cyclone.

The MODIS instrument on NASA's Aqua satellite captured an image of Typhoon Mirinae on October 30 at 1 p.m. Asia/Manila Time approaching the Philippines (left), part of which are already under a part of Mirinae's clouds. Credit: NASA MODIS Rapid Response

Using all of these satellites and their instruments and computer modeling, NASA scientists gather data on many factors that determine if a tropical cyclone may strengthen or weaken. Data include: storm and surface winds; sea surface heights and temperatures; rainfall intensity and area; lightning; cloud water; water vapor; cloud heights, extent of cloud cover and cloud temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure; cloud development; and size of the storm.

All of this research is housed on NASA's Hurricane/Tropical Cyclone Web page, which explains the research NASA does on tropical cyclones. It contains daily storm updates from storms around the world, videos, educator lesson plans, a storm archive since 2005, videos and animations, International Space Station cyclone videos, a live alerts feed on the Atlantic Basin from the National Hurricane Center, NASA hurricane missions, "About Hurricanes: background information," fact sheet, "Hurricanes in History," and education links.

"NASAHurricane Twitter is excited about communicating 'in-real-time' to hurricane enthusiasts worldwide," said climatologist Bill Patzert at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, in Pasadena, Calif. "'Tweeting' the latest in NASA research and technology, developing hurricane events and impacts cranks up NASA's commitment to rapidly providing the most up-to-date and useful hurricane information to every level of society."

Related Link:

› NASA's Twitter page for hurricanes

Rob Gutro
Goddard Space Flight Center

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hurricanes/features/twitter.html

AIRS Image Shows Global Carbon Dioxide Transport

This image was created with data acquired by the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder instrument (AIRS) on NASA's Aqua satellite during July 2009. The image shows large-scale patterns of carbon dioxide concentrations that are transported around Earth by the general circulation of the atmosphere. Dark blue corresponds to a concentration of 382 parts per million and dark red corresponds to a concentration of almost 390 parts per million.

Map of global carbon dioxide transport acquired by the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder instrument (AIRS) on NASA's Aqua satellite during July 2009.

The northern hemisphere mid-latitude jet stream effectively sets the northern limit of enhanced carbon dioxide. A belt of enhanced carbon dioxide girdles the globe in the southern hemisphere, following the zonal flow of the southern hemisphere mid-latitude jet stream. This belt of carbon dioxide is fed by biogenesis activity in South America (carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere through the respiration and decomposition of vegetation), forest fires in both South America and Central Africa, and clusters of gasification plants in South Africa and power generation plants in south eastern Australia.

The AIRS instrument flies on NASA's Aqua satellite and is managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, under contract to NASA. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/AIRSCO2.html

KSC Powers on Solar Energy Future

NASA's Kennedy Space Center turned a shade greener Nov. 19 with the addition of five acres of electricity-producing solar panels to the spaceport's power grid.

The Kennedy Solar Energy Center is the first of two new power facilities being built at Kennedy that use solar panels to convert sunlight into electricity. The process creates no carbon emissions and requires no fuel, such as oil or natural gas, to generate power.

It is the first large-scale power plant of its kind at a NASA center, and part of a small but growing solar infrastructure under development in Florida.

"We are taking a leadership role in supporting an important national goal and that's to increase America's energy independence while protecting the climate," said Bob Cabana, director of Kennedy.

Image above: More than 3,300 solar panels have been erected on a vacant five acres at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida to create the Solar Energy Center. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossman

A ceremony commissioning the first of two power plants also offered a glimpse at future projects that could include permanent renewable energy research and development center proposed for Kennedy. A plan to build solar panels on up to 500 acres of fallow agricultural land also is under consideration depending on the environmental and economic feasibility.

For now, the solar farms under construction help show the way for electricity generation.

Built in the center's Industrial Area south of the Vertical Integration Facility, the solar farm is large enough to create one megawatt of electricity, or enough to power 110 homes. For Kennedy, the power output equates to about 1 percent of the center's electricity uses.

Image above: Kennedy Space Center Director Bob Cabana, left, Roderick Roche of SunPower Corp., and Florida power & LIght's Eric Silagy symbolically turn on the one megawatt solar energy center at KSC. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossman

A second, much larger, solar energy complex is under construction in a former citrus grove at the south end of the center. That location will produce 10 megawatts of electricity and is scheduled to be finished in April 2010. It will be plugged into FPL's network and distributed to the utility's other customers.

"The fuel for this is always free," said Eric Silagy, FPL vice president and chief development officer. "Solar power is ready to take center stage here in the sunshine state."

SunPower Corp. designed and built the facility by mounting 3,344 panels atop 1,183 piers. The structures are designed to withstand 130 mph winds.

Compared with a conventionally fueled power plant, the solar energy center is relatively simple. All the panels have to do is let the sun hit them to produce current. It can be monitored remotely and its maintenance needs are expected to be quite small, said Roderick Roche, senior manager in SunPower's program office.

Image above: Cabana and Silagy discuss the innovations incorporated into the solar farm at Kennedy. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossman

The panels are tilted 20 degrees facing south. Their greatest energy producing time will be in April, from 11 a.m. to noon. Predictably, January conditions are the least favorable for power generation, but that won't stop the panels from working even in the winter.

Jim Ball, program manager for Center Development at Kennedy, said it would take a tremendous amount of new solar facilities to fulfill all of the center's electricity requirements, but that may become possible as the technology improves and new efficiencies develop.

"We're in the right place at the right time," Ball said.

Steve Siceloff
NASA's John F. Kennedy Space Center

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/news/solarfarmunveiled.html

Planet 51 Star Brings NASA's Message of Exploration Down to Earth

Actor Dwayne Johnson, usually known for his action and comedic film roles, takes to the stars as an astronaut in a new animated feature that brings important messages about the importance of space exploration and education to those of us here on Earth.

Johnson provides the voice of space explorer Chuck Baker in the new Sony family film "Planet 51" and is featured in a series of new public service announcements dealing with education, diversity and NASA "spinoff" technologies.

In a public service announcement about diversity, Johnson underscores the importance of a global work force: "On this planet promoting diversity is very important. At NASA, astronauts from all nationalities and backgrounds work together aboard the International Space Station to help improve our lives here on Earth. I'm here to tell you that every barrier is meant to be broken, whether it's the sound barrier, the furthest layer of the Earth's atmosphere, the outer limits of our solar system, or the challenges we face here at home."

Dwayne Johnson recording the voice of Chuck Baker in Columbia Pictures' animated movie Planet 51. Image Courtesy of Sony Pictures.

"Films are such a powerful way to reach out to new audiences and excite them about space exploration," NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver said. "Dwayne will enlighten families about the importance of learning science and math and celebrating others' differences. He also informs the public about some NASA technologies which are used right here on Earth."

NASA Television also will air the public service announcements during its programming starting Friday and will make the PSAs available to local television and radio stations. The date coincides with the theatrical release of "Planet 51."

"Planet 51" is an animated adventure-comedy revolving around American astronaut who lands on Planet 51 thinking he's the first person to explore this new world. To his surprise, Baker finds little green people inhabiting the planet who are happily living in a white picket fence-world reminiscent of a cheerfully innocent 1950s America.

Rover with Chuck Baker, voiced by Dwayne Johnson, in Columbia Pictures' animated movie Planet 51. Image Courtesy of Sony Pictures.

The agency permitted the use of the NASA Insignia on Chuck's space suit in the family feature. Aside from Johnson, the film also stars Jessica Biel, Justin Long, Gary Oldman, Seann William Scott, and John Cleese. The film is directed by Jorge Blanco, co-directed by Javier Abad and Marcos Martínez, written by Joe Stillman, and produced by Ignacio Pérez Dolset and Guy Collins.

› Watch, Listen, and Download the Public Service Announcements (including HD videos)

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/topics/nasalife/features/planet51_psa.html

Cabeus Crater

Most mountains on the Earth are formed as plates collide and the crust buckles. Not so for the Moon, where mountains are formed as a result of impacts. Images taken looking across the landscape rather than straight down really bring out topography and help us visualize the lunar landscape. However such images can only be taken as the spacecraft rolls to the side, in this case about 70°, so the opportunities are limited. Foreground is about 15 km wide, view is northeast across the north rim of Cabeus crater. Credit: NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University.

Cabeus crater is relatively old, 100-km in diameter, and contains significant areas of permanent shadow. Such regions are of great interest because they may harbor significant deposits of ices (water, methane, etc). Cabeus crater is most famous as the site of the LCROSS Centaur impact (9 October 2009) that was intended to excavate and eject any volatiles that may be in the regolith (what we call the lunar soil). Though analyses of data collected during the impact are still ongoing, preliminary results suggest that yes, significant amounts of water ice may be trapped in these shadowed regions (at least at this one spot).

Two and a half days after the LCROSS impact the LRO spacecraft slewed 70° back towards Cabeus crater to allow LROC to acquire an overview image of a portion of the northern rim. The large mountain (or massif) in the right background (full panorama below) is a portion of the ancient rim of the South Pole Aitken basin, it rises some 6000 meters (19,685 feet) above the surrounding plains, and more than 9200 meters (30,184 feet) above the floor of Cabeus crater -- taller than any mountain on the Earth. On the Moon mountains are formed in only minutes as huge amounts of energy are released when asteroids and comets slam into the surface at velocities greater than 16-km per second (more than ten times faster than a speeding bullet). In contrast, mountains on the Earth typically form over millions of years during slow motion collisions of tectonic plates.

Panoramic view looking across the North rim of Cabeus crater from the SW. The distance from left to right is about 75-km and from foreground to background in the center is about 50-km. The LCROSS impact was just off the bottom center of the panorama Credit: NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University.

Future astronauts will see the same view as they descend to the surface for a polar landing. Explore the rim of Cabeus on your own as you plan your landing spot!

Related Link:

> LROC Browse Gallery at Arizona State University

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/multimedia/lroimages/lroc_20091117_cabeus.html

Radar Strip Showing Crater Bessel

Mini-RF S-band zoom synthetic aperture radar (SAR) image strip through central Mare Serenitatis on the near side of the Moon (approximate longitude of strip ~ 18° E; center latitude ~ 20° N). The radar strip runs through the crater Bessel (inset; 15 km (9 mile) diameter; center at 21.8° N, 17.9° E) and covers the highlands of the Haemus Mts. (rim of Serenitatis basin) in its southern (bottom) third. The full-resolution SAR data are 30 m (90 feet).

The streaks of bright and dark material in the walls of Bessel probably reflect the blockiness of landslides within the crater, brighter streaks having more blocks of the 10-cm (4-inch) scale. The radar strip covers a major geological boundary in Mare Serenitatis; the darker, lower maria has higher titanium content than central Serenitatis. We see this geological boundary in the Mini-RF radar image, caused by higher absorption of RF energy by the high content of the iron-titanium oxide mineral ilmenite. Thus, Mini-RF SAR images can be used to map the titanium content of the lunar maria. The background image is part of the Clementine global mosaic.

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/Mini-RF/multimedia/featured_image_20091110.html

Flight Day 2

Backdropped by Earth's horizon and the blackness of space, a partial view of space shuttle Atlantis' payload bay, vertical stabilizer, orbital maneuvering system pods and docking mechanism are featured in this image photographed by an STS-129 crew member from an aft flight deck window.

Image credit: NASA
Nov. 17, 2009

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts129/multimedia/gallery/09-11-17.html

Astronaut Stott's Journey Home Marks a First and a Last

When the wheels of space shuttle Atlantis touch down to end the STS-129 mission, astronaut Nicole Stott will complete both a first and a last.

NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida will welcome her home as its first former employee to live and work aboard the International Space Station. Stott's return also will mark another significant event -- the last time a station crew member will travel to or from the orbiting laboratory aboard a space shuttle. Upcoming crews will launch from and return to Earth aboard Russian Soyuz spacecraft.

Image above: Stott suits up before her launch aboard space shuttle Discovery on Aug. 28, 2009. Image credit: NASA

Stott joined the space station's six-person crew when she launched aboard shuttle Discovery in August during the STS-128 mission. Trading places with astronaut Timothy Kopra, she became the Expedition 20 flight engineer as she began her three-month stint aboard the station.

Her launch came more than two decades after she began her NASA career at Kennedy -- a career that brought her high-level experience with both the shuttle and the station.

Before heading to space this summer, the Clearwater, Fla., native talked about her time at Kennedy.

Image above: Stott performs a spacewalk outside the International Space Station, her home for three months. Image credit: NASA

"After growing up in Florida and seeing shuttles launch while I was at university, I got a job at Kennedy Space Center in shuttle operations," Stott said. "I mean, what cooler place could you be working? And every step of the way there, I was just thrilled with the jobs I had."

She began her 10-year career at Kennedy in 1988, working in the shuttle program as an operations engineer in an orbiter processing facility -- the hangars in which shuttles are prepared for flight. She subsequently worked as convoy commander, leading the group of specialized vehicles that meet and "safe" each shuttle upon landing. She also served as shuttle Endeavour's flow director, NASA's manager in charge of seeing that the shuttle was processed and ready for launch.

Image above: Stott began her career with NASA in shuttle processing at Kennedy. Image credit: NASA

Stott described her career at Kennedy with enthusiasm.

"I’m working on a space shuttle. I’m on the runway for landing... I’m in the control center where we’re launching the shuttle. I mean, it didn’t seem like it could get any cooler than that," Stott said. "And fortunately, I had people that I considered to be mentors that I worked with there."

It was during her last two years at Kennedy that she joined the Space Station Hardware Integration Office. That position took her to Huntington Beach, Calif., where she worked as the NASA project lead for space station truss elements under construction at a Boeing facility.

Image above: With space shuttle Endeavour aboard the shuttle carrier aircraft in the background, Stott, Endeavour's flow manager, stands on the shuttle runway. Image credit: NASA

Having experience with both shuttle and station hardware preparation, NASA selected Stott as an astronaut in July 2000. Nine years later, she reflected on her own launch aboard a shuttle and residency on the space station.

"Up until the point of starting work at Kennedy Space Center with NASA, it never crossed my mind that being an astronaut was a possibility. And once I started working there and meeting the people that worked there, and seeing astronauts come through and seeing what they did when they were there -- working with the hardware or getting their colleagues ready to fly -- it became more real to me," Stott said. "And then having people encourage me was, I think, the big step to actually getting here."

While other employees from Kennedy have gone on to become astronauts too, Stott's time living and working aboard the station, coupled with her shuttle and station processing work, makes her experience unique.

Image above: During part of her career at Kennedy, Stott (left) served as convoy commander for shuttle landings. Image credit: NASA

As the STS-129 mission ends and the landing convoy she once commanded surrounds Atlantis on the runway, Stott's journey will have come full circle, from Kennedy to space, and back home again.

Cheryl L. Mansfield
NASA's John F. Kennedy Space Center

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

NASA's Wise Gets Ready to Survey the Whole Sky

PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or Wise, is chilled out, sporting a sunshade and getting ready to roll. NASA's newest spacecraft is scheduled to roll to the pad on Friday, Nov. 20, its last stop before launching into space to survey the entire sky in infrared light.

Wise is scheduled to launch no earlier than 6:09 a.m. PST (9:09 a.m. EST) on Dec. 9 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. It will circle Earth over the poles, scanning the entire sky one-and-a-half times in nine months. The mission will uncover hidden cosmic objects, including the coolest stars, dark asteroids and the most luminous galaxies.

This artist's conception shows NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, mapping the whole sky in infrared. The mission will unveil hundreds of thousands of asteroids, and hundreds of millions of stars and galaxies. Image credit: Ball/NASA/JPL-Caltech

"The eyes of Wise are a vast improvement over those of past infrared surveys," said Edward "Ned" Wright, the principal investigator for the mission at UCLA. "We will find millions of objects that have never been seen before."

The mission will map the entire sky at four infrared wavelengths with sensitivity hundreds to hundreds of thousands of times greater than its predecessors, cataloging hundreds of millions of objects. The data will serve as navigation charts for other missions, pointing them to the most interesting targets. NASA's Hubble and Spitzer Space Telescopes, the European Space Agency's Herschel Space Observatory, and NASA's upcoming Sofia and James Webb Space Telescope will follow up on Wise finds.

"This is an exciting time for space telescopes," said Jon Morse, NASA's Astrophysics Division director at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "Many of the telescopes will work together, each contributing different pieces to some of the most intriguing puzzles in our universe."

Visible light is just one slice of the universe's electromagnetic rainbow. Infrared light, which humans can't see, has longer wavelengths and is good for seeing objects that are cold, dusty or far away. In our solar system, Wise is expected to find hundreds of thousands of cool asteroids, including hundreds that pass relatively close to Earth's path. Wise's infrared measurements will provide better estimates of asteroid sizes and compositions -- important information for understanding more about potentially hazardous impacts on Earth.

"With infrared, we can find the dark asteroids other surveys have missed and learn about the whole population. Are they mostly big, small, fluffy or hard?" said Peter Eisenhardt, the Wise project scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.

Wise also will find the coolest of the "failed" stars, or brown dwarfs. Scientists speculate it is possible that a cool star lurks right under our noses, closer to us than our nearest known star, Proxima Centauri, which is four light-years away. If so, Wise will easily pick up its glow. The mission also will spot dusty nests of stars and swirling planet-forming disks, and may find the most luminous galaxy in the universe.

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

"Wise is chilled out," said William Irace, the project manager at JPL. "We've finished freezing the hydrogen that fills two tanks surrounding the science instrument. We're ready to explore the universe in infrared."

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

More information about Wise is available online at http://www.nasa.gov/wise and http://wise.astro.ucla.edu .

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/WISE/news/wise20091117.html

First STS-129 Spacewalk Complete

Spacewalkers Mike Foreman and Robert Satcher completed a 6-hour, 37-minute spacewalk at 4:01 p.m. EST.

After finishing all their scheduled chores with two hours to spare, Foreman and Satcher were assigned a task that had been planned for the second spacewalk. They deployed the outboard Payload Attach System on the Earth-facing side of the Starboard 3 truss, after overcoming some initial difficulties.

Image above: Spacewalkers Mike Foreman and Robert Satcher work on the exterior of the International Space Station during the first spacewalk of the STS-129 mission. Photo credit: NASA TV

This was the first of three STS-129 spacewalks, the 228th conducted by U.S. astronauts, the fourth for Foreman and the first for Satcher. It was the 134th in support of International Space Station assembly and maintenance, totaling 837 hours, 28 minutes. It was the 106th spacewalk out of the space station, totaling 650 hours, 13 minutes.

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html

NASA EDGE Nominated for ‘Best Video Podcast’ in the 5th Annual Podcast Awards!

NASA EDGE continues their unprecedented, unscripted journey through the world of video podcasting with their very first award nomination. This is no small accomplishment considering that only two and half years ago, they weren’t sure that they would find an audience.

Well, they have. Almost three years and 3.2 million downloads later, NASA EDGE is now recognized in the company of such internet greats and fellow nominees as “Buzz out Loud,” “Diggnation” and “Filmriot” just to name a few.

In fact, the 5th Annual Podcast Awards, managed by Podcast Connect Inc., mentioned on their Web site that this year’s competition received more than 321,000 nominations for over 3,500 different shows.

Be sure to vote for NASA EDGE

You can vote once a day from November 13 to November 30, 2009 by visiting www.podcastawards.com. NASA EDGE is listed in the “Best Video Podcast” category with nine other video podcasts.

Vote now for NASA EDGE, Best Video Podcast at www.podcastawards.com!

If you’re already a fan of NASA EDGE, please vote for them. If you haven’t seen or heard of NASA EDGE, visit their home page at www.nasa.gov/nasaedge and download any or all of their 46 video podcasts. You will not be disappointed.

What is NASA EDGE?

NASA EDGE is different. Unscripted and unpredictable, NASA EDGE takes a unique look in and around the greatest space program on the planet. They have hosted the Great Moonbuggy Race, examined NASA spinoff technology at the X Games, followed the Desert-RATS with an unconventional set of duct tape boots, coined the term Magnetospherence and even made an appearance on ESPN’s nationally syndicated "Mike & Mike in the Morning" show.

NASA EDGE Co-host, Blair Allen

Check out their latest Vodcast, which added a new wrinkle. In October they covered NASA’s historic Ares I-X Flight Demonstration live on the Web. That show featured the entire broadcast team and an attempt at defining and redefining 'triboelectrification.'

Of course, NASA EDGE isn’t just a video podcast. If you have questions, comments or thoughts about NASA or NASA EDGE, you can friend them on facebook and ask questions, chat or check out some exclusive facebook videos.

Or if you just want to keep up with their latest shows or activities you can follow them on twitter (@NASA_EDGE).

If all goes well, you’ll hear from them the second they win their very first award!

› Don't forget to vote at www.podcastawards.com!

› Visit the NASA Edge Home Page

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/features/NE_podcastawards.html

The 2009 Leonid Meteor Shower

November 10, 2009: This year's Leonid meteor shower peaks on Tuesday, Nov. 17th. If forecasters are correct, the shower should produce a mild but pretty sprinkling of meteors over North America followed by a more intense outburst over Asia. The phase of the Moon will be new, setting the stage for what could be one of the best Leonid showers in years.

"We're predicting 20 to 30 meteors per hour over the Americas, and as many as 200 to 300 per hour over Asia," says Bill Cooke of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office. "Our forecast is in good accord with independent theoretical work by other astronomers."1

Above: A Leonid meteor at dawn, photographed in 2002 by Simon Filiatrault of Quebec, Canada.

Leonids are bits of debris from Comet Tempel-Tuttle. Every 33 years the comet visits the inner solar system and leaves a stream of dusty debris in its wake. Many of these streams have drifted across the November portion of Earth's orbit. Whenever we hit one, meteors come flying out of the constellation Leo.

"We can predict when Earth will cross a debris stream with pretty good accuracy," says Cooke. "The intensity of the display is less certain, though, because we don't know how much debris is in each stream." Caveat observer!

The first stream crossing on Nov. 17th comes around 0900 UT (4 a.m. EST, 1 a.m. PST). The debris is a diffuse mix of particles from several old streams that should produce a gentle display of two to three dozen meteors per hour over North America. Dark skies are recommended for full effect.

"A remarkable feature of this year's shower is that Leonids will appear to be shooting almost directly out of the planet Mars," notes Cooke.

It's just a coincidence. This year, Mars happens to be passing by the Leonid radiant at the time of the shower. The Red Planet is almost twice as bright as a first magnitude star, so it makes an eye-catching companion for the Leonids: sky map.

The next stream crossing straddles the hour 2100-2200 UT, shortly before dawn in Indonesia and China. At that time, Earth will pass through a pair of streams laid down by Comet Tempel-Tuttle in 1466 and 1533 AD. The double crossing could yield as many as 300 Leonids per hour.

Above: This side of Earth will be facing the Leonid debris stream at the time of the Nov. 17th outburst. Observers in India, China and Indonesia are favored with dark, pre-dawn skies. Image credit: Danielle Moser of the NASA Meteoroid Environment Office.

"Even if rates are only half that number, it would still be one of the best showers of the year," says Cooke.

The Leonids are famous for storming, most recently in 1999-2002 when deep crossings of Tempel-Tuttle's debris streams produced outbursts of more than 1000 meteors per hour. The Leonids of 2009 won't be like that, but it only takes one bright Leonid streaking past Mars to make the night worthwhile.

For more information visit http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/10nov_leonids2009.htm

Glenn Helps Ares I-X Soar

The future of new rocket design was successfully tested when the Ares I-X blasted off on October 28, 2009. The test vehicle launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center and travelled for six minutes until it splashed down 150 miles away in the Atlantic Ocean. Ares I-X, at 327 feet tall and 1.8 million pounds, was comprised of components fabricated at several NASA centers. The Upper Stage Simulator (USS), all 430,000 pounds and 110 feet of it, was developed, designed and constructed at NASA’s Glenn Research Center.

Vince Bilardo, Ares I-X Upper Stage Simulator Project Manager at Glenn, lead the project from its beginning four years ago through the extraordinary apex of the launch. He shares his thoughts on Ares I-X and Glenn’s essential role in its success.

The Ares I-X Flight Test blasts off from the launch pad at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. Image Credit: Thilo Kranz, Deutsches Zentrum fur Luft-und Raumhahrt (German Space Agency)

How did the launch go?
Vince Bilardo: The launch was nearly flawless! Once we got past the weather issues, the countdown and flight went just as planned. The vehicle flew the exact trajectory that was planned. All the data was successfully telemetered to the ground during the flight, the cameras all worked great and provided spectacular images of the flight. We proved conclusively that we can successfully control a tall, slender rocket by small movements in a single rocket nozzle.

How did the Glenn component, the USS, perform?
VB: The Glenn-built Upper Stage Simulator (USS) performed flawlessly, as best as we can determine so far. And that was not just during launch but in all phases of the ground assembly and launch processing prior to the flight. Contrary to speculation, the USS motion after First Stage separation was predicted in several of the “dispersion cases” or simulations that we ran prior to flight. And the entire stage held together after separation all the way down to the water, contrary to some analyses which predicted that it might break apart due to high loads during the tumble down to the sea. It all adds up to a strong endorsement of the robust design and manufacturing concept that our in house team implemented.

What was the experience of being at the launch like?
VB: I was part of the Launch Support Team, which was located in one of the backup launch control rooms called Hangar AE, on the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station side. All of the Integrated Product Team personnel that designed and developed the Ares I-X hardware and software were located in Hangar AE. We had to be “on station” at our consoles by 4:00 am for the countdown each of the two launch attempts on October 27 and 28. Then, we had to work some contingency loads analyses to take into account the winds on the actual day of launch and their potential affect on the vehicle structure. So it was a very busy time leading up to the final countdown coming out of the planned hold at the T-4 minute point.

Ares I-X, including the Upper Stage Simulator (USS) built at NASA’s Glenn Research Center, is illuminated the night before launch. Image Credit: Thilo Kranz, Deutsches Zentrum fur Luft-und Raumhahrt (German Space Agency)

As we got close to this point, the weather uncertainty took over, and it made for an emotional roller coaster as we thought we had a go, then the weather window would close, then open again another 30 minutes later, and so on. Once we got the count restarted, the final four minutes were very quiet in the room, then once we got to T-0 and saw the vehicle lift off there was elation and cheering, followed by more quiet as we watched closely to for each event during the overall six minute mission. As each of those milestones were hit, there was more cheering, followed by a big round of applause once we saw the FS parachutes open up.

What was it like being a key participant in the Ares I-X launch? What did you and your Glenn team learn from being a part of the project?
VB: It was a thrilling experience, and without a doubt the highlight of my career to date. I believe this is true for all of our USS team members at GRC and across the agency, for this truly was a once-in-a-career historic mission: the first flight of a new rocket vehicle in over a generation, since the Space Shuttle was developed in the 1970s.

We have learned a tremendous amount being part of this endeavor, starting with the hands-on, in house engineering, design, analysis, manufacturing, handling, and transportation we performed with civil servants and in-house contractor team members. We developed rigorous flight hardware processes and procedures, and we put in place improved manufacturing tools and techniques. We also gained the experience of processing the flight hardware for launch in the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center.

We have truly built our capacity to be a space flight development center during the execution of Ares I-X.

Tori Woods (S.G.T.)
NASA’s Glenn Research Center

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/centers/glenn/moonandmars/grc_helps_aresIX.html

Spirit Photographs Her Underbelly, Sol 1925

This mosaic of images from the Spirit rover, taken on Sol 1925 (June 2, 2009), helped engineers assess the rover's state and plan Spirit's extraction from the soft soil at the site called "Troy." The images were taken by Spirit's microscopic imager instrument, mounted on the end of the robotic arm.

This is the first time the microscopic imager has been used to assist in planning a rover's escape from an embedding event. The imager isn't intended to take these types of images; it is designed to focus on targets only 6 centimeters (2.4 inches) in front of its optics. As a result, the images in this mosaic are well out of focus. Yet despite the focus and the backlighting of the scene, the mosaic is still very useful for helping to assess the situation. The mosaic is rotated to show the true orientation of the rover relative to the local terrain. The view shows the underside of the rover, the depth to which the wheels are embedded, and the terrain itself in sufficient detail.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell/USGS

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/mer/images/mer20091116.html

The View From Space: Two New Experiments Take Fresh Looks at Earth's Coast, Atmosphere

They've only been on orbit a couple of months, but two new sensors examining our upper atmosphere and oceans already are demonstrating the International Space Station's value as an Earth science observing platform.

The experiments - the Hyperspectral Imager for the Coastal Ocean, or HICO, and the Remote Atmospheric and Ionospheric Detection System, or RAIDS -- work in tandem as the HICO and RAIDS Experiment Payload, or HREP. The joint payload is operated by the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory in Washington and its partners.

HICO is the first hyperspectral sensor specifically designed to investigate the coastal ocean and nearby land regions from space. Its imaging shows unique characteristics across the electromagnetic spectrum, including those ranges not visible to the human eye, such as ultraviolet and infrared light.

HICO image taken over Midway Island on Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2009. Image Credit: NASA

RAIDS, built jointly by the Naval Research Laboratory and The Aerospace Corporation in El Segundo, Calif., is a hyperspectral sensor suite used to study the Earth's thermosphere and ionosphere -- layers of the atmosphere where the space shuttle and space station orbit. Its eight optical instruments measure the chemistry, composition and temperature of the thermosphere and ionosphere. It also is testing new techniques for remotely sensing these atmospheric regions, which are very difficult to measure, yet very important for understanding the behavior of low-altitude satellites, space junk and sub-orbital rocket systems.

"The instruments take advantage of the space station as a host platform for Earth observation," said Julie Robinson, International Space Station program scientist at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. "The space station was designed to host numerous instruments for looking at Earth and space, providing attachments sites, power and data."

HICO image taken over a coastal region of the South China Sea near Hong Kong, China, on Friday, Oct. 2, 2009. Image Credit: NASA

The paired HREP experiments launched to the space station in September aboard the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's H-II Transfer Vehicle -- an unmanned cargo ship for station resupply. HICO and RAIDS are also the first U.S. remote sensing instruments to be mounted on the space station and the first to be installed on the Japanese Experiment Module's Exposed Facility -- a multipurpose platform where science experiments can be deployed and operated in open space.

A portrait of the refurbished RAIDS scan head and IR detector box (left) before experiment integration. Image Credit: NASA

"The HICO experiment completed checkout in October, and already has acquired many high-quality hyperspectral images of land and coastal scenes," said Mike Corson, principal investigator for HICO at the Naval Research Laboratory. HICO is serving as a pathfinder for technologies and environmental product algorithms to be used for future free-flying instruments, but will in addition provide an immediate return of hyperspectral image data that can be analyzed.

This graphic shows the RAIDS viewing geometry. RAIDS views aft (anti-RAM) as the ISS orbits viewing the atmospheric limb by scanning near the horizon. Image Credit: NASA

The RAIDS experiment checkout, also completed in October, gathered atmospheric observations using all eight of its sensors. "RAIDS has collected sufficient data to satisfy its secondary science objective -- measuring the low-altitude source of daytime radiation in the ionosphere," said Scott Budzien, principal investigator for RAIDS at the Naval Research Laboratory. "RAIDS began science operations on Oct. 23, and is now focused on collecting data to address the primary science objective, which is to measure temperature and its variability in the thermosphere."

The experiments are operated and managed from the Payload Operations Center at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. in cooperation with the Naval Research Laboratory. The HREP payload was sponsored by the Office of Naval Research. Payload integration and launch to the space station were provided by the U.S. Department of Defense Space Test Program.

For more information visit:

https://raids.nrl.navy.mil

by Lori Meggs, AI Signal Research, Inc.
NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center

For more information visit

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/science/hico_raids.html

LCROSS Impact Data Indicates Water on Moon

The argument that the moon is a dry, desolate place no longer holds water.

Secrets the moon has been holding, for perhaps billions of years, are now being revealed to the delight of scientists and space enthusiasts alike.

NASA today opened a new chapter in our understanding of the moon. Preliminary data from the Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite, or LCROSS, indicates that the mission successfully uncovered water during the Oct. 9, 2009 impacts into the permanently shadowed region of Cabeus cater near the moon’s south pole.

The impact created by the LCROSS Centaur upper stage rocket created a two-part plume of material from the bottom of the crater. The first part was a high angle plume of vapor and fine dust and the second a lower angle ejecta curtain of heavier material. This material has not seen sunlight in billions of years.

The visible camera image showing the ejecta plume at about 20 seconds after impact. Credit: NASA

"We're unlocking the mysteries of our nearest neighbor and by extension the solar system. It turns out the moon harbors many secrets, and LCROSS has added a new layer to our understanding," said Michael Wargo, chief lunar scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

Scientists have long speculated about the source of vast quantities of hydrogen that have been observed at the lunar poles. The LCROSS findings are shedding new light on the question of water, which could be more widespread and in greater quantity than previously suspected.

Permanently shadowed regions could hold a key to the history and evolution of the solar system, much as an ice core sample taken on Earth reveals ancient data. In addition, water, and other compounds represent potential resources that could sustain future lunar exploration.

Since the impacts, the LCROSS science team has been working almost nonstop analyzing the huge amount of data the spacecraft collected. The team concentrated on data from the satellite's spectrometers, which provide the most definitive information about the presence of water. A spectrometer examines light emitted or absorbed by materials that helps identify their composition.

Data from the down-looking near-infrared spectrometer. The red curve shows how the spectra would look for a "grey" or "colorless" warm (230 C) dust cloud. The yellow areas indicate the water absorption bands. Credit: NASA

"We are ecstatic," said Anthony Colaprete, LCROSS project scientist and principal investigator at NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif. "Multiple lines of evidence show water was present in both the high angle vapor plume and the ejecta curtain created by the LCROSS Centaur impact. The concentration and distribution of water and other substances requires further analysis, but it is safe to say Cabeus holds water."

The team took the known near infrared spectral signatures of water and other materials and compared them to the spectra collected by the LCROSS near infrared spectrometer of the impact.

"We were only able to match the spectra from LCROSS data when we inserted the spectra for water," said Colaprete. "No other reasonable combination of other compounds that we tried matched the observations. The possibility of contamination from the Centaur also was ruled out."

Additional confirmation came from an emission in the ultraviolet spectrum that was attributed to hydroxyl, one product from the break-up of water by sunlight. When atoms and molecules are excited, they release energy at specific wavelengths that are detected by the spectrometers. A similar process is used in neon signs. When electrified, a specific gas will produce a distinct color. The ultraviolet visible spectrometer detected hydroxyl signatures just after impact that are consistent with a water vapor cloud in sunlight.

The visible camera image showing the ejecta plume at about 20 seconds after impact.Credit: NASA

Data from the other LCROSS instruments are being analyzed for additional clues about the state and distribution of the material at the impact site. The LCROSS science team along with colleagues are poring over the data to understand the entire impact event, from flash to crater, with the final goal being the understanding of the distribution of materials, and in particular volatiles, within the soil at the impact site.

"The full understanding of the LCROSS data may take some time. The data is that rich," said Colaprete. "Along with the water in Cabeus, there are hints of other intriguing substances. The permanently shadowed regions of the moon are truly cold traps, collecting and preserving material over billions of years."

LCROSS was launched June 18, 2009 as a companion mission to the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. After separating from LRO, the LCROSS spacecraft held onto the spent Centaur upper stage rocket of the launch vehicle, executed a lunar swingby and entered into a series of long looping orbits around the Earth.

After traveling approximately 113 days and nearly 5.6 million miles (9 million km), the Centaur and LCROSS separated on final approach to the moon. Traveling as fast as a speeding bullet, the Centaur impacted the lunar surface shortly after 4:31 a.m. PDT Oct. 9 with LCROSS watching with its onboard instruments. Approximately four minutes of data was collected before the LCROSS itself impacted the lunar surface.

Working closely with scientists from LRO and other observatories that viewed the impact, the LCROSS team is working to understand the full scope of the LCROSS data. LRO continues to make passes over the impact site to give the LCROSS team additional insight into the mechanics of the impact and its resulting craters.

What other secrets will the moon reveal? The analysis continues!

Jonas Dino
NASA Ames Research Center

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/science/hico_raids.html

New Russian Module “Poisk” Docks to Station

The new Russian Mini-Research Module 2, also known as Poisk, docked to the space-facing port of the Zvezda service module of the International Space Station on Thursday, Nov. 12 at 10:41 a.m. EST. It began its trip to the station when it was launched aboard a Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Nov. 10.

Image above: The Russian Mini-Research Module 2, also known as Poisk, is seen shortly after docking to the International Space Station. Credit: NASA TV

Poisk is a Russian term that translates to search, seek and explore. It will provide an additional docking port for visiting Russian spacecraft and will serve as an extra airlock for spacewalkers wearing Russian Orlan spacesuits.

Poisk joined a Russian Progress resupply vehicle and two Russian Soyuz spacecraft docked at the station.

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition21/poisk_dock.html

Earhart's Scarf to Fly Again

A scarf belonging to famed aviatrix Amelia Earhart will circle the Earth repeatedly as part of the personal cargo being carried into space by the astronauts of space shuttle Atlantis’ STS-129 mission.

Albert Bresnick was a personal photographer to Earhart, and now, astronaut Randy Bresnick is rekindling the family connection. The Marine aviator and first-time space flier received the white, green and red scarf from the 99s Museum of Women Pilots in Oklahoma City, an organization of female pilots that formed with the help of Earhart. Randy Bresnick is also bringing along a photo from the Amelia Earhart Birthplace Museum in Atchison, Kan.

In 1932, Earhart became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean, becoming in the process a prominent and celebrated adventurer. She, along with her navigator, disappeared over the Pacific Ocean five years later while trying to become the first woman to circumnavigate the globe in an airplane.

The remaining crew members of STS-129 have chosen a wide assortment of medals, shirts, patches and even a thumb drive to commemorate their 11-day venture to the International Space Station.

The mission patch for the STS-129 mission reflects elements of shuttle Atlantis' payload and its place in larger goals of space exploration. This patch, attached to the launch-and-entry suit of Commander Charles O. Hobaugh, is one of the hundreds of mission patches being carried into space on the flight. Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

A cycling jersey from Lance Armstrong's LiveStrong Foundation will travel on the flight, completing the distance in seven minutes that Armstrong and the cyclists in the peloton rode in three weeks during the Tour de France.

Veteran astronaut Charles O. Hobaugh, also a Marine pilot, commands the mission that will deliver a pair of racks loaded with equipment to the station.

First-time shuttle Pilot Barry E. Wilmore has seen to it that Tennessee Technical University is well-represented in the commemorative assortment known as the Official Flight Kit. The school, which Wilmore graduated from with a master's in electrical engineering, will see a thumb drive, purple and gold placard, gold medallion, and a stuffed-toy eagle make the trip into space aboard space shuttle Atlantis.

The toy eagle will be joined by a stuffed-toy blue spider from the University of Richmond, the alma mater of veteran Mission Specialist Leland Melvin. A football jersey from Melvin's Heritage High School days also will make the trip. Melvin was drafted in 1986 by the NFL's Detroit Lions and took part in training camps with the Dallas Cowboys and Canadian Football League's Toronto Argonauts.

MikeForeman, an experienced spacewalker from the STS-123 mission, is marking his hometown of Wadsworth, Ohio, with patches from the city's police and fire departments.

Harvard Medical School and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are symbolically carried into space in the form of a flag from Harvard and a copy of MIT's charter. First-time flier and physician Robert L. Satcher Jr. graduated from both schools during his educational career.

When the shuttle returns to Earth to end the STS-129 mission, the personal commemoratives will be removed and returned to the astronauts. Typically, the items are then returned to their sponsoring institutions or presented as gifts by the astronauts as a way to inspire future explorers.

Steven Siceloff
NASA's John F. Kennedy Space Center

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/behindscenes/whatsgoingup129.html

NASA Moon Mission Wins Second-Best of 'What's New' Award by Popular Science

The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) is cited as one of the best innovations in aviation in the December issue of Popular Science.

"It is an honor to be selected by Popular Science for Best of What’s New in aviation," said Craig Tooley, LRO project manager from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. "There was tremendous excitement about the United States returning to the moon after many years. I believe our selection is a result of that excitement."

Each year, the editors of Popular Science review thousands of products in search of the top 100 tech innovations of the year; breakthrough products and technologies that represent a significant leap in their categories. The winners -- the Best of What's New -- are awarded inclusion in the much-anticipated December issue of Popular Science, the most widely read issue of the year since the debut of Best of What's New in 1987. Best of What's New awards are presented to 100 new products and technologies in 11 categories: Automotive, Aviation and Space, Computing, Engineering, Gadgets, Green Technology, Home Entertainment, Security, Home Technology, Personal Health and Recreation.

"For 22 years, Popular Science has honored the innovations that surprise and amaze us -- those that make a positive impact on our world today and challenge our views of what’s possible in the future." said Mark Jannot, editor-in-chief of Popular Science. "The Best of What’s New Award is the magazine’s top honor, and the 100 winners -- chosen from among thousands of entrants -- represent the highest level of achievement in their fields."

Artist concept of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. Credit: NASA

LRO launched from Kennedy Space Center, Fla. on June 18, 2009. Since that time the spacecraft has completed calibration and commissioning. LRO has already begun its detailed survey of the moon. First results from the mission included -- new looks at the Apollo landing sites; indications that permanently shadowed and nearby regions may harbor water and hydrogen; observations that large areas in the permanently shadowed regions are colder than Pluto; and detailed information on terrain roughness.

LRO is scheduled for a one year exploration mission in a polar orbit about 31 miles above the lunar surface. During the next year, LRO will produce a complete map of the lunar surface in unprecedented detail, search for resources and potential safe landing sites for human explorers and measure lunar temperatures and radiation levels.

NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center built and manages the mission for the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. The Institute for Space Research, Moscow, provided the neutron detector aboard the spacecraft.

Nancy N. Jones
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/news/popular_science.html

Rosetta Completes Final Earth Flyby

PASADENA, Calif. - On its way to a 2014 rendezvous with comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, the European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft, with JPL instruments on board, flew past Earth today to pick up energy.

This is the third and final Earth flyby for Rosetta. It will provide exactly the boost Rosetta needs to continue into the outer solar system. The spacecraft is scheduled for a close encounter with asteroid 21 Lutetia in July 2010, before it goes into hibernation early in 2011, only to wake up in early 2014 for approach to 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

Image of Earth acquired with Rosetta's narrow-angle camera from a distance of 633 000 kilometers (393,300 miles) on Nov. 12. Image credit: ESA

NASA has contributed an ultraviolet instrument (Alice); a plasma instrument (the Ion and Electron Sensor), and a microwave instrument (Microwave Instrument for the Rosetta Orbiter), among other contributions to this international mission. JPL manages NASA's participation in the Rosetta mission.

Learn more about NASA's contribution to Rosetta at: http://rosetta.jpl.nasa.gov

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/topics/solarsystem/features/rosetta20091113.html

Ghostly "Spokes" Puff Out From Saturn's Rings

Massive, bright clouds of tiny ice particles hover above the darkened rings of Saturn in an image captured by the Cassini spacecraft on Sept. 22, 2009, around the time of Saturn's equinox.

During this period, sunlight hits the rings edge-on and shines directly over the equator. The levitating icy particle clouds, which are known as "spokes" and are as wide as 10,000 kilometers (6,000 miles), appear particularly dramatic because of the unique lighting geometry of the equinox period.

The particles that make up spokes levitate above the ring plane when they acquire an electrostatic charge, the way static electricity on Earth can raise the hair on your arms. The spoke particles appear to acquire more charge during dim conditions and, during equinox, the bulk of the rings are in shadow. That angle of light also brightens features that stick out of the ring plane.

Massive, bright clouds of tiny ice particles hover above the darkened rings of Saturn in an image captured by the Cassini spacecraft on Sept. 22, 2009, around the time of Saturn's equinox. Image credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

Saturn's exact equinox was Aug. 11, 2009, but there were extreme lighting conditions a few weeks before and after that date. Cassini's wide-angle camera captured this image six weeks later, when the spacecraft was about 1.3 million kilometers (808,000 miles) away from Saturn. The spokes appear in Saturn's B ring. Scientists are not yet sure how high these spokes hover above the ring plane. The bright dot on the left side of the image is Saturn's moon Janus.

Spokes in Saturn's rings were first discovered in the late 1980s by NASA's Voyager spacecraft. The features disappeared from view between 1998 and 2005, likely because of the angle of sunlight on the rings. To learn more about spokes, click here. A movie of spokes dancing around the rings in 2008 is available here.

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/cassini/whycassini/cassini20091113.html

Dawn Enters Asteroid Belt -- For Good

ASTEROID BELT -- NASA's Dawn spacecraft re-entered our solar system's asteroid belt today, Nov. 13, and this time it will stay there.

Dawn first entered the belt (whose lower boundary may be defined as the greatest distance Mars gets from the sun (249,230,000 kilometers, or 154,864,000 miles) in June 2008. It remained within the belt for 40 days before its carefully planned orbital path brought it below the asteroid belt's lower boundary.

Artist's concept of Dawn. Image credit: NASA/JPL

This time around, Dawn's flight path will remain above this hypothetical lower boundary for the rest of the mission and for the foreseeable future - Dawn will become the first human-made object to take up permanent residence in the asteroid belt.

The mission of the 1,098-kilogram (2,421-pound) Dawn spacecraft is to reconnoiter Vesta and Ceres, the asteroid belt's two most massive inhabitants -- the asteroid Vesta and dwarf planet Ceres. The goal of this eight-year, 4.9-billion-kilometer (3-billion-mile) mission is to answer basic questions about the formation of planets in our solar system. NASA's unmanned Dawn spacecraft will be the first ever to orbit two planetary bodies on a single voyage. Dawn is 619 days away from arrival at its first celestial objective, asteroid Vesta.

For more information on Dawn please visit: http://dawn.jpl.nasa.gov/
For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/dawn/news/dawn20091113.html