NASA to Provide Web Updates on Objects Approaching 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

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

INTERNET ADVISORY: 2009-115 July 29, 2009

NASA to Provide Web Updates on Objects Approaching Earth

PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory is introducing a new Web site
that will provide a centralized resource for information on near-Earth objects – those
asteroids and comets that can approach Earth. The "Asteroid Watch" site also contains
links for the interested public to sign up for NASA's new asteroid widget and Twitter
account.

"Most people have a fascination with near-Earth objects," said Don Yeomans, manager of
NASA's Near-Earth Object Program Office at JPL. "And I have to agree with them. I
have studied them for over three decades and I find them to be scientifically fascinating,
and a few are potentially hazardous to Earth. The goal of our Web site is to provide the
public with the most up-to-date and accurate information on these intriguing objects."

The new Asteroid Watch site is online at http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/asteroidwatch .

It provides information on NASA's missions to study comets, asteroids and near-Earth
objects, and also provides the basic facts and the very latest in science and research on
these objects. News about near-Earth object discoveries and Earth flybys will be available
and made accessible on the site via a downloadable widget and RSS feed. And for those
who want to learn about their space rocks on the go, a Twitter feed is offered. "Asteroid
Watch" also contains a link to JPL's more technical Near-Earth Objects Web site, where
many scientists and researchers studying near-Earth objects go for information.

"This innovative new Web application gives the public an unprecedented look at what's
going on in near-Earth space," said Lindley Johnson, program executive for the Near-
Earth Objects Observation program at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

NASA supports surveys that detect and track asteroids and comets passing close to Earth.
The Near-Earth Object Observation Program, commonly called "Spaceguard," also plots
the orbits of these objects to determine if any could be potentially hazardous to our planet.

JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

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NASA's Spitzer Images Out-of-This-World Galaxy

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

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

IMAGE ADVISORY: 2009-114 July 23, 2009

NASA's Spitzer Images Out-of-This-World Galaxy

PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has imaged a wild creature of
the dark -- a coiled galaxy with an eye-like object at its center.

The galaxy, called NGC 1097, is located 50 million light-years away. It is spiral-shaped
like our Milky Way, with long, spindly arms of stars. The "eye" at the center of the galaxy
is actually a monstrous black hole surrounded by a ring of stars. In this color-coded
infrared view from Spitzer, the area around the invisible black hole is blue and the ring of
stars, white.

The black hole is huge, about 100 million times the mass of our sun, and is feeding off gas
and dust along with the occasional unlucky star. Our Milky Way's central black hole is
tame by comparison, with a mass of a few million suns.

"The fate of this black hole and others like it is an active area of research," said George
Helou, deputy director of NASA's Spitzer Science Center at the California Institute of
Technology in Pasadena. "Some theories hold that the black hole might quiet down and
eventually enter a more dormant state like our Milky Way black hole."

The ring around the black hole is bursting with new star formation. An inflow of material
toward the central bar of the galaxy is causing the ring to light up with new stars.

"The ring itself is a fascinating object worthy of study because it is forming stars at a very
high rate," said Kartik Sheth, an astronomer at NASA's Spitzer Science Center. Sheth and
Helou are part of a team that made the observations.

In the Spitzer image, infrared light with shorter wavelengths is blue, while longer-
wavelength light is red. The galaxy's red spiral arms and the swirling spokes seen between
the arms show dust heated by newborn stars. Older populations of stars scattered through
the galaxy are blue. The fuzzy blue dot to the left, which appears to fit snuggly between
the arms, is a companion galaxy.

"The companion galaxy that looks as if it's playing peek-a-boo through the larger galaxy
could have plunged through, poking a hole," said Helou. "But we don't know this for
sure. It could also just happen to be aligned with a gap in the arms."

Other dots in the picture are either nearby stars in our galaxy, or distant galaxies.

This image was taken during Spitzer's "cold mission," which lasted more than five-and-a-
half years. The telescope ran out of coolant needed to chill its infrared instruments on
May 15, 2009. Two of its infrared channels will still work perfectly during the new
"warm mission," which is expected to begin in a week or so, once the observatory has
been recalibrated and warms to its new temperature of around 30 Kelvin (about minus
406 degrees Fahrenheit).

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, which made the observations, 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.

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

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Saturnian Moon Shows Evidence of Ammonia

Feature

July 22, 2009

Saturnian Moon Shows Evidence of Ammonia

Data collected during two close flybys of Saturn's moon Enceladus by NASA's
Cassini spacecraft add more fuel to the fire about the Saturnian ice world
containing sub-surface liquid water. The data collected by Cassini's Ion and
Neutral Mass Spectrometer during Enceladus flybys in July and Oct. 2008, were
released in the July 23 issue of the journal Nature.

"When Cassini flew through the plume erupting from Enceladus on October 8
of last year, our spectrometer was able to sniff out many complex chemicals,
including organic ones, in the vapor and icy particles," said Hunter Waite, the
Cassini Ion and Neutral Mass Spectrometer Lead Scientist from the Southwest
Research Institute in San Antonio, Texas. "One of the chemicals definitively
identified was ammonia."

On Earth, the presence of ammonia means the potential for sparkling clean
floors and counter tops. In space, the presence of ammonia provides strong
evidence for the existence of at least some liquid water.

How could ammonia equate to liquid water inside an ice-covered moon in one
of the chillier neighborhoods of our solar system? As many a homeowner
interested in keeping their abodes spick and span know, ammonia promptly
dissolves in water. But what many people do not realize is that ammonia acts as
antifreeze, keeping water liquid at lower temperatures than would otherwise be
possible. With the presence of ammonia, water can exist in a liquid state to
temperatures as low as 176 degrees Kelvin (-143 degrees Fahrenheit).

"Given that temperatures in excess of 180 Kelvin (-136 degrees Fahrenheit)
have been measured near the fractures on Enceladus where the jets emanate,
we think we have an excellent argument for a liquid water interior," said Waite.

Cassini discovered water vapor and particles spewing from Enceladus in 2005.
Since then, scientists have been trying to determine if the plume originates from
a liquid source inside the moon or is due to other causes.

"Ammonia is sort of a holy grail for icy volcanism," said William McKinnon,
a scientist from Washington University in Saint Louis, Missouri. "This is the first
time we've found it for sure on an icy satellite of a giant planet. It is probably
everywhere in the Saturn system."

Just how much water is contained within Enceladus' icy interior is still up for
debate. So far, Cassini has made five flybys of Enceladus, one of the chief
targets for Cassini's extended mission. Two close flybys are scheduled for
November of this year, and two more close flybys are scheduled for April and
May or 2010. Data collected during these future flybys may help settle the
debate.

"Where liquid water and organics exist, is there life?" asked Jonathan Lunine a
Cassini scientist from the University of Arizona, Tucson. "Such is the case for
Earth; what was found on Enceladus bolsters this moon's promise for
containing potential habitable environments."

The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European
Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Cassini orbiter was designed,
developed and assembled at JPL. JPL manages the mission for the Science
Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington.
More information about the Cassini mission is available at
http://www.nasa.gov/cassini or http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov .

Media Contacts:
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

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Tests on Earth to Help Free Spirit Rover on Mars: Live Webcast, Chat

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

Guy Webster/Carolina Martinez 818-354-6278/354-9382
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
guy.webster@jpl.nasa.gov / carolina.martinez@jpl.nasa.gov

INTERNET ADVISORY: 2009-113 July 21, 2009

Tests on Earth to Help Free Spirit Rover on Mars: Live Webcast, Chat

The team that operates rovers on Mars is using a test rover in southern California to assess
maneuvers the Mars rover Spirit might use to get out of soft, loose soil where its wheels have sunk
hub-deep. A live videocast and chat from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.,
will give viewers a chance to ask questions of rover team members working to get Spirit rolling
again.

The live event will air on the "NASAJPL" channel available on Ustream Web TV at:
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nasajpl on Thursday, July 23, beginning at 3 p.m. PDT (6 p.m. EDT
and 2200 UTC).

Spirit and its twin, Opportunity, landed on Mars in January 2004 for what were planned as three-
month missions to study sites on opposite sides of the planet. Both are still active and returning
streams of scientific information. Spirit has not driven since May 6, 2009, when it had become
partially embedded in the soil. To minimize the risk of worsening Spirit's predicament, operators
decided to conduct a series of experiments with a test rover before driving Spirit again.

Participants in the July 23 event include:

* John Callas, project manager for NASA's Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity.
* Ashley Stroupe, JPL rover planner, deputy lead for "Free Spirit" testing

Viewers may submit questions over Ustream or via Twitter. Twitter users may send their questions
to @NASAJPL using the hashtag #FreeSpirit. In addition, if you are unable to take part in the live
chat, you may submit questions in advance to chatquestion@jpl.nasa.gov and watch the archived
video at a later time.

Information about Spirit and Opportunity is available at http://www.nasa.gov/rovers . Updates
about testing of possible maneuvers for freeing Spirit are at http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/freespirit .

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

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Updated Version: New NASA Images Indicate Object Hits Jupiter

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

IMAGE ADVISORY: 2009-112 July 20, 2009

UPDATED VERSION (Includes additional information on amateur astronomer and
postdoctoral fellow)

New NASA Images Indicate Object Hits Jupiter

Scientists have found evidence that another object has bombarded Jupiter, exactly 15 years after
the first impacts by the comet Shoemaker-Levy 9.

Following up on a tip by an amateur astronomer, Anthony Wesley of Australia, that a new dark
"scar" had suddenly appeared on Jupiter, this morning between 3 and 9 a.m. PDT (6 a.m. and
noon EDT) scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., using NASA's
Infrared Telescope Facility at the summit of Mauna Kea, Hawaii, gathered evidence indicating
an impact.

New infrared images show the likely impact point was near the south polar region, with a visibly
dark "scar" and bright upwelling particles in the upper atmosphere detected in near-infrared
wavelengths, and a warming of the upper troposphere with possible extra emission from ammonia
gas detected at mid-infrared wavelengths.

"We were extremely lucky to be seeing Jupiter at exactly the right time, the right hour, the right
side of Jupiter to witness the event. We couldn't have planned it better," said Glenn Orton, a
scientist at JPL.

The new Jupiter images are online at: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2009-112
.

Orton and his team of astronomers kicked into gear early in the morning and haven't stopped
tracking the planet. They are downloading data now and are working to get additional observing
time on this and other telescopes.

This image was taken at 1.65 microns, a wavelength sensitive to sunlight reflected from high in
Jupiter's atmosphere, and it shows both the bright center of the scar (bottom left) and the debris
to its northwest (upper left).

"It could be the impact of a comet, but we don't know for sure yet," said Orton. "It's been a
whirlwind of a day, and this on the anniversary of the Shoemaker-Levy 9 and Apollo
anniversaries is amazing."

Shoemaker-Levy 9 was a comet that had been seen to break into many pieces before the pieces
hit Jupiter in 1994.

Leigh Fletcher, a NASA postdoctoral fellow at JPL who worked with Orton during these latest
observations said, "Given the rarity of these events, it's extremely exciting to be involved in
these observations. These are the most exciting observations I've seen in my five years of
observing the outer planets!"

The observations were made possible in large measure by the extraordinary efforts of the Infrared
Telescope Facility staff, including telescope operator William Golisch, who adroitly moved three
instruments in and out of the field during the short time the scar was visible on the planet,
providing the wide wavelength coverage.

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

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New NASA Images Indicate Object Hits Jupiter

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

IMAGE ADVISORY: 2009-112 July 20, 2009

New NASA Images Indicate Object Hits Jupiter

Scientists have found evidence that another object has bombarded Jupiter, exactly 15 years after
the first impacts by the comet Shoemaker-Levy 9.

Following up on a tip by an amateur astronomer that a new dark "scar" had suddenly appeared
on Jupiter, this morning between 3 and 9 a.m. PDT (6 a.m. and noon EDT) scientists at NASA's
Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., using NASA's Infrared Telescope Facility at the
summit of Mauna Kea, Hawaii, gathered evidence indicating an impact.

New infrared images show the likely impact point was near the south polar region, with a visibly
dark "scar" and bright upwelling particles in the upper atmosphere detected in near-infrared
wavelengths, and a warming of the upper troposphere with possible extra emission from
ammonia gas detected at mid-infrared wavelengths.

"We were extremely lucky to be seeing Jupiter at exactly the right time, the right hour, the right
side of Jupiter to witness the event. We couldn't have planned it better," said Glenn Orton, a
scientist at JPL.

The new Jupiter images are online at: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2009-112 .

Orton and his team of astronomers kicked into gear early in the morning and haven't stopped
tracking the planet. They are downloading data now and are working to get additional observing
time on this and other telescopes.

This image was taken at 1.65 microns, a wavelength sensitive to sunlight reflected from high in
Jupiter's atmosphere, and it shows both the bright center of the scar (bottom left) and the debris
to its northwest (upper left).

"It could be the impact of a comet, but we don't know for sure yet," said Orton. "It's been a
whirlwind of a day, and this on the anniversary of the Shoemaker-Levy 9 and Apollo
anniversaries is amazing."

Shoemaker-Levy 9 was a comet that had been seen to break into many pieces before the pieces
hit Jupiter in 1994.

Leigh Fletcher, a NASA postdoctoral student at JPL who worked with Orton during these latest
observations said, "Given the rarity of these events, it's extremely exciting to be involved in
these observations. These are the most exciting observations I've seen in my five years of
observing the outer planets!"

The observations were made possible in large measure by the extraordinary efforts of the
Infrared Telescope Facility staff, including telescope operator William Golisch, who adroitly
moved three instruments in and out of the field during the short time the scar was visible on the
planet, providing the wide wavelength coverage.

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

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JPL, Caltech, City of Los Angeles to Team on Energy/Water Initiatives

www.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

Alan Buis 818-354-0474
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
Alan.buis@jpl.nasa.gov

Sarah Hamilton 213-978-0741
City of Los Angeles
Sarah.Hamilton@lacity.org

Joe Ramallo 213-367-1394
Los Angeles Department of Water and Power
Joseph.Ramallo@ladwp.com

NEWS RELEASE: 2009-111 July 20, 2009

JPL, Caltech, City of Los Angeles to Team on Energy/Water Initiatives

PASADENA, Calif. – Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced a first-of-its-kind partnership
between the City of Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (DWP) and NASA's
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., and its managing institution, the California Institute of
Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena, to establish Los Angeles as a powerhouse for demonstrated energy and
water innovation. This partnership will leverage JPL's intellectual assets directly to the DWP to reduce
water usage and greenhouse gas emissions and, in the process, stimulate green job growth.

Mayor Villaraigosa, JPL Director Charles Elachi and Los Angeles DWP General Manager David Nahai
made the announcement today at a JPL ceremony to sign the memorandum of understanding.

"The City of Los Angeles, JPL and DWP are standing at the forefront of the clean technology revolution
that will drive the 21st century economy," Mayor Villaraigosa said. "This partnership will harness Los
Angeles' unparalleled creative capital and entrepreneurial spirit to develop clean and green technologies that
will spur job growth across the board from research, development, construction and finance."

The goal of this partnership is to provide a pipeline for innovative energy and water solutions directly to the
DWP. The program serves as an international model for water and energy solutions.

The collaboration teams Caltech, one of the world's leading academic institutions of science and
technology, and JPL, its operating division and a world leader in robotic space exploration, to fulfill the
City of Los Angeles' commitment to future water and energy demand in a reliable, sustainable and
economical way.

JPL and Caltech will apply their extensive expertise in climate change science, remote sensing,
environmental engineering and systems design to assist the city and the DWP in developing, maturing and
deploying innovative technologies to improve energy efficiency, increase the use of renewable energy
sources, conserve water and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. As the largest municipal utility in the United
States, the DWP provides safe, reliable drinking water and electricity to more than 3.8 million residents and
businesses, helping to sustain life, the environment and the city's economic prosperity.

"We are proud that JPL technology and expertise will be part of this collaboration to help improve energy
efficiency and protect our water supply -- one of our most precious natural resources," said JPL Director
Charles Elachi.

Under the terms of the three-year agreement, the participants declare their mutual intent to collaborate on
developing water and energy efficiency solutions and renewable energy technologies. The participants will
work with other local universities such as the University of Southern California and The University of
California Los Angeles, to make energy and water technology assessments, develop models and test beds,
perform technology demonstrations, and provide data on global change from Earth science satellites,
airborne platforms and ground-based instruments to assist the city in making informed decisions.

"The agreement we are signing today represents a groundbreaking partnership for developing innovative
energy and water solutions to the environmental challenges facing our city and our planet," said Los
Angeles DWP General Manager David Nahai. "Through it we aim to develop real-world solutions based on
unparalleled scientific expertise."

The region's arid climate and large population mean that any shortage in water supply can have acute
effects, which can be further exacerbated by climate change. One project already being investigated under
the collaboration could have immediate applications to Southern California's current critical water shortage.
Much of the DWP's water supply comes from the Eastern Sierra Nevada, from Mono Lake and the Owens
Valley via the California Aqueduct. The department's vast land holdings include Owens Lake, an ancient
dry lakebed whose blowing dust can impact air quality for Owens Valley residents. To help reduce dust on
Owens Lake, the department and its team of contractors is installing one of the world's largest shallow
flooding systems, which is a computer-controlled network of sprinklers that currently covers more than 14
square miles of the ancient lakebed. But this flooding system consumes significant water--water that is
consequently unavailable to help satisfy the city's residential and industrial needs.

Under the collaboration, JPL and Caltech are investigating the development of a remote sensing instrument
that would measure the lakebed's surface moisture in order to precisely predict when water needs to be
applied. Such an instrument would permit more efficient use of the Owens Lake sprinkler system, thereby
conserving precious water resources.

This is only one example of the fruits of this collaboration; the participants have already submitted a series
of joint proposals to the Department of Energy to develop and deploy advanced energy technologies. These
proposals involve projects to reduce agricultural energy and water consumption; develop models for
predicting the availability of solar, wind and wave energy resources; develop robust communications
architectures for smart grid applications; and develop efficient technologies for pre-processing food waste
used to produce biogases and renewable energy.

The agreement also calls for the DWP to construct a "Sustainable Technology Demonstration Building."
This new building will showcase to the public innovative methods, products and technologies to reduce
energy and water consumption and increase renewable energy.

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

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NASA Releases Orbiting Carbon Observatory Accident Summary

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

Katherine Trinidad 202-358-1100
NASA Headquarters, Washington
katherine.trinidad@nasa.gov

NEWS RELEASE: 2009-109 July 17, 2009

NASA Releases Orbiting Carbon Observatory Accident Summary

PASADENA, Calif. – A NASA panel that investigated the unsuccessful Feb. 24 launch of the
Orbiting Carbon Observatory, or OCO, has completed its report.

NASA's OCO satellite to study atmospheric carbon dioxide launched aboard a Taurus XL rocket
from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on Feb. 24 at 1:55 a.m. PST, but it failed to reach
orbit.

The Mishap Investigation Board led by Rick Obenschain, deputy director at NASA's Goddard
Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., verified that the Taurus launch vehicle fairing failed to
separate upon command. The fairing is a clamshell structure that encapsulates the satellite as it travels
through the atmosphere. The failure to shed the fairing mass prevented the satellite from reaching its
planned orbit and resulted in its destruction.

The board identified four potential causes that could have resulted in the fairing not separating:

* A failure of the frangible joint subsystem. A frangible joint is an explosive device that
provides instantaneous separation of flight vehicle structures while maintaining confinement
of explosive debris.
* A failure in the electrical subsystem that prevented sufficient electrical current to initiate the
required ordnance devices.
* A failure in the pneumatic system, which supplies pressure to thrusters which separate the
fairing.
* A cord snagged on a frangible joint side rail nut plate.

The panel also provided recommendations to prevent any future problems associated with the four
hardware components that could have caused the OCO accident.

The six-member board began its investigation in early March. The panel conducted hardware testing;
performed and reviewed engineering analysis and simulation data; reviewed telemetry data;
collected and secured more than 2,000 documents; and conducted 78 interviews of critical personnel
associated with the mission.

The official report of the board contains information restricted by U.S. International Traffic in Arms
Regulations and company-sensitive proprietary information. As a result, the board has prepared a
summary of its report, which provides an overview of publicly releasable findings and
recommendations regarding the OCO mission failure. The summary is available at:
http://www.nasa.gov/oco .

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., has managed the Orbiting Carbon Observatory
mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. JPL is managed for NASA by the
California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

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NASA JPL Scientist Receives Presidential Early Career Award

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

Alan Buis 818-354-0474
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
Alan.buis@jpl.nasa.gov

Rebecca Carter 626-395-3227
California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, Calif.
rtcarter@caltech.edu

NEWS RELEASE: 2009-108 July 13, 2009

NASA JPL Scientist Receives Presidential Early Career Award

PASADENA, Calif. – Josh Willis, an oceanographer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in
Pasadena, Calif., has been honored by President Barack Obama with the 2009 Presidential Early
Career Award for Scientists and Engineers. The award is the highest honor bestowed by the U.S.
government on young professionals in the early stages of their independent research careers.

Willis is one of 100 beginning researchers to receive the 2009 award. This year's recipients also
include three faculty members with the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, which
manages JPL for NASA. The honorees will receive their awards this fall at a White House
ceremony.

A researcher in JPL's Ocean Circulation Group, Willis uses satellite data as well as data collected
at sea to study the impact of global warming on the ocean. His studies of ocean warming and sea
level rise have been widely used by colleagues around the world and were cited in the 2007
report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. That report shared the 2007 Nobel
Peace prize with Vice President Al Gore. Willis frequently lectures to the public and works with
students to educate them about climate change issues and their impact on global warming.

Established by President Bill Clinton in 1996, the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists
and Engineers annually honors researchers whose early accomplishments show the greatest
promise for strengthening America's leadership in science and technology and contributing to the
awarding agencies' missions. The awards are made to those whose innovative work is expected to
lead to future breakthroughs.

Recipients are selected from among nine federal departments and agencies based on two criteria:
pursuit of innovative research at the frontiers of science and technology, and a commitment to
community service as demonstrated through scientific leadership, public education or community
outreach. Winning scientists and engineers receive up to a five-year research grant to further their
study in support of critical government missions.

"These extraordinarily gifted young scientists and engineers represent the best in our country,"
Obama said in a White House news release. "With their talent, creativity and dedication, I am
confident that they will lead their fields in new breakthroughs and discoveries and help us use
science and technology to lift up our nation and our world."

Willis holds a Bachelor of Science degree in physics and mathematics from the University of
Houston; a Master of Science degree in physics from the University of California, San Diego, in
La Jolla, Calif.; and a doctorate in oceanography from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography,
University of California, San Diego. He joined JPL in 2004. Previous honors include JPL's
Charles K. Witham Environmental Stewardship Award.

He and his wife, Dr. Dixie Aragaki, live in Los Angeles.

The three Caltech recipients are John O. Dabiri, an expert in biological propulsion who studies
mechanics and dynamics of biological propulsion and fluid dynamic energy conversion; Beverley
J. McKeon, who studies experimental manipulation of wall-bounded flows for improved flow
characteristics; and Joel A. Tropp, who is developing new algorithms for solving inverse
problems, a basic challenge that arises throughout the mathematical sciences.

More information on JPL is at www.jpl.nasa.gov .

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New NASA Satellite Survey Reveals Dramatic Arctic Sea Ice Thinning

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

Alan Buis 818-354-0474
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
Alan.buis@jpl.nasa.gov

Steve Cole 202-358-0918
NASA Headquarters, Washington
Stephen.e.cole@nasa.gov

NEWS RELEASE: 2009-107 July 7, 2009

New NASA Satellite Survey Reveals Dramatic Arctic Sea Ice Thinning

PASADENA, Calif. – Arctic sea ice thinned dramatically between the winters of 2004 and 2008,
with thin seasonal ice replacing thick older ice as the dominant type for the first time on record. The
new results, based on data from a NASA Earth-orbiting spacecraft, provide further evidence for the
rapid, ongoing transformation of the Arctic's ice cover.

Scientists from NASA and the University of Washington in Seattle conducted the most
comprehensive survey to date using observations from NASA's Ice, Cloud and land Elevation
Satellite, known as ICESat, to make the first basin-wide estimate of the thickness and volume of the
Arctic Ocean's ice cover. Ron Kwok of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., led
the research team, which published its findings July 7 in the Journal of Geophysical Research-Oceans.

The Arctic ice cap grows each winter as the sun sets for several months and intense cold ensues. In
the summer, wind and ocean currents cause some of the ice naturally to flow out of the Arctic, while
much of it melts in place. But not all of the Arctic ice melts each summer; the thicker, older ice is
more likely to survive. Seasonal sea ice usually reaches about 2 meters (6 feet) in thickness, while
multi-year ice averages 3 meters (9 feet).

Using ICESat measurements, scientists found that overall Arctic sea ice thinned about 0.17 meters (7
inches) a year, for a total of 0.68 meters (2.2 feet) over four winters. The total area covered by the
thicker, older "multi-year" ice that has survived one or more summers shrank by 42 percent.

Previously, scientists relied only on measurements of area to determine how much of the Arctic
Ocean is covered in ice, but ICESat makes it possible to monitor ice thickness and volume changes
over the entire Arctic Ocean for the first time. The results give scientists a better understanding of the
regional distribution of ice and provide better insight into what is happening in the Arctic.

"Ice volume allows us to calculate annual ice production and gives us an inventory of the freshwater
and total ice mass stored in Arctic sea ice," said Kwok. "Even in years when the overall extent of sea
ice remains stable or grows slightly, the thickness and volume of the ice cover is continuing to decline,
making the ice more vulnerable to continued shrinkage. Our data will help scientists better understand
how fast the volume of Arctic ice is decreasing and how soon we might see a nearly ice-free Arctic in
the summer."

In recent years, the amount of ice replaced in the winter has not been sufficient to offset summer ice
losses. The result is more open water in summer, which then absorbs more heat, warming the ocean
and further melting the ice. Between 2004 and 2008, multi-year ice cover shrank 1.54 million square
kilometers (595,000 square miles) -- nearly the size of Alaska's land area.

During the study period, the relative contributions of the two ice types to the total volume of the
Arctic's ice cover were reversed. In 2003, 62 percent of the Arctic's total ice volume was stored in
multi-year ice, with 38 percent stored in first-year seasonal ice. By 2008, 68 percent of the total ice
volume was first-year ice, with 32 percent multi-year ice.

"One of the main things that has been missing from information about what is happening with sea ice
is comprehensive data about ice thickness," said Jay Zwally, study co-author and ICESat project
scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. "U.S. Navy submarines provide
a long-term, high-resolution record of ice thickness over only parts of the Arctic. The submarine data
agree with the ICESat measurements, giving us great confidence in satellites as a way of monitoring
thickness across the whole Arctic Basin."

The research team attributes the changes in the overall thickness and volume of Arctic Ocean sea ice
to the recent warming and anomalies in patterns of sea ice circulation.

"The near-zero replenishment of the multi-year ice cover, combined with unusual exports of ice out of
the Arctic after the summers of 2005 and 2007, have both played significant roles in the loss of Arctic
sea ice volume over the ICESat record," said Kwok.

For images of the Arctic sea ice decline, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/icesat-
20090707.html .

For more information about ICESat, visit: http://icesat.gsfc.nasa.gov .

For more information about NASA and agency programs, visit: http://www.nasa.gov .

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

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NASA Phoenix Results Point to Martian Climate Cycles

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

Johnny Cruz 520-621-1879
University of Arizona, Tucson
cruzj@email.arizona.edu

NEWS RELEASE: 2009-106 July 2, 2009

NASA Phoenix Results Point to Martian Climate Cycles

PASADENA, Calif. -- Favorable chemistry and episodes with thin films of liquid water during
ongoing, long-term climate cycles may sometimes make the area where NASA's Phoenix Mars mission
landed last year a favorable environment for microbes.

Interpretations of data that Phoenix returned during its five months of operation on a Martian arctic
plain fill four papers in this week's edition of the journal Science, the first major peer-reviewed reports
on the mission's findings. Phoenix ended communications in November 2008 as the approach of
Martian winter depleted energy from the lander's solar panels.

"Not only did we find water ice, as expected, but the soil chemistry and minerals we observed lead us
to believe this site had a wetter and warmer climate in the recent past -- the last few million years --
and could again in the future," said Phoenix Principal Investigator Peter Smith of the University of
Arizona, Tucson.

A paper about Phoenix water studies, for which Smith is the lead author with 36 coauthors from six
nations, cites clues supporting an interpretation that the soil has had films of liquid water in the recent
past. The evidence for water and potential nutrients "implies that this region could have previously
met the criteria for habitability" during portions of continuing climate cycles, these authors conclude.

The mission's biggest surprise was finding a multi-talented chemical named perchlorate in the Martian
soil. This Phoenix finding caps a growing emphasis on the planet's chemistry, said Michael Hecht of
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., who has 10 coauthors on a paper about
Phoenix's soluble-chemistry findings.

"The study of Mars is in transition from a follow-the-water stage to a follow-the-chemistry stage,"
Hecht said. "With perchlorate, for example, we see links to atmospheric humidity, soil moisture, a
possible energy source for microbes, even a possible resource for humans."

Perchlorate, which strongly attracts water, makes up a few tenths of a percent of the composition in
all three soil samples analyzed by Phoenix's wet chemistry laboratory. It could pull humidity from the
Martian air. At higher concentrations, it might combine with water as a brine that stays liquid at
Martian surface temperatures. Some microbes on Earth use perchlorate as food. Human explorers
might find it useful as rocket fuel or for generating oxygen.

Another surprise from Phoenix was finding ice clouds and precipitation more Earth-like than
anticipated. The lander's Canadian laser instrument for studying the atmosphere detected snow falling
from clouds. In one of this week's reports, Jim Whiteway of York University, Toronto, and 22
coauthors say that, further into winter than Phoenix operated, this precipitation would result in a
seasonal buildup of water ice on and in the ground.

"Before Phoenix we did not know whether precipitation occurs on Mars," Whiteway said. "We knew
that the polar ice cap advances as far south as the Phoenix site in winter, but we did not know how
the water vapor moved from the atmosphere to ice on the ground. Now we know that it does snow,
and that this is part of the hydrological cycle on Mars."

Evidence that water ice in the area sometimes thaws enough to moisten the soil comes from finding
calcium carbonate in soil heated in the lander's analytic ovens or mixed with acid in the wet chemistry
laboratory. The University of Arizona's William Boynton and 13 coauthors report that the amount of
calcium carbonate "is most consistent with formation in the past by the interaction of atmospheric
carbon dioxide with liquid films of water on particle surfaces."

The new reports leave unsettled whether soil samples scooped up by Phoenix contained any carbon-
based organic compounds. The perchlorate could have broken down simple organic compounds
during heating of soil samples in the ovens, preventing clear detection.

The heating in ovens did not drive off any water vapor at temperatures lower than 295 degrees
Celsius (563 degrees Fahrenheit), indicating the soil held no water adhering to soil particles. Climate
cycles resulting from changes in the tilt and orbit of Mars on scales of hundreds of thousands of years
or more could explain why effects of moist soil are present.

The Phoenix mission was led by Smith at the University of Arizona with project management at JPL
and development partnership at Lockheed Martin, Denver. Information and images from the mission
are available online at http://phoenix.lpl.arizona.edu and http://www.nasa.gov/phoenix .

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Earthquakes, From Above and Below: Live Chat

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

Alan Buis 818-354-0474
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
Alan.buis@jpl.nasa.gov

INTERNET ADVISORY: 2009-105 July 1, 2009

Earthquakes, From Above and Below: Live Chat

Earthquakes: they're among the most frightening and deadly of all natural disasters. A live
videocast and chat from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., will give viewers an
opportunity to ask questions of NASA scientists who are using space-based technologies to
advance our understanding of these mysterious phenomena.

The live event will air on the "NASAJPL" channel available on Ustream TV at:
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nasajpl on Monday, July 6, beginning at 5 p.m. PDT (8 p.m. EDT
and 2400 UTC).

Scientists use a broad array of tools to study earthquakes and their processes from the ground, air
and space. Space-based technologies like those being developed at JPL can image minute Earth
movements to within fractions of an inch, measuring the ground deforming along faults before and
after earthquakes. Among these tools are the Global Positioning System, interferometric synthetic
aperture radar, and the latest technology JPL is now using to map major California earthquake
faults: the Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle Synthetic Aperture Radar, or UAVSAR. JPL scientists are
also applying complex computer models to simulate earthquake processes.

Participants include:

* Andrea Donnellan, JPL geophysicist and program area lead for natural disasters in NASA
Headquarters' Science Mission Directorate, Washington
* Maggi Glasscoe, JPL geophysicist

Viewers may submit questions over Ustream or via Twitter. Twitter users may send their questions
to @NASAJPL using the hashtag #quakechat .

In addition, if you are unable to take part in the live chat, you may submit questions in advance to
chatquestion@jpl.nasa.gov and watch the archived video at a later time.

More information about JPL's earthquake research is available at: http://uavsar.jpl.nasa.gov and
http://quakesim.jpl.nasa.gov .

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