Top Stories: July 2012

Monday, July 30, 2012

NASA Announces News Activities for Mars Landing

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Mars Orbiter Repositioned to Phone Home Mars Landing

Satellites See Unprecedented Greenland Ice Sheet Melt

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

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

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

News release: 2012-217 July 24 2012

Satellites see Unprecedented Greenland Ice Sheet Melt

The full version of this story with accompanying images is at:
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2012-217&cid=release_2012-217

PASADENA, Calif. – For several days this month, Greenland's surface ice cover melted over a larger
area than at any time in more than 30 years of satellite observations. Nearly the entire ice cover of
Greenland, from its thin, low-lying coastal edges to its 2-mile-thick (3.2-kilometer) center,
experienced some degree of melting at its surface, according to measurements from three
independent satellites analyzed by NASA and university scientists.

On average in the summer, about half of the surface of Greenland's ice sheet naturally melts. At high
elevations, most of that melt water quickly refreezes in place. Near the coast, some of the melt water
is retained by the ice sheet, and the rest is lost to the ocean. But this year the extent of ice melting at
or near the surface jumped dramatically. According to satellite data, an estimated 97 percent of the
ice sheet surface thawed at some point in mid-July.

Researchers have not yet determined whether this extensive melt event will affect the overall volume
of ice loss this summer and contribute to sea level rise.

"The Greenland ice sheet is a vast area with a varied history of change. This event, combined with
other natural but uncommon phenomena, such as the large calving event last week on Petermann
Glacier, are part of a complex story," said Tom Wagner, NASA's cryosphere program manager in
Washington. "Satellite observations are helping us understand how events like these may relate to
one another as well as to the broader climate system."

Son Nghiem of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. was analyzing radar data from
the Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) Oceansat-2 satellite last week when he noticed that
most of Greenland appeared to have undergone surface melting on July 12. Nghiem said, "This was
so extraordinary that at first I questioned the result: was this real or was it due to a data error?"

Nghiem consulted with Dorothy Hall at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. Hall
studies the surface temperature of Greenland using the Moderate-resolution Imaging
Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Terra and Aqua satellites. She confirmed that MODIS
showed unusually high temperatures and that melt was extensive over the ice sheet surface.

Thomas Mote, a climatologist at the University of Georgia, Athens; and Marco Tedesco of City
University of New York also confirmed the melt seen by Oceansat-2 and MODIS with passive-
microwave satellite data from the Special Sensor Microwave Imager/Sounder on a U.S. Air Force
meteorological satellite.

The melting spread quickly. Melt maps derived from the three satellites showed that on July 8, about
40 percent of the ice sheet's surface had melted. By July 12, 97 percent had melted.

This extreme melt event coincided with an unusually strong ridge of warm air, or a heat dome, over
Greenland. The ridge was one of a series that has dominated Greenland's weather since the end of
May. "Each successive ridge has been stronger than the previous one," said Mote. This latest heat
dome started to move over Greenland on July 8, and then parked itself over the ice sheet about three
days later. By July 16, it had begun to dissipate.

Even the area around Summit Station in central Greenland, which at 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) above
sea level is near the highest point of the ice sheet, showed signs of melting. Such pronounced melting
at Summit and across the ice sheet has not occurred since 1889, according to ice cores analyzed by
Kaitlin Keegan at Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H. A National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration weather station at Summit confirmed air temperatures hovered above or within a
degree of freezing for several hours July 11 to 12.

"Ice cores from Summit show that melting events of this type occur about once every 150 years on
average. With the last one happening in 1889, this event is right on time," said Lora Koenig, a
Goddard glaciologist and a member of the research team analyzing the satellite data. "But if we
continue to observe melting events like this in upcoming years, it will be worrisome."

Nghiem's finding while analyzing Oceansat-2 data was the kind of benefit that NASA and ISRO had
hoped to stimulate when they signed an agreement in March 2012 to cooperate on Oceansat-2 by
sharing data.

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

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

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Monday, July 23, 2012

President Obama Honors NASA Scientists and Engineers

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

Priscilla Vega 818-354-1357
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
priscilla.r.vega@jpl.nasa.gov

Sarah DeWitt 202-358-2451
Headquarters, Washington
Sarah.l.dewitt@nasa.gov

Image advisory: 2012-215 July 23, 2012

President Obama Honors NASA Scientists and Engineers

The full version of this story with accompanying images is at:
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2012-215&cid=release_2012-215

PASADENA, Calif. -- President Obama has named six NASA individuals, including one
from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., as recipients of the 2011
Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE). The NASA
recipients and 90 other federal researchers will receive their awards in a ceremony later
this month in Washington.

The awards represent the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on scientists
and engineers beginning their independent careers. They recognize recipients' exceptional
potential for leadership at the frontiers of scientific knowledge, and their commitment to
community service as demonstrated through professional leadership, education or
community outreach.

"These talented individuals have already made significant contributions to the agency's
mission at this early stage in their careers," said NASA Chief Scientist Waleed Abdalati.
"We look forward to celebrating their continued success for many years to come."

The 2011 NASA recipients were nominated by the agency's Science Mission Directorate,
Office of the Chief Engineer, and Office of the Chief Technologist:

- Morgan B. Abney, NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.,
recognized for innovative technical leadership in advancing technologies for recovering
oxygen from carbon dioxide for self-sustaining human space exploration.

- Ian Gauld Clark, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and California Institute of
Technology in Pasadena, Calif., recognized for exceptional leadership and achievement
in the pursuit of advanced entry, descent and landing technologies and techniques for
space exploration missions.

- Temilola Fatoyinbo-Agueh, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.,
recognized for exceptional achievement in merging scientific priorities with advanced
technology to develop innovative remote-sensing instrumentation for carbon-cycle and
ecosystems science.

- Jessica E. Koehne, NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif., recognized
for exceptional dedication to the development of nano-bio sensing systems for NASA
mission needs.

- Francis M. McCubbin, Institute of Meteoritics, University of New Mexico in
Albuquerque, N.M., recognized for studies of the geochemical role of water and other
volatiles in extraterrestrial materials from the inner solar system.

- Yuri Y. Shprits, University of California, Los Angeles, recognized for early-career
leadership and innovative research and modeling in the realm of the Earth's Van Allen
radiation belts.

The PECASE awards were created to foster innovative developments in science and
technology, increase awareness of careers in science and engineering, give recognition to
the scientific missions of participating agencies, enhance connections between
fundamental research and many of the grand challenges facing the nation, and highlight
the importance of science and technology for America's future. Eleven federal
departments and agencies nominated scientists and engineers for the 2011 PECASE
awards.

For a complete list of 2011 award winners, visit: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-
office/2012/07/23/president-obama-honors-outstanding-early-career-scientists

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

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

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Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Cassini Spots Daytime Lightning on Saturn

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

Jia-Rui Cook 818-354-0850
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
jccook@jpl.nasa.gov

Image advisory: 2012-212 July 18, 2012

Cassini Spots Daytime Lightning on Saturn

The full version of this story with accompanying images is at:
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2012-212&cid=release_2012-212

PASADENA, Calif. – Saturn was playing the lightning storm blues. NASA's Cassini
spacecraft has captured images of last year's storm on Saturn, the largest storm seen up-
close at the planet, with bluish spots in the middle of swirling clouds. Those bluish spots
indicate flashes of lightning and mark the first time scientists have detected lightning in
visible wavelengths on the side of Saturn illuminated by the sun.

"We didn't think we'd see lightning on Saturn's day side – only its night side," said
Ulyana Dyudina, a Cassini imaging team associate based at the California Institute of
Technology in Pasadena. "The fact that Cassini was able to detect the lightning means
that it was very intense."

Images can be found at http://www.nasa.gov/cassini , http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov and
http://ciclops.org .

The storm occurred last year. The lightning flashes appear brightest in the blue filter of
Cassini's imaging camera on March 6, 2011. Scientists aggressively heightened the blue
tint of the image to determine its size and location. Scientists are still analyzing why the
blue filter catches the lightning. It might be that the lightning really is blue, or it might be
that the short exposure of the camera in the blue filter makes the short-lived lightning
easier to see.

What scientists do know is that the intensity of the flash is comparable to the strongest
flashes on Earth. The visible energy alone is estimated to be about 3 billion watts lasting
for one second. The flash is approximately 100 miles (200 kilometers) in diameter when
it exits the tops of the clouds. From this, scientists deduce that the lightning bolts
originate in the clouds deeper down in Saturn's atmosphere where water droplets freeze.
This is analogous to where lightning is created in Earth's atmosphere.

In composite images that show the band of the storm wrapping all the way around Saturn,
scientists have seen multiple flashes. In one composite image, they recorded five flashes,
and in another, three flashes.

"As summer storm season descends upon Earth's northern latitudes, Cassini provides us a
great opportunity to see how weather plays out at different places in our solar system,"
said Linda Spilker, Cassini project scientist, based at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory,
Pasadena, Calif. "Saturn's atmosphere has been changing over the eight years Cassini has
been at Saturn, and we can't wait to see what happens next."

The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space
Agency and the Italian Space Agency. JPL, a division of the California Institute of
Technology in Pasadena, manages the Cassini-Huygens mission for NASA's Science
Mission Directorate, Washington. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were
designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging team is based at the Space
Science Institute in Boulder, Colo.

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Spitzer Finds Possible Exoplanet Smaller Than Earth

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

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

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

News release: 2012-211 July 18, 2012

Spitzer Finds Possible Exoplanet Smaller Than Earth

The full version of this story with accompanying images is at:
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2012-211&cid=release_2012-211

PASADENA, Calif. -- Astronomers using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope have detected what
they believe is a planet two-thirds the size of Earth. The exoplanet candidate, called UCF-1.01, is
located a mere 33 light-years away, making it possibly the nearest world to our solar system that
is smaller than our home planet.

Exoplanets circle stars beyond our sun. Only a handful smaller than Earth have been found so
far. Spitzer has performed transit studies on known exoplanets, but UCF-1.01 is the first ever
identified with the space telescope, pointing to a possible role for Spitzer in helping discover
potentially habitable, terrestrial-sized worlds.

"We have found strong evidence for a very small, very hot and very near planet with the help of
the Spitzer Space Telescope," said Kevin Stevenson from the University of Central Florida in
Orlando. Stevenson is lead author of the paper, which has been accepted for publication in The
Astrophysical Journal. "Identifying nearby small planets such as UCF-1.01 may one day lead to
their characterization using future instruments."

The hot, new-planet candidate was found unexpectedly in Spitzer observations. Stevenson and
his colleagues were studying the Neptune-sized exoplanet GJ 436b, already known to exist
around the red-dwarf star GJ 436. In the Spitzer data, the astronomers noticed slight dips in the
amount of infrared light streaming from the star, separate from the dips caused by GJ 436b. A
review of Spitzer archival data showed the dips were periodic, suggesting a second planet might
be orbiting the star and blocking out a small fraction of the star's light.

This technique, used by a number of observatories including NASA's Kepler space telescope,
relies on transits to detect exoplanets. The duration of a transit and the small decrease in the
amount of light registered reveals basic properties of an exoplanet, such as its size and distance
from its star. In UCF-1.01's case, its diameter would be approximately 5,200 miles (8,400
kilometers), or two-thirds that of Earth. UCF-1.01 would revolve quite tightly around GJ 436, at
about seven times the distance of Earth from the moon, with its "year" lasting only 1.4 Earth
days. Given this proximity to its star, far closer than the planet Mercury is to our sun, the
exoplanet's surface temperature would be more than 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit (almost 600
degrees Celsius).

If the roasted, diminutive planet candidate ever had an atmosphere, it almost surely has
evaporated. UCF-1.01 might therefore resemble a cratered, mostly geologically dead world like
Mercury. Paper co-author Joseph Harrington, also of the University of Central Florida and
principal investigator of the research, suggested another possibility; that the extreme heat of
orbiting so close to GJ 436 has melted the exoplanet's surface.

"The planet could even be covered in magma," Harrington said.

In addition to UCF-1.01, Stevenson and his colleagues noticed hints of a third planet, dubbed
UCF-1.02, orbiting GJ 436. Spitzer has observed evidence of the two new planets several times
each. However, even the most sensitive instruments are unable to measure exoplanet masses as
small as UCF-1.01 and UCF-1.02, which are perhaps only one-third the mass of Earth. Knowing
the mass is required for confirming a discovery, so the paper authors are cautiously calling both
bodies exoplanet candidates for now.

Of the approximately 1,800 stars identified by NASA' Kepler space telescope as candidates for
having planetary systems, just three are verified to contain sub-Earth-sized exoplanets. Of these,
only one exoplanet is thought to be smaller than the Spitzer candidates, with a radius similar to
Mars, or 57 percent that of Earth.

"I hope future observations will confirm these exciting results, which show Spitzer may be able
to discover exoplanets as small as Mars," said Michael Werner, Spitzer project scientist at
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. "Even after almost nine years in space,
Spitzer's observations continue to take us in new and important scientific directions."

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. Data
are archived at the Infrared Science Archive housed at the Infrared Processing and Analysis
Center at Caltech. Caltech manages JPL for NASA. For more information about Spitzer, visit
http://spitzer.caltech.edu and http://www.nasa.gov/spitzer .

More information about exoplanets and NASA's planet-finding program is at
http://planetquest.jpl.nasa.gov .

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Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Study Finds Heat is Source of 'Pioneer Anomaly'

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

News feature: 2012-209 July 17, 2012

Study Finds Heat is Source of 'Pioneer Anomaly'

The full version of this story with accompanying images is at:
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2012-209&cid=release_2012-209

The unexpected slowing of NASA's Pioneer 10 and 11 spacecraft – the so-called
"Pioneer Anomaly" – turns out to be due to the slight, but detectable effect of heat
pushing back on the spacecraft, according to a recent paper. The heat emanates
from electrical current flowing through instruments and the thermoelectric power
supply. The results were published on June 12 in the journal Physical Review
Letters.

"The effect is something like when you're driving a car and the photons from your
headlights are pushing you backward," said Slava Turyshev, the paper's lead author
at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. "It is very subtle."

Launched in 1972 and 1973 respectively, Pioneer 10 and 11 are on an outward
trajectory from our sun. In the early 1980s, navigators saw a deceleration on the
two spacecraft, in the direction back toward the sun, as the spacecraft were
approaching Saturn. They dismissed it as the effect of dribbles of leftover propellant
still in the fuel lines after controllers had cut off the propellant. But by 1998, as the
spacecraft kept traveling on their journey and were over 8 billion miles (13 billion
kilometers) away from the sun, a group of scientists led by John Anderson of JPL
realized there was an actual deceleration of about 300 inches per day squared (0.9
nanometers per second squared). They raised the possibility that this could be some
new type of physics that contradicted Einstein's general theory of relativity.

In 2004, Turyshev decided to start gathering records stored all over the country and
analyze the data to see if he could definitively figure out the source of the
deceleration. In part, he and colleagues were contemplating a deep space physics
mission to investigate the anomaly, and he wanted to be sure there was one before
asking NASA for a spacecraft.

He and colleagues went searching for Doppler data, the pattern of data
communicated back to Earth from the spacecraft, and telemetry data, the
housekeeping data sent back from the spacecraft. At the time these two Pioneers
were launched, data were still being stored on punch cards. But Turyshev and
colleagues were able to copy digitized files from the computer of JPL navigators who
have helped steer the Pioneer spacecraft since the 1970s. They also found over a
dozen of boxes of magnetic tapes stored under a staircase at JPL and received files
from the National Space Science Data Center at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center,
Greenbelt, Md., and worked with NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.,
to save some of their boxes of magnetic optical tapes. He collected more than 43
gigabytes of data, which may not seem like a lot now, but is quite a lot of data for the
1970s. He also managed to save a vintage tape machine that was about to be
discarded, so he could play the magnetic tapes.

The effort was a labor of love for Turyshev and others. The Planetary Society sent
out appeals to its members to help fund the data recovery effort. NASA later also
provided funding. In the process, a programmer in Canada, Viktor Toth, heard about
the effort and contacted Turyshev. He helped Turyshev create a program that could
read the telemetry tapes and clean up the old data.

They saw that what was happening to Pioneer wasn't happening to other spacecraft,
mostly because of the way the spacecraft were built. For example, the Voyager
spacecraft are less sensitive to the effect seen on Pioneer, because its thrusters align
it along three axes, whereas the Pioneer spacecraft rely on spinning to stay stable.

With all the data newly available, Turyshev and colleagues were able to calculate the
heat put out by the electrical subsystems and the decay of plutonium in the Pioneer
power sources, which matched the anomalous acceleration seen on both Pioneers.

"The story is finding its conclusion because it turns out that standard physics
prevail," Turyshev said. "While of course it would've been exciting to discover a new
kind of physics, we did solve a mystery."

Pioneer 10 and 11 were managed by NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field,
Calif. Pioneer 10's last signal was received on Earth in January 2003. Pioneer 11's
last signal was received in November 1995. JPL is a division of the California
Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

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Monday, July 16, 2012

NASA Selects Launch Contractor for Three Missions

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

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

Joshua Buck 202-358-1100
NASA Headquarters, Washington
jbuck@nasa.gov

George H. Diller 321-867-2468
NASA Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
George.h.diller@nasa.gov

News release: 2012-206 July 16, 2012

NASA Selects Launch Contractor for Three Missions

The full version of this story with accompanying images is at:
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2012-206&cid=release_2012-206

PASADENA, Calif. - NASA has selected United Launch Services LLC of Englewood, Colo., to launch the Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP), Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2) and Joint Polar Satellite System-1 (JPSS-1) spacecraft. The spacecraft will launch in October 2014, July 2014 and November 2016, respectively, aboard Delta II rockets from Complex 2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., manages the SMAP and OCO-2 missions for NASA.

The total value for the SMAP, OCO-2 and JPSS-1 launch services is approximately $412 million. This estimated cost includes the task-ordered launch service for the Delta II plus additional services under other contracts for payload processing, launch vehicle integration, mission-unique launch site ground support and tracking, data and telemetry services.

SMAP will provide global measurements of soil moisture and its freeze-thaw state. These measurements will enhance understanding of processes that link Earth's water, energy and carbon cycles. SMAP will extend current capabilities in weather and climate prediction. SMAP data will be used to develop improved flood prediction and drought monitoring capabilities.

OCO-2 will study and make time-dependent global measurements of atmospheric carbon dioxide. It will provide the first complete picture of human and natural carbon dioxide sources and "sinks," the places where the gas is pulled out of the atmosphere and stored. The observatory's high-resolution measurements will help scientists better understand the processes that regulate atmospheric carbon dioxide.

JPSS-1 is the successor to the Suomi-National Polar Partnership (NPP) spacecraft, which was launched in October 2011 as a joint mission between NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and operated by the JPSS Program. The JPSS Program is the former National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System Program. The JPSS system includes the satellite's sensors and ground system supporting civil weather, climate measurements and data sharing with other U.S. agencies and international partners.

JPSS-1 will make afternoon observations as it orbits Earth, providing continuity of critical data and imagery observations for accurate weather forecasting, reliable severe storm outlooks and global measurements of atmospheric and oceanic conditions such as sea surface temperatures and ozone. JPSS-1 will increase the timeliness, accuracy and cost-effectiveness of public warnings and forecasts of weather, climate and other environmental events, reducing the potential loss of human life and property.

NOAA is responsible for the JPSS Program and the JPSS-1 mission. NASA is the program's procurement agent. The agency's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., is the lead for acquisition.

NASA's Launch Services Program at Kennedy Space Center is responsible for launch vehicle program management of the SMAP, OCO-2 and JPSS-1 launch services.

For more information about SMAP, visit: http://smap.jpl.nasa.gov/ . For more information on OCO-2, visit: http://oco.jpl.nasa.gov/ and http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/oco/main/index.html .

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

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NASA Selects Launch Contractor for Jason-3 Mission

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

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

Joshua Buck 202-358-1100
NASA Headquarters, Washington
jbuck@nasa.gov

George H. Diller 321-867-2468
NASA Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
George.h.diller@nasa.gov

News release: 2012-207 July 16, 2012

NASA Selects Launch Contractor for Jason-3 Mission

The full version of this story with accompanying images is at:
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2012-207&cid=release_2012-207

PASADENA, Calif. - NASA has selected Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) of Hawthorne, Calif., to launch the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Jason-3 spacecraft in December 2014 aboard a Falcon 9 v1.0 rocket from Complex 4 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., is contributing three instruments to the mission: a radiometer, the GPS system and a satellite laser ranging reflector.

The total value of the Jason-3 launch service is approximately $82 million. This estimated cost includes the task-ordered launch service for the Falcon 9 v1.0, plus additional services under other contracts for payload processing, launch vehicle integration, mission-unique launch site ground support and tracking, data and telemetry services. NASA is the procurement agent for NOAA.

Jason-3 is an operational ocean altimetry mission designed to measure precisely sea surface height to monitor ocean circulation and sea level. Jason-3 will follow in the tradition of previous NASA-JPL missions such as Topex/Poseidon, Jason-1 and the Ocean Surface Topography Mission/Jason-2. The Jason-3 mission will be developed and operated as part of an international effort led by NOAA and the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites in collaboration with NASA and the French space agency, Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales.

Processed data from the satellite will be used in a broad range of applications, including operational ocean and weather forecasting, ocean wave modeling, hurricane intensification prediction, seasonal forecasting, El Nino and La Nina forecasting and climate research. The data will help address questions about global climate change.

The Launch Services Program at NASA's Kennedy Space Center is responsible for launch vehicle program management of the Jason-3 launch services.

For more information on Jason-3 and all of JPL's satellite ocean altimetry missions, visit: http://sealevel.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/jason3/ .

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

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CORRECTED TIMES: Follow Your Curiosity: Some New Ways to Explore Mars

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

Guy Webster/DC Agle 818-354-6278 / 818-393-9011
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
Guy.webster@jpl.nasa.gov / agle@jpl.nasa.gov

News Release: 2012-205 July 16, 2012

CORRECTION: UPDATED TO REFLECT CORRECTED TIME
OF 10:31 P.M. PDT ON AUG. 5 (1:31 A.M. EDT ON AUG. 6).

Follow Your Curiosity: Some New Ways to Explore Mars

The full version of this story with accompanying images is at:
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2012-205&cid=release_2012-205

As NASA's Mars Rover Curiosity prepares to land on Mars, public audiences worldwide can take their own readiness steps to share in the adventure. Landing is scheduled for about 10:31 p.m. PDT on Aug. 5 (1:31 a.m. EDT on Aug. 6), at mission control inside NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

Martian fans can help NASA test-drive a new 3-D interactive experience that will allow the public to follow along with Curiosity's discoveries on Mars. Using Unity, a game development tool, NASA is pushing new limits by rendering high-resolution terrain maps of Gale Crater, Curiosity's landing site, collected from Mars orbiters. A 3-D "virtual rover" version of Curiosity will follow the path of the real rover as it makes discoveries.

By downloading Unity and trying out the experience early, the public can reduce potential download delays during landing and offer feedback on the pre-landing beta version of the experience. By crowd sourcing -- leveraging the wisdom and experience of citizens everywhere -- NASA can help ensure the best experience across individual users' varying computer systems.

"Technology is making it possible for the public to participate in exploration as they never have before," said Michelle Viotti, Mars public engagement manager at JPL. "Because Mars exploration is fundamentally a shared human endeavor, we want everyone around the globe to have the most immersive experience possible."

In collaboration with Microsoft, Corp., NASA has a number of forthcoming experiences geared for inspiration and learning in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). With Xbox, NASA is unveiling "Mars Rover Landing," an immersive experience for the Xbox 360 home entertainment console. The experience allows users to take control of their own spacecraft using Kinect and face the extreme challenges of landing a rover on Mars. The game will be hosted in the Xbox Live Marketplace and in a special destination on the Xbox Live dashboard dedicated to the Curiosity rover. The dashboard will also include pictures, video and more information about the mission.

Additionally, a new Mars experience in Kodu, which allows children to learn computational thinking by creating their own video games, is designed to help students learn about commanding a rover on a quest to make discoveries about whether Mars was ever a habitat, a place that supports life. Standards-aligned curricula for teachers will also bring these 21st-century computer skills directly into the classroom and into afterschool organizations supporting academic success and college readiness.

For quick access to discoveries on Mars as they happen, NASA's "Be A Martian" mobile application, initially developed with Microsoft for Windows Phone, will be available on Android and iPhone as well. NASA is also planning a series of Mars exploration apps for the upcoming Windows 8 PCs.

"We are very excited to be working with NASA to bring innovation and exploration into the home. We continue to believe that as industry leaders, we have vested interest in advancing science and technology education," said Walid Abu-Habda, corporate vice president, Developer & Platform Evangelism, at Microsoft. "We hope that through partnering on the Mars Rover experience, we spark interest and excitement among the next generation of scientists and technologists."

For a cool, immersive view of Mars Rover Curiosity and other spacecraft, space enthusiasts can also use their Apple iPhones to access a new augmented-reality experience that "projects" 3-D images of robotic explorers for first-hand, up-close inspection. For those wanting a live, community experience, museums and civic groups worldwide are hosting Curiosity landing events, often with big-screen experiences and public talks.

"Multiple partnerships united around science literacy can really make a difference in reaching and inspiring more people around the world," Viotti said. "NASA welcomes innovative collaborations that inspire lifelong learning and access to discovery and innovation."

Information on all of these activities is available at: http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/participate . You can follow the Curiosity mission on Facebook and on Twitter at http://www.facebook.com/marscuriosity and http://www.twitter.com/marscuriosity .

The Mars Science Laboratory is a project of NASA's Science Mission Directorate. The mission is managed by JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. The mission's rover, Curiosity, was designed, developed and assembled at JPL.

Guy Webster/DC Agle 818-354-6278 / 818-393-9011
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
Guy.webster@jpl.nasa.gov / agle@jpl.nasa.gov

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Follow Your Curiosity: Some New Ways to Explore Mars

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

Guy Webster/DC Agle 818-354-6278 / 818-393-9011
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
Guy.webster@jpl.nasa.gov / agle@jpl.nasa.gov

News Release: 2012-205 July 16, 2012

Follow Your Curiosity: Some New Ways to Explore Mars

The full version of this story with accompanying images is at:
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2012-205&cid=release_2012-205

As NASA's Mars Rover Curiosity prepares to land on Mars, public audiences worldwide can take their own readiness steps to share in the adventure. Landing is scheduled for about 10:31 a.m. PDT on Aug. 5 (1:31 a.m. EDT on Aug. 6), at mission control inside NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

Martian fans can help NASA test-drive a new 3-D interactive experience that will allow the public to follow along with Curiosity's discoveries on Mars. Using Unity, a game development tool, NASA is pushing new limits by rendering high-resolution terrain maps of Gale Crater, Curiosity's landing site, collected from Mars orbiters. A 3-D "virtual rover" version of Curiosity will follow the path of the real rover as it makes discoveries.

By downloading Unity and trying out the experience early, the public can reduce potential download delays during landing and offer feedback on the pre-landing beta version of the experience. By crowd sourcing -- leveraging the wisdom and experience of citizens everywhere -- NASA can help ensure the best experience across individual users' varying computer systems.

"Technology is making it possible for the public to participate in exploration as they never have before," said Michelle Viotti, Mars public engagement manager at JPL. "Because Mars exploration is fundamentally a shared human endeavor, we want everyone around the globe to have the most immersive experience possible."

In collaboration with Microsoft, Corp., NASA has a number of forthcoming experiences geared for inspiration and learning in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). With Xbox, NASA is unveiling "Mars Rover Landing," an immersive experience for the Xbox 360 home entertainment console. The experience allows users to take control of their own spacecraft using Kinect and face the extreme challenges of landing a rover on Mars. The game will be hosted in the Xbox Live Marketplace and in a special destination on the Xbox Live dashboard dedicated to the Curiosity rover. The dashboard will also include pictures, video and more information about the mission.

Additionally, a new Mars experience in Kodu, which allows children to learn computational thinking by creating their own video games, is designed to help students learn about commanding a rover on a quest to make discoveries about whether Mars was ever a habitat, a place that supports life. Standards-aligned curricula for teachers will also bring these 21st-century computer skills directly into the classroom and into afterschool organizations supporting academic success and college readiness.

For quick access to discoveries on Mars as they happen, NASA's "Be A Martian" mobile application, initially developed with Microsoft for Windows Phone, will be available on Android and iPhone as well. NASA is also planning a series of Mars exploration apps for the upcoming Windows 8 PCs.

"We are very excited to be working with NASA to bring innovation and exploration into the home. We continue to believe that as industry leaders, we have vested interest in advancing science and technology education," said Walid Abu-Habda, corporate vice president, Developer & Platform Evangelism, at Microsoft. "We hope that through partnering on the Mars Rover experience, we spark interest and excitement among the next generation of scientists and technologists."

For a cool, immersive view of Mars Rover Curiosity and other spacecraft, space enthusiasts can also use their Apple iPhones to access a new augmented-reality experience that "projects" 3-D images of robotic explorers for first-hand, up-close inspection. For those wanting a live, community experience, museums and civic groups worldwide are hosting Curiosity landing events, often with big-screen experiences and public talks.

"Multiple partnerships united around science literacy can really make a difference in reaching and inspiring more people around the world," Viotti said. "NASA welcomes innovative collaborations that inspire lifelong learning and access to discovery and innovation."

Information on all of these activities is available at: http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/participate . You can follow the Curiosity mission on Facebook and on Twitter at http://www.facebook.com/marscuriosity and http://www.twitter.com/marscuriosity .

The Mars Science Laboratory is a project of NASA's Science Mission Directorate. The mission is managed by JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. The mission's rover, Curiosity, was designed, developed and assembled at JPL.

Guy Webster/DC Agle 818-354-6278 / 818-393-9011
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
Guy.webster@jpl.nasa.gov / agle@jpl.nasa.gov

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NASA's Car-Sized Rover Nears Daring Landing on Mars

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

Guy Webster/D.C. Agle 818-354-6278 / 818-393-9011
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
guy.webster@jpl.nasa.gov / agle@jpl.nasa.gov

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

NEWS RELEASE: 2012-204 July 16, 2012

NASA's Car-Sized Rover Nears Daring Landing on Mars

The full version of this story with accompanying images is at:
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2012-204&cid=release_2012-204

PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA's most advanced planetary rover is on a precise course for an early
August landing beside a Martian mountain to begin two years of unprecedented scientific detective
work. However, getting the Curiosity rover to the surface of Mars will not be easy.

"The Curiosity landing is the hardest NASA mission ever attempted in the history of robotic planetary
exploration," said John Grunsfeld, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate,
at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "While the challenge is great, the team's skill and
determination give me high confidence in a successful landing."

The Mars Science Laboratory mission is a precursor for future human missions to Mars. President
Obama has set a challenge to reach the Red Planet in the 2030s.

To achieve the precision needed for landing safely inside Gale Crater, the spacecraft will fly like a
wing in the upper atmosphere instead of dropping like a rock. To land the 1-ton rover, an airbag
method used on previous Mars rovers will not work. Mission engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion
Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., designed a "sky crane" method for the final several seconds of the
flight. A backpack with retro-rockets controlling descent speed will lower the rover on three nylon
cords just before touchdown.

During a critical period lasting only about seven minutes, the Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft
carrying Curiosity must decelerate from about 13,200 mph (about 5,900 meters per second) to allow
the rover to land on the surface at about 1.7 mph (three-fourths of a meter per second). Curiosity is
scheduled to land at approximately 10:31 p.m. PDT on Aug. 5 (1:31 a.m. EDT on Aug. 6).

"Those seven minutes are the most challenging part of this entire mission," said Pete Theisinger, the
mission's project manager at JPL. "For the landing to succeed, hundreds of events will need to go
right, many with split-second timing and all controlled autonomously by the spacecraft. We've done
all we can think of to succeed. We expect to get Curiosity safely onto the ground, but there is no
guarantee. The risks are real."

During the initial weeks after the actual landing, JPL mission controllers will put the rover through a
series of checkouts and activities to characterize its performance on Mars, while gradually ramping
up scientific investigations. Curiosity then will begin investigating whether an area with a wet history
inside Mars' Gale Crater ever has offered an environment favorable for microbial life.

"Earlier missions have found that ancient Mars had wet environments," said Michael Meyer, lead
scientist for NASA's Mars Program at NASA Headquarters. "Curiosity takes us the next logical step
in understanding the potential for life on Mars."

Curiosity will use tools on a robotic arm to deliver samples from Martian rocks and soils into
laboratory instruments inside the rover that can reveal chemical and mineral composition. A laser
instrument will use its beam to induce a spark on a target and read the spark's spectrum of light to
identify chemical elements in the target.

Other instruments on the car-sized rover will examine the surrounding environment from a distance
or by direct touch with the arm. The rover will check for the basic chemical ingredients for life and
for evidence about energy available for life. It also will assess factors that could be hazardous for life,
such as the radiation environment.

"For its ambitious goals, this mission needs a great landing site and a big payload," said Doug
McCuistion, director of the Mars Exploration Program at NASA Headquarters. "During the descent
through the atmosphere, the mission will rely on bold techniques enabling use of a smaller target area
and a heavier robot on the ground than were possible for any previous Mars mission. Those
techniques also advance us toward human-crew Mars missions, which will need even more precise
targeting and heavier landers."

The chosen landing site is beside a mountain informally called Mount Sharp. The mission's prime
destination lies on the slope of the mountain. Driving there from the landing site may take many
months.

"Be patient about the drive. It will be well worth the wait and we are apt to find some targets of
interest on the way," said John Grotzinger, MSL project scientist at the California Institute of
Technology in Pasadena. "When we get to the lower layers in Mount Sharp, we'll read them like
chapters in a book about changing environmental conditions when Mars was wetter than it is today."

In collaboration with Microsoft Corp., a new outreach game was unveiled Monday to give the public
a sense of the challenge and adventure of landing in a precise location on the surface. Called "Mars
Rover Landing," the game is an immersive experience for the Xbox 360 home entertainment console
that allows users to take control of their own spacecraft and face the extreme challenges of landing a
rover on Mars.

"Technology is making it possible for the public to participate in exploration as it never has before,"
said Michelle Viotti, JPL's Mars public engagement manager. "Because Mars exploration is
fundamentally a shared human endeavor, we want everyone around the globe to have the most
immersive experience possible."

NASA has several other forthcoming experiences geared for inspiration and learning in science,
technology, engineering and mathematics. Information about many ways to watch and participate in
the Curiosity's landing and the mission on the surface of Mars is available at:
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/participate .

Mars Science Laboratory is a project of NASA's Science Mission Directorate. The mission is
managed by JPL. Curiosity was designed, developed and assembled at JPL, a division of the
California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

Follow the mission on Facebook and on Twitter at http://www.facebook.com/marscuriosity and
http://www.twitter.com/marscuriosity .

For information about the mission, and to use the new video game and other education-related tools,
visit: http://www.nasa.gov/mars and http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/ .

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Upcoming Workshop at NASA/JPL's Educator Resource Center

Upcoming Educator Workshops July 16, 2012

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

Deep Space Network, Physics of Sounds

Date: Saturday, July 21, 2012, 10 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

Target audience:2nd through 8th grade educators, all educators are welcome

Location:NASA/JPL Educator Resource Center, Pomona, Calif.

Overview: Have you ever wondered how NASA "talks" to our various missions? In this workshop teachers will learn about NASA's Deep Space Network of dishes here on Earth. Come enjoy "center-based" lessons that illustrate how sound moves through solids, liquids and gases. This workshop is being offered at the NASA/JPL Educator Resource Center located in Pomona, please call 909-397-4420 to reserve your spot.

Please call 909-397-4420 to reserve your spot. For more information and directions, visit: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/education/index.cfm?page=115. For a full list of professional development workshops from NASA/JPL Education, visit: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/education/index.cfm?page=110.

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Wednesday, July 11, 2012

NASA 3-D App Gives Public Ability to Experience Robotic Space Travel

NASA News Conference to Preview August Mars Rover Landing

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

The Titanian Seasons Turn, Turn, Turn

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

Jia-Rui C. Cook 818-354-0850
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
jccook@jpl.nasa.gov

Joe Mason 720-974-5859
Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo.
media@ciclops.org

News release: 2012-200 July 10, 2012

The Titanian Seasons Turn, Turn, Turn

The full version of this story with accompanying images is at:
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2012-200&cid=release_2012-200

PASADENA, Calif. – Images from NASA's Cassini spacecraft show a concentration of
high-altitude haze and a vortex materializing at the south pole of Saturn's moon Titan,
signs that the seasons are turning on Saturn's largest moon.

"The structure inside the vortex is reminiscent of the open cellular convection that is
often seen over Earth's oceans," said Tony Del Genio, a Cassini team member at NASA's
Goddard Institute for Space Studies, N.Y. "But unlike on Earth, where such layers are
just above the surface, this one is at very high altitude, maybe a response of Titan's
stratosphere to seasonal cooling as southern winter approaches. But so soon in the game,
we're not sure."

Cassini first saw a "hood" of high-altitude haze and a vortex, which is a mass of swirling
gas around the pole in the moon's atmosphere, at Titan's north pole when the spacecraft
first arrived in the Saturn system in 2004. At the time, it was northern winter. Multiple
instruments have been keeping an eye on the Titan atmosphere above the south pole for
signs of the coming southern winter.

While the northern hood has remained, the circulation in the upper atmosphere has been
moving from the illuminated north pole to the cooling south pole. This movement
appears to be causing downwellings over the south pole and the formation of high-
altitude haze and a vortex.

Cassini's visible light cameras saw the first signs of hazes starting to concentrate over
Titan's south pole in March, and the spacecraft's visual and infrared mapping
spectrometer (VIMS) obtained false-color images on May 22 and June 7.

"VIMS has seen a concentration of aerosols forming about 200 miles [300 kilometers]
above the surface of Titan's south pole," said Christophe Sotin, a VIMS team member at
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. "We've never seen aerosols here at
this level before, so we know this is something new."

During a June 27 distant flyby, Cassini's imaging cameras captured a crow's-eye view of
the south polar vortex in visible light. These new images show this detached, high-
altitude haze layer in stunning new detail.

"Future observations of this feature will provide good tests of dynamical models of the
Titan circulation, chemistry, cloud and aerosol processes in the upper atmosphere," said
Bob West, deputy imaging team lead at JPL.

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, Washington. The Cassini orbiter and its two
onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging team is
based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo.

The new images are available online at:
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/cassini/whycassini/cassini20120710.html

For more information about the mission, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/cassini ,
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov , and http://www.ciclops.org .

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Monday, July 2, 2012

The 'Flame' Burns Bright in New WISE Image

Fireworks Over Mars: The Spirit of 76 Pyrotechnics

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

News feature: 2012-192 July 2, 2012

Fireworks Over Mars: The Spirit of 76 Pyrotechnics

The full version of this story with accompanying images is at:
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2012-192&cid=release_2012-192

One month and a day after celebrating its independence with fireworks exhibitions throughout
the country, America will carry its penchant for awe-inspiring aerial pyrotechnic displays to the
skies of another world. Some pyrotechnics will be as small as the energy released by a box of
matches. One packs the same oomph as a stick of TNT. Whether they be large or small, on the
evening of August 5th (Pacific time), all 76 must work on cue as NASA's next Mars rover,
Curiosity, carried by the Mars Science Laboratory, streaks through the Red Planet's atmosphere
on its way to a landing at Gale Crater.

"We are definitely coming in with a bang – or a series of them," said Pete Theisinger, Mars
Science Laboratory project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.
"You only get one shot at a Mars landing, and the pyrotechnic charges we are using are great
for reliably providing instantaneous, irreversible actions like deploying a parachute or opening a
fuel valve."

Explosive pyrotechnic devices predate the space age by about a thousand years. Around 750
A.D., people in China began stuffing an early form of gunpowder into bamboo shoots and
throwing them into a fire. At some point, someone interested in taking this new discovery to
the next level (probably also from that region), decided aerial explosions would be even cooler,
and the "aerial salute" was born. Fireworks were also part of America's very first Independence
Day in 1777.

Pyrotechnics, or pyromechanical devices, are a natural but highly-engineered extension of
these early fireworks. Instead of a rocket's red glare and bombs bursting in air, the energy from
these explosions is contained within a mechanism, where it is used to move, cut, pull or
separate something. Controlled explosions are a valuable tool to those who explore beyond
Earth's atmosphere because they are quick and reliable.

"When we need valves to open, or things to move or come apart, we want to be confident they
will do so within milliseconds of the time we plan for them to do so," said Rich Webster, a
pyromechanical engineer at JPL. "With pyros, no electrical motors need to move. No latches
need to be unlatched. We blow things apart -- scientifically."

Seventeen minutes before landing, the first 10 of 76 pyros will fire within five milliseconds of
each other, releasing the cruise stage that provided the entry capsule (and its cocooned
descent vehicle and the Curiosity rover) with power, communications and thermal control
support during its 254-day journey to Mars.

"We have essentially three miniature guillotines onboard that, when the pyros fire, cut cabling
and metal tubing that run between the cruise stage and the entry capsule," said Luke Dubord,
avionics engineer for Mars Science Laboratory at JPL. "Then a retraction pyro pulls them out of
the way. Along with that, we've got six pyrotechnic separation nuts, which when fired, will
actually accomplish the separation."

One hundred and twenty-five milliseconds later, two more pyros fire, releasing compressed
springs that jettison two 165-pounds(75-kilogram) solid tungsten weights. These weights allow
the entry capsule to perform history's first planetary lifting body entry (see
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/mission/technology/insituexploration/edl/guidedentry/ ). A
dozen minutes and one fiery, lifting-body atmospheric reentry later, another smaller set of
tungsten weights is ejected by pyros to re-adjust the lander's center of mass for the final
approach to the surface. A few seconds after that, the largest bang since the spacecraft
separated from its Atlas rocket 254 days before is scheduled to occur.

"The Mars Science Lab parachute is the largest used on a planetary mission," said Dubord.
"When folded up and in its canister, it's still as big as a trashcan. We have to get that folded-up
chute out of its canister and unfolding in a hurry. The best way to do that is get it quickly away
from spacecraft and out into the freestream using a mortar."

The best way to do that, the engineers at JPL decided, was to include a pyrotechnic charge
equivalent to a stick of TNT.

"When something like this goes off, it makes a lot of noise" said Dubord. "Of course, at 8.7
miles [14 kilometers] up and a little over Mach 1, over Mars, I doubt anybody will be there to
hear it."

While the ejection of the parachute is the biggest pyrotechnic display during the crucial entry,
descent and landing, it is certainly not the last. The landing system needs to be released from
the backshell that helped protect it during entry. The sky crane's descent engines need to be
pressurized, and the rover itself needs to be released from the sky crane, where it is lowered on
tethers toward the surface. All told, there are another 44 controlled explosions that need to
happen at exactly the right time and at absolutely no other time for Curiosity to touch down
safely at Gale Crater.

"Excluding the parachute mortar, the total 'explosive' material in all the pyrotechnics aboard
the spacecraft is only about 50 to 60 grams," said Webster. "That is about the same amount of
combustible material in the air bag in your car's steering wheel. When you do the math, the
amount of explosive material in each pyrotechnic is only about what you would get out of a
pack of matches.

"The thing is, a pack of matches won't help you land on Mars....pyrotechnics will," Webster
added.

The Mars Science Laboratory mission is managed by JPL for NASA's Science Mission Directorate
in Washington. Curiosity was designed, developed and assembled at JPL. Caltech manages JPL
for NASA.

A video about the challenges of the landing is online at: http://go.nasa.gov/Q4b35n or
http://go.usa.gov/vMn .

Follow the mission on Facebook and Twitter at:
http://www.facebook.com/marscuriosity
http://www.twitter.com/marscuriosity

For more information on the Mars Science Laboratory/Curiosity mission, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/msl .

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