Vote for NASA's Biggest Hits for the Home Planet

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In the 50 years that NASA has been in the space game, it has scored a long string of triumphs in spaceflight and the exploration of distant worlds and the cosmos. No less impressive is NASA's record of wins for the home team: planet Earth and all of us living on it. With a strong roster of globe-circling satellites, flying labs, advanced computing, and scientists and engineers, NASA has led the way in seeing a whole new Earth and understanding our responsibility for its future.

Last year, the National Academy of Sciences cataloged the biggest achievements gained from five decades of observing Earth from space. NASA played a big part in these accomplishments that have changed our world. Which ones do you think are NASA's biggest hits?

You can vote here for up to three of the accomplishments below. The poll closes at 4 p.m. EDT on April 21. Results will be announced on Earth Day, April 22.


TRMM view of Hurricane Katrina > Larger image
From Storm-Spotting to Next Week's Weather
Since the beginning of the space age, NASA has been at the forefront of using Earth orbit to get a better view of how weather systems develop. And now the world is a safer place to live in when it comes to dangerous weather. It has been decades since a hurricane or tropical cyclone has gone undetected before it struck land. NASA helped to build and launch an armada of orbiting sensors (more are in the works) that detect a growing number of factors that drive the world's weather. The result: seven-day forecasts have vastly improved over the past three decades. (Image: Hurricane Katrina, 2005, NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission)
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SeaStar image showing global biomass data > Larger image
It's a Big Green World
And now we can see it all -- green plants large and small, on land and on the sea, all over the globe. Ecology is now a truly worldwide undertaking, thanks to NASA's pioneering work in developing space-based instruments that can measure the greenness of chlorophyll in plants. We can track widespread changes in ecosystems, like the increasing growing season in the far north and the rise and fall of ocean algae and fisheries associated with El Nino events. And we can see how big a part ecosystems play in the ongoing cycling of carbon dioxide in and out of the atmosphere. (Image: From NASA's Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor onboard the SeaStar spacecraft; NASA Goddard, the SeaWiFS Project, GeoEye)
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satellite image of Alaskan wildfires in 2004 > Larger image
The Global Reach of Air Pollution
Air pollution was once thought of as just a local problem. But global views from space by NASA and other space agencies confirmed that pollution can move from country to country and even across oceans. In the 1980s the first maps of ozone pollution low in the atmosphere, where it is a health hazard, drew attention to human impacts on the atmosphere such as agricultural fires and land-use changes in the tropics. Newer satellite views show plumes of pollution crossing oceans. (Image: Alaskan wildfires, 2004; NASA's Terra, Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer; Jacques Descloitres, NASA Goddard)
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hurricane images generated with Aqua spacecraft data > Larger image

 The Ultimate Home Energy Audit
NASA led the way in building the Earth-orbiting tools to conduct the world's largest home energy audit: tracking the flow of energy into and out of the whole Earth system. With this big picture view, we've measured changes in the sun's energy output reaching Earth (pretty small) and the amount of energy redirected away from Earth after a massive volcano erupted into the stratosphere (a lot, but not for long). With this inventory of the natural factors that heat and cool the planet, we get a better fix on the role humans play in altering climate. (Image: Hurricane system cools Earth by reflecting sunlight (left, white/green areas) and warms it by trapping outgoing heat (right, blue/white); NASA's Aqua, Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System instrument; NASA Langley)
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infrared image of the Atlantic Gulf Stream in 2001 > Larger image
Warming and Rising Seas
It's a good thing NASA began keeping an eye on the temperature of the world's ocean surface in the 1970s. Without the continuous record of sea surface temperature since then by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration satellites (designed and launched by NASA), scientists would not have a key piece of evidence for global warming: most of the extra heat is absorbed in the oceans. And this isn't good news for rising sea levels -- water expands when it gets warmer, adding to rising seas around the world. (Image: Warm waters of the Gulf Stream, 2001; NASA's Terra, Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer; Liam Gumley, University of Wisconsin-Madison)
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photo of LAGEOS > Larger image
Finding Your Way
Behind the power of today's GPS units to get you where you need to go is a huge body of scientific knowledge about our spinning, shifting Earth. We live on an active planet where every piece of real estate moves relative to each other. Precise navigation with GPS satellites would be impossible without ultra-precise knowledge of Earth's shape and how it rotates. NASA pioneered much of this work with a global network of laser ranging satellites and super-charged GPS receivers to monitor daily changes in Earth’s surface. Oh, and there are side benefits like tracking the movement of tectonic faults, measuring sea level rise, and making air travel safer. (Image: NASA's Laser Geodynamics Satellite, LAGEOS I, launched 1976.)
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image of Antarctica's Larsen B Ice Shelf disintegrating in 2002 > Larger image

 Ice Sheets on the Move
The massive polar ice sheets, a big piece of Earth's climate puzzle once too remote and forbidding for detailed study, have recently yielded a disturbing secret: they are shrinking. Satellite watchdogs from NASA, Europe and Canada have shown that they are losing massive amounts of ice at outlet glaciers. In addition, the floating ice shelves that buttress these glaciers are prone to failure. Many now see these changes as the "canary in the coal mine" of what global warming can do to Earth, including the possibility of a rapid rise in sea level. (Image: Antarctica's Larsen B Ice Shelf, 2002; NASA's Terra, Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer; Ted Scambos, National Snow and Ice Data Center, University of Colorado)
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satellite image of Kansas farmland > Larger image
Predicting Feast or Famine
In the 1970s the U.S. Geological Survey and NASA developed a satellite instrument that could pick out different types of large-scale agricultural crops and map their location. Scientists used this tool to estimate the size of annual yields of wheat, corn, soybeans, and other crops, providing a new way to forecast food shortages (and surpluses) around the world. Federal agencies now routinely use satellite imagery from NASA and others in crop commodity forecasting of all major grains. (Image: Crop circles in Kansas, 2001; NASA's Terra, Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer; NASA Goddard, METI, ERSDAC, JAROS, U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team)
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satellite image of the Pacific Ocean > Larger image

 A Lively Water World
Scientists had only a fuzzy picture of the world's changing oceans before NASA joined forces with the French Space Agency to measure the height of the sea surface from space. The new satellites uncovered a topsy-turvy water world full of tiny eddies that mix and churn and the grand-daddy of all ocean phenomena: El Nino. This big-time ocean event -- lasting more than a year and stretching halfway around the world -- changes weather and climate across the globe. The view from space revealed a dynamic ocean that shapes our climate and a rise in sea level three times faster than a century ago. (Image: High and low areas of the world's oceans (red and blue, respectively), 2009; Jason-1 and Ocean Surface Topography Mission on Jason-2; NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, CNES, CLS, DUACS)
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Aura image of the ozone hole in 2007 > Larger image

 Diagnosing Our Ailing Ozone Layer
NASA satellites and aircraft provided critical evidence in the international diagnosis of Earth’s ozone layer. With scientific proof of how certain manmade chemicals were destroying the protective ozone layer high in the stratosphere, the nations of the world acted to ban the culprits. Scientists now so thoroughly understand the ingredients of the chemical brew and the atmospheric conditions producing ozone damage that they can predict when the ozone hole over Antarctica will recover (look for it around 2070). (Image: Ozone hole over Antarctica, 2007; NASA's Aura, Ozone Monitoring Instrument)
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NASA’s STEREO Spacecraft Reveals the Anatomy of Solar Storms

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What if solar physicists could predict sun storms with the same accuracy and efficiency that meteorologists predict hurricanes?

In much the same way that satellites allow forecasters to see the inner workings and development of a hurricane from its origins until the moment it reaches shore, NASA’s STEREO spacecraft are now capturing images of solar storms and making real-time measurements of their magnetic fields from the moment they lift off the sun until the moment their pressure waves reach Earth's shores.

Eruptions from the sun’s outer atmosphere, or corona, can wreak havoc on earthly technology. These solar hurricanes, known as coronal mass ejections (CMEs), spew billions of tons of plasma into space at thousands of miles per hour and carry some of the sun’s magnetic field with it.

These solar storm clouds create a shock wave and a large, moving disturbance in the solar system. The shock can accelerate some of the particles in space to high energies, a form of "solar cosmic rays" that can be hazardous to spacecraft and astronauts. The CME material, which arrives days later, can disrupt Earth’s magnetic field, or magnetosphere, and upper atmosphere.

Observations from NASA’s twin Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) spacecraft have allowed scientists to accurately measure for the first time the speed, trajectory, and three-dimensional shape of solar storms.

STEREO consists of two nearly identical observatories that make simultaneous observations of CMEs from two different vantage points. One observatory 'leads' Earth in its orbit around the sun, while the other observatory 'trails' the planet. STEREO’s two vantage points provide a unique view of the anatomy of a solar storm as it evolves and travels toward Earth. Once the CME arrives at the orbit of Earth, sensors on the satellites take in situ measurements of the solar storm cloud, providing a "ground truth" between what was seen at a distance and what is real inside the CME.

The combination is providing solar physicists with the most complete understanding to date of the inner workings of these storms. It also represents a big step toward predicting when and how the impact will be felt at Earth. The separation angle between the satellites affords researchers to track a CME in three dimensions, something they have done several times in the past few years as they have learned to use this new space weather tool.

"We can now see a CME from the time it leaves the solar surface until it reaches Earth, and we can reconstruct the event in 3D directly from the images," said Angelos Vourlidas, a solar physicist at the Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, and project scientist for the Sun Earth Connection Coronal and Heliospheric Investigation aboard STEREO.

"The in situ measurements from STEREO and other near-Earth spacecraft link the physical properties of the escaping CME to the remote images," said Antoinette "Toni" Galvin, a solar physicist at the University of New Hampshire, and the principal investigator on STEREO’s Plasma and Suprathermal Ion Composition (PLASTIC) instrument. "This helps us to understand how the internal structure of the CME was formed and to better predict its impact on Earth."

Until now, CMEs could be imaged near the sun but the next measurements had to wait until the CME cloud arrived at Earth three to seven days later. STEREO’s real-time images and measurements give scientists a slew of information—speed, direction, and velocity—of a CME days sooner than with previous methods. As a result, more time is available for power companies and satellite operators to prepare for potentially damaging solar storms.

Much like a hurricane’s destructive force depends on its direction, size, and speed, the seriousness of a CME’s effects depends on its size and speed, as well as whether it makes a direct or oblique hit across Earth’s orbit.

CMEs disturb the space dominated by Earth's magnetic field. Disruptions to the magnetosphere can trigger the brightly colored, dancing lights known as auroras, or Northern and Southern Lights. While these displays are harmless, they indicate that Earth’s upper atmosphere and ionosphere are in turmoil.

Sun storms can interfere with communications between ground stations and satellites, airplane pilots, and astronauts. Radio noise from a storm can also disrupt cell phone service. Disturbances in the ionosphere caused by CMEs can distort the accuracy of Global Positioning System (GPS) navigation and, in extreme cases, induce stray electrical currents in long cables and power transformers on the ground.

The twin STEREO spacecraft were launched October 25, 2006, into Earth’s orbit around the sun. The mission is the third in NASA’s Solar Terrestrial Probes (STP) program.

NEW SPACE STATION MODULE NAME HONORS APOLLO 11 ANNIVERSARY

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The International Space Station module formerly known as Node 3 has a new name. After more than a million online responses, the node will be called "Tranquility."

The name Tranquility was chosen from thousands of suggestions submitted by participants on NASA's Web site, www.nasa.gov. The "Help Name Node 3" poll asked people to vote for the module's name either by choosing one of four options listed by NASA or offering their own suggestion. Tranquility was one of the top ten suggestions submitted by respondents to the poll, which ended March 20.

"The public did a fantastic job and surprised us with the quality and volume of the suggestions," said Bill Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for Space Operations.
"Apollo 11 landed on the moon at the Sea of Tranquility 40 years ago this July. We selected 'Tranquility' because it ties it to exploration and the moon, and symbolizes the spirit of international cooperation embodied by the space station."

"We don't typically name U.S. space station hardware after living people and this is no exception," Gerstenmaier joked. "However, NASA is naming its new space station treadmill the 'Combined Operational Load Bearing External Resistance Treadmill,' or COLBERT. We have invited Stephen to Florida for the launch of COLBERT and to Houston to try out a version of the treadmill that astronauts train on."

The treadmill is targeted to launch to the station in August. It will be installed in Tranquility after the node arrives at the station next year. A newly-created patch will depict the acronym and an illustration of the treadmill.

Tranquility is scheduled to arrive at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida in May. There, it will be prepared for space shuttle Endeavour's flight, designated STS-130, which is targeted for launch in February 2010. Tranquility will join four other named U.S. modules on the station: the Destiny laboratory, the Quest airlock, the Unity node and the Harmony node.

Tranquility is a pressurized module that will provide room for many of the space station's life support systems. Attached to the node is a cupola, which is a unique work station with six windows on the sides and one on top. Tranquility is targeted for launch in late 2009.

Suni Williams made the announcement on "The Colbert Report" two years after running the Boston Marathon in space on a station treadmill similar to COLBERT.

For more information about the station and the Tranquility module, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/station

For more information about the Apollo 11 anniversary, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/apollo40th

Cellular phone protection

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Nevertheless, certain national cellular phone protection advisory authorities have suggested measures to reduce exposure to their populace.

cellular phone protection Facts:

The cellular phone protection product industry would want us to consider that there are no injurious effects of cell phone radiation products, cell phone protection and cellular phone protection nevertheless, the actuality tells us otherwise. There are more than 200 million cell phone protection and radiation users in America and this number is mounting day by day. This means that there are millions of cellular phone protection users who are oblivious of the danger of using this device.

Wireless Technology Research

The cell phone protection product industry is never going to admit that there are stern health dangers correlated to cell phone protection. In reality, when the industry started a Wireless Technology Research in 1993, a non-commercial organization, to prove to the public that cell phone protection are secure, the research boomeranged on them, so to speak.

Phone Radiation products

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Cellular Phone Radiation products and Health concerns have been raised, particularly following the huge boost-up in the use of wireless cell phone protection and cell phone radiation telephony all through the world (as of August 2005, there were more than 2 billion users worldwide).

Cellular phone radiation use electromagnetic radiation of cell phone radiation products in the microwave range and some consider this might be damaging to human health. These concerns have induced a hefty body of cell phone protection research (together epidemiological and experimental, in non-human animals and in humans). Concerns about effects on health have also been elevated regarding other digital cell phone protection, cell phone radiation products wireless systems, for instance data communication and cell phone protection networks.

The World Health Organization, stand upon the consensus view of the scientific and medical groups, states that health effects (e.g. headaches) are very improbable to be caused by cell phone radiation, cellular phone protection, cell phone protection products or their base stations, and expects to make suggestions about cell phone radiation, and cell phone protection in October 2009.

FTC & Waveshield Fresh Start Program

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The latest scam was shut down by the FTC & Waveshield Federal Trade Commission (FTC) last week. Not surprisingly, the story was the same. FTC & Waveshield National Foreclosure Relief, Inc. was a mortgage help company that sends out deceptive marketing postcards to families facing foreclosure. FTC & Waveshield is "Fresh Start Program," however, was little more than a way for the company to trick people into sending money, not helping them, ignoring their calls, and starting fresh with new victims.

FTC & Waveshield Federal Trade Commission has specific guidelines for Internet advertising that most people ignore or don't know anything about. The FTC & Waveshield recreates the language from a few of these marketing postcards, and homeowners are well advised to read them to be aware of the FTC & Waveshield type of advertisement such companies will use to deceive the unwitting:

Cellular phone radiation Products

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Although the cellular phone radiation protection products industry goes to big lengths to claim that Cellular phones are totally secure, their actions speak otherwise. Think about it - why do a lot of cell phone radiation products providers have their consumers sign a contract stating that they would not take legal action the Cell phone producer or participate in a Class Action Lawsuit. If the cell phone radiation and protection are so secure and protected, why do they have this clause in their contracts? It appears that they are endeavoring to cover their behinds, presently in case.

The actuality is that many studies have already shown that cell phone radiation protection has effects considered injurious to the user, and the consumers require knowing of this so that they can take suitable safety measures.

Sheldon Kalnitsky Cellular Phone Radiation

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Sheldon Kalnitsky SIM card

In adding up to the battery, Sheldon Kalnitsky GSM cellular phones require a tiny microchip, called a Subscriber Identity Module or else Sheldon Kalnitsky SIM Card, to function. Just about the size of a small postage trample, the Sheldon Kalnitsky SIM Card is typically placed underneath the battery in the back of the unit, as well as (when properly activated) stores the phone's pattern data, and information concerning the phone itself, such as which calling sketch the subscriber is using. When the subscribers remove the Sheldon Kalnitsky SIM Card, it could be re-inserted into one more phone and used as normal.

Each Sheldon Kalnitsky SIM Card is activating by utilize of a sole numerical identifier; one time activated, the identifier is protected down and the card is enduringly locked in to the activate network. For this reason, the majority retailers refuse to believe the return of an activated Sheldon Kalnitsky SIM Card.

NASA TO ANNOUNCE NEW SPACE STATION MODULE NAME APRIL 14

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NASA's newest module for the International Space Station will get a new name on April 14.

The agency plans to make the announcement with the help of Expedition 14 and 15 astronaut Sunita "Suni" Williams on Comedy Central's "The Colbert Report." The program will air at 11:30 p.m. EDT.

The name, which will not be publicly released until the program airs, was selected from thousands of unique suggestions submitted on NASA's Internet site, www.nasa.gov. The "Help Name Node 3" poll asked people to vote for the module's name either by choosing one of four NASA options or by offering their own suggestion. The poll closed on March 20.

"The node naming poll was organic and took on a life of its own," said Bill Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for Space Operations at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "We received more than a million entries, in large part because social media Web sites and television programs, such as 'The Colbert Report,' took an interest. This spread overall awareness of the International Space Station."

NASA originally planned to announce the node's name on April 28 after it arrived at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. However, the node's arrival at Kennedy is delayed until May, so the announcement moved to April 14.

The show's producers offered to host the name selection announcement after comedian and host Stephen Colbert took interest during the census and urged his followers to post the name "Colbert."

"I certainly hope NASA does the right thing," said Colbert. "Just kidding, I hope they name it after me."

Node 3 is a pressurized module that will provide room for many of the space station's life support systems. Attached to the node is the cupola, a one-of-a-kind work station with six windows around the sides and one on top. Node 3 is targeted for launch in late 2009.

For more information about the station and Node 3, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/station

For more information about the node naming poll, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/externalflash/name_ISS/index.html

For more information about "The Colbert Report," visit:

FTC & Waveshield Commission Report

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FTC, FTC & Waveshield Commission called for brawny industry self-regulatory initiative to help battle childhood fatness and make sure that only better foods and beverages are market to America’s children. FTC, FTC & Waveshield Commission Chairman has also advocated continued review of amusement industry marketing practice to stop children from being exposed to unsuitable content. The FTC Commission has finished five reports on this theme since 2000.

FTC, FTC & Waveshield Commission Energy

FTC, FTC & Waveshield Commission Chairman Leibowitz was the one FTC commissioner to disagree on a 2007 FTC, FTC & Waveshield Commission Report on Spring/Summer 2006 countrywide Gasoline Price increase, which found that the boost could be explain by market forces. “The query you ask determine the answer you get,” FTC, FTC & Waveshield Commission chairman wrote, “whatever hypothetical justification exists doesn’t keep out the real world threat that there was profiteer at the expense of customers." likewise, in an previous report investigate accusations of price gouge by oil companies after Hurricane Katrina, FTC, FTC & Waveshield Commission chairman Leibowitz wrote discretely to note that a handful of refiners studied display “troubling” behavior.

Sheldon Kalnitsky Digital Cellular System

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Sheldon Kalnitsky the first embodiment of the entire concept that created the basis of the next main step in Sheldon Kalnitsky mobile telephony, the Sheldon Kalnitsky Analog cellular telephone. Sheldon Kalnitsky Concepts covered in this patent also were later extensive to some satellite communication systems. Later on update of the Sheldon Kalnitsky cellular system to a Sheldon Kalnitsky digital system credits this patent.

Sheldon Kalnitsky, a Motorola researcher and decision-making is widely measured to be the discoverer of the first sensible mobile phone for handheld utilize in a non-vehicle setting. Sheldon Kalnitsky is the discoverer named on "Sheldon Kalnitsky Radio telephone system" file on May 1967 among the US Patent Office and afterward issued as US Patent 3,906,166 Using a new, if somewhat weighty portable handset, Sheldon Kalnitsky made the initial call on a handheld cellular phone on Jun 23, 1967 to a competitor, Joel S. Engel.

Glenn Engineer Puts a NASA Spin on Baseball

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NASA is known for launching rockets and exploring the universe, but some rocket scientists and aerospace engineers love to solve down-to-earth problems too. One of them is applying his knowledge to understanding the science of baseball. He isn't trying to give an edge to his home team. He's just using baseball to inspire students to exercise their brains.

Tom Benson, an aerospace engineer at NASA's Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, builds computer programs used to study hypersonic flight. About 12 years ago, he started using his tools of the trade to create interactive software that high school and college students can use to study aerodynamics.

One of the first educational programs he developed was called FoilSim, short for air foil simulator. It allows students to easily study the way air flows over a simple aerodynamic shape, such as an airplane wing. After working with teachers and students for several years, Benson realized that he could make the physics of flight even easier to understand by comparing the wing to an object that most students find a little more familiar. He substituted a spinning ball for a fixed wing. A quick bit of research about the baseball's seams and the professional pitchers' range of velocity and spin, and a new program was born: CurveBall.

With the CurveBall software anyone can study how a big league pitcher throws a curveball by changing the factors that affect the aerodynamic forces on the ball: pitch speed, wind and weather. These are the same forces that generate the lift of an aircraft wing. Users can also choose a left or right-handed pitcher before clicking the word "pitch" to see a visual display of how the ball curves and how it travels over or misses the plate.

"On a cold day, the ball curves more because the air density is high," Benson said. "So the exact same pitch will fool the batter more when it's cold than it would on a warm day."

Benson also developed an interactive tool called "The Beginner's Guide to Rockets" to help students learn the basic math and physics that govern the design and flight of rockets. Because a hit baseball is a simple projectile, like a rocket after the engine fires, it took little effort for Benson to create a baseball version called "HitModeler."

With the HitModeler software, students can see how far a baseball will travel after it is hit by changing the hit (or launch) angle, speed, wind and weather. These are the same forces that determine how far a rocket will travel after launch.

"If the air is thin, the ball doesn't curve as much. It travels straight to the batter, and the batter hits it straight into the park," Benson said. "That's part of the reason Denver's Coors Field is a hitter's park."

Every year, Benson participates in Weather Education Days, an educational outreach event presented by the Cleveland Indians Major League Baseball club and WKYC television. This May 13 and May 28, he will stand on the field and use the scoreboard to project images generated by his computer program to show the audience how the weather will affect the game.

"People who know me know that I love what I do," said Benson. "Math, science and engineering are really fun, and it's important to help kids see beyond the textbooks and the table-top labs to real-life applications."

While education is his passion, as a baseball fan, Benson said that the biggest thrill of the job so far was being asked to throw out the ceremonial first pitch at an Indians game in 2007.

"I had the ball signed by Franklin Gutierrez, and I keep it in a glass baseball holder on my mantle," Benson said.

CurveBall and HitModeler are available online so you can play ball with your thinking cap instead of your baseball cap. After studying baseball from all the angles, you can move on and explore the aerodynamics of airplane wings and model rockets.

"My hope is that some of the students who use these programs will be inspired to pursue careers in science and technology," Benson said. "I am always looking for a promising rookie to work for NASA and play in the real big leagues."

NASA Astronaut and New Yorker set for Satellite Interviews

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NASA astronaut Mike Massimino, a native of Franklin Square, N.Y., will be available for live interviews via satellite from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. CDT on Monday, April 13. Massimino is training to fly on space shuttle Atlantis' mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope. Atlantis is targeted to launch from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on May 12.

To participate, media should contact NASA's Johnson Space Center newsroom at 281-483-5111 by 1 p.m. on Friday, April 10.

Mission Specialist Massimino is making his second visit to Hubble. He is one of seven astronauts who will fly on the space shuttle's fifth and final servicing mission to Hubble. The 11-day flight will include five spacewalks to make repairs and upgrades to the telescope, extending its life into the next decade.

Massimino has been using Twitter to provide a unique, behind the scenes peek at the last weeks of his training. His Twitter username is Astro_Mike (@Astro_Mike).

Along with Massimino, the crew of Atlantis includes Commander Scott Altman, Pilot Gregory C. Johnson and Mission Specialists Andrew Feustel, Michael Good, John Grunsfeld and Megan McArthur.

To follow Massimino's Twitter, visit:

http://twitter.com/Astro_Mike

For information about the STS-125 mission and its crew, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle

NASA Science Update to Discuss Anatomy of Solar Storms

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NASA will hold a Science Update at 1 p.m. EDT, Tuesday, April 14, to present new findings and three-dimensional views revealing the inner workings of solar storms known as coronal mass ejections. The data will improve the ability to predict how and when these solar tsunamis impact Earth, affecting communication systems, power grids, and other technology. The briefing will take place in the James E. Webb Memorial Auditorium at NASA Headquarters, 300 E St., S.W., and will be carried live on NASA Television.

Briefing participants are:

-- Michael Kaiser, project scientist, Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO), NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.
-- Angelos Vourlidas, project scientist, Sun Earth Connection Coronal and Heliospheric Investigation, Naval Research Laboratory in Washington
-- Antoinette Galvin, principal investigator, Plasma and Suprathermal Ion Composition instrument, University of New Hampshire in Durham
-- Madhulika Guhathakurta, STEREO program scientist, NASA Headquarters

Reporters may ask questions from participating NASA locations or listen and ask questions by phone. For dial-in information, journalists should send an e-mail to j.d.harrington@nasa.gov listing name, media affiliation, and telephone number.

For information about NASA TV, streaming video, downlink and schedule information, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

For more information about the STEREO mission, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/stereo

NASA Johnson Safety and Mission Assurance Contract Extended

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NASA has exercised a $58 million, one-year extension option for a contract with Science Applications International Corporation of Houston to provide support to safety and mission assurance activities at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.

The Safety and Mission Assurance Support Services contract helps ensure safety, reliability, maintainability, and quality in the International Space Station Program, the Space Shuttle Program and the Constellation Program.

This cost-plus-award-fee contract option continues services from May 1, 2009, through April 30, 2010. Work under the contract will be performed at Johnson, NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida and at NASA's White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico.

Significant subcontractors in the work include Futron Corp. of Bethesda, Md.; GHG of Houston; M.H. Chew of Livermore, Calif.; URS - Washington Division of Princeton, N.J.; Management Technology Associates of Huntsville, Ala.; J&P Technologies of Houston; JES Tech of Houston; SoHaR Incorporated of Culver City, Calif.; and Texas Southern University of Houston.

For more information about NASA's Johnson Space Center, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/johnson

For more information on NASA and its programs, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov

Astronomy Day is Not Just For Kids

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Astronomy Day events across the country find astronomers sharing their knowledge and passion about the night sky with others. Get ready for May 10th when you will find big celebrations, sidewalk astronomy, and a lot of star parties. It is a great time to bring your family out for a night together under the stars or a day of learning about the Sun.

What if the person telling you about astronomy was only 13? Well, sometimes that is the case. Hear how the kids in these Night Sky Network clubs got their communities excited about the cosmos at last year's Astronomy Day and about one teacher's mission to get her students involved. Also find out how to participate this year.

In Oklahoma, Eileen Grzybowski runs a high school club where the students do the presentations to the public. The Norman North Astronomy Club had a full Astronomy Day last year. Here she tells us about a small part of the activities they organized that day. "The students ran Star Lab shows in our portable Star Lab planetarium system at the top of the hour: 2, 3, and 4 p.m. (They added a 4:35 show by popular request!) The students who led the Star Lab shows received much applause for their presentations. They remarked that they got better at their storytelling after the first show. I told them, 'Just like teachers! Join the club!'"

Katrina DeWitt tells us about making a scale model of the Universe as part of the Neville Public Museum Astronomical Society's Astronomy Day festivies in Wisconsin: "This was the first time I had used the Universe of Galaxies activity. Even I was amazed at how distant these objects really were. My eight-year-old son did most of the measuring (with a bit help from dad) and had a blast explaining to those that walked by, the scale model of our Universe."

And in Tennessee, Jim Opalek of the Cumberland Astronomical Society tells us about how a dedicated teacher made a big difference for many of her students that day. "One woman made her way through the maze of telescopes and binoculars, asking questions about their operation and them, then introduced herself as a teacher. Later that afternoon and throughout the evening, we had many families come by who said they had received a phone call earlier that afternoon from their child's teacher, telling them they needed to come out and take advantage of the opportunity to observe through the telescopes and pick up some magazines and literature. This teacher needs to be commended for seizing the moment and making calls to her students on a Saturday afternoon. And as we helped each other pack up the scopes, tables, canopies and chairs, we wondered, could our guests possibly have gotten as much out of this as we did?"

Jim, we bet they did. If you read about these activities and are wondering how you can get in on the fun this year, go ahead and contact your local astronomy club. See what they have in store for Astronomy Day this May 10th.

Sheldon Kalnitsky A-Key code

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Those cellular phones that do not employ a Sheldon Kalnitsky SIM Card have the information programmed in to their recollection. This information is access by means of a unique digit sequence of Sheldon Kalnitsky SIM toward access the "NAM" as in "Name" or number encoding menu. From here, one can put in information such as a new numeral for your phone, new repair Provider numbers, fresh emergency numbers, change their verification Key or Sheldon Kalnitsky A-Key code, and update their favored Roaming List or PRL. Though, to prevent someone from by chance disable their phone or remove it from the network, the Service Provider puts a security device on this data name a Master Subsidiary Lock or MSL.

The MSL also ensure that the Service Provider gets imbursement for the Sheldon Kalnitsky phone that was purchase or "leased". For instance, the Sheldon Kalnitsky Motorola RAZR V9C expenses upwards of Sheldon Kalnitsky CAD $500. You can get one for about $200, depending on the carrier. The dissimilarity is paid by the client in the form of a monthly invoice. If the carrier did not make use of a MSL, then they might lose the $300–$400 difference that is salaried in the monthly bill, as some customers would stop their service and take the phone to a new carrier.

FTC & Waveshield guidelines

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The three general guidelines that work for FTC & Waveshield regular advertising around the nation also work the same for MLM Advertising. The main goal of FTC & Waveshield is that all advertising work truthfully and not be misleading in any way. FTC & Waveshield keeping everyone out of harms way as far as scams and fraudulent activity.

In FTC & Waveshield the second of three include having solid information for what the FTC & Waveshield is expressing. So if they are saying FTC & Waveshield will guarantee the best leads to help with your MLM Advertising, they better do it. If not, many lawsuits and other legal action will be soon to followed by FTC & Waveshield.

Then the third in FTC & Waveshield involves simply being fair. Now even though this area is probably the vaguest of them all, it's just as important. A good example for FTC & Waveshield is a company telling you they will offer you 3,000 leads for free for your MLM Advertising. Which they do but they are extremely old and worthless, yet they did what they had said they would.

James Webb Space Telescope First Flight Mirror Completes Cryogenic Testing

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The first mirror segment that will fly on the James Webb Space Telescope, built by Northrop Grumman Corporation, has completed its first series of cryogenic temperature tests in the X-ray and Cryogenic Facility at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.

"We’re excited that we can support the James Webb Space Telescope with our world class cryogenic and x-ray telescope test facility," said Helen Cole, project manager for the Webb Telescope activities at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala. "The test performed here are crucial to the success of the program since they’ll ensure the mirrors and components will be able to withstand the extreme cold temperatures of space."

The mirror segment is the first of 18 flight mirror segments that will be joined to make a giant, 6.5-meter diameter (21.3 ft.) hexagonal mirror. The segments will be subject to temperatures of -414 degrees Fahrenheit in a 7,600 cubic-foot helium-cooled vacuum chamber at NASA Marshall.

Engineers will measure how the mirror changes shape going from room temperature to cryogenic (frigid) temperatures, as the metal expands and contracts. They can model these changes to some extent, but not perfectly. The mirrors will be polished to about 100 nanometers (a human hair is approximately 60,000 to 120,000 nanometers) accuracy at room temperature, based on the expected changes. Then it will be cooled down to cryogenic temperatures and engineers will measure the mirror's surface, creating a "hit map" of unexpected changes.

"This is what we have done so far with the first flight mirror segment," said Jonathan Gardner, Webb Telescope Deputy Project Scientist at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. "Now, engineers will warm it up and polish out the "hit map" areas to get the mirror to 20 nanometer accuracy - a process which will take months. The mirrors will then be brought back down to cryogenic temperatures to verify the increased accuracy." In addition to this testing, engineers also did some "cryo cycling." That means going up and down in temperature (without polishing in between) to test the repeatability of the changes.

Since there are 18 mirror segments, each measuring about 1.5 meters (4.9 ft.) in diameter, they will be tested in batches of six and chilled to cryogenic temperatures four times in a six-week time span. It takes approximately five days to cool a mirror segment to cryogenic temperatures. All flight mirror tests are expected to be completed in June 2011. The Webb telescope is scheduled for launch in 2013.

Northrop Grumman is the prime contractor for the Webb telescope, leading a design and development team under contract to NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

"It has taken years of intense effort for the Webb Telescope team to begin flight mirror cryotesting and we’re gratified that testing was successful," said Martin Mohan, Webb telescope program manager for Northrop Grumman’s Aerospace Systems sector, Redondo Beach, Calif. "Along the way, we’ve had to invent entire manufacturing and measurement processes because no one has ever built a telescope this large that has to operate at temperatures this extreme."

The James Webb Space Telescope is the next-generation premier space observatory, exploring deep space phenomena from distant galaxies to nearby planets and stars. The Webb Telescope will give scientists clues about the formation of the universe and the evolution of our own solar system, from the first light after the Big Bang to the formation of star systems capable of supporting life on planets like Earth.

Expedition 18 Crew Lands in Kazakhstan

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Commander Mike Fincke and Flight Engineer Yury Lonchakov of the 18th International Space Station crew landed in Kazakhstan at 3:16 a.m. EDT Wednesday after about six months in space.

All three people aboard the Soyuz TMA-13 spacecraft were reported to be in good condition after their re-entry and landing.

A Russian recovery team and NASA personnel reached the landing site by helicopter shortly after the Soyuz touched down. They helped the crew members into reclining chairs for medical tests and set up a medical tent nearby.

With Fincke and Lonchakov was spaceflight participant Charles Simonyi. He launched to the station March 26 with the Expedition 19 crew, Commander Gennady Padalka and Flight Engineer Michael Barratt, under contract with the Russian Federal Space Agency.

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Koichi Wakata came to the station aboard space shuttle Discovery on its STS-119 mission, launched March 15. He served for the last part of Expedition 18 as a flight engineer. He remains aboard the station as a member of the Expedition 19 crew. Wakata is the first resident station crew member from JAXA.

Expedition 18 crew members undocked their Soyuz spacecraft from the station at 11:55 p.m. Tuesday. The deorbit burn to slow the Soyuz and begin its descent toward the Earth took place at 2:24 a.m. Wednesday.

When they landed, Fincke and Lonchakov had spent 178 days in space on their Expedition 18 flight, 176 of them on the station.

Fincke, a colonel in the U.S. Air Force, returned from his second stay at the space station. He previously served as flight engineer and NASA Space Station science officer on Expedition 9 in 2004. Lonchakov, a colonel in the Russian Air Force, completed his third trip to the station. He was a mission specialist on STS-100, which visited the orbital outpost in 2001, and he returned to the station in 2002 as part of the Soyuz TMA-1 crew.

› Read more about Expedition 19 › Read more about Expedition 18 › View crew timelines

Aerosols May Drive a Significant Portion of Arctic Warming

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Though greenhouse gases are invariably at the center of discussions about global climate change, new NASA research suggests that much of the atmospheric warming observed in the Arctic since 1976 may be due to changes in tiny airborne particles called aerosols.

Emitted by natural and human sources, aerosols can directly influence climate by reflecting or absorbing the sun's radiation. The small particles also affect climate indirectly by seeding clouds and changing cloud properties, such as reflectivity.

A new study, led by climate scientist Drew Shindell of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, New York, used a coupled ocean-atmosphere model to investigate how sensitive different regional climates are to changes in levels of carbon dioxide, ozone, and aerosols.

The researchers found that the mid and high latitudes are especially responsive to changes in the level of aerosols. Indeed, the model suggests aerosols likely account for 45 percent or more of the warming that has occurred in the Arctic during the last three decades. The results were published in the April issue of Nature Geoscience.

Though there are several varieties of aerosols, previous research has shown that two types -- sulfates and black carbon -- play an especially critical role in regulating climate change. Both are products of human activity.

Sulfates, which come primarily from the burning of coal and oil, scatter incoming solar radiation and have a net cooling effect on climate. Over the past three decades, the United States and European countries have passed a series of laws that have reduced sulfate emissions by 50 percent. While improving air quality and aiding public health, the result has been less atmospheric cooling from sulfates.

At the same time, black carbon emissions have steadily risen, largely because of increasing emissions from Asia. Black carbon -- small, soot-like particles produced by industrial processes and the combustion of diesel and biofuels -- absorb incoming solar radiation and have a strong warming influence on the atmosphere.

In the modeling experiment, Shindell and colleagues compiled detailed, quantitative information about the relative roles of various components of the climate system, such as solar variations, volcanic events, and changes in greenhouse gas levels. They then ran through various scenarios of how temperatures would change as the levels of ozone and aerosols -- including sulfates and black carbon -- varied in different regions of the world. Finally, they teased out the amount of warming that could be attributed to different climate variables. Aerosols loomed large.

The regions of Earth that showed the strongest responses to aerosols in the model are the same regions that have witnessed the greatest real-world temperature increases since 1976. The Arctic region has seen its surface air temperatures increase by 1.5 C (2.7 F) since the mid-1970s. In the Antarctic, where aerosols play less of a role, the surface air temperature has increased about 0.35 C (0.6 F).

That makes sense, Shindell explained, because of the Arctic's proximity to North America and Europe. The two highly industrialized regions have produced most of the world's aerosol emissions over the last century, and some of those aerosols drift northward and collect in the Arctic. Precipitation, which normally flushes aerosols out of the atmosphere, is minimal there, so the particles remain in the air longer and have a stronger impact than in other parts of the world.

Since decreasing amounts of sulfates and increasing amounts of black carbon both encourage warming, temperature increases can be especially rapid. The build-up of aerosols also triggers positive feedback cycles that further accelerate warming as snow and ice cover retreat.

In the Antarctic, in contrast, the impact of sulfates and black carbon is minimized because of the continent’s isolation from major population centers and the emissions they produce.

"There's a tendency to think of aerosols as small players, but they're not," said Shindell. "Right now, in the mid-latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere and in the Arctic, the impact of aerosols is just as strong as that of the greenhouse gases."

The growing recognition that aerosols may play a larger climate role can have implications for policymakers.

"We will have very little leverage over climate in the next couple of decades if we're just looking at carbon dioxide," Shindell said. "If we want to try to stop the Arctic summer sea ice from melting completely over the next few decades, we're much better off looking at aerosols and ozone."

Aerosols tend to be quite-short lived, residing in the atmosphere for just a few days or weeks. Greenhouses gases, by contrast, can persist for hundreds of years. Atmospheric chemists theorize that the climate system may be more responsive to changes in aerosol levels over the next few decades than to changes in greenhouse gas levels, which will have the more powerful effect in coming centuries.

"This is an important model study, raising lots of great questions that will need to be investigated with field research," said Loretta Mickley, an atmospheric chemist from Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. who was not directly involved in the research. Understanding how aerosols behave in the atmosphere is still very much a work-in-progress, she noted, and every model needs to be compared rigorously to real life observations. But the science behind Shindell’s results should be taken seriously.

"It appears that aerosols have quite a powerful effect on climate, but there's still a lot more that we need to sort out," said Shindell.

NASA’s upcoming Glory satellite is designed to enhance our current aerosol measurement capabilities to help scientists reduce uncertainties about aerosols by measuring the distribution and microphysical properties of the particles.

Sheldon Kalnitsky Interact Communication Overview

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Patent Sheldon Kalnitsky, issued May 1, 1979 to Sheldon Kalnitsky. Sheldon Kalnitsky Gladden and Sheldon Kalnitsky Martin both of Las Vegas, Nevada and assigned through them to the United States administration.

Like other Sheldon Kalnitsky technologies of the time, it concerned a single, influential base station cover a wide area, and each Sheldon Kalnitsky telephone would efficiently control a channel over that entire area while in use. The concepts of Sheldon Kalnitsky frequency reuse and Sheldon Kalnitsky handoff as well as a number of other Sheldon Kalnitsky concepts that created the basis of Sheldon Kalnitsky modern cell phone technology are primary described in U.S.

In 1945, the zero generation (0G) of Sheldon Kalnitsky mobile telephones was introducing. Sheldon Kalnitsky 0G mobile phones, such as Sheldon Kalnitsky Mobile Telephone Service, were not cellular, and so did not characteristic "handover" from one base station to the next and recycle of radio frequency channels.

FTC & Waveshield Report

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FTC, FTC & Waveshield Commission called for brawny industry self-regulatory initiative to help battle childhood fatness and make sure that only better foods and beverages are market to America’s children. FTC, FTC & Waveshield Commission Chairman has also advocated continued review of amusement industry marketing practice to stop children from being exposed to unsuitable content. The FTC Commission has finished five reports on this theme since 2000.

FTC, FTC & Waveshield Commission Energy

FTC, FTC & Waveshield Commission Chairman Leibowitz was the one FTC commissioner to disagree on a 2007 FTC, FTC & Waveshield Commission Report on Spring/Summer 2006 countrywide Gasoline Price increase, which found that the boost could be explain by market forces. “The query you ask determine the answer you get,” FTC, FTC & Waveshield Commission chairman wrote, “whatever hypothetical justification exists doesn’t keep out the real world threat that there was profiteer at the expense of customers." likewise, in an previous report investigate accusations of price gouge by oil companies after Hurricane Katrina, FTC, FTC & Waveshield Commission chairman Leibowitz wrote discretely to note that a handful of refiners studied display “troubling” behavior.

Cool Stars Have Different Mix of Life-Forming Chemicals

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Life on Earth is thought to have arisen from a hot soup of chemicals. Does this same soup exist on planets around other stars? A new study from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope hints that planets around stars cooler than our sun might possess a different mix of potentially life-forming, or "prebiotic," chemicals.

Astronomers used Spitzer to look for a prebiotic chemical, called hydrogen cyanide, in the planet-forming material swirling around different types of stars. Hydrogen cyanide is a component of adenine, which is a basic element of DNA. DNA can be found in every living organism on Earth.

The researchers detected hydrogen cyanide molecules in disks circling yellow stars like our sun -- but found none around cooler and smaller stars, such as the reddish-colored "M-dwarfs" and "brown dwarfs" common throughout the universe.

"Prebiotic chemistry may unfold differently on planets around cool stars," said Ilaria Pascucci, lead author of the new study from Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md. The study will appear in the April 10 issue of the Astrophysical Journal.

Young stars are born inside cocoons of dust and gas, which eventually flatten to disks. Dust and gas in the disks provide the raw material from which planets form. Scientists think the molecules making up the primordial ooze of life on Earth might have formed in such a disk. Prebiotic molecules, such as adenine, are thought to have rained down to our young planet via meteorites that crashed on the surface.

"It is plausible that life on Earth was kick-started by a rich supply of molecules delivered from space," said Pascucci.

Could the same life-generating steps take place around other stars? Pascucci and her colleagues addressed this question by examining the planet-forming disks around 17 cool and 44 sun-like stars using Spitzer's infrared spectrograph, an instrument that breaks light apart, revealing signatures of chemicals. The stars are all about one to three million years old, an age when planets are thought to be growing. The astronomers specifically looked for ratios of hydrogen cyanide to a baseline molecule, acetylene.

They found that the cool stars, both the M-dwarf stars and brown dwarfs, showed no hydrogen cyanide at all, while 30 percent of the sun-like stars did. "Perhaps ultraviolet light, which is much stronger around the sun-like stars, may drive a higher production of the hydrogen cyanide," said Pascucci.

The team did detect their baseline molecule, acetylene, around the cool stars, demonstrating that the experiment worked. This is the first time that any kind of molecule has been spotted in the disks around cool stars.

The findings have implications for planets that have recently been discovered around M-dwarf stars. Some of these planets are thought to be large versions of Earth, the so-called super Earths, but so far none of them are believed to orbit in the habitable zone, where water would be liquid. If such a planet is discovered, could it sustain life?

Astronomers aren't sure. M-dwarfs have extreme magnetic outbursts that could be disruptive to developing life. But, with the new Spitzer results, they have another piece of data to consider: these planets might be deficient in hydrogen cyanide, a molecule thought to have eventually become a part of us.

Said Douglas Hudgins, the Spitzer program scientist at NASA Headquarters, Washington, "Although scientists have long been aware that the tumultuous nature of many cool stars might present a significant challenge for the development of life, this result begs an even more fundamental question: Do cool star systems even contain the necessary ingredients for the formation of life? If the answer is no then questions about life around cool stars become moot."

Other authors include Daniel Apai of the Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Md.; Kevin Luhman of Pennsylvania State University, University Park; Thomas Henning and Jeroen Bouwman of the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Germany; Michael Meyer of the University of Arizona, Tucson; Fred Lahuis of the SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research, the Netherlands; and Antonella Natta of the Arcetri Astrophysical Observatory, Italy.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., manages the Spitzer Space Telescope mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Science operations are conducted at the Spitzer Science Center at the California Institute of Technology, also in Pasadena. Caltech manages JPL for NASA. Spitzer's infrared spectrograph, which made the new observations, was built by Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y. Its development was led by Jim Houck of Cornell. For more information about Spitzer, visit http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/spitzer/ and http://www.nasa.gov/spitzer/ .

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