150 Of NASA's Twitter Followers Will Be Invited To Mars Rover Launch

NASA will host a two-day launch Tweetup for 150 of its Twitter followers on Nov. 23 and 25 at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Tweetup is expected to culminate in the launch of the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V 541 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The launch window open is scheduled to open at 10:21 a.m. EDT on Nov. 25.

The Tweetup will provide NASA's social media followers with the opportunity to tour Kennedy Space Center; speak with scientists and engineers; and, if all goes as scheduled, view the spacecraft launch. The event also will provide participants the opportunity to meet fellow tweeps and members of NASA's social media team.

Curiosity's arrival at the Red Planet is anticipated in August 2012 at Gale crater. During the two-year prime mission, the rover will investigate whether a selected area of Mars offered environmental conditions favorable for microbial life and for preserving evidence about life if it existed.

Mars Science Laboratory is the fourth space mission launching this year managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. The first three are Aquarius, launched June 10 to study ocean salinity; Juno, launched Aug. 5 to study the origins and interior of Jupiter; and the twin GRAIL orbiters, which departed for the moon on Sept. 10.

Launch management for the mission is the responsibility of NASA's Launch Services Program at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Tweetup registration opens at noon on Wed, Oct. 5, and closes at noon on Fri., Oct. 7. NASA will randomly select 150 participants from online registrations.

Tropical Storm Nalgae (Northwest Pacific Ocean)

NASA Satellite Sees Tropical Storm Nalgae Take on the Comma Shape

A comma shape is a typical shape that mature tropical storms and hurricanes take on, and NASA's Aqua satellite noticed that Tropical Storm Nalgae in the western Pacific Ocean has now matured to that shape.

The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder instrument that flies on Aqua, took a visible image of Tropical Storm Nalgae on Sept. 28 at 03:53 UTC. In addition to the comma shape the storm has taken on, the AIRS instrument provided a look at cloud-top temperatures, which are an indication of where the strongest storms and heaviest precipitation is falling. The coldest cloud top temperatures (colder than -63F/-52C) were north, west and south of the center of circulation. The infrared data also showed tightly curved bands of thunderstorms wrapping into the low-level center of circulation, indicating the storm is organizing further. Microwave satellite imagery already indicates that an eye has formed.

Tropical storm Nalgae formed from Tropical Depression 22 when it strengthened overnight. Today, Sept. 28, 2011 at 0900 UTC (5 a.m. EDT), Nalgae had maximum sustained winds near 50 knots. Tropical Storm Nalgae is about 180 miles in diameter as tropica-storm-force winds extend as far as 90 miles from the center.

The forecasters at the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) noted that the warm sea surface temperatures ahead of Nalgae will enable it to strengthen. Those sea surface temperatures were also seen by the infrared AIRS image. JTWC forecasts that Nalgae will become a typhoon by the time it reaches northern Luzon, Philippines around the first of October.

'Pacman Nebula' Lives the High Life

High-mass stars are important because they are responsible for much of the energy pumped into our galaxy over its lifetime. Unfortunately, these stars are poorly understood because they are often found relatively far away and can be obscured by gas and dust. The star cluster NGC 281 is an exception to this rule. It is located about 9,200 light years from Earth and, remarkably, almost 1,000 light years above the plane of the Galaxy, giving astronomers a nearly unfettered view of the star formation within it.

NGC 281 is known informally as the "Pacman Nebula" because of its appearance in optical images. In optical images the "mouth" of the Pacman character appears dark because of obscuration by dust and gas, but in the infrared Spitzer image the dust in this region glows brightly.

NASA Spacecraft Reveals New Details Of Planet Mercury; Science Journal Has Embargoed Details Until 2 p.m. EDT on Sept. 29

NASA will host a media teleconference at 2 p.m. EDT on Thursday, Sept. 29, to discuss new data and images from the first spacecraft to orbit Mercury.

NASA's MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) spacecraft conducted fifteen laps through the inner solar system for more than six years before achieving the historic orbit insertion on March 18.

NASA Announces California Tweetup To Tour Airborne Observatory

NASA will host a Tweetup for 50 of its Twitter followers on Oct. 14 at the agency's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif. The Tweetup includes a tour of the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) aircraft, which will visit Ames.

SOFIA is a highly modified Boeing 747SP aircraft that carries a telescope with a 100-inch reflecting mirror to conduct astronomy research not possible with ground-based telescopes. SOFIA is housed at NASA's Dryden Aircraft Operations Facility in Palmdale, Calif.

In addition to climbing aboard SOFIA, the Tweetup guests will speak with NASA officials, managers and SOFIA scientists. The Tweetup will include a session where participants can mingle with fellow Tweeps and the staff behind the tweets on @NASA, @NASAAmes and @SOFIATelescope.

Tweetup registration opens at 7 a.m. PDT on Monday, Oct. 3, and closes at 2 p.m. PDT on Tuesday, Oct. 4. NASA will randomly select 50 participants from online registrations.

NASA Sees Hurricane Hilary's Heaviest Rain in Northwest Quadrant

Hurricane Hilary pulled away from the western Mexico coastline this weekend, and NASA's TRMM satellite has monitored its rainfall. Hilary's heaviest rainfall is in its northwest quadrant, and falling over open ocean today, but Hilary may be headed back toward land. 

This visible image of Hurricane Hilary was captured by the MODIS instrument on Saturday, Sept. 24 at 17:40 UTC (1:40 p.m. EDT) when it was off the west coast of Mexico.

NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission satellite known as TRMM passed over Hilary on Sept. 26 at 5:29 a.m. EDT and its precipitation radar instrument measured rainfall happening throughout the storm from its orbit in space. TRMM saw that most of the rainfall occurring in Hurricane Hilary today was moderate, and the heaviest area was limited to its northwestern quadrant where rain was coming down at 2 inches/50 mm per hour.

TRMM also has the ability to measure cloud heights, which indicate the power within a hurricane. The higher the towering clouds around the eye, usually the stronger the power within the hurricane. TRMM noticed that the highest cumulonimbus (thunderstorm) clouds in the center were around 14 kilometers (8.6 miles). Towering clouds that height are indicative of a lot of power in the storm.

NASA Announces Design For New Deep Space Exploration System

NASA has selected the design of a new Space Launch System that will take the agency's astronauts farther into space than ever before, create high-quality jobs here at home, and provide the cornerstone for America's future human space exploration efforts.

New Heavy-lift Rocket Will Take Humans Far Beyond Earth.

The SLS will carry human crews beyond low Earth orbit in a capsule named the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle. The rocket will use a liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen fuel system, where RS-25D/E engines will provide the core propulsion and the J2X engine is planned for use in the upper stage. There will be a competition to develop the boosters based on performance requirements.

The decision to go with the same fuel system for the core and the upper stage was based on a NASA analysis demonstrating that use of common components can reduce costs and increase flexibility. The heavy-lift rocket's early flights will be capable of lifting 70-100 metric tons before evolving to a lift capacity of 130 metric tons.

The early developmental flights may take advantage of existing solid boosters and other existing hardware. These flights will enable NASA to reduce developmental risk, drive innovation within the agency and private industry, and accomplish early exploration objectives.

"NASA has been making steady progress toward realizing the president's goal of deep space exploration, while doing so in a more affordable way," NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver said. "We have been driving down the costs on the Space Launch System and Orion contracts by adopting new ways of doing business and project hundreds of millions of dollars of savings each year."

SLS(SPACE LAUNCH SYSTEM) Video... 

NASA elected to initiate a competition for the booster stage based on performance parameters rather than on the type of propellant because of the need for flexibility. The specific acquisition strategy for procuring the core stage, booster stage, and upper stage is being developed and will be announced at a later time.

NASA, ATK New Commercial Crew Announcement on NASA TV

NASA will host a news briefing at 11 a.m. PDT, Thursday, Sept. 15, to announce a new discovery by the Kepler mission. The briefing will be held in the Syvertson auditorium, building N-201, at NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif. The event will be carried live on NASA Television. 

Kepler is the first NASA mission capable of finding Earth-size planets in or near the "habitable zone," the region in a planetary system where liquid water can exist on the surface of the orbiting planet. Although additional observations will be needed to achieve that milestone, Kepler is detecting planets and planet candidates with a wide range of sizes and orbital distances to help us better understand our place in the galaxy.

GRAIL SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHED

 

GRAIL Heads to the Moon 

 

Fire and smoke light up a blue sky as a United Launch Alliance Delta II Heavy rocket propels NASA's Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) mission into space. Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 17B on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida was at 9:08:52 EDT Sept.10.

The spacecraft are embarking on a three-month journey to reach the moon. GRAIL will fly twin spacecraft in tandem around the moon to precisely measure and map variations in the moon's gravitational field. The mission will provide the most accurate global gravity field to date for any planet, including Earth. This detailed information will reveal differences in the density of the moon's crust and mantle and will help answer fundamental questions about the moon's internal structure, thermal evolution, and history of collisions with asteroids. The aim is to map the moon's gravity field so completely that future moon vehicles can safely navigate anywhere on the moon's surface.

42 years ago, man landed on the moon

42nd anniversaryof man's landing on the moon

(RNN) - It is perhaps the crowning achievement in human history.

And it was a dream came true 42 years ago this week when Earth was joined by its only natural satellite in playing host to humans.

Neil Armstrong became the first man to set foot on the moon July 20, 1969, fulfilling President John F. Kennedy's goal to surpass the Soviet Union in the space race. The United States sent five additional manned missions to the moon, and remains the only country to do so.

Describing the surface as "fine and powdery," Armstrong uttered one of the most famous lines ever spoken to mark the monumental event, and put the achievement into perspective.

"That's one small step for man. One giant leap for mankind."

For 2 1/2 hours, Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin explored the lunar surface, collected rock samples, photographed the surface of the moon, the Earth and each other, and placed an American flag to stake claim to being the first country to visit another celestial body.