December 9, 2013 * RELEASE 13-363 * * NASA Developing Legs for Space Station's Robotnaut 2 * NASA engineers are developing climbing legs for the International Space Station's robotic crewmember Robonaut 2 (R2), marking another milestone in space humanoid robotics. The legless R2, currently attached to a support post, is undergoing experimental trials with astronauts aboard the orbiting laboratory. Since its arrival at the station in February 2011, R2 has performed a series of tasks to demonstrate it ...Continue Reading

December 9, 2013 * MEDIA ADVISORY M13-191 * * NASA Opens Media Accreditation For TDRS-L Launch * Media accreditation is open for the launch of NASA's Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS)-L. Liftoff atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida is targeted for 9:05 p.m. EST Thursday, Jan. 23, at the opening of a 40-minute launch window. International media without U.S. citizenship must apply for credentials by 4 p.m. Wedne ...Continue Reading

December 9, 2013 * RELEASE 13-366 * * NASA Rover Results Include First Age Measurement on Mars and Help for Human Exploration * NASA's Curiosity rover is providing vital insight about Mars' past and current environments that will aid plans for future robotic and human missions. In a little more than a year on the Red Planet, the mobile Mars Science Laboratory has determined the age of a Martian rock, found evidence the planet could have sustained microbial life, taken the first readings of radiation ...Continue Reading

December 6, 2013 Joshua Buck Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1100jbuck@nasa.gov   * RELEASE 13-357 * * NASA Initiative Helps Launch Student-Built Satellites * With help from NASA, four student-built CubeSat research satellites launched into space Friday from the California coast as part of the agency's CubeSat Launch Initiative. The CubeSats were included as auxiliary payloads aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket that lifted off from Vandenberg Air Force Base in Lompoc ...Continue Reading

December 6, 2013 Joshua Buck Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1100jbuck@nasa.gov * RELEASE 13-368 * * NASA, CASIS Make Space Station Accessible for Stem Cell Research * NASA and the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS) are enabling research aboard the International Space Station that could lead to new stem cell-based therapies for medical conditions faced on Earth and in space. Scientists will take advantage of the space station's microgravity environment to study the properti ...Continue Reading

December 9, 2013 * RELEASE 13-367 * * NASA's Tracking and Data Relay Satellite Arrives at Kennedy Space Center * A truck hauls NASA's TDRS-L satellite to the Astrotech facility in Titusville for launch processing. The TDRS is the latest spacecraft destined for the agency's constellation of communications satellites that allows nearly continuous contact with orbiting spacecraft ranging from the International Space Station and Hubble Space Telescope to the array of scientific observatories. Photo credi ...Continue Reading

December 6, 2013 Rachel H. Kraft Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1100rachel.h.kraft@nasa.gov * MEDIA ADVISORY M13-192 * * NASA Discusses Curiosity Radiation Findings * NASA will host a media teleconference at 1 p.m. EST Monday, Dec. 9, to discuss new findings from the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD) aboard the rover Curiosity. Just prior to the teleconference, the findings will be presented at the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting in San Francisco. The j ...Continue Reading

December 6, 2013 Steve Cole Headquarters, Washington 202-358-0918stephen.e.cole@nasa.gov   * MEDIA ADVISORY M13-189 * * NASA Highlights Mars, Ozone Hole, and the Sun at American Geophysical Union * NASA researchers will present new findings on a wide range of Earth and space science topics next week at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union (AGU). The meeting will take place Dec. 9-13 at the Moscone Convention Center, 747 Howard St., in San Francisco. Media registrat ...Continue Reading

The following sections have been updated in the past 7 days. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- FLOODS (1 updated events, 1 new images) -- FLOODS IN EAST AFRICA The Shabelle River inundated farmland in a key food-producing region in Somalia. * http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=82513&src=nha *** MODIS(Aqua) image from Dec 04, 2013 (Posted on Dec 06, 2013 1:00 PM) -- VOLCANOES AND EARTHQUAKES (1 updated events, 1 new images) -- ACTIVITY AT SAKURAJIM ...Continue Reading

Official Space Weather Advisory issued by NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center Boulder, Colorado, USA SPACE WEATHER ADVISORY OUTLOOK #13-50 2013 December 8 at 9:43 p.m. MST (2013 December 9 0443 UTC) **** SPACE WEATHER OUTLOOK **** Summary For December 2-8 NOAA Scale G2 (Moderate) geomagnetic storm conditions were observed on 08 December (0000 - 0300 UTC) due to coronal hole high speed stream (CH HSS) effects. NOAA Scale G1 (Minor) geomagnetic storm conditions were observed on 08 December (0300-0600 UTC ...Continue Reading