NASA Takes to the Air with New 'Earth Venture' Research Projects

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: 2010-182 May 27, 2010

NASA TAKES TO THE AIR WITH NEW 'EARTH VENTURE' RESEARCH PROJECTS

The full version of this story with accompanying images is at:
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2010-182&cid=release_2010-182

PASADENA, Calif. – Hurricanes, air quality and Arctic ecosystems are among the research areas to
be investigated during the next five years by new NASA airborne science missions announced today.

The five competitively-selected proposals, including one from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory,
Pasadena, Calif., are the first investigations in the new Venture-class series of low-to-moderate-cost
projects established last year.

The Earth Venture missions are part of NASA's Earth System Science Pathfinder program. The small,
targeted science investigations complement NASA's larger research missions. In 2007, the National
Research Council recommended that NASA undertake these types of regularly solicited, quick-
turnaround projects.

This year's selections are all airborne investigations. Future Venture proposals may include small,
dedicated spacecraft and instruments flown on other spacecraft.

"I'm thrilled to be able to welcome these new principal investigators into NASA's Earth Venture
series," said Edward Weiler, associate administrator of the agency's Science Mission Directorate in
Washington. "These missions are considered a 'tier 1' priority in the National Research Council's Earth
Science decadal survey. With this selection, NASA moves ahead into this exciting type of scientific
endeavor."

The missions will be funded during the next five years at a total cost of not more than $30 million
each. The cost includes initial development and deployment through analysis of data. Approximately
$10 million was provided through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act toward the
maximum $150 million funding ceiling for the missions.

Six NASA centers, 22 educational institutions, nine U.S. or international government agencies and
three industrial partners are involved in these missions. The five missions were selected from 35
proposals.

The selected missions are:

1. Carbon in Arctic Reservoirs Vulnerability Experiment. Principal Investigator Charles Miller,
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.

The release and absorption of carbon from Arctic ecosystems and its response to climate change are
not well known because of a lack of detailed measurements. This investigation will collect an
integrated set of data that will provide unprecedented experimental insights into Arctic carbon
cycling, especially the release of important greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane.
Instruments will be flown on a Twin Otter aircraft to produce the first simultaneous measurements of
surface characteristics that control carbon emissions and key atmospheric gases.

2. Airborne Microwave Observatory of Subcanopy and Subsurface. Principal Investigator Mahta
Moghaddam, University of Michigan

North American ecosystems are critical components of the global exchange of the greenhouse gas
carbon dioxide and other gases within the atmosphere. To better understand the size of this exchange
on a continental scale, this investigation addresses the uncertainties in existing estimates by measuring
soil moisture in the root zone of representative regions of major North American ecosystems.
Investigators will use NASA's Gulfstream-III aircraft to fly synthetic aperture radar that can
penetrate vegetation and soil to depths of several feet.

3. Airborne Tropical Tropopause Experiment. Principal Investigator Eric Jensen, NASA's Ames
Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif.

Water vapor in the stratosphere has a large impact on Earth's climate, the ozone layer and how much
solar energy Earth retains. To improve our understanding of the processes that control the flow of
atmospheric gases into this region, investigators will launch four airborne campaigns with NASA's
Global Hawk remotely piloted aerial systems. The flights will study chemical and physical processes
at different times of year from bases in California, Guam, Hawaii and Australia.

4. Deriving Information on Surface Conditions from Column and Vertically Resolved Observations
Relevant to Air Quality. Principal Investigator James Crawford, NASA's Langley Research Center in
Hampton, Va.

Satellites can measure air quality factors like aerosols and ozone-producing gases in an entire column
of atmosphere below the spacecraft, but distinguishing the concentrations at the level where people
live is a challenge. This investigation will provide integrated data of airborne, surface and satellite
observations, taken at the same time, to study air quality as it evolves throughout the day. NASA's B-
200 and P-3B research aircraft will fly together to sample a column of the atmosphere over
instrumented ground stations.

5. Hurricane and Severe Storm Sentinel. Principal Investigator Scott Braun, NASA's Goddard Space
Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.

The prediction of the intensity of hurricanes is not as reliable as predictions of the location of
hurricane landfall, in large part because of our poor understanding of the processes involved in
intensity change. This investigation focuses on studying hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean basin using
two NASA Global Hawks flying high above the storms for up to 30 hours. The Hawks will deploy
from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia during the 2012 to 2014 Atlantic hurricane seasons.

"These new investigations, in concert with NASA's Earth-observing satellite capabilities, will provide
unique new data sets that identify and characterize important phenomena, detect changes in the Earth
system and lead to improvements in computer modeling of the Earth system," said Jack Kaye,
associate director for research of NASA's Earth Science Division in the Science Mission Directorate.

Langley manages the Earth System Pathfinder program for the Science Mission Directorate. The
missions in this program provide an innovative approach to address Earth science research with
periodic windows of opportunity to accommodate new scientific priorities.

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

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

-end-

To remove yourself from this mailing, please go to http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=kuISK6PTLhKRKjL&s=jtJ0I4PJJfJML3OPLtG&m=9sJLK1PKJgKPLdJ

To remove yourself from all mailings from NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, please go to http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=ddJELLMrFaJEIZK&s=jtJ0I4PJJfJML3OPLtG&m=9sJLK1PKJgKPLdJ

NASA Spacecraft Penetrates Mysteries of Martian Ice Cap

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

Jia-Rui Cook/D.C. Agle
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-354-0850/393-9011
jia-rui.c.cook@jpl.nasa.gov
agle@jpl.nasa.gov

J.D. Harrington 202-358-5241
NASA Headquarters, Washington
j.d.harrington@nasa.gov

Marc Airhart 512-471-2241
University of Texas, Austin
mairhart@jsg.utexas.edu

NEWS RELEASE: 2010-180 May 26, 2010

NASA SPACECRAFT PENETRATES MYSTERIES OF MARTIAN ICE CAP

The full version of this story with accompanying images is at:
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2010-180&cid=release_2010-180

PASADENA, Calif. -- Data from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter have helped scientists solve
a pair of mysteries dating back four decades and provided new information about climate change on
the Red Planet.

The Shallow Radar, or SHARAD, instrument aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter revealed
subsurface geology allowing scientists to reconstruct the formation of a large chasm and a series of
spiral troughs on the northern ice cap of Mars. The findings appear in two papers in the May 27 issue
of the journal Nature.

"SHARAD is giving us a beautifully detailed view of ice deposits, whether at the poles or buried in
mid-latitudes, as they changed on Mars over the last few million years," said Rich Zurek, Mars
Reconnaissance Orbiter project scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.

On Earth, large ice sheets are shaped mainly by ice flow. According to this latest research, other
forces have shaped, and continue to shape, polar ice caps on Mars. The northern ice cap is a stack of
ice and dust layers up to two miles deep, covering an area slightly larger than Texas. Analyzing radar
data on a computer, scientists can peel back the layers like an onion to reveal how the ice cap evolved
over time.

One of the most distinctive features of the northern ice cap is Chasma Boreale, a canyon about as
long as Earth's Grand Canyon but deeper and wider. Some scientists believe Chasma Boreale was
created when volcanic heat melted the bottom of the ice sheet and triggered a catastrophic flood.
Others suggest strong polar winds carved the canyon out of a dome of ice.

Other enigmatic features of the ice cap are troughs that spiral outward from the center like a gigantic
pinwheel. Since the troughs were discovered in 1972, scientists have proposed several hypotheses
about how they formed. Perhaps as Mars spins, ice closer to the poles moves slower than ice farther
away, causing the semi-fluid ice to crack. Perhaps, as one mathematical model suggests, increased
solar heating in certain areas and lateral heat conduction could cause the troughs to assemble.

Data from Mars now points to both the canyon and spiral troughs being created and shaped primarily
by wind. Rather than being cut into existing ice very recently, the features formed over millions of
years as the ice sheet grew. By influencing wind patterns, the shape of underlying, older ice
controlled where and how the features grew.

"Nobody realized that there would be such complex structures in the layers," said Jack Holt, of the
University of Texas at Austin's Institute for Geophysics. Holt is the lead author of the paper focusing
on Chasma Boreale. "The layers record a history of ice accumulation, erosion and wind transport.
From that, we can recover a history of climate that's much more detailed than anybody expected."

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter was launched on Aug. 12, 2005. SHARAD and the spacecraft's
five other instruments began science operations in November 2006.

"These anomalous features have gone unexplained for 40 years because we have not been able to see
what lies beneath the surface," said Roberto Seu, Shallow Radar team leader at the University of
Rome. "It is gratifying to me that with this new instrument we can finally explain them."

The MRO mission is managed by JPL for the Mars Exploration Program at NASA's Headquarters in
Washington. The Shallow Radar instrument was provided by the Italian Space Agency, and its
operations are led by the InfoCom Department, University of Rome. JPL is managed for NASA by
the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, Calif.

To view images and learn more about MRO, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/mro .

-end-

To remove yourself from this mailing, please go to http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=iiJNK1OLIlLUJcJ&s=iiIYJ1OFKeIKL0NLLsE&m=buLPI6PNIhL0InI

To remove yourself from all mailings from NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, please go to http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=lvLTLaMXLoK1LmI&s=iiIYJ1OFKeIKL0NLLsE&m=buLPI6PNIhL0InI

Video Chat: New Journey to Jupiter

Video Chat: New Journey to Jupiter
This is a feature from the NASA/JPL Education Office.

05.26.10 -- Get ready to go to the solar system's biggest planet! NASA is launching a new robotic mission to Jupiter in 2011.
Classrooms are invited to join NASA/JPL engineer Tracy Drain as she discusses why NASA is sending the Juno spacecraft to
Jupiter, how it will get there and what it will study. The conversation will be geared to students in grades 6 through 8.

The watch the live web chat on June 3, 2010 at 1 p.m. Eastern/10 a.m. Pacific, go to http://dln.nasa.gov/dln/content/webcast/dlnstreaming.jsp .

Tracy will be speaking live via video with a classroom in southern California. All classrooms may participate by emailing questions
before or during the live chat for Tracy to answer. Possible topics to consider for questions are the sizes and distances of planets,
planet formation and space travel. Teachers can email questions to jplspaceeducation@gmail.com . Questions sent in advance should be
emailed by Tuesday, June 1 at 6 p.m. Eastern/3 p.m. Pacific. Due to volume, we cannot guarantee that every question will be answered.

For more information about the Juno Mission, go to http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/juno/main/index.html .


- end -

To remove yourself from this mailing, please go to http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=ddJDLMMqFbJGIXK&s=ggKUJVOxHcKGIUNDKqF&m=7gKHIUOxH8IHJ5J

To remove yourself from all mailings from NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, please go to http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=ggLJIVNCLeINK7J&s=ggKUJVOxHcKGIUNDKqF&m=7gKHIUOxH8IHJ5J

JPL Seeks Students With Science Projects

JPL Seeks Students With Science Projects
This is a feature from the NASA/JPL Education Office.

05.25.10 -- NASA would like to honor students' interest and enthusiasm for science, technology, engineering and mathematics
by inviting selected students to display their projects at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's "Student Showcase" on Saturday,
June 12 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. This event will be an opportunity to show students' work, let students share their work with peers
and interact with NASA/JPL scientists and engineers.

We are asking teachers to spread the word to students who may quality for this event. A full list of qualifications and registration
information can be found at http://education.jpl.nasa.gov/studentshowcase .

Other activities for the students and their mentor or parents include learning about NASA/JPL missions and hearing about NASA careers
and internship opportunities. Tours will be offered of JPL facilities like the Space Flight Operations Facility and Spacecraft Assembly
Facility (where the next Mars rover is being assembled).

Advanced registration is required for each student. Each student may be accompanied by up to two additional people. The event is free
but space is limited to a maximum of 200 students. Small team projects are welcome. The displays must meet science fair safety standards
and all dynamic or kinetic, electrical, chemical and biological aspects must be disclosed as part of the registration process. Please keep you
project intact between now and then!


- end -

To remove yourself from this mailing, please go to http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=ijJXLfPNIjIXKfJ&s=iiIYK1NFJeKKL0NLLsF&m=6pIFLQMrGbIJK1L

To remove yourself from all mailings from NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, please go to http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=cnKLIXMpHdLMLYI&s=iiIYK1NFJeKKL0NLLsF&m=6pIFLQMrGbIJK1L

WISE Makes Progress on its Space Rock Catalog

Feature May 24, 2010

WISE Makes Progress on its Space Rock Catalog

The full version of this story with accompanying images is at: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2010-176&cid=release_2010-176

NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, is busy surveying the landscape
of the infrared sky, building up a catalog of cosmic specimens -- everything from distant
galaxies to "failed" stars, called brown dwarfs.

Closer to home, the mission is picking out an impressive collection of asteroids and
comets, some known and some never seen before. Most of these hang out in the Main
Belt between Mars and Jupiter, but a small number are near-Earth objects -- asteroids and
comets with orbits that pass within about 48 million kilometers (30 million miles) of
Earth's orbit. By studying a small sample of near-Earth objects, WISE will learn more
about the population as a whole. How do their sizes differ, and how many objects are
dark versus light?

"We are taking a census of a small sample of near-Earth objects to get a better idea of
how they vary," said Amy Mainzer, the principal investigator of NEOWISE, a program to
catalog asteroids seen with WISE.

So far, the mission has observed more than 60,000 asteroids, both Main Belt and near-
Earth objects. Most were known before, but more than 11,000 are new.

"Our data pipeline is bursting with asteroids," said WISE Principal Investigator Ned
Wright of UCLA. "We are discovering about a hundred a day, mostly in the Main Belt."

About 190 near-Earth asteroids have been observed to date, of which more than 50 are
new discoveries. All asteroid observations are reported to the NASA-funded
International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Center, a clearinghouse for data on all
solar system bodies at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge, Mass.

"It's a really exciting time for asteroid science," said Tim Spahr, who directs the Minor
Planet Center. "WISE is another tool to add to our tool belt of instruments to discover
and study the asteroid population."

A network of ground-based telescopes follows up and confirms the WISE finds,
including the NASA-funded University of Arizona Spacewatch and Catalina Sky Survey
projects, both near Tucson, Ariz., and the NASA-funded Magdalena Ridge Observatory
near Socorro, N.M.

Some of the near-Earth asteroids detected so far are visibly dark, but it's too early to say
what percentage. The team needs time to properly analyze and calibrate the data. When
results are ready, they will be published in a peer-reviewed journal. WISE has not found
an asteroid yet that would be too dark for detection by visible-light telescopes on the
ground.

"We're beginning the process of sorting through all the objects we're finding so we can
learn more about their properties," said Mainzer. "How many are big or small, or light
versus dark?"

WISE will also study Trojans, asteroids that run along with Jupiter in its orbit around the
sun and travel in two packs -- one in front of and one behind the gas giant. It has seen
more than 800, and by the end of the mission, should have observed about half of all
4,500 known Trojans. The results will address dueling theories about how the outer
planets evolved.

With its infrared vision, WISE is good at many aspects of asteroid watching. First,
infrared light gives a better estimate of an asteroid's size. Imagine a light, shiny rock lying
next to a bigger, dark one in the sunshine. From far away, the rocks might look about the
same size. That's because they reflect about the same amount of visible sunlight. But, if
you pointed an infrared camera at them, you could tell the dark one is bigger. Infrared
light is related to the heat radiated from the rock itself, which, in turn, is related to its
size.

A second benefit of infrared is the ability to see darker asteroids. Some asteroids are
blacker than coal and barely reflect any visible light. WISE can see their infrared glow.
The mission isn't necessarily hunting down dark asteroids in hiding, but collecting a
sample of all different types. Like a geologist collecting everything from pumice to
quartz, WISE is capturing the diversity of cosmic rocks in our solar neighborhood.

In the end, WISE will provide rough size and composition profiles for hundreds of near-
Earth objects, about 100 to 200 of which will be new.

WISE has also bagged about a dozen new comets to date. The icy cousins to asteroids are
easy for the telescope to spot because, as the comets are warmed by the sun, gas and dust
particles blow off and glow with infrared light. Many of the comets found by WISE so
far are so-called long-period comets, meaning they spend billions of years circling the sun
in the frigid hinterlands of our solar system, before they are shuttled into the inner,
warmer parts. Others are termed short-period comets -- they spend most of their lives
hanging around the space near Jupiter, occasionally veering into the space closer to the
terrestrial planets. WISE's measurements of these snowy dirtballs will allow scientists to
study their size, composition and density. Measurements of the comets' orbits will help
explain what kicks these objects out of their original, more distant orbits and in toward
the sun.

WISE will complete one-and-a-half scans of the sky in October of this year. Visit http://wise.astro.ucla.edu to see selected WISE images released so far.

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

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

#2010-176

-end-

Whitney Clavin (818) 354-4672
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
Whitney.clavin@jpl.nasa.gov

To remove yourself from this mailing, please go to http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=doJNIXNqFcJLJ0K&s=iiKYI1NFJeLKK0PLKsG&m=7gKHISMvGdIRKaL

To remove yourself from all mailings from NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, please go to http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=grKTI6OCLfISKaJ&s=iiKYI1NFJeLKK0PLKsG&m=7gKHISMvGdIRKaL

Phoenix Mars Lander Does Not Phone Home, New Image Shows Damage

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

D.C. Agle / Jia-Rui Cook
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-393-9011/354-0850
agle@jpl.nasa.gov / jia-rui.c.cook@jpl.nasa.gov

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

News release: 2010-175 May 24, 2010

Phoenix Mars Lander Does Not Phone Home, New Image Shows Damage

The full version of this story with accompanying images is at:
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2010-175&cid=release_2010-175

PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander has ended operations after repeated attempts to contact the spacecraft were unsuccessful. A new image transmitted by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows signs of severe ice damage to the lander's solar panels.

"The Phoenix spacecraft succeeded in its investigations and exceeded its planned lifetime," said Fuk Li, manager of the Mars Exploration Program at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. "Although its work is finished, analysis of information from Phoenix's science activities will continue for some time to come."

Last week, NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter flew over the Phoenix landing site 61 times during a final attempt to communicate with the lander. No transmission from the lander was detected. Phoenix also did not communicate during 150 flights in three earlier listening campaigns this year.

Earth-based research continues on discoveries Phoenix made during summer conditions at the far-northern site where it landed May 25, 2008. The solar-powered lander completed its three-month mission and kept working until sunlight waned two months later.

Phoenix was not designed to survive the dark, cold, icy winter. However, the slim possibility Phoenix survived could not be eliminated without listening for the lander after abundant sunshine returned.

An image of Phoenix taken this month by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment, or HiRISE, camera on board the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter suggests the lander no longer casts shadows the way it did during its working lifetime.

"Before and after images are dramatically different," said Michael Mellon of the University of Colorado in Boulder, a science team member for both Phoenix and HiRISE. "The lander looks smaller, and only a portion of the difference can be explained by accumulation of dust on the lander, which makes its surfaces less distinguishable from surrounding ground."

Apparent changes in the shadows cast by the lander are consistent with predictions of how Phoenix could be damaged by harsh winter conditions. It was anticipated that the weight of a carbon-dioxide ice buildup could bend or break the lander's solar panels. Mellon calculated hundreds of pounds of ice probably coated the lander in mid-winter.

During its mission, Phoenix confirmed and examined patches of the widespread deposits of underground water ice detected by Odyssey and identified a mineral called calcium carbonate that suggested occasional presence of thawed water. The lander also found soil chemistry with significant implications for life and observed falling snow. The mission's biggest surprise was the discovery of perchlorate, an oxidizing chemical on Earth that is food for some microbes and potentially toxic for others.

"We found that the soil above the ice can act like a sponge, with perchlorate scavenging water from the atmosphere and holding on to it," said Peter Smith, Phoenix principal investigator at the University of Arizona in Tucson. "You can have a thin film layer of water capable of being a habitable environment. A micro-world at the scale of grains of soil -- that's where the action is."

The perchlorate results are shaping subsequent astrobiology research, as scientists investigate the implications of its antifreeze properties and potential use as an energy source by microbes. Discovery of the ice in the uppermost soil by Odyssey pointed the way for Phoenix. More recently, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter detected numerous ice deposits in middle latitudes at greater depth using radar and exposed on the surface by fresh impact craters.

"Ice-rich environments are an even bigger part of the planet than we thought," Smith said. "Somewhere in that vast region there are going to be places that are more habitable than others."

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter reached the planet in 2006 to begin a two-year primary science mission. Its data show Mars had diverse wet environments at many locations for differing durations during the planet's history, and climate-change cycles persist into the present era. The mission has returned more planetary data than all other Mars missions combined.

Odyssey has been orbiting Mars since 2001. The mission also has played important roles by supporting the twin Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity. The Phoenix mission was led by Smith at the University of Arizona, with project management at JPL and development partnership at Lockheed Martin in Denver. The University of Arizona operates the HiRISE camera, which was built by Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corp., in Boulder. Mars missions are managed by JPL for NASA's Mars Exploration Program at NASA Headquarters in Washington. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

For Phoenix information and images, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/phoenix .

-end-

To remove yourself from this mailing, please go to http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=lmK3JjMWIlJXJlL&s=dnLOIMNlH9LALLMrGnF&m=9iLLJYPBKcIQJcL

To remove yourself from all mailings from NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, please go to http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=epIPKYNuGeIKL1K&s=dnLOIMNlH9LALLMrGnF&m=9iLLJYPBKcIQJcL

WISE Telescope has Heart and Soul

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

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

IMAGE ADVISORY: 2010-174 May 24, 2010

WISE Telescope has Heart and Soul

The full version of this story with accompanying images is at:
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2010-174&cid=release_2010-174

PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, has captured a
huge mosaic of two bubbling clouds in space, known as the Heart and Soul nebulae. The space
telescope, which has completed about three-fourths of its infrared survey of the entire sky, has
already captured nearly one million frames like the ones making up this newly released mosaic.

"This new image demonstrates the power of WISE to capture vast regions," said Ned Wright,
the mission's principal investigator at UCLA, who presented the new picture today at the
American Astronomical Society meeting in Miami. "We're looking north, south, east and west to
map the whole sky."

The picture is online at http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/WISE/news/wise20100524.html .

The Heart nebula is named after its resemblance to a human heart; the nearby Soul nebula
happens to resemble a heart too, but only the symbolic kind with two lobes. The nebulae, which
lie about 6,000 light-years away in the constellation Cassiopeia, are both massive star-making
factories, marked by giant bubbles blown into surrounding dust by radiation and winds from the
stars. The infrared vision of WISE allows it to see into the cooler and dustier crevices of clouds
like these, where gas and dust are just beginning to collect into new stars.

The new image was captured as WISE circled over Earth's poles, scanning strips of the sky. It
is stitched together from 1,147 frames, taken with a total exposure time of three-and-a-half
hours.

The mission will complete its first map of the sky in July 2010. It will then spend the next three
months surveying much of the sky a second time, before the solid-hydrogen coolant needed to
chill its infrared detectors runs dry. The first installment of the public WISE catalog will be
released in summer 2011.

About 960,000 WISE images have been beamed down from space to date. Some show
ethereal star-forming clouds, while others reveal the ancient light of very remote, powerful
galaxies. And many are speckled with little dots that are asteroids in our solar system. So far,
the mission has observed more than 60,000 asteroids, most of which lie in the main belt, orbiting
between Mars and Jupiter. About 11,000 of these objects are newly discovered, and about 50
of them belong to a class of near-Earth objects, which have paths that take them within about
48 million kilometers (30 million miles) of Earth's orbit.

One goal of the WISE mission is to study asteroids throughout our solar system and to find out
more about how they vary in size and composition. Infrared helps with this task because it can
get better size measurements of the space rocks than visible light.

"Infrared will help us understand more about the sizes, properties and origins of asteroids near
and far," said Amy Mainzer, the principal investigator of NEOWISE, a program to study and
catalog asteroids seen by WISE (the acronym comes from combining near-Earth object, or
NEO, with WISE).

WISE will also study the Trojans, asteroids that run along with Jupiter in its orbit around the sun
in two packs -- one in front of and one behind the gas giant. It has seen more than 800 of these
objects, and by the end of the mission, should have observed about half of all 4,500 known
Trojans. The results will address dueling theories about how the outer planets evolved.

"WISE is the first survey capable of observing the two clouds in a uniform way, and this will
provide valuable insight into the early solar system," said astronomer Tommy Grav of Johns
Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md., who presented the information today at the astronomy
meeting.

Comets have also made their way into WISE images, with more than 72 observed so far, about
a dozen of them new. WISE is taking a census of the types of orbits comets ride in. The data
will help explain what kicks comets out of their original, more distant orbits and in toward the
sun.

JPL manages WISE for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. The principal
investigator, Edward Wright, is at UCLA. The mission was competitively selected under
NASA's Explorers Program managed by the Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
The science instrument was built by the Space Dynamics Laboratory, Logan, Utah, and the
spacecraft was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo. Science
operations and data processing take place at the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center at the
California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. Caltech manages JPL for NASA. More
information is online at http://www.nasa.gov/wise and http://wise.astro.ucla.edu .

-end-

To remove yourself from this mailing, please go to http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=lwK3JgMTInJ0JmL&s=kuL2J7MNKgIOK6NTIuH&m=8rIIJ2MNIiLRIdK

To remove yourself from all mailings from NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, please go to http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=epIPKVNrGgINL2K&s=kuL2J7MNKgIOK6NTIuH&m=8rIIJ2MNIiLRIdK

Geometry Drives Selection Date for 2011 Mars Launch

Feature May 20, 2010

GEOMETRY DRIVES SELECTION DATE FOR 2011 MARS LAUNCH

The full version of this story with accompanying images is at:
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2010-171&cid=release_2010-171

Planners of NASA's next Mars mission have selected a flight schedule that will use
favorable positions for two currently orbiting NASA Mars orbiters to obtain maximum
information during descent and landing.

Continuing analysis of the geometry and communications options for the arrival at Mars
have led planners for the Mars Science Laboratory, or Curiosity, to choose an Earth-to-
Mars trajectory that schedules launch between Nov. 25 and Dec. 18, 2011. Landing will
take place between Aug. 6 and Aug. 20, 2012. Due to an Earth-Mars planetary alignment,
this launch period actually allows for a Mars arrival in the earlier portion of the landing
dates under consideration.

"The key factor was a choice between different strategies for sending communications
during the critical moments before and during touchdown," said Michael Watkins,
mission manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. "The shorter
trajectory is optimal for keeping both orbiters in view of Curiosity all the way to
touchdown on the surface of Mars. The longer trajectory allows direct communication to
Earth all the way to touchdown."

The simplicity of direct-to-Earth communication from Curiosity during landing has appeal
to mission planners, in comparison to relying on communications relayed via NASA's
Mars Odyssey, which has been orbiting Mars since 2001, and NASA's Mars
Reconnaissance Orbiter, in operation since 2006. However, the direct-to-Earth option
allows a communication rate equivalent to only about 1 bit per second, while the relay
option allows about 8,000 bits or more per second.

Landing on Mars is always difficult, with success uncertain. After an unsuccessful
attempted Mars landing in 1999 without definitive information on the cause of the
mishap, NASA put a high priority on communication during subsequent Mars landings.

"It is important to capture high-quality telemetry to allow us to learn what happens during
the entry, descent and landing, which is arguably the most challenging part of the
mission," said Fuk Li, manager of NASA's Mars Exploration Program at JPL. "The
trajectory we have selected maximizes the amount of information we will learn to
mitigate any problems."

Curiosity will use several innovations during entry into the Martian atmosphere, descent
and landing in order to hit a relatively small target area on the surface and set down a
rover too heavy for the cushioning air bags used in earlier Mars rover landings. In a "sky-
crane" maneuver during the final minute of arrival, a rocket-powered descent stage will
lower Curiosity on a tether for a wheels-down landing directly onto the surface.

Even though Curiosity won't be communicating directly with Earth at touchdown, data
about the landing will reach Earth promptly. Odyssey will be in view of both Earth and
Curiosity, in position to immediately forward to Earth the data stream it is receiving
during the touchdown. Odyssey performed this type of "bent-pipe" relay during the May
25, 2008, arrival of NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander.

Curiosity will rove extensively on Mars, carrying an analytical laboratory and other
instruments to examine a carefully selected landing area. It will investigate whether
conditions there have favored development of microbial life and its preservation in the
rock record. Plans call for the mission to operate on Mars for a full Martian year, which is
equivalent to two Earth years.

Consideration of landing sites for the mission narrowed to four finalist candidates in
November 2008. The candidate sites are still being analyzed for safety and science
attributes.

Curiosity is managed by JPL for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington.
JPL also manages the Mars Odyssey and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter missions, in
partnership with Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver.

More information about NASA's Mars Science Laboratory is at:
http://www.nasa.gov/msl .

#2010-171
-end-

To remove yourself from this mailing, please go to http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=itJWL9POIoIXKgJ&s=iiKYI1MFKeIKL0OLIsH&m=8rLIK1OJKlKUIaJ

To remove yourself from all mailings from NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, please go to http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=cnKKIRMqHiLMLZI&s=iiKYI1MFKeIKL0OLIsH&m=8rLIK1OJKlKUIaJ

Two Peas in an Irregular Pod: How Binary Stars May Form

Feature May 20, 2010

Two Peas in an Irregular Pod: How Binary Stars May Form

The full version of this story with accompanying images is at:
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2010-170&cid=release_2010-170

Our sun may be an only child, but most of the stars in the galaxy are actually twins. The
sibling stars circle around each other at varying distances, bound by the hands of gravity.

How twin stars form is an ongoing question in astronomy. Do they start out like fraternal
twins developing from two separate clouds, or "eggs"? Or do they begin life in one cloud
that splits into two, like identical twins born from one egg? Astronomers generally believe
that widely spaced twin, or binary, stars grow from two separate clouds, while the closer-
knit binary stars start out from one cloud. But how this latter process works has not been
clear.

New observations from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope are acting like sonograms to
reveal the early birth process of snug twin stars. The infrared telescope can see the
structure of the dense, dusty envelopes surrounding newborn stars in remarkable detail.

These envelopes are like wombs feeding stars growing inside -- the material falls onto
disks spinning around the stars, and then is pulled farther inward by the fattening stars.

The Spitzer pictures reveal blob-like, asymmetrical envelopes for nearly all of 20 objects
studied. According to astronomers, such irregularities might trigger binary stars to form.

"We see asymmetries in the dense material around these proto-stars on scales only a few
times larger than the size of the solar system. This means that the disks around them will
be fed unevenly, possibly enhancing fragmentation of the disk and triggering binary star
formation," said John Tobin of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, lead author of a
recent paper in the Astrophysical Journal.

All stars, whether they are twins or not, form from collapsing envelopes, or clumps, of gas
and dust. The clumps continue to shrink under the force of gravity, until enough pressure
is exerted to fuse atoms together and create an explosion of energy.

Theorists have run computer simulations in the past to show that irregular-shaped
envelopes may cause the closer twin stars to form. Material falling inward would be
concentrated in clumps, not evenly spread out, seeding the formation of two stars instead
of one. But, until now, observational evidence for this scenario was inconclusive.

Tobin and his team initially did not set out to test this theory. They were studying the
effects of jets and outflows on envelopes around young stars when they happened to
notice that almost all the envelopes were asymmetrical. This led them to investigate
further -- 17 of 20 envelopes examined were shaped like blobs instead of spheres. The
remaining three envelopes were not as irregular as the others, but not perfectly round
either. Many of the envelopes were already known to contain embryonic twin stars –
possibly caused by the irregular envelopes.

"We were really surprised by the prevalence of asymmetrical envelope structures," said
Tobin. "And because we know that most stars are binary, these asymmetries could be
indicative of how they form."

Spitzer was able to catch such detailed views of these stellar eggs because it has highly
sensitive infrared vision, which can detect the faint infrared glow from our Milky Way
galaxy itself. The dusty envelopes around the young stars block background light from
the Milky Way, creating the appearance of a shadow in images from Spitzer.

"Traditionally, these envelopes have been observed by looking at longer infrared
wavelengths where the cold dust is glowing. However, those observations generally have
much lower resolution than the Spitzer images," said Tobin.

Further study of these envelopes, examining the velocity of the material falling onto the
forming stars using radio-wavelength telescopes, is already in progress. While the
researchers may not yet be able to look at a picture of a stellar envelope and declare "It's
twins," their work is offering important clues to help solve the mystery of how twin stars
are born.

Other authors of this study include Lee Hartmann of the University of Michigan, Ann
Arbor; and Hsin-Fang Chiang and Leslie Looney of the University of Illinois, Urbana-
Champaign. The observations were made before Spitzer ran out its liquid coolant in May
2009, beginning its "warm" mission.

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 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 .

#2010-170

-end-

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

To remove yourself from this mailing, please go to http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=ghKSJ3OzEcLMI6I&s=lvK4KaPRIhJQK9MXIvH&m=cvJQKdMZIjISLiI

To remove yourself from all mailings from NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, please go to http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=jkIYKcPLLfKTKgL&s=lvK4KaPRIhJQK9MXIvH&m=cvJQKdMZIjISLiI

NASA's Mars Rovers Set Surface Longevity Record

MEDIA RELATIONS OFFICE
JET PROPULSION LABORATORY
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMNISTRATION
PASADENA, CALIF. 91109 TELEPHONE 1-818-354-5011

Guy Webster 818-354-6278/354-5011
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
Guy.webster@jpl.nasa.gov

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

News release: 2010-168B May 19, 2010

NASA's Mars Rovers Set Surface Longevity Record

The full version of this story with accompanying images is at:
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2010-168b&cid=release_2010-168b

PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Project will pass a historic Martian longevity
record on Thursday, May 20. The Opportunity rover will surpass the duration record set by NASA's
Viking 1 Lander of six years and 116 days operating on the surface of Mars. The effects of favorable
weather on the red planet could also help the rovers generate more power.

Opportunity's twin rover, Spirit, began working on Mars three weeks before Opportunity. However,
Spirit has been out of communication since March 22. If it awakens from hibernation and resumes
communication, that rover will attain the Martian surface longevity record.

Spirit's hibernation was anticipated, based on energy forecasts, as the amount of sunshine hitting the
robot's solar panels declined during autumn on Mars' southern hemisphere. Unfortunately, mobility
problems prevented rover operators from positioning Spirit with a favorable tilt toward the north, as
during the first three winters it experienced. The rovers' fourth winter solstice, the day of the Martian
year with the least sunshine at their locations, was Wednesday, May 12 (May 13 Universal time).

"Opportunity, and likely Spirit, surpassing the Viking Lander 1 longevity record is truly remarkable,
considering these rovers were designed for only a 90-day mission on the surface of Mars," Callas said.
"Passing the solstice means we're over the hump for the cold, dark, winter season."

Unless dust interferes, which is unlikely in the coming months, the solar panels on both rovers should
gradually generate more electricity. Operators hope that Spirit will recharge its batteries enough to
awaken from hibernation, start communicating and resume science tasks.

Unlike recent operations, Opportunity will not have to rest to regain energy between driving days.
The gradual increase in available sunshine will eventually improve the rate of Opportunity's progress
across a vast plain toward its long-term destination, the Endeavour Crater.

This month, some of Opportunity's drives have been planned to end at an energy-favorable tilt on the
northern face of small Martian plain surface ripples. The positioning sacrifices some distance to regain
energy sooner for the next drive. Opportunity's cameras can see a portion of the rim of Endeavour on
the horizon, approximately eight miles away, across the plain's ripples of windblown sand.

"The ripples look like waves on the ocean, like we're out in the middle of the ocean with land on the
horizon, our destination," said Steve Squyres of Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y. Squyres is the
principal investigator for Opportunity and Spirit. "Even though we know we might never get there,
Endeavour is the goal that drives our exploration."

The team chose Endeavour as a destination in mid-2008, after Opportunity finished two years
examining the smaller Victoria Crater. Since then, the goal became even more alluring when orbital
observations found clay minerals exposed at Endeavour. Clay minerals have been found extensively
on Mars from orbit, but have not been examined on the surface.

"Those minerals form under wet conditions more neutral than the wet, acidic environment that
formed the sulfates we've found with Opportunity," said Squyres. "The clay minerals at Endeavour
speak to a time when the chemistry was much friendlier to life than the environments that formed the
minerals Opportunity has seen so far. We want to get there to learn their context. Was there flowing
water? Were there steam vents? Hot springs? We want to find out."

Launched in 1975, Project Viking consisted of two orbiters, each carrying a stationary lander. Viking
Lander 1 was the first successful mission to the surface of Mars, touching down on July 20, 1976. It
operated until Nov. 13, 1982, more than two years longer than its twin lander or either of the Viking
orbiters.

The record for longest working lifetime by a spacecraft at Mars belongs to a later orbiter: NASA's
Mars Global Surveyor operated for more than 9 years after arriving in 1997. NASA's Mars Odyssey,
in orbit since in 2001, has been working at Mars longer than any other current mission and is on track
to take the Mars longevity record late this year.

Science discoveries by the Mars Exploration Rover have included Opportunity finding the first
mineralogical evidence that Mars had liquid water, and Spirit finding evidence for hot springs or
steam vents and a past environment of explosive volcanism.

JPL manages the Mars rovers for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. For more
information about the rovers, visit http://www.nasa.gov/rovers . The California Institute of
Technology in Pasadena manages JPL for NASA.

-end-

To remove yourself from this mailing, please go to http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=jkIXKgPSLcKNKfL&s=hhKWJYOBKdLIJXMHIrF&m=buLOI9MSJdIVKnI

To remove yourself from all mailings from NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, please go to http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=cnJJLVMqF5JAIVK&s=hhKWJYOBKdLIJXMHIrF&m=buLOI9MSJdIVKnI

Cassini Double Play: Enceladus and Titan

Feature May 17, 2010

Cassini Double Play: Enceladus and Titan

The full version of this story with accompanying images is at:
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2010-164&cid=release_2010-164

About a month and a half after its last double flyby, NASA's Cassini spacecraft
will be turning another double play this week, visiting the geyser moon
Enceladus and the hazy moon Titan. The alignment of the moons means that
Cassini can catch glimpses of these two contrasting worlds within less than 48
hours, with no maneuver in between.

Cassini will make its closest approach to Enceladus late at night on May 17
Pacific time, which is in the early hours of May 18 UTC. The spacecraft will pass
within about 435 kilometers (270 miles) of the moon's surface.

The main scientific goal at Enceladus will be to watch the sun play peekaboo
behind the water-rich plume emanating from the moon's south polar region. Scientists using the ultraviolet imaging spectrograph will be able to use the
flickering light to measure whether there is molecular nitrogen in the plume. Ammonia has already been detected in the plume and scientists know heat can
decompose ammonia into nitrogen molecules. Determining the amount of
molecular nitrogen in the plume will give scientists clues about thermal
processing in the moon's interior.

The second of Cassini's two flybys is an encounter with Titan. The closest
approach will take place in the late evening May 19 Pacific time, which is in the
early hours of May 20 UTC. The spacecraft will fly to within 1,400 kilometers
(750 miles) of the surface.

Cassini will primarily be doing radio science during this pass to detect the subtle
variations in the gravitational tug on the spacecraft by Titan, which is 25 percent
larger in volume than the planet Mercury. Analyzing the data will help scientists
learn whether Titan has a liquid ocean under its surface and get a better picture
of its internal structure. The composite infrared spectrometer will also get its
southernmost pass for thermal data to fill out its temperature map of the smoggy
moon.

Cassini has made four previous double flybys and one more is planned in the
years ahead.

The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European
Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a
division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the
Cassini-Huygens mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in
Washington. The Cassini orbiter was designed, developed and assembled at
JPL.

More information on the Enceladus flyby, dubbed "E10," is available at:
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/flybys/enceladus20100518/

More information on the Titan flyby, dubbed "T68," is available at:
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/flybys/titan20100520/

2010-164

-end-

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

To remove yourself from this mailing, please go to http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=itJUL9PRIqIWKeJ&s=gqKUJVOxGcLGJUPDKqF&m=8hLIKYPBKgJZJfK

To remove yourself from all mailings from NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, please go to http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=cnKIIRMtHkLLLXI&s=gqKUJVOxGcLGJUPDKqF&m=8hLIKYPBKgJZJfK

Register for 'Basics of Rocketry' Teacher Workshop

Register for 'Basics of Rocketry' Teacher Workshop

This is a feature from the NASA/JPL Education Office.

05.12.10 -- Educators are invited to a free workshop that teaches the basics of rocketry. Participants will be taught
how to build and launch a simple rocket using an empty soda bottle. (Each person must provide an empty 2-liter bottle.)
This activity is geared to teachers of grades kindergarten through 12th grade, as well as pre-service teachers.

The class will be held on Saturday, June 12, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., at JPL's Educator Resource Center in Pomona, Calif.
To sign up, call the resource center at 909-397-4420. Lunch will be provided for a fee.

For directions and more information about the resource center, go to http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/education/index.cfm?page=115 .

Stay connected with NASA/JPL Education at http://education.jpl.nasa.gov . Here you will find teacher resources, space games and student/faculty programs.

Follow us on Twitter for workshop announcements and classroom activities. Go to http://twitter.com/NASAJPL_Edu .

Visit us on Facebook for student internship information. Go to http://www.facebook.com/NASAJPLStudents .

- end -

To remove yourself from this mailing, please go to http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=ijJSLbPSIhIXKlJ&s=hrJWLYPBKdJILXNHIrF&m=7qKGKRPwEdJJK3L

To remove yourself from all mailings from NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, please go to http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=epIKKZNCKeIHL0K&s=hrJWLYPBKdJILXNHIrF&m=7qKGKRPwEdJJK3L

NASA to Fund Innovative Museum Exhibits and Planetarium Shows

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

Mark Petrovich 818-393-4359
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
Mark.petrovich@jpl.nasa.gov

Sonja Alexander 202-358-1761
NASA Headquarters, Washington
sonja.r.alexander@nasa.gov

Ann Marie Trotta 202-358-1600
NASA Headquarters, Washington
ann.marie.trotta@nasa.gov

NEWS RELEASE: 2010-160 May 12, 2010

NASA TO FUND INNOVATIVE MUSEUM EXHIBITS AND PLANETARIUM SHOWS

The full version of this story with accompanying images is at:
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2010-160&cid=release_2010-160

PASADENA, Calif. -- Innovative planetarium shows and traveling museum exhibits are among nine
projects NASA has selected to receive agency funding this year. NASA's Competitive Program for
Science Museums and Planetariums will provide $7 million in grants to enhance educational outreach
related to space exploration, aeronautics, space science, Earth science and microgravity.

This year's grants to nine informal education providers range from approximately $177,000 to $1.25
million and have a maximum five-year performance period. The projects are located in Arizona,
Connecticut, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Ohio, Utah and Washington. The selected
projects will work with NASA's Shared Services Center in Mississippi to complete the business review
necessary before a NASA award is issued.

"Science centers and planetariums contribute significantly to engaging people of all ages in science,
technology, engineering and math," said James Stofan, acting associate administrator for NASA's
Office of Education. "NASA wants to give the informal education community access to a variety of
agency staff and resources while offering professional development opportunities for informal science
educators and encouraging the formation of collaborative partnerships."

The selected organizations will partner with NASA's Museum Alliance, an Internet-based, national
network of more than 400 science and nature centers, planetariums, museums, aquariums, zoos and
related organizations. The projects will engage the public and educators by providing NASA-inspired
space, science, technology, engineering and mathematics learning opportunities.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., leads the Museum Alliance for the agency.
The California Institute of Technology in Pasadena manages JPL for NASA. More information about
the Museum Alliance is online at: http://informal.jpl.nasa.gov/museum .

Congress initiated the Competitive Program for Science Museums and Planetariums in 2008. The first
group of projects began in 2009. NASA's Office of Education and agency mission directorates
collaborated to solicit and review the grant applications. A list of the newly-selected projects is at:
http://nspires.nasaprs.com . Click on "Selected Proposals" and look for Competitive Program for
Science Museums and Planetariums.

More information about NASA's education programs is at: http://www.nasa.gov/education .

-end-

To remove yourself from this mailing, please go to http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=jkIUJePTKjLZIkI&s=kuI2L7MNIgJOL6OTLuE&m=9iIKLXNDKiIXKfL

To remove yourself from all mailings from NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, please go to http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=cdJGKTNrEcKMK0L&s=kuI2L7MNIgJOL6OTLuE&m=9iIKLXNDKiIXKfL

Ancient City of Galaxies Looks Surprisingly Modern

Ancient City of Galaxies Looks Surprisingly Modern

The full version of this story with accompanying images is at:
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2010-157&cid=release_2010-157

Astronomers are a bit like archeologists as they dig back through space and time searching for
remnants of the early universe. In a recent deep excavation, courtesy of NASA's Spitzer Space
Telescope, astronomers unearthed what may be the most distant, primitive cluster of galaxies ever
found.

In a twist, however, this apparent ancestor to today's "big cities" of grouped galaxies looks
shockingly modern. Called CLG J02182-05102, the ancient cluster is dominated by old, red and
massive galaxies, typical of present-day clusters. For example, it is similar to a young version of
the Coma Cluster of today, which has had billions of more years to develop.

"We are seeing something already aged and red like a younger version of the Coma Cluster from
a distant, bygone era," said Casey Papovich, lead author of a new study and an assistant
professor of physics and astronomy at Texas A&M University in College Station.

Papovich added, "it is as though we dug an archeological site in Rome and found pieces of
modern Rome in amongst the ruins."

ClG J02182-05102 might have indeed been ahead of its time. Just as Rome was the world's
biggest city more than 2,000 years ago with a population of about a million residents – a figure
not again matched until the early 1800s in London – so too was this galactic grouping an
advanced civilization for so early an era in the developing universe.

Galaxy clusters are the largest gravitationally bound structures in the universe and are thought to
have formed piecemeal over cosmic time. For now, ClG J02182-05102 is the only known galactic
grouping so far away in the past, and studying it will help researchers understand the overall
history of how galaxies congregate and evolve.

A Cosmic Archeological Expedition

In their hunt for rare ancient cities in the early universe, Papovich and his team started with the
largest extragalactic survey ever made. Called the Spitzer Wide-area InfraRed Extragalactic
(SWIRE) survey, it observed a huge portion of the sky that could contain 250 full moons.

Because more light gathered means more information, the researchers looked at a cosmic region
within this giant starscape that had also been studied by other instruments. These additional
observations came from a survey combining light from Japan's Subaru telescope – housed atop
Mauna Kea, Hawaii – and the European Space Agency's orbiting XMM-Newton telescope. The
United Kingdom Infra-Red Telescope, also in Hawaii, provided infrared data along with another
set of Spitzer observations called the Public Ultra Deep Sky survey.

When all these data were compiled, Spitzer's infrared observations made dozens of distant
galaxies jump out. "We would not have found this object without Spitzer because there is very
little optical light coming from this group of galaxies," said Papovich.

His team then obtained time on the Magellan telescope in Chile to study the faint light coming
from ClG J02182-05102's least-dim galaxies. This light allowed the astronomers to
archeologically date the candidate cluster to 9.6 billion years ago.

With these observations, Papovich and his team confirmed that seven of ClG J02182-05102's
galaxies have nearly the same distance, suggesting they are part of a grouping of about 60
galaxies. Whether or not this association of galaxies fully qualifies as a gravitationally bound
cluster will rely on further observations. Furthermore, the definition of a "cluster" itself remains
unsettled, somewhat like the blurry distinctions between a city and a town, made trickier still
given the limited light that makes it to our telescopes from these relics.

The Rise and Fall of CLG J02182-05102

For now, ClG J02182-05102 stands out as a greatly over-dense region of galaxies – a metropolis
in a land of isolated villages. At its center regions loom red, monster galaxies containing about 10
times as many stars as our Milky Way galaxy. This puts them on par with the most mammoth
galaxies in the nearby universe, which have grown fat through repeated mergers with other
galaxies. These big galaxies are so uncharacteristic of those in the early universe that in some
sense it is like finding modern skyscrapers in ancient Rome.

The Papovich et al paper was accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal on April 21,
2010. A subsequent study by Masayuki Tanaka of the Institute for the Physics and Mathematics
of the Universe in Japan confirmed the discovery, and the work was the subject of a news release
on May 10, 2010.

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 in Pasadena. Caltech
manages JPL for NASA.

#2010-157

-end-

Contact: Whitney Clavin (818) 354-4673
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
whitney.clavin@jpl.nasa.gov

Written by Adam Hadhazy

To remove yourself from this mailing, please go to http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=juIUK5PPLlKTKhL&s=kuJ2L7ONJgLOI6MTJuH&m=dwISJ8PSKgKYIqI

To remove yourself from all mailings from NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, please go to http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=cdJGLKMnFeJGIXK&s=kuJ2L7ONJgLOI6MTJuH&m=dwISJ8PSKgKYIqI

Rock and Roll: Titan's Gem Tumbler

Rock and Roll: Titan's Gem Tumbler

The full version of this story with accompanying images is at:
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2010-156&cid=release_2010-156

It appears flash flooding has paved streambeds in the Xanadu region of Saturn's moon
Titan with thousands of sparkling crystal balls of ice, according to scientists with
NASA's Cassini spacecraft. By analyzing the way the terrain has scattered radar beams,
scientists deduce the spheres measure at least a few centimeters (inches) and maybe up to
a couple of meters (yards) in diameter. The spheres likely originated as part of water-ice
bedrock in higher terrain in Xanadu.

"What we believe happened in this area is a lot like what creates polished river rocks on
Earth," said Alice Le Gall, a postdoctoral fellow at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory,
Pasadena, Calif., and the lead author of the study, which used the Cassini radar
instrument. "Bouncing downstream smoothes out the edges of rocks."

As foothill residents know in southern California and other areas, sudden rains can trigger
mudslides and flooding at the mountainous fringes of desert areas. Those flows can pick
up boulders and debris and tumble them downstream. On Titan, the flows appear to have
occurred periodically for eons, on a catastrophic scale. The process on Titan, however,
involves rain made of liquid methane and ethane, rather than Earth's water rain. Titan's
rocks are believed to be made primarily of water ice frozen into a hard mass about minus
180 degrees Celsius (minus 290 degrees Fahrenheit), rather than Earth's mineral rocks.

Earth-like river rocks have already been observed on Titan at the landing site of the
European Space Agency's Huygens probe, near the equator in the borderland between the
Adiri and Shangri-la regions. The landing site also showed signs of flash flooding that
deposited cobblestones about 2 to 20 centimeters (1 to 8 inches) in diameter.

But the spidery channels in this southern lowland part of Xanadu looked brighter to
Cassini's radar instrument than the Huygens landing area. In fact, the channels, which
were scanned by Cassini in May 2008, are among the brightest features ever seen on Titan
by the radar instrument.

In a paper now available online in the journal Icarus, Le Gall and colleagues concluded
that the most plausible explanation for the extreme brightness of the Xanadu channels
was a collection of transparent spherical sediments, packed more tightly together than the
cobblestones at the Huygens landing site. The effect would be similar to bejeweling an
area with light-catching rhinestones.

The spheres appear to be made of water ice – possibly doped with ammonia – that would
look bright to the microwaves used by Cassini's radar. Spheres are good at sending light
back in the direction it came from. This property has actually led manufacturers to use
plastic spheres in reflective paints and tape, Le Gall said.

Xanadu may be an especially good gem grinder because of its broad expanse and gentle
southward slope. Flows could have traveled long distances there and tumbled the chunks
for hundreds of kilometers (miles). The subtle work to shape them into spheres could have
come from fine grit rubbing against the rocks in the flowing methane. Or, ice may be
malleable in Titan's cold temperatures, deforming plastically during the collisions rather
than fracturing. The flows that transported these icy spheres probably traveled around 1
meter per second (2 mph).

"It's been really hard for a long time for people to understand why Xanadu is so bright,"
said Steve Wall, a radar team member at JPL. "You might not expect these kinds of
geometries in a natural setting, but we believe this can explain the enigma."

The radar team plans to continue looking for other instances of small, smooth spheres in
nature to increase their confidence about the explanation. They also said more study is
needed on the mechanical properties of water ice at such cold temperatures.

"Here is yet another example of Titan as a world with Earth-like processes," said Linda
Spilker, Cassini project scientist at JPL. "As the seasons change on Titan, maybe we'll get
a chance to see methane flow through some of the river channels."

The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space
Agency and the Italian Space Agency. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of
the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's
Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter 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.

For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit
http://www.nasa.gov/cassini and http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov.

#2010-156

-end-

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

To remove yourself from this mailing, please go to http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=ijISI2PEJiK1IjI&s=eeJQKPOpGaICKOOvGoF&m=4nKAKHNhFbJNI1L

To remove yourself from all mailings from NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, please go to http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=lmKYJbMQIlJ8JtL&s=eeJQKPOpGaICKOOvGoF&m=4nKAKHNhFbJNI1L

Herschel Finds a Hole in Space

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

News release: 2010-155 May 11, 2010

Herschel Finds a Hole in Space

The full version of this story with accompanying images is at:
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2010-155&cid=release_2010-155

The Herschel Space Observatory has made an unexpected discovery: a gaping hole in the clouds
surrounding a batch of young stars. The hole has provided astronomers with a surprising glimpse
into the end of the star-forming process.

Stars are born hidden in dense clouds of dust and gas, which can now be studied in remarkable
detail with Herschel, a European Space Agency mission with important NASA participation.
Although jets and winds of gas have been seen streaming from young stars in the past, it has
always been a mystery exactly how a star uses the jets to blow away its surroundings and emerge
from its birth cloud. For the first time, Herschel may be seeing an unexpected step in this process.

A cloud of bright reflective gas known to astronomers as NGC 1999 sits next to a black patch of
sky. For most of the 20th century, such black patches were known to be dense clouds of dust
and gas that block light from passing through.

When Herschel looked in its direction to study nearby young stars, astronomers were surprised to
see the cloud continued to look black, which shouldn't have been the case. Herschel's infrared
eyes are designed to see into such clouds. Either the cloud was immensely dense or something
was wrong.

Investigating further using ground-based telescopes, astronomers found the same story no matter
how they looked: this patch looks black not because it is a dense pocket of gas but because it is
truly empty. Something has blown a hole right through the cloud.

"No one has ever seen a hole like this," says Tom Megeath of the University of Toledo, Ohio, the
principal investigator of the research. "It's as surprising as knowing you have worms tunneling
under your lawn, but finding one morning that they have created a huge, yawning pit."

The astronomers think that the hole must have been opened when the narrow jets of gas from
some of the young stars in the region punctured the sheet of dust and gas that forms NGC 1999.
The powerful radiation from a nearby adolescent star may also have helped to clear the hole.
Whatever the precise chain of events, it could be an important glimpse into the way newborn
stars rip apart their birth clouds.

Other members of the research team include Thomas Stanke of the European Southern
Observatory, Germany; Amy Stutz of the Max-Planck Institute for Astronomy, Germany, and
the Steward Observatory, Tucson; John Tobin of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; Lori
Allen of the National Optical Astronomy Observatory, Tucson; Ali Babar of the NASA Herschel
Science Center at the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena; and Will Fischer and Erin
Kryukova, University of Toledo, Ohio.

Herschel is a European Space Agency cornerstone mission, with science instruments provided by
consortia of European institutes and with important participation by NASA. NASA's Herschel
Project Office is based at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. JPL contributed
mission-enabling technology for two of Herschel's three science instruments. The NASA
Herschel Science Center, part of the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center at the California
Institute of Technology in Pasadena, supports the United States astronomical community.
Caltech manages JPL for NASA.

More information is online at http://www.herschel.caltech.edu , http://www.nasa.gov/herschel
and http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Herschel/index.html .

-end-

To remove yourself from this mailing, please go to http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=epIJKYNCKaIIL5K&s=hrJWIYOBJdJILXNHIrE&m=6pIEINNpGaLNI6K

To remove yourself from all mailings from NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, please go to http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=hiJPK7OOIdLPJfJ&s=hrJWIYOBJdJILXNHIrE&m=6pIEINNpGaLNI6K

JPL Open House to Feature Hubble Camera, New Visitor Center

MEDIA RELATIONS OFFICE
JET PROPULSION LABORATORY
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMNISTRATION
PASADENA, CALIF. 91109 TELEPHONE 1-818-354-5011

Courtney O'Connor 1-818-354-2274
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
Courtney.M.O'Connor@jpl.nasa.gov

NEWS RELEASE: 2010-154 May 10, 2010

JPL OPEN HOUSE TO FEATURE HUBBLE CAMERA, NEW VISITOR CENTER

The full version of this story with accompanying images is at:
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2010-154&cid=release_2010-154

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., invites the public to a close-up look at JPL's
past, present and future at its annual Open House on Saturday, May 15, and Sunday, May 16, from
9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The event, themed "Worlds Beyond," features displays and demonstrations from
numerous space missions, and a first look at JPL's recently renovated von Karman Visitor Center.

On special display will be the JPL-built Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2, retrieved from
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope last year by space-walking astronauts. The instrument,
affectionately known as the "Camera that Saved Hubble," is on loan from the Smithsonian
Institution's National Air and Space Museum. The camera captured many of Hubble's iconic space
images.

Other Open House highlights include: seeing JPL's next spacecraft bound for Mars, Mars Science
Laboratory, under construction in the lab's largest "clean room;" life-size rover models in a "Mars"
test bed; and JPL's Microdevices Lab, where engineers and scientists use tiny technology to
revolutionize space exploration. Visitors can also see the sun through solar-safe telescopes, and learn
how NASA instruments help scientists better understand global climate change.

JPL Open House provides a memorable experience for adult and kids, with plenty of hands-on
activities, and opportunities to talk with scientists and engineers. Selected locations at Open House
will be featured live online on Ustream TV at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nasajpl on Sat., May
15, at 10 a.m., 11 a.m., noon and 1 p.m. Pacific time (1, 2, 3 and 4 p.m. Eastern time). Each time
slot will feature a new location at the top of each hour.

JPL is located at 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, Calif., 91109. Admission to Open House is
free. Parking is also free, but is limited. To get to JPL, take the Berkshire Avenue/Oak Grove Drive
exit from the 210 Freeway in La Canada/Flintridge. All visitors should wear comfortable shoes -- no
buses will be provided from JPL parking lots. JPL will provide vans for mobility-challenged guests.

Vehicles entering NASA/JPL property are subject to inspection. Visitors cannot bring these items to
NASA/JPL: weapons, explosives, incendiary devices, dangerous instruments, alcohol, illegal drugs,
pets, all types of skates including skateboards, Segways and bicycles. No bags, backpacks or ice
chests are allowed, except small purses and diaper bags.

Media wishing to cover the event should RSVP to Courtney O'Connor at
Courtney.M.O'Connor@jpl.nasa.gov or at 1-818-354-2274.

- end -

To remove yourself from this mailing, please go to http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=epIJKUNzGeILL5K&s=isIYK1NFIeJKI0NLLsH&m=9iLJI4PKKcLSJfI

To remove yourself from all mailings from NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, please go to http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=hiJPK3OLIhLSJfJ&s=isIYK1NFIeJKI0NLLsH&m=9iLJI4PKKcLSJfI

Rock the Class: Sign Up for Lunar and Meteorite Sample Certification

Rock the Class: Sign Up for Lunar and Meteorite Sample Certification

This is a feature from the NASA/JPL Education Office.


05.04.10 -- JPL's Educator Resource Center is holding a free lunar and meteorite sample certification class on
Tues., May 11, 4:30 -- 6:30 p.m. This workshop is recommended for all teachers, kindergarten through high school.

NASA makes real moon rocks and meteorites available for teachers to borrow. This certification workshop is required
in order to bring the excitement of real lunar rock and meteorite samples to your students. The samples are from NASA's historic Apollo missions.

To sign up, call the JPL Educator Resource Center in Pomona, Calif., at 909-397-4420.

For directions and more information about the resource center, go to http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/education/index.cfm?page=115 .

Stay connected with NASA/JPL Education at http://education.jpl.nasa.gov . Here you will find teacher resources, space games and student/faculty programs.

Follow us on Twitter for workshop announcements and classroom activities. Go to http://twitter.com/NASAJPL_Edu .

Visit us on Facebook for student internship information. Go to http://www.facebook.com/NASAJPLStudents .

- end -

To remove yourself from this mailing, please go to http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=fgLIIYNDL9INKaJ&s=kkK2L7NNLgLOI6MTJuE&m=4dLzHKPkE8INI3J

To remove yourself from all mailings from NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, please go to http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=itIOI7PPJcKUIkI&s=kkK2L7NNLgLOI6MTJuE&m=4dLzHKPkE8INI3J