Spacecraft at Mars Prepare to Welcome New Kid on the Block

MEDIA RELATIONS OFFICE
JET PROPULSION LABORATORY
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
PASADENA, CALIFORNIA 91109. TELEPHONE 818-354-5011
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov

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

Sara Hammond 520-626-1974
University of Arizona, Tucson
shammond@lpl.arizona.edu

NEWS RELEASE: 2008-035 Feb. 28, 2008

Spacecraft at Mars Prepare to Welcome New Kid on the Block

Three Mars spacecraft are adjusting their orbits to be over the right place at the right time
to listen to NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander as it enters the Martian atmosphere on May 25.

Every landing on Mars is difficult. Having three orbiters track Phoenix as it streaks
through Mars' atmosphere will set a new standard for coverage of critical events during a
robotic landing. The data stream from Phoenix will be relayed to Earth throughout the
spacecraft's entry, descent and landing events. If all goes well, the flow of information
will continue for one minute after touchdown.

"We will have diagnostic information from the top of the atmosphere to the ground that
will give us insight into the landing sequence," said David Spencer of NASA's Jet
Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., deputy project manager for the Phoenix Mars
Lander project. This information would be valuable in the event of a problem with the
landing and has the potential to benefit the design of future landers.

Bob Mase, mission manager at JPL for NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter, said, "We have
been precisely managing the trajectory to position Odyssey overhead when Phoenix
arrives, to ensure we are ready for communications. Without those adjustments, we
would be almost exactly on the opposite side of the planet when Phoenix arrives."

NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is making adjustments in bigger increments, with
one firing of thrusters on Feb. 6 and at least one more planned in April. The European
Space Agency's Mars Express orbiter has also maneuvered to be in place to record
transmissions from Phoenix during the landing. Even the NASA rovers Spirit and
Opportunity have been aiding preparations, simulating transmissions from Phoenix for
tests with the orbiters.

Launched on Aug. 4, 2007, Phoenix will land farther north than any previous mission to
Mars, at a site expected to have frozen water mixed with soil just below the surface. The
lander will use a robotic arm to put samples of soil and ice into laboratory instruments.
One goal is to study whether the site has ever had conditions favorable for supporting
microbial life.

Phoenix will hit the top of the Martian atmosphere at 5.7 kilometers per second (12,750
miles per hour). In the next seven minutes, it will use heat-shield friction, a parachute,
then descent rockets to slow to about 2.4 meters per second (5.4 mph) before landing on
three legs.

Odyssey will tilt from its normally downward-looking orientation to turn its ultrahigh-
frequency (UHF) antenna toward the descending Phoenix. As Odyssey receives a stream
of information from Phoenix, it will immediately relay the stream to Earth with a more
capable high-gain antenna. The other two orbiters, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and
Mars Express, will record transmissions from Phoenix during the descent, as backup to
ensure that all data is captured, then transmit the whole files to Earth after the landing.
"We will begin recording about 10 minutes before the landing," said JPL's Ben Jai,
mission manager for Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

The orbiters' advance support for the Phoenix mission also includes examination of
potential landing sites, which is continuing. After landing, the support will include
relaying communication between Phoenix and Earth during the three months that
Phoenix is scheduled to operate on the surface. Additionally, NASA and European Space
Agency ground stations are performing measurements to determine the trajectory of
Phoenix with high precision.

With about 160 million kilometers (100 million miles) still to fly as of late February,
Phoenix continues to carry out testing and other preparations of its instruments. The
pressure and temperature sensors of the meteorological station provided by the Canadian
Space Agency were calibrated Feb. 27 for the final time before landing. "The spacecraft
has been behaving so well that we have been able to focus much of the team's attention
on preparations for landing and surface operations," Spencer said.

The Phoenix mission is led by Peter Smith of the University of Arizona, Tucson, with
project management at JPL and development partnership at Lockheed Martin, Denver.
International contributions are provided by the Canadian Space Agency; the University of
Neuchatel, Switzerland; the universities of Copenhagen and Aarhus, Denmark; the Max
Planck Institute, Germany; and the Finnish Meteorological Institute. Additional
information on Phoenix is online at http://www.nasa.gov/phoenix and

http://phoenix.lpl.arizona.edu . JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology
in Pasadena, manages Mars Odyssey and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for the NASA
Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Additional information on NASA's Mars
program is online at http://www.nasa.gov/mars .

- end -

To remove yourself from all mailings from NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, please go to http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=ilKVKaPQJdIWLnK&s=ggIUKVOxHcLGLUMDKqF&m=lkKZKcPQIgK4H

NASA Views Landing Site Through Eyes of Future Moon Crew

MEDIA RELATIONS OFFICE
JET PROPULSION LABORATORY
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
PASADENA, CALIF. 91109 TELEPHONE 818-354-5011
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov

DC Agle 818-393-9011
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
agle@jpl.nasa.gov

Stephanie Schierholz/Beth Dickey 202-358-4997/2087
NASA Headquarters, Washington
stephanie.schierholz@nasa.gov, beth.dickey-1@nasa.gov

NEWS RELEASE: 2008-034 Feb. 27, 2008

NASA Views Landing Site Through Eyes of Future Moon Crew

PASADENA, Calif. – NASA has obtained the highest resolution terrain mapping to date of the
moon's rugged south polar region, with a resolution to 20 meters (66 feet) per pixel. Scientists at
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., collected the data using the Deep Space
Network's Goldstone Solar System Radar located in California's Mojave Desert. The imagery
generated by the data has been incorporated into animation depicting the descent to the lunar
surface of a future human lunar lander and a flyover of Shackleton Crater.

The mapping data collected indicate that the region of the moon's south pole near Shackleton
Crater is much more rugged than previously understood. The Shackleton rim area is considered a
candidate landing site for a future human mission to the moon.

"The south pole of the moon certainly would be a beautiful place to explore," said Doug Cooke,
deputy associate administrator for the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate at NASA
Headquarters, Washington. "We now know the south pole has peaks as high as Mt. McKinley
and crater floors four times deeper than the Grand Canyon. There are challenges that come with
such rugged terrain, and these data will be an invaluable tool for advance planning of lunar
missions."

Three times during a six-month period in 2006, scientists targeted the moon's south polar region
using Goldstone's 70-meter (230-foot) radar dish. The antenna, three-quarters the size of a
football field, sent a 500-kilowatt-strong, 90-minute-long radar stream 373,046 kilometers
(231,800 miles) to the moon. The radar bounced off the rough-hewn lunar terrain over an area
measuring about 644 kilometers by 402 kilometers (400 miles by 250 miles). Signals were
reflected back to two of Goldstone's 34-meter (112-foot) antennas on Earth. The roundtrip time,
from the antenna to the moon and back, was about two-and-a-half seconds.

"I have not been to the moon, but this imagery is the next best thing," said Scott Hensley, a
scientist at JPL and lead investigator for the study. "With these data we can see terrain features as
small as a house without even leaving the office."

Previously, the best resolution of the moon's south pole was generated by the Clementine
spacecraft, which could resolve lunar terrain features near the south pole at 1 kilometer (0.6
miles) per pixel. The new resolution generated by JPL is 50 times more detailed.

NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter will provide the next generation of lunar imaging and
data. The spacecraft is scheduled to launch in late 2008. The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter
Camera will retrieve high-resolution images of the moon's surface and lunar poles with
resolutions to 1 meter (3.3 feet). These images will provide knowledge of polar illumination
conditions, identify potential resources and hazards, and enable safe landing site selection. Other
instruments aboard the orbiter will return data such as temperature maps, ultraviolet images,
characterization of radiation on the moon and a high-resolution 3-D map. NASA's quest for up-
to-date imagery of the moon also will benefit from international missions such as Japan's Selene
robotic probe.

Funding for the program was provided by NASA's Exploration Systems Mission Directorate.

To view animation, terrain maps of the moon's south pole and images from this story, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/exploration/mmb/022708.html .

Video animation developed from the high-resolution imaging also will air on NASA Television.
For NASA TV downlink and schedule information, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/ntv .

JPL manages the Goldstone Solar System Radar and the Deep Space Network for NASA. To
learn more about them, visit: http://deepspace.jpl.nasa.gov/dsn .

For information about NASA's exploration program to return humans to the moon, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/exploration .

JPL is managed for NASA by the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

-end-

To remove yourself from all mailings from NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, please go to http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=adJFLJMjFdJOI1K&s=fpISISPtGbKELRMzFpE&m=jiJVI3PJKgIYG

Mars Odyssey THEMIS Images: February 18-22, 2008

MARS ODYSSEY THEMIS IMAGES
February 18-22, 2008

o Not Round (Released 18 February 2008)

http://themis.asu.edu/zoom-20080218a

o Padus Vallis (Released 19 February 2008)

http://themis.asu.edu/zoom-20080219a

o Iberus Vallis (Released 20 February 2008)

http://themis.asu.edu/zoom-20080220a

o Patapsco Vallis (Released 21 February 2008)

http://themis.asu.edu/zoom-20080221a

o Windstreaks (Released 22 February 2008)

http://themis.asu.edu/zoom-20080222a

All of the THEMIS images are archived here:

http://themis.asu.edu/latest.html

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission
for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission
Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University,
Tempe, in co.oration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing.
The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State
University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor
for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission
operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a
division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

To remove yourself from all mailings from NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, please go to http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=jwJWIgMYKcLSKmJ&s=ffKSISPtEbLEIRNzGpH&m=edJKKUOvGiJWH

Feature: Spitzer's Eyes Perfect for Spotting Diamonds in the Sky

Feature Feb. 26, 2008

Spitzer's Eyes Perfect for Spotting Diamonds in the Sky

Diamonds may be rare on Earth, but surprisingly common in space -- and the
super-sensitive infrared eyes of NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope are perfect for
scouting them, say scientists at the NASA Ames Research Center in Moffett
Field, Calif.

Using computer simulations, researchers have developed a strategy for finding
diamonds in space that are only a nanometer (a billionth of a meter) in size. These
gems are about 25,000 times smaller than a grain of sand, much too small for an
engagement ring. But astronomers believe that these tiny particles could provide
valuable insights into how carbon-rich molecules, the basis of life on Earth,
develop in the cosmos.

Scientists began to seriously ponder the presence of diamonds in space in the
l980s, when studies of meteorites that crashed into Earth revealed lots of tiny
nanometer-sized diamonds. Astronomers determined that 3 percent of all carbon
found in meteorites came in the form of nanodiamonds. If meteorites are a
reflection of the dust content in outer space, calculations show that just a gram of
dust and gas in a cosmic cloud could contain as many as 10,000 trillion
nanodiamonds.

"The question that we always get asked is, if nanodiamonds are abundant in
space, why haven't we seen them more often?" says Charles Bauschlicher of
Ames Research Center. They have only been spotted twice. "The truth is, we just
didn't know enough about their infrared and electronic properties to detect their
fingerprint."

To solve this dilemma, Bauschlicher and his research team used computer
software to simulate conditions of the interstellar medium--the space between
stars--filled with nanodiamonds. They found that these space diamonds shine
brightly at infrared light ranges of 3.4 to 3.5 microns and 6 to 10 microns, where
Spitzer is especially sensitive.

Astronomers should be able to see celestial diamonds by looking for their unique
"infrared fingerprints." When light from a nearby star zaps a molecule, its bonds
stretch, twist and flex, giving off a distinctive color of infrared light. Like a prism
breaking white light into a rainbow, Spitzer's infrared spectrometer instrument
breaks up infrared light into its component parts, allowing scientists to see the
light signature of each individual molecule.

Team members suspect that more diamonds haven't been spotted in space yet
because astronomers have not been looking in the right places with the right
instruments. Diamonds are made of tightly bound carbon atoms, so it takes a lot
of high-energy ultraviolet light to cause the diamond bonds to bend and move,
producing an infrared fingerprint. Thus, the scientists concluded that the best
place to see a space diamond's signature shine is right next to a hot star.

Once astronomers figure out where to look for nanodiamonds, another mystery is
figuring out how they form in the environment of interstellar space.

"Space diamonds are formed under very different conditions than diamonds are
formed on Earth," says Louis Allamandola, also of Ames.

He notes that diamonds on Earth form under immense pressure, deep inside the
planet, where temperatures are also very high. However, space diamonds are
found in cold molecular clouds where pressures are billions of times lower and
temperatures are below minus 240 degrees Celsius (minus 400 degrees
Fahrenheit).

"Now that we know where to look for glowing nanodiamonds, infrared telescopes
like Spitzer can help us learn more about their life in space," says Allamandola.

Bauschlicher's paper on this topic has been accepted for publication in
Astrophysical Journal. Allamandola was a co-author on the paper, along with
Yufei Liu, Alessandra Ricca, and Andrew L. Mattioda, also of Ames.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., manages the Spitzer Space
Telescope mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Science
operations are conducted at the Spitzer Science Center at the California Institute
of Technology, also in Pasadena. Caltech manages JPL for NASA.

For more information about Spitzer, visit http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/spitzer

and http://www.nasa.gov/spitzer .

To remove yourself from all mailings from NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, please go to http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=ehKMI0OHLjIXKeJ&s=lvK4KaPRKhIQL9OXLvG&m=nwJ2JlM0JeI6G

International Solar Mission to End Following Stellar Performance

MEDIA RELATIONS OFFICE
JET PROPULSION LABORATORY
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
PASADENA, CALIF. 91109 TELEPHONE 818-354-5011
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov

DC Agle 818-393-9011
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
agle@jpl.nasa.gov

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

NEWS RELEASE: 2008-031 Feb. 22, 2008

International Solar Mission to End Following Stellar Performance

WASHINGTON - The joint NASA and European Space Agency Ulysses mission to study the sun
and its influence on surrounding space is likely to cease operations in the next few months. The
venerable spacecraft, which has lasted more than 17 years or almost four times its expected mission
lifetime, is succumbing to the harsh environment of space.

Ulysses was the first mission to survey the space environment above and below the poles of the sun.
The reams of data Ulysses returned have forever changed the way scientists view our star and its
effects.

"I remember when we got those first pictures of Ulysses floating out of the space shuttle Discovery's
payload bay back in October of 1990 and thinking we had a great five years ahead of us," said Ed
Massey, Ulysses project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. "I never
dared think that we would be receiving invaluable science data on a near continuous basis for more
than 17 years. Ulysses has set the bar on solar science data collection quite high."

Science findings and discoveries from the mission were numerous and unprecedented. Examples
include taking the first direct measurements of interstellar dust particles and interstellar helium
atoms in the solar system and the discovery that the magnetic field leaving the sun is balanced across
latitudes.

"The data and science output of this mission truly deserves to be named after the legendary explorer
in Greek mythology," said Arik Posner, Ulysses program scientist, NASA Headquarters,
Washington. "My compliments go out to the international team of scientists and engineers who built
a spaceship and instrument payload that is highly sensitive, yet durable enough that it withstood the
most extreme conditions in the solar system, including a polar passage of the giant planet Jupiter."

Since its Jupiter flyby in 1992, Ulysses has been in a six-year orbit around the sun. Its long path
through space carries it out to Jupiter's orbit and back. The farther it ventures from the sun, the
colder the spacecraft becomes. If it drops to 2 degrees Celsius (36 degrees Fahrenheit), the
spacecraft's hydrazine fuel will freeze. This has not been a problem in the past because Ulysses
carries heaters to maintain a workable onboard temperature.

The spacecraft is powered by the decay of a radioactive isotope. Over its 17-plus years, the power
has been steadily dropping. The spacecraft no longer can run all of its communications, heating and
scientific equipment simultaneously. "We expect certain parts of the spacecraft to reach 2 degrees
Celsius pretty soon," said Richard Marsden, ESA project scientist and mission manager. This
temperature drop will block the fuel pipes, making the spacecraft impossible to maneuver.

The NASA/ESA project team approved a plan to temporarily shut off the main spacecraft's X- band
transmitter. This would release 60 watts of power, which could be channeled to the science
instruments and the heater. The team planned to turn the transmitter back on when data was to be
transmitted back to Earth. This would have made it possible to run Ulysses for up to another two
years.

Unfortunately, during the first test of this approach in January, the power supply to the radio
transmitter failed to turn back on. Engineers believe the fault can be traced to the transmitter's power
supply, meaning that the extra energy they hoped to gain cannot be routed to the heater and science
instruments. "The decision to switch the transmitter off was not taken lightly. It was the only way to
continue the science mission," Marsden said.

After many attempts, the Ulysses project team now considers it highly unlikely that the X-band
transmitter will be recovered. As a result, the spacecraft has lost its ability to send large quantities of
scientific data back to Earth and is facing the gradual freezing of its fuel lines. The team plans to
continue operating the spacecraft in its reduced capacity, using the alternate S-band transmitter, for
as long as they can over the next few weeks.

"We will squeeze the very last drops of science out of it that we can," Marsden said. "Ulysses is a
terrific old workhorse. It has produced great science and lasted much longer than we ever thought it
would."

The Ulysses spacecraft was built by Dornier Systems of Germany for ESA. NASA provided the
launch and the upper stage boosters. The U.S. Department of Energy, Washington, supplied the
generator that powers the spacecraft; science instruments were provided by both U.S. and European
investigators. The spacecraft is operated from JPL by a joint NASA/ESA team and has employed
NASA's Deep Space Network for communications.

More information about NASA's Ulysses mission is available on the Web at:

http://ulysses.jpl.nasa.gov

-end-

To remove yourself from all mailings from NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, please go to http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=beIGJKMkGcIRL5J&s=jjK0L4NJJfJMI3NPItE&m=luKYL6OMLnKaF

High School Summer Interns Wanted at JPL

High School Summer Interns Wanted at JPL Feb. 20, 2008

JPL will host two summer internship programs this year. Top students with an interest in and
aptitude for science, technology, engineering and/or mathematics are invited to review the
eligibility requirements. There are substantial differences between the programs. Please
review the program descriptions carefully. Deadlines are firm.

JPL SpaceSHIP (Summer High School Internships) - June 23 through July 31

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory Summer High School Internship Program (JPL SpaceSHIP) is
designed for high school students who have demonstrated a strong interest in and aptitude for
science, technology, engineering, and/or mathematics (STEM). One of JPL SpaceSHIP's
objectives is to encourage pre-college students who have been traditionally underrepresented
in STEM fields to consider such fields for their careers. The mentors for the JPL SpaceSHIP
program are some of NASA's top science and engineering professionals.

Students participating in the JPL SpaceSHIP program are provided an opportunity to do
research, expand their computer skills, and enhance and develop their oral and written
communication skills. Students also have an opportunity to develop and prepare written
technical reports and abstracts, make a formal final presentation, interact with students from
diverse cultural backgrounds and participate in numerous enrichment activities. Students earn
a stipend for services.

Visit http://minorityeducation.jpl.nasa.gov/documents/SpaceSHIP2008_Application.pdf for
the application. Please review all of the eligibility requirements.

Some frequently asked questions are answered at

http://minorityeducation.jpl.nasa.gov/documents/SpaceSHIP2008_FAQ.pdf.

Application deadline is Friday, March 14 (extended from February 22).

______________________

NASA INSPIRE (Interdisciplinary National Science Project Incorporating Research and
Education Experience) - June 23 through August 14

INSPIRE provides NASA-related experiences to encourage and reinforce students'
aspirations to pursue science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM, education
and careers.

JPL will conduct INSPIRE Tier 2B (students going into 12th grade) and Tier 3 (just-
graduated seniors that have been accepted at a college or university and have declared a
science, technology, engineering or mathematics major).

Detailed program information is at:

http://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/postsecondary/programs/INSPIRE_Project.html

______________________

Looking ahead...

JPL's annual Open House will be on Saturday and Sunday, May 3-4. Details at:

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/pso/oh.cfm

May 25 (the afternoon of the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend) Mars Phoenix lands on
Mars! Details at: http://phoenix.lpl.arizona.edu/

Our Autumn educator conference will be on astrobiology (the study of potential life
elsewhere in the universe) and extremophiles (organisms that survive in extreme
environments on Earth). Dates and details to follow.

To remove yourself from all mailings from NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, please go to http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=boLFLMNqHdLJJZJ&s=jtK0L4MJJfKMK3OPLtF&m=ktLVL5ONLoK8H

MRO HiRISE Images - February 20, 2008

MARS RECONNAISSANCE ORBITER HIRISE IMAGES
February 20, 2008

o Dunes in West Arabia Terra Crater

http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/PSP_006952_1870

o A Dilly of a Crater

http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/PSP_006841_1935

o Unravelling Part of Olympus Mons' Geologic History

http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/PSP_006891_1970

o Colorful Outcrops in Schiaparelli

http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/PSP_006754_1790

All of the HiRISE images are archived here:

http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/

Information about the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is online at

http://www.nasa.gov/mro. The mission is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion
Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology, for the NASA
Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. Lockheed Martin Space Systems,
of Denver, is the prime contractor and built the spacecraft. HiRISE is operated by t
he University of Arizona. Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corp., of Boulder, Colo.,
built the HiRISE instrument.

To remove yourself from all mailings from NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, please go to http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=cfLHJPNrE6KLI7I&s=ggIULVNxFcKGJUODIqG&m=jsJTI2OGLcLYE

High Energy Electron Holes Reveal Unseen Rings

Feature: High Energy Electron Holes Reveal Unseen Rings
February 19, 2008

Gaps in the soup of high energy particles near the orbits of two of Saturn's tiny moons
indicate that Saturn may be surrounded by undiscovered, near-invisible partial rings. A
paper in the February issue of the journal Icarus suggests the larger Saturnian moons may
not be the only ones contributing material to Saturn's ring system.

A team of scientists has detected two peculiar breaks in the near-constant rain of high
energy electrons that bombard Cassini when near Saturn. They made the discovery using
Cassini's Low Energy Magnetospheric Measurement System, a part of the
Magnetospheric Imaging Instrument. The gaping holes fall along the orbits of two newly
discovered moons, Methone and Anthe. Methone, discovered by Cassini in 2004, is
about 3 kilometers across (2 miles), while Anthe, discovered in Cassini images in 2007,
is about 2 kilometers wide (1 mile). Both moons are located between the orbits of Mimas
and Enceladus.

"These observations tell us that even Saturn's smallest moons could be a source of dust in
the Saturnian system," said Elias Roussos, the paper's lead author from the Max Planck
Institute for Solar System Research in Katlenburg-Lindau, Germany.

If the tiny moons are indeed feeding dust into the rings, Roussos says possible future
detection and characterization of these rings by more Cassini sensors could provide
information about the surface of the moons Methone and Anthe, which are difficult to
observe due to their small size.

Moons are known to absorb high energy particles. The fact that particles are missing is
sensed by Cassini in the same way there are brief moments without rain falling on the
windshield when driving under a bridge. These gaps in the flow of electrons showed that
something wide was absorbing the charged particles. However, the gaps Cassini saw at
Methone and Anthe are so wide, about 1,000 to 3,000 kilometers (600 to 1,900 miles)
across, that they cannot be explained solely by the presence of such tiny moons. Instead,
the measurements may indicate that the two moons are losing dust from their surface,
building up one or more arcs of material along their orbits. Each ring arc is expected to be
a few thousand kilometers wide and to comprise large dust grains or dust clumps.

"The released material may develop into ring arcs due to the gravitational 'tug of war'
between Saturn's larger moons, such as Mimas," added Roussos. "A similar process has
been found to take place at the arc within Saturn's G-ring."

Meteoroid impacts on Methone and Anthe are the most likely cause of the release of this
material from their surfaces. The same process is thought to have formed Jupiter's faint
rings at the orbits of the moons Amalthea, Thebe, Metis and Adrastea. The same
situation might be happening at Saturn. In fact, rings of similar origin have also recently
been detected in Cassini images along the orbits of the Saturnian moons Janus,
Epimetheus and Pallene.

"What's odd is that these inferred ring arcs still remain undetected in Cassini images,
while the rings at Janus, Epimetheus and Pallene orbits, thought to form under the same
process, are visible," said Roussos. "This means the dust grains making up these two
different classes of rings have different characteristics and sizes. However the reason
behind this difference is a mystery."

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 Cassini-Huygens mission for NASA's Science
Mission Directorate, Washington. The Cassini orbiter was designed, developed and
assembled at JPL.

-end-

Media Relations Contact: Carolina Martinez 818-354-9382

To remove yourself from all mailings from NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, please go to http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=cqIRI4OEJjJTJaL&s=ddJOLMNlE9JAILPrEnG&m=mlLYKeNVKmIcF

Cassini Finds Mingling Moons May Share a Dark Past

MEDIA RELATIONS OFFICE
JET PROPULSION LABORATORY
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
PASADENA, CALIF. 91109 TELEPHONE (818) 354-5011
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov

Carolina Martinez 818-354-9382
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
carolina.martinez@jpl.nasa.gov

NEWS RELEASE: 2008-028 Feb. 19, 2008

Cassini Finds Mingling Moons May Share a Dark Past

Despite the incredible diversity of Saturn's icy moons, theirs is a story of great
interaction. Some of them are pock-marked, some seemingly dirty, others pristine, one
spongy, one two-faced, some still spewing with activity and some seeming to be captured
from the far reaches of the solar system. Yet many of them have a common thread --
black "stuff" coating their surfaces.

"We are beginning to unravel the mysteries of these different and strange moons," said
Rosaly Lopes, Cassini scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
She coordinated a special section of 14 papers about Saturn's icy moons that appears in
the February issue of the journal Icarus.

Taken together, the papers bring an idea that Cassini scientist Bonnie Buratti calls "the
ecology of the Saturn system" to the forefront. "Ecology is about your entire environment
-- not just one body, but how they all interact," said Buratti. "The Saturn system is really
interesting, and if you look at the surfaces of the moons, they seem to be altered in ways
that aren't intrinsic to them. There seems to be some transport in this system."

Though the details of that transport are not yet clear, mounting evidence suggests that
some mechanism has spread the mysterious dark material found on several of the moons
from one to another; the material may even have a common cometary origin. Along those
lines, several of the new papers focus on similarities between the dark material found on
different moons -- on Hyperion and Iapetus, for example, or between Phoebe and Iapetus.

Roger Clark of the U.S. Geological Survey in Denver goes further, saying, "We see the
same spectral signature on all the moons that have coatings of dark material." Clark is
lead author of one of the new papers, which focuses on Saturn's moon Dione. His team
found the dark material there to be extremely fine-grained, making up only a very thin
layer on the moon's trailing side. Its distribution and composition, as measured by the
Cassini visual and infrared mapping spectrometer, indicate that the dark material is not
native to Dione. And scientists see many of the same signatures there that appear on the
moons Phoebe, Iapetus, Hyperion and Epimetheus, and also in Saturn's F-ring.

As for where this material comes from and what the dark material is, Clark said, "It's a
mystery, which makes it intriguing. We're still trying to find the exact match." The visual
and infrared spectrometer detected unique absorption bands in the dark material within
the Saturn system, which scientists have not seen anywhere else in the solar system. "The
data keep getting better and better," he said. "We're ruling things out and figuring out
pieces." So far, the team has identified bound water and, possibly, ammonia in the dark
material.

Ongoing geologic activity is another component of Saturn's ecology as some of the
moons continue to feed the planet's rings, which in turn affect many of the moons.

Clark's team reports tentative evidence to support the hypothesis presented earlier this
year that Dione is still geologically active. In one series of observations, the infrared
spectrometer detected a cloud of methane and water ice encircling Dione in its orbit
within the outer portions of Saturn's E-ring.

Of course the big story is the icy plumes spewing from the warm, south polar region of
Enceladus. These plumes are believed to be feeding the E-ring. A paper led by Frank
Postberg of the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics in Heidelberg, Germany, says
there are traces of organic compounds or silicate materials within the water ice-
dominated E-ring, close to Enceladus. This implies that the moon's rocky core and liquid
water are dynamically interacting. The finding could bolster a theory that Dennis Matson
and Julie Castillo of JPL put forth this year, which said that a warm, organic brew might
lie just below Enceladus' surface.

Cassini's next close study of an icy moon is the highly-anticipated flyby of Enceladus
scheduled for March 12. During that flyby, Cassini will pass by the active moon at a
distance of only 50 kilometers (30 miles) at its point of closest approach, and at a
distance of around 200 kilometers (120 miles) when it passes through the plumes.

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 Cassini-Huygens mission for NASA's Science
Mission Directorate, Washington. The Cassini orbiter was designed, developed and
assembled at JPL.

-end-

To remove yourself from all mailings from NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, please go to http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=imK3JmM2IjJUJnL&s=kuJ2I7ONIgKOK6OTJuE&m=gpIMIWOxH8JSF

Many, Perhaps Most, Nearby Sun-Like Stars May Form Rocky Planets

Rosemary Sullivant 818-354-2274
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
Rosemary.Sullivant@jpl.nasa.gov

Lori Stiles 520-626-4402
University of Arizona, Tucson
lstiles@u.arizona.edu

News Release: 2008-027 Feb. 17, 2008

Many, Perhaps Most, Nearby Sun-Like Stars May Form Rocky Planets

Astronomers have discovered that terrestrial planets might form around many, if not
most, of the nearby sun-like stars in our galaxy. These new results suggest that worlds
with potential for life might be more common than we thought.

University of Arizona, Tucson, astronomer Michael Meyer and his colleagues used
NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope to determine whether planetary systems like ours are
common or rare in our Milky Way galaxy. They found that at least 20 percent, and
possibly as many as 60 percent, of stars similar to the sun are candidates for forming
rocky planets.

Meyer is presenting the findings at the annual meeting of the American Association for
the Advancement of Science in Boston. The results appear in the Feb. 1 issue of
Astrophysical Journal Letters.

The astronomers used Spitzer to survey six sets of stars, grouped depending on their age,
with masses comparable to our sun. The sun is about 4.6 billion years old. "We wanted to
study the evolution of the gas and dust around stars similar to the sun and compare the
results with what we think the solar system looked like at earlier stages during its
evolution," Meyer said.

The Spitzer telescope does not detect planets directly. Instead it detects dust – the rubble
left over from collisions as planets form – at a range of infrared wavelengths. The hottest
dust is detected at the shortest wavelengths, between 3.6 microns and 8 microns. Cool
dust is detected at the longest wavelengths, between 70 microns and 160 microns. Warm
dust can be traced at 24-micron wavelengths. Because dust closer to the star is hotter than
dust farther from the star, the "warm" dust likely traces material orbiting the star at
distances comparable to the distance between Earth and Jupiter.

"We found that about 10 to 20 percent of the stars in each of the four youngest age
groups shows 24-micron emission due to dust," Meyer said. "But we don't often see
warm dust around stars older than 300 million years. The frequency just drops off.

"That's comparable to the time scales thought to span the formation and dynamical
evolution of our own solar system," he added. "Theoretical models and meteoritic data
suggest that Earth formed over 10 to 50 million years from collisions between smaller
bodies."

In a separate study, Thayne Currie and Scott Kenyon of the Smithsonian Astrophysical
Observatory, Cambridge, Mass., and their colleagues also found evidence of dust from
terrestrial planet formation around stars from 10 to 30 million years old. "These
observations suggest that whatever led to the formation of Earth could be occurring
around many stars between three million and 300 million years old," Meyer said.

Kenyon and Ben Bromley of the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, have developed
planet formation models that provide a plausible scenario. Their models predict warm
dust would be detected at 24-micron wavelengths as small rocky bodies collide and
merge. "Our work suggests that the warm dust Meyer and colleagues detect is a natural
outcome of rocky planet formation. We predict a higher frequency of dust emission for
the younger stars, just as Spitzer observes," said Kenyon.

The numbers on how many stars form planets are ambiguous because there's more than
one way to interpret the Spitzer data, Meyer said. The warm-dust emission that Spitzer
observed around 20 percent of the youngest cohort of stars could persist as the stars age.
That is, the warm dust generated by collisions around stars three to 10 million years old
could carry over and show up as warm dust emission seen around stars in the 10- to 30-
million-year-old range and so on. Interpreting the data this way, about one out of five
sun-like stars is potentially planet-forming, Meyer said.

There's another way to interpret the data. "An optimistic scenario would suggest that the
biggest, most massive disks would undergo the runaway collision process first and
assemble their planets quickly. That's what we could be seeing in the youngest stars.
Their disks live hard and die young, shining brightly early on, then fading," Meyer said.
"However, smaller, less massive disks will light up later. Planet formation in this case is
delayed because there are fewer particles to collide with each other."

If this is correct and the most massive disks form their planets first and the wimpiest
disks take 10 to 100 times longer, then up to 62 percent of the surveyed stars have
formed, or may be forming, planets. "The correct answer probably lies somewhere
between the pessimistic case of less than 20 percent and optimistic case of more than 60
percent," Meyer said.

The next critical test of the assertion that terrestrial planets like Earth could be common
around stars like the sun will come next year with the launch of NASA's Kepler mission.

Meyer's 13 co-authors include John Carpenter of the California Institute of Technology in
Pasadena. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena manages the Spitzer Space
Telescope mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Science
operations are conducted at the Spitzer Science Center at Caltech. Caltech manages JPL
for NASA. More information about Spitzer is at http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/spitzer

and http://www.nasa.gov/spitzer .

-end-

To remove yourself from all mailings from NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, please go to http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=hvL1LgMQLkK3LoI&s=hrKWJYOBKdKIIXPHKrF&m=gpJMIRPxHjJYG

Mars Odyssey THEMIS Images: February 11-15, 2008

MARS ODYSSEY THEMIS IMAGES
February 11-15, 2008

o Wind Action (Released 11 February 2008)

http://themis.asu.edu/zoom-20080211a

o Sand and Rock (Released 12 February 2008)

http://themis.asu.edu/zoom-20080212a

o Argyre Dunes (Released 13 February 2008)

http://themis.asu.edu/zoom-20080213a

o Dark Slope Streaks (Released 14 February 2008)

http://themis.asu.edu/zoom-20080214a

o Wind Action (Released 15 February 2008)

http://themis.asu.edu/zoom-20080215a

All of the THEMIS images are archived here:

http://themis.asu.edu/latest.html

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission
for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission
Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University,
Tempe, in co.oration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing.
The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State
University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor
for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission
operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a
division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

To remove yourself from all mailings from NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, please go to http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=drJTL4OzF7KLLaI&s=ffKSKSNtEbKEJRPzFpG&m=enKIJLPkEaISG

MRO HiRISE Images - February 14, 2008

MARS RECONNAISSANCE ORBITER HIRISE IMAGES
February 14, 2008

o Layers on Floor of Trough in Noctis Labyrinthis

http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/PSP_006679_1680

o Dunes with Unusual Gully

http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/PSP_006648_1300

o Light-toned Layers in Eos Chaos

http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/PSP_005385_1640

o Inverted Channels North of Juventae Chasma

http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/PSP_006770_1760

All of the HiRISE images are archived here:

http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/

Information about the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is online at

http://www.nasa.gov/mro. The mission is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion
Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology, for the NASA
Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. Lockheed Martin Space Systems,
of Denver, is the prime contractor and built the spacecraft. HiRISE is operated by t
he University of Arizona. Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corp., of Boulder, Colo.,
built the HiRISE instrument.

To remove yourself from all mailings from NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, please go to http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=hvK1KgPPJbIRLkK&s=gqIULVPxGcIGKUNDJqF&m=ihKQKXPAIdLZH

Mars Rovers Sharpen Questions About Livable Conditions

MEDIA RELATIONS OFFICE
JET PROPULSION LABORATORY
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
PASADENA, CALIFORNIA 91109. TELEPHONE 818-354-5011
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov

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

NEWS RELEASE: 2008-026 Feb. 15, 2008

Mars Rovers Sharpen Questions About Livable Conditions

BOSTON -- Like salt used as a preservative, high concentrations of dissolved minerals in
the wet, early-Mars environment known from discoveries by NASA's Opportunity rover
may have thwarted any microbes from developing or surviving.

"Not all water is fit to drink," said Andrew Knoll, a member of the rover science team
who is a biologist at Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.

Opportunity and its twin, Spirit, began their fifth year on Mars last month, far surpassing
their prime missions of three months. Today, at a meeting of the American Association
for the Advancement of Science in Boston, scientists and engineers discussed new
observations by the rovers, recent analysis of some earlier discoveries, and perspectives
on which lessons from these rovers' successes apply to upcoming missions to Mars.

"The engineering efforts that have enabled the rovers' longevity have tremendously
magnified the science return," said Steve Squyres of Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y.,
principal investigator for the rovers' science payload. "All of Spirit's most important
findings, such as evidence for hot springs or steam vents, came after the prime mission."

Opportunity spent recent months examining a bright band of rocks around the inner wall
of a crater. Scientists previously hypothesized this material might preserve a record of the
ground surface from just before the impact that excavated the crater. Inspection suggests
that, instead, it was at the top of an underground water table, Squyres reported.

Experiments with simulated Martian conditions and computer modeling are helping
researchers refine earlier assessments of whether the long-ago conditions in the Meridiani
area studied by Opportunity would have been hospitable to microbes. Chances look
slimmer. "At first, we focused on acidity, because the environment would have been very
acidic," Knoll said. "Now, we also appreciate the high salinity of the water when it left
behind the minerals Opportunity found. This tightens the noose on the possibility of life."

Conditions may have been more hospitable earlier, with water less briny, but later
conditions at Meridiani and elsewhere on the surface of Mars appear to have been less
hospitable, Knoll said. "Life at the Martian surface would have been very challenging for
the last 4 billion years. The best hopes for a story of life on Mars are at environments we
haven't studied yet -- older ones, subsurface ones," he said.

NASA's current rovers and orbiters at Mars pursue the agency's "follow the water" theme
for Mars exploration. They decipher the roles and fate of water on a planet whose most
striking difference from Earth is a scarcity of water. "Our next missions, Phoenix and
Mars Science Laboratory, mark a transition from water to habitability -- assessing
whether sites where there's been water have had conditions suited to life," said Charles
Elachi, director of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. "Where
conditions were habitable, later missions may look for evidence of life."

Elachi cited the achievements of Spirit and Opportunity. "They have worked 16 times
longer than planned, driven 20 times farther than planned, and, most important, found
diverse geological records of the effects of water in ancient Martian environments," he
said. "We must not let these successes lull us into thinking this type of exploration is
easy. Fifty years into the Space Age, we are still in the golden age of robotic exploration
of our solar system, when each mission is unprecedented in some way as we push the
limits of what is possible. Each mission presents new challenges."

The Phoenix lander, on course to reach Mars on May 25, will assess habitability of a
shallow subsurface environment of icy soil farther north than any earlier mission has
landed. It revives technology from missions launched before Spirit and Opportunity. The
following mission, the Mars Science Laboratory rover, will incorporate many lessons
from the current rovers, said that project's manager, Richard Cook of JPL. "The next
rover will be much bigger to carry the instruments necessary for meeting its goals, but it
would be laughable to consider doing Mars Science Laboratory without the experience
gained from doing the Mars Exploration Rovers," he said.

The Mars Science Laboratory rover will weigh about four times as much as Spirit or
Opportunity. "There's no way we could use an airbag landing," said JPL's Rob Manning,
chief engineer for the future rover. Instead, a rocket-powered hovering stage will lower it
to the surface on a tether. Lessons from Spirit and Opportunity will come into play when
it starts driving, though. "With the current rovers, we've learned we can trust the
autonomous navigation technology to a level we never expected, so now we can include
that as a capability in our mission design for Mars Science Laboratory," Manning said.

JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, built and manages the
rovers for NASA's Science Mission Directorate. For images and information about Spirit
and Opportunity, visit http://www.nasa.gov/rovers and http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov

.

-end-

To remove yourself from all mailings from NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, please go to http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=aoLNLTNlH6LGJ0J&s=mwI6KdMVJiJSLcO1JwH&m=jsJSIYNFIjL3G

Titan's Surface Organics Surpass Oil Reserves on Earth

MEDIA RELATIONS OFFICE
JET PROPULSION LABORATORY
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
PASADENA, CALIF. 91109 TELEPHONE 818-354-5011
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov

Carolina Martinez 818-354-9382
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

NEWS RELEASE: 2008-025 Feb. 13, 2008

Titan's Surface Organics Surpass Oil Reserves on Earth

Saturn's orange moon Titan has hundreds of times more liquid hydrocarbons than all the
known oil and natural gas reserves on Earth, according to new data from NASA's Cassini
spacecraft. The hydrocarbons rain from the sky, collecting in vast deposits that form
lakes and dunes.

The new findings from the study led by Ralph Lorenz, Cassini radar team member from
the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Md., are reported in
the Jan. 29 issue of the Geophysical Research Letters.

"Titan is just covered in carbon-bearing material—it's a giant factory of organic
chemicals," said Lorenz. "This vast carbon inventory is an important window into the
geology and climate history of Titan."

At a balmy minus 179 degrees Celsius (minus 290 degrees Fahrenheit), Titan is a far cry
from Earth. Instead of water, liquid hydrocarbons in the form of methane and ethane are
present on the moon's surface, and tholins probably make up its dunes. The term
"tholins"was coined by Carl Sagan in 1979 to describe the complex organic molecules at
the heart of prebiotic chemistry.

Cassini has mapped about 20 percent of Titan's surface with radar. Several hundred lakes
and seas have been observed, with each of several dozen estimated to contain more
hydrocarbon liquid than Earth's oil and gas reserves. The dark dunes that run along the
equator contain a volume of organics several hundred times larger than Earth's coal
reserves.

Proven reserves of natural gas on Earth total 130 billion tons, enough to provide 300
times the amount of energy the entire United States uses annually for residential heating,
cooling and lighting. Dozens of Titan's lakes individually have the equivalent of at least
this much energy in the form of methane and ethane.

"This global estimate is based mostly on views of the lakes in the northern polar regions.
We have assumed the south might be similar, but we really don't yet know how much
liquid is there," said Lorenz. Cassini's radar has observed the south polar region only
once, and only two small lakes were visible. Future observations of that area are planned
during Cassini's proposed extended mission.

Scientists estimated Titan's lake depth by making some general assumptions based on
lakes on Earth. They took the average area and depth of lakes on Earth, taking into
account the nearby surroundings, like mountains. On Earth, the lake depth is often 10
times less than the height of nearby terrain.

"We also know that some lakes are more than 10 meters or so deep because they appear
literally pitch-black to the radar. If they were shallow we'd see the bottom, and we don't,"
said Lorenz.

The question of how much liquid is on the surface is an important one because methane is
a strong greenhouse gas on Titan as well as on Earth, but there is much more of it on
Titan. If all the observed liquid on Titan is methane, it would only last a few million
years, because as methane escapes into Titan's atmosphere, it breaks down and escapes
into space. If the methane were to run out, Titan could become much colder. Scientists
believe that methane might be supplied to the atmosphere by venting from the interior in
cryovolcanic eruptions. If so, the amount of methane, and the temperature on Titan, may
have fluctuated dramatically in Titan's past.

"We are carbon-based life, and understanding how far along the chain of complexity
towards life that chemistry can go in an environment like Titan will be important in
understanding the origins of life throughout the universe," added Lorenz.

Cassini's next radar flyby of Titan is on Feb. 22, when the radar instrument will observe
the Huygens probe landing site.

For images and more information visit: http://www.nasa.gov/cassini and

http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov .

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 Cassini-Huygens mission for NASA's Science
Mission Directorate, Washington. The Cassini orbiter was designed, developed and
assembled at JPL. The radar instrument was built by JPL and the Italian Space Agency,
working with team members from the United States and several European countries.

-end-

To remove yourself from all mailings from NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, please go to http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=9dKKIOMpHkLQL3I&s=gqJULVNxFcJGIUMDJqH&m=ihLPJUOwHbJZF

Astronomers Eye Ultra-Young, Bright Galaxy in Early Universe

MEDIA RELATIONS OFFICE
JET PROPULSION LABORATORY
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
PASADENA, CALIF. 91109 TELEPHONE 818-354-5011
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov

Rosemary Sullivant 818-354-2274 Rosemary.Sullivant@jpl.nasa.gov
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

Donna Weaver/Ray Villard 410-338-4493/4514 dweaver@stsci.edu/villard@stsci.edu
Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Md.

NEWS RELEASE: 2008-024 Feb. 12, 2008

Astronomers Eye Ultra-Young, Bright Galaxy in Early Universe

NASA's Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes, with a boost from a natural "zoom lens,"
have uncovered what may be one of the youngest and brightest galaxies ever seen in the
middle of the cosmic "dark ages," just 700 million years after the beginning of our
universe.

The detailed images from Hubble's Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer
reveal an infant galaxy, dubbed A1689-zD1, undergoing a firestorm of star birth during
the dark ages, a time shortly after the Big Bang but before the first stars reheated the cold,
dark universe. Images from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope's Infrared Array Camera
provided strong additional evidence that it was a young star-forming galaxy in the dark
ages.

"We certainly were surprised to find such a bright young galaxy 12.8 billion years in the
past," said astronomer Garth Illingworth of the University of California, Santa Cruz, and
a member of the research team. "This is the most detailed look to date at an object so far
back in time."

"The Hubble images yield insight into the galaxy's structure that we cannot get with any
other telescope," added astronomer Rychard Bouwens of UC Santa Cruz, a co-discoverer.
The new images should offer insights into the formative years of galaxy birth and
evolution and yield information on the types of objects that may have contributed to
ending the dark ages. The faraway galaxy also is an ideal target for Hubble's successor,
the James Webb Space Telescope, scheduled to launch in 2013.

During its lifetime, the Hubble telescope has peered ever farther back in time, viewing
galaxies at successively younger stages of evolution. These snapshots have helped
astronomers create a scrapbook of galaxies from infancy to adulthood. The new Hubble
and Spitzer images of A1689-zD1 show a time when galaxies were in their infancy.

Current theory holds that the dark ages began about 400,000 years after the Big Bang, as
matter in the expanding universe cooled and formed clouds of cold hydrogen. These cold
clouds pervaded the universe like a thick fog. At some point during this era, stars and
galaxies started to form. Their collective light reheated the foggy, cold hydrogen, ending
the dark ages about a billion years after the Big Bang.

"This galaxy presumably is one of the many galaxies that helped end the dark ages," said
astronomer Larry Bradley of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Md., and leader of
the study. "Astronomers are fairly certain that high-energy objects such as quasars did not
provide enough energy to end the dark ages of the universe. But many young star-
forming galaxies may have produced enough energy to end it."

The galaxy is so far away it did not appear in images taken with Hubble's Advanced
Camera for Surveys, because its light is stretched to invisible infrared wavelengths by the
universe's expansion. It took Hubble's near infrared camera/spectrometer, Spitzer, and a
trick of nature called gravitational lensing to see the faraway galaxy. The astronomers
used a relatively nearby massive cluster of galaxies known as Abell 1689, roughly 2.2
billion light-years away, to magnify the light from the more distant galaxy directly behind
it. This natural telescope is called a gravitational lens.

Though the diffuse light of the faraway object is nearly impossible to see, gravitational
lensing has increased its brightness by nearly 10 times, making it bright enough for
Hubble and Spitzer to detect. A telltale sign of the lensing is the smearing of the images
of galaxies behind Abell 1689 into arcs by the gravitational warping of space by the
intervening galaxy cluster.

The images reveal bright, dense clumps of hundreds of millions of massive stars in a
compact region about 2,000 light-years across, which is only a fraction of the width of
our Milky Way Galaxy. This type of galaxy is not uncommon in the early universe, when
the bulk of star formation was taking place, Bradley and Illingworth said.

Spitzer's images show the galaxy's mass is typical of galaxies in the early universe. Its
mass is equivalent to several billions of sunlike stars, or just a tiny fraction of the mass of
the Milky Way. "This observation confirms previous Hubble studies that star birth
happens in very tiny regions compared with the size of the final galaxy," Illingworth said.

Even with the increased magnification from the gravitational lens, Hubble's sharp "eye"
can only see knots of the brightest, heftiest stars in the galaxy. The telescope cannot
pinpoint fainter, lower-mass stars, individual stars, or the material surrounding the star-
birthing region. To see those things, astronomers will need the infrared capabilities of
the Webb Telescope. The planned infrared observatory will have a mirror about seven
times the area of Hubble's primary mirror and will collect more light from faint galaxies.
It also will be able to view even more remote galaxies whose light has been stretched
deep into infrared wavelengths that are out of the reach of Hubble.

Team member Holland Ford of Johns Hopkins University said this galaxy will be one of
the first objects the Webb Telescope will observe, saying, "This object is a pathfinder for
the James Webb Space Telescope for deciphering what is happening in young galaxies."
The astronomers noted that the faraway galaxy also would be an ideal target for the
Atacama Large Millimeter Array, which, when completed in 2012, will be the world's
most powerful radio telescope.

The results will appear in the Astrophysical Journal, with followup observations planned
with Hawaii's Keck telescope. Images and additional information are at

http://spitzer.caltech.edu/media/mediaimages/index.shtml and

http://hubblesite.org/news/2008/08 . More information about Spitzer is at

http://www.nasa.gov/spitzer and http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/spitzer .

The Space Telescope Science Institute conducts science operations for Hubble, a project
of international cooperation between NASA and the European Space Agency. The
institute is operated for NASA by the Association of Universities for Research in
Astronomy, Inc., Washington. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., manages
Spitzer for NASA's Science Mission Directorate. Science operations are conducted at the
Spitzer Science Center at the California Institute of Technology, which manages JPL for
NASA. More contacts: Larry Bradley-Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, 410-516-
5108/Garth Ilingworth-UC Observatories/UC Santa Cruz , 831-459-2843

-end-

To remove yourself from all mailings from NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, please go to http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=guIXKfPPLgKTKfL&s=jjI0I4PJLfJMJ3NPLtH&m=hgKMLWNzHbJXF

Mars Odyssey THEMIS Images: February 4-8, 2008

MARS ODYSSEY THEMIS IMAGES
February 4-8, 2008

o Landslide Surface (Released 04 February 2008)

http://themis.asu.edu/zoom-20080204a

o Candor Chasma (Released 05 February 2008)

http://themis.asu.edu/zoom-20080205a

o Embayment (Released 06 February 2008)

http://themis.asu.edu/zoom-20080206a

o Channel to Ridge (Released 07 February 2008)

http://themis.asu.edu/zoom-20080207a

o Crater Delta (Released 08 February 2008)

http://themis.asu.edu/zoom-20080208a

All of the THEMIS images are archived here:

http://themis.asu.edu/latest.html

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission
for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission
Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University,
Tempe, in co.oration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing.
The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State
University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor
for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission
operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a
division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

To remove yourself from all mailings from NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, please go to http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=iwL1KkM4KtL7JsJ&s=isKYL1NFJeLKL0PLKsH&m=lkIUI7MWIqK8F

MRO HiRISE Images - February 7, 2008

MARS RECONNAISSANCE ORBITER HIRISE IMAGES
February 7, 2008

o Small Cones North of Olympus Mons

http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/PSP_006667_2150

o Textured Surface in the Southern Part of Trumpler Crater

http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/PSP_006734_1180

o Terby Crater

http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/PSP_006752_1525

o HiRISE Student Image of the Week:
Intersection of Hyblaeus and Elysium Chasmata

http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/PSP_003545_2025

All of the HiRISE images are archived here:

http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/

Information about the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is online at

http://www.nasa.gov/mro. The mission is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion
Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology, for the NASA
Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. Lockheed Martin Space Systems,
of Denver, is the prime contractor and built the spacecraft. HiRISE is operated by t
he University of Arizona. Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corp., of Boulder, Colo.,
built the HiRISE instrument.

To remove yourself from all mailings from NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, please go to http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=9nKJITMuHkLMLYI&s=kkJ2K7ONLgLOK6PTLuE&m=foKILPOyHiKUG

Spitzer Catches Young Stars in Their Baby Blanket of Dust

MEDIA RELATIONS OFFICE
JET PROPULSION LABORATORY
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
PASADENA, CALIF. 91109 TELEPHONE 818-354-5011
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov

Rosemary Sullivant 818-354-2274
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
Rosemary.Sullivant@jpl.nasa.gov

IMAGE ADVISORY: 2008-023 Feb. 11, 2008

Spitzer Catches Young Stars in Their Baby Blanket of Dust

Newborn stars peek out from beneath their natal blanket of dust in this dynamic image of
the Rho Ophiuchi dark cloud from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope.

Called "Rho Oph" by astronomers, it's one of the closest star-forming regions to our own
solar system. Located near the constellations Scorpius and Ophiuchus, the nebula is about
407 light years away from Earth. The image is available at

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/spitzer/multimedia/20080211.html .

Rho Oph is made up of a large main cloud of molecular hydrogen, a key molecule
allowing new stars to form out of cold cosmic gas, with two long streamers trailing off in
different directions. Recent studies using the latest X-ray and infrared observations reveal
more than 300 young stellar objects within the large central cloud. Their median age is
only 300,000 years, very young compared to some of the universe's oldest stars, which
are more than 12 billion years old.

"Rho Oph is a favorite region for astronomers studying star formation. Because the
stars are so young, we can observe them at a very early evolutionary stage, and because
the Ophiuchus molecular cloud is relatively close, we can resolve more detail than in
more distant clusters, like Orion," said Lori Allen, lead investigator of the new
observations, from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, Mass.

This false-color image of Rho Oph's main cloud, Lynds 1688, was created with data from
Spitzer's infrared array camera, which has the highest spatial resolution of Spitzer's three
imaging instruments, and its multiband imaging photometer, best for detecting cooler
materials.

The colors in this image reflect the relative temperatures and evolutionary states of the
various stars. The youngest stars are surrounded by dusty disks of gas from which they
and their potential planetary systems are forming. These young disk systems show up
as red in this image. Some of these young stellar objects are surrounded by their own
compact nebulae. More evolved stars, which have shed their natal material, are blue.

The extended white nebula in the center right of the image is a region of the cloud
glowing in infrared light due to the heating of dust by bright young stars near the cloud's
right edge. Fainter, multi-hued diffuse emission fills the image. The color of the
nebulosity depends on the temperature, composition and size of the dust grains. Most of
the stars forming now are concentrated in a filament of cold, dense gas that shows up as a
dark cloud in the lower center and left side of the image against the bright background of
the warm dust.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., manages the Spitzer Space
Telescope mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Science
operations are conducted at the Spitzer Science Center at the California Institute of
Technology, also in Pasadena. Caltech manages JPL for NASA.

Spitzer's infrared array camera was built by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center,
Greenbelt, Md. The instrument's principal investigator is Giovanni Fazio of the Harvard-
Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. The multiband imaging photometer for Spitzer was
built by Ball Aerospace Corporation, Boulder, Colo.; the University of Arizona; and
Boeing North American, Canoga Park, Calif. Its principal investigator is George Rieke of
the University of Arizona, Tucson.

For more information about Spitzer, visit http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/spitzer and

http://www.nasa.gov/spitzer .

-end-

To remove yourself from all mailings from NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, please go to http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=cgLPI1NDLfIJK4J&s=llI4JaNRJhKQL9OXIvG&m=ktJSI3NRLoL5E

Feature: Ocean-Observing Satellites Help Break Current Records

Feature

February 18, 2008

Ocean-Observing Satellites Help Break Current Records

Two different teams of ocean adventurers set records this winter crossing the Tasman
Sea. One was the first expedition to kayak from Australia to New Zealand; the other was
the first Australians to row across the Tasman Sea. Both took advantage of something
that sailors have been relying on since the launch of Topex/Poseidon in 1992–maps of
ocean currents made possible by ocean altimetry.

The teams consulted with David Griffin, a research scientist with Australia's
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation. Griffin creates maps of
the local waters using sea surface height measurements from the Jason-1, Envisat and
Geosat satellites to calculate the location, speed and direction of currents. These maps,
which also include sea surface temperature, are available online at

http://www.cmar.csiro.au/remotesensing/oceancurrents/ .

"The difficult thing about this region is the strong and variable currents," says Griffin,
who has worked with many different groups including fishermen, yachtsmen, police,
search and rescue personnel, and environmental protection agencies. Griffin is a principal
investigator on the Ocean Surface Topography Science Team, an international group of
researchers selected to work on the Jason mission. Topex/Poseidon and its successor
Jason-1 are joint missions of NASA and the French space agency, Centre National
d'Estudes Spatiales.

The rowers set off for Australia from New Zealand on Nov. 29, and Griffin received
hourly notices of their boat's position. "We had a script going that updated, every hour,
what their trajectory would be if they choose various headings to paddle on," says
Griffin. "Andrew Johnson, the expedition's navigator, had studied the maps on our Web
site during preparation for the voyage, so he had a pretty good idea of the array of
obstacles and opportunities the ever-changing eddy field of the East Australian Current
was likely to present."

"We were certainly lucky with the currents," says Johnson, "but being aware of them was
half the battle. At least then you could minimize the negative impact and maximize the
positive."

After 32 days at sea, the four Australian rowers successfully completed the 2,200-
kilometer (1,400-mile) journey on Dec. 30, 2007. The first rowing crossing, done by a
single New Zealander in 1970, took 67 days.

The kayakers began their voyage across the "ditch," slang for the Tasman Sea, on Nov.
13, 2007. "They made their tactical decisions by using Google Earth to overlay their
waypoints on a map of sea surface temperature imagery and altimetric currents that we
provide on our web site," says Griffin. They had hoped to make it to New Zealand by
Christmas. Instead, they arrived on Jan. 13 after 62 days at sea. "We were biting our
fingernails," says Griffin.
The launch of the Ocean Surface Topography Mission on the Jason-2 satellite this
summer will help ensure that critical ocean altimetry measurements continue into the next
decade.

More information on the "Base 3 Rowing Challenge" is available at

http://www.basefx.com.au/expedition/?cat=3

and on the "Crossing the Ditch" kayak
expedition at

http://www.crossingtheditch.com.au/ .

-end-

To remove yourself from all mailings from NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, please go to http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=gkLXI9PLIfJUJjL&s=eeKQIPOpHaKCKOMvFoG&m=lkITKaPYIjI3F

Scientists Study "Plumbing" in Plumes of Enceladus

MEDIA RELATIONS OFFICE
JET PROPULSION LABORATORY
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
PASADENA, CALIF. 91109 TELEPHONE (818) 354-5011,

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov

Contact: Carolina Martinez 818-354-9382

Scientists Study "Plumbing" in Plumes of Enceladus

Scientists on the Cassini mission have become out-of-this world "plumbers" as they try to piece
together what's happening inside the "pipes" feeding the plumes of Saturn's moon Enceladus.

Enceladus is jetting out giant geysers three times the size of the moon, and now scientists are
beginning to understand how the ice grains are created and how they might have formed.
Knowing the process of how the plume forms and the path the water-ice particles have to travel
is giving them an insight into what may be a liquid reservoir or lake lying just beneath the
surface.

"Since Cassini discovered the water vapor geysers, we've all wondered where this water vapor
and ice are coming from. Is it from an underground water reservoir or are there some other
processes at work? Now, after looking at data from multiple instruments, we can say there
probably is water beneath the surface of Enceladus," said Juergen Schmidt, team member on
Cassini's Cosmic Dust Analyzer at the University of Potsdam, Germany. This study appears in
the Feb. 7, 2008, issue of the journal Nature.

The large number of ice particles observed spewing from the geysers and the steady rate at which
these particles are produced require high temperatures, close to the melting point of ice, possibly
resulting in an internal lake. The lake would be similar to Earth's Lake Vostok, beneath
Antarctica, where liquid water exists locked in ice. The ice grains then condense in the vapor
evaporating from the water, streaming through cracks in the ice crust to the surface.

The presence of liquid water inside Enceladus would have major implications for future
astrobiology studies on the possibility of life on bodies in the outer solar system.

Scientists have studied the plume dynamics since 2005, collecting data from several Cassini
remote sensing instruments and those that sample particles directly, like the Cosmic Dust
Analyzer. They conclude that an internal lake at a temperature of about 273 Kelvin (32 degrees
Fahrenheit) is the best way to account for the material jetting out of the geysers.

At these warm temperatures, liquid water, ice and water vapor mingle. The vapor escapes to the
vacuum of space through cracks in Enceladus' ice crust. When the gas expands, it cools and the
ice grains that make up the visible part of the plumes condense from the vapor. Vapor in the
plumes is clocked at roughly the same speed as a supersonic jet, about 300 to 500 meters per
second, or about 650 to 1,100 miles per hour. However, most of the condensed ice particles fail
to reach Enceladus' escape velocity of 240 meters per second (536 miles per hour).

Pinball-like physics account for the slow speed of the particles. Shooting up through crooked
cracks in the ice, the particles ricochet off the walls, losing speed, while the water vapor moves
unimpeded up the crevasse. The vapor reboosts the frozen particles as they pinball off the walls,
carrying them upward. Reaching nozzle-like openings at the surface, the faster-moving water
vapor shoots high above Enceladus, becoming entrapped in Saturn's magnetosphere. Most of
the particles, which have lost energy through collisions in transit, fail to achieve escape velocity
and fall back to Enceladus' surface. Only about 10 percent escape Enceladus and form Saturn's
E-ring.

"Our model provides a simple concept to understand how particles form, their speed and how
they behave as they make their way out into space. If vapor temperature is too low, then the gas
density is too small to push the grains out and we would not see such large amounts of particles,"
said Schmidt. "Therefore, we believe that at the site of evaporation, we must have temperatures
near the melting point of water."

Scientists say that particles seen in the plumes are too numerous to have started from processes
described in one existing model that requires low temperatures, proposing that gases may be
trapped inside ice crystals. Another model suggests that water ice, suddenly exposed to the
vacuum of space, sublimes, or boils, directly into vapor without liquefying first. But this would
mean there are short bursts of activity, rather than the steady production of particles. The new
model of grains condensing in a vent that evaporates from a liquid body is consistent with a
steady production of particles, ejected from a localized source.

This research provides fundamental knowledge about solar system bodies, in particular those
that, like our home planet, are homes to oceans – environments where life might evolve.

The next Enceladus flyby is in March 2008. The spacecraft closest approach will be at a mere 50
kilometers (30 miles) from the surface and the altitude will increase to about 200 kilometers (124
miles) as the spacecraft passes through the plumes. Cassini will sample the plumes directly and
find out more about their makeup.

More information on the Cassini-Huygens mission is available at: http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov

and

http://www.nasa.gov/cassini .
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 Cassini mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington,
D.C. JPL designed, developed and assembled the Cassini orbiter.

-end-

To remove yourself from all mailings from NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, please go to http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=aeJKIYNwFeJLJ0K&s=iiIYL1MFIeJKJ0PLJsF&m=ktIRK4OOJhJ3E

NASA's Deep Impact Begins Hunt for Alien Worlds

Contact: DC Agle 818-393-9011
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
agle@jpl.nasa.gov

Nancy Neal-Jones 301-286-0039
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
Nancy.N.Jones@nasa.gov

Lee Tune 301-405-4679
University of Maryland, College Park
ltune@umd.edu

Press Release: 2008-021 February 7, 2008

NASA's Deep Impact Begins Hunt For Alien Worlds

NASA's Deep Impact spacecraft is aiming its largest telescope at five stars in a search for
alien (exosolar) planets as it enters its extended mission, called Epoxi.

Deep Impact made history when the mission team directed an impactor from the
spacecraft into comet Tempel 1 on July 4, 2005. NASA recently extended the mission,
redirecting the spacecraft for a flyby of comet Hartley 2 on Oct. 11, 2010.

As it cruises toward the comet, Deep Impact will observe five nearby stars with
"transiting exosolar planets," so named because the planet transits, or passes in front of,
its star. The Epoxi team, led by University of Maryland astronomer Michael A'Hearn,
directed the spacecraft to begin these observations Jan. 22. The planets were discovered
earlier and are giant planets with massive atmospheres, like Jupiter in our solar system.
They orbit their stars much closer than Earth does the sun, so they are hot and belong to
the class of exosolar planets nicknamed "Hot Jupiters."

However, these giant planets may not be alone. If there are other worlds around these
stars, they might also transit the star and be discovered by the spacecraft. Deep Impact
can even find planets that don't transit, using a timing technique. Gravity from the unseen
planets will pull on the transiting planets, altering their orbits and the timing of their
transits.

"We're on the hunt for planets down to the size of Earth, orbiting some of our closest
neighboring stars," said Epoxi Deputy Principal Investigator Drake Deming of NASA's
Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. Epoxi is a combination of the names for
the two extended mission components: the exosolar planet observations, called Extrasolar
Planet Observations and Characterization (Epoch), and the flyby of comet Hartley 2,
called the Deep Impact Extended Investigation (Dixi). Goddard leads the Epoch
component.

More than 200 exosolar planets have been discovered to date. Most of these are detected
indirectly, by the gravitational pull they exert on their parent star. Directly observing
exosolar planets by detecting the light reflected from them is very difficult, because a
star's brilliance obscures light coming from any planets orbiting it.

However, sometimes the orbit of an exosolar world is aligned so that it eclipses its star as
seen from Earth. In these rare cases, called transits, light from that planet can be seen
directly.

"When the planet appears next to its star, your telescope captures their combined light.
When the planet passes behind its star, your telescope only sees light from the star. By
subtracting light from just the star from the combined light, you are left with light from
the planet," said Deming, who is leading the search for exosolar worlds with Deep
Impact. "We can analyze this light to discover what the atmospheres of these planets are
like."

Deep Impact will also look back to observe Earth in visible and infrared wavelengths,
allowing comparisons with future discoveries of Earth-like planets around other stars.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., manages Epoxi for NASA's Science
Mission Directorate, Washington. The University of Maryland is the Principal
Investigator institution. NASA Goddard leads the mission's exosolar planet observations.
The spacecraft was built for NASA by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder,
Colo.

For information about Epoxi, visit http://www.nasa.gov/epoxi . More information about
JPL is at www.jpl.nasa.gov . More information about NASA programs is at

www.nasa.gov .

-end-

To remove yourself from all mailings from NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, please go to http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=cqLOK4OEKeJTIcK&s=eoJQLPOpFaKCIONvFoE&m=gfJJLSOxFgJZH

AWARD NOTIFICATION

LA BOTE  LOTTERY  BOARD S.A

AVD,REY DON JAIME 55c BAJO

C.P.28068 MADRID SPAIN.

 

FROM THE DESK OF THE MANAGING DIRECTOR

INTERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS/PRIZE AWARD DEPT                                                                                                                              

ELECTRONIC MAIL AWARD NOTIFICATION/FINAL NOTICE

 

We are pleased to inform you today, the results of   LA VITALICIA  LOTTERY

INTERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS  held on 30^th of JANUARY 2008 as part of our yearly bonanza and results official announced today 3^nd  of FEB 2008 .You/Your company email attached to

        &nb sp;                                                          

Ticket no: 01-4989

Batch no: 83875-0

Online number # 6863478

Winning no: 1-10-30-33-37-41 + 01-08

 

Which consequently won the lottery on the  2nd category.

 

CONGRATULATION!!!

 

Your winning amount is 575,982.30 Euros) Equivalent to US$ 794,020.26. ( Seven hundred and Ninety Four thousand Twenty Dollar and Twenty Six Cent US Dollar in cash )

to be p aid through one of the following payment options

                 

       (A) CHEQUE       (B) CASH PICK UP       (C) BANK TRANSFER.

 

This promotional program is a conjoined effort of the Euro millions La primitiva and the under the auspices of the LA VITALICIA   LOTTERY  BOARD  INTERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS.

 

Your winning amount is insured for security reasons and will be released for payment by THE INTERNATIONAL LOTTERY BOARD after data's clearification and verification.

The email  Lottery news la vitalicia  Program Internet draw is held once in a year and is so organized to encourage the use of the Internet and computers worldwide.We are proud to say that over 200 Million Euros are won annually in more than 150 countries worldwide.

 

All winning addresses were randomly selected from the worldwide website through the Microsoft computer ballot System with a batch of&n bsp; 50,000,00 international email addresses,FROM CITIZENS OF USA, CANADA, AUSTRALIA, ASIA ,MIDDLE  EAST AND EUROPE.

 

Due to mixed up of names, we urge you to keep this award CONFIDENTIAL until your claim has been processed and your cash remitted to your desired OPTION OF PAYMENT as this is part of our security protocol to avoid double claiming or unscrupulous acts by non participants taking advantage of this programme.

 

For claims processing and remittance of your prize money to a designated account of your choice, kindly contact your FUDICIARY AGENT  INTERNATIONAL PROMOTION:

 

DON  JOSE  LUIS  GALAN

FOREIGN OPERATION DEPARTMENT

THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF

EUOR BOTO  CONSULTANT. S.A 

Tel:  +34 634 039 820

E-mail:jose_luisgalan@ozu.es

            bote_consuitant@ozu.es< /SPAN>

   

 

*************************************************************
(i)  Name:
(ii) Contact telephone and fax numbers :
(iii) Contact Address :
(iv) Winning numbers (batch number, ticket number, and ref number) :
(v)  Awarded amount :
(vi) Awarded E-mail address:
(vii) Notification date :
********************************************* ****************

 

Remember that all prize money must be claimed not later than 30^th  MARCH  2008, after this date all unclaimed winning amount will be returned to the MINISTERIO DE HACIENDA as unclaimed.

Note: If there be any change on your address do inform your Agent as soon as possible.

YOUR AGENT WILL BE PAID 6% OF THE AWARD PRIZE AS COMMISSION AFTER YOU RECEIVED YOUR WINNING AMOUNT. .   

                                                       

                    Congratulation once again from all staff and board members  

 

  ;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In 5 Schritten zur eigenen Homepage. Jetzt Domain sichern und gestalten!     Nur 3,99 EUR/Monat! http://www.maildomain.web.de/?mc=02214