There are 3 messages totalling 156 lines in this issue. Topics of the day: 1. NASA CHALLENGES STUDENTS TO TRAIN LIKE AN ASTRONAUT 2. MEDIA INVITED TO ORION SPACECRAFT WATER LANDING TEST AT LANGLEY 3. VETERAN SPACE SHUTTLE COMMANDER CHRIS FERGUSON TO LEAVE AGENCY ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 5 Dec 2011 13:41:07 -0600 From: info@JSC.NASA.GOV Subject: NASA CHALLENGES STUDENTS TO TRAIN LIKE AN ASTRONAUT Dec. 05, 2011 William Jeffs Johnson Space Center, Hou ...Continue Reading

:Product: Solar Region Summary :Issued: 2011 Dec 06 0030 UTC # Prepared jointly by the U.S. Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, # Space Weather Prediction Center and the U.S. Air Force. # Joint USAF/NOAA Solar Region Summary SRS Number 340 Issued at 0030Z on 06 Dec 2011 Report compiled from data received at SWO on 05 Dec I. Regions with Sunspots. Locations Valid at 05/2400Z Nmbr Location Lo Area Z LL NN Mag Type 1361 N18W71 170 0090 Dai 08 10 Beta 1362 N07W32 130 0170 Dso 10 19 Beta 1363 S21W09 ...Continue Reading

Dec. 5, 2011 Steve Cole Headquarters, Washington 202-358-0918 stephen.e.cole@nasa.gov Alan Buis Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. 818-354-0474 alan.buis@jpl.nasa.gov RELEASE: 11-405 NASA FINDS 'MERGING TSUNAMI' DOUBLED JAPAN DESTRUCTION WASHINGTON -- NASA and Ohio State University researchers have discovered the major tsunami generated by the March 2011 Tohoku-Oki quake centered off northeastern Japan was a long-hypothesized "merging tsunami." The tsunami doubled in intensity over rugged o ...Continue Reading

Dec. 5, 2011 Fred Brown Headquarters, Washington 202-358-0713 fred.a.brown@nasa.gov MEDIA ADVISORY: M11-246 NASA TV MOVING TO NEW SATELLITE; LIVESHOT SERVICE MOVING TO KU BAND WASHINGTON -- Effective Dec. 19, 2011, NASA Television's Public, HD, Media and Education channels will be available for downlink on satellite AMC-18. NASA TV will provide dual service on AMC-18 and its current satellite, SES-2, through Dec. 18, 2011. By Dec. 19, cable and satellite service providers, br ...Continue Reading

The following sections have been updated in the past 3 days. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- FIRES (1 updated events, 1 new images) -- BUSHFIRES IN SOUTHWESTERN AUSTRALIA Fires burned homes and forced rapid evacuations in southwestern Australia in late November 2011. * http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=76593&src=nha *** ALI(EO-1) image from Dec 01, 2011 (Posted on Dec 02, 2011 9:47 PM) ------------------------------------------------------------ ...Continue Reading

Dec. 5, 2011 Steve Cole Headquarters, Washington 202-358-0918 stephen.e.cole@nasa.gov Jia-Rui C. Cook/Alan Buis Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. 818-354-0850/818-653-8339 jccook@jpl.nasa.gov/alan.buis@jpl.nasa.gov RELEASE: 11-402 NASA'S VOYAGER HITS NEW REGION AT SOLAR SYSTEM EDGE WASHINGTON -- NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft has entered a new region between our solar system and interstellar space. Data obtained from Voyager over the last year reveal this new region to be a kind of cosmic purgatory. In ...Continue Reading

Dec. 5, 2011 Trent J. Perrotto Headquarters, Washington 202-358-0321 trent.j.perrotto@nasa.gov Michele Johnson Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif. 650-604-6982 michele.johnson@nasa.gov RELEASE: 11-408 NASA'S KEPLER CONFIRMS ITS FIRST PLANET IN HABITABLE ZONE OF SUN-LIKE STAR MOFFET FIELD, Calif. -- NASA's Kepler mission has confirmed its first planet in the "habitable zone," the region where liquid water could exist on a planet's surface. Kepler also has discovered more than 1,000 new plan ...Continue Reading

Dec. 5, 2011 Michael Curie Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1100 michael.curie@nasa.gov Nicole Cloutier-Lemasters Johnson Space Center, Houston 281-483-5111 nicole.cloutier-1@nasa.gov RELEASE: 11-404 VETERAN SPACE SHUTTLE COMMANDER CHRIS FERGUSON TO LEAVE AGENCY HOUSTON -- Astronaut Chris Ferguson, the last commander of a space shuttle mission, has announced his plans to retire from NASA on Dec. 9. He will leave for a new job in the private sector. "Chris has been a true leader at ...Continue Reading

Dec. 05, 2011 J.D. Harrington Headquarters, Washington 202-358-5241 j.d.harrington@nasa.gov William Jeffs Johnson Space Center, Houston 281-483-5111 william.p.jeffs@nasa.gov RELEASE: 11-395 NASA CHALLENGES STUDENTS TO TRAIN LIKE AN ASTRONAUT WASHINGTON -- An engaging new NASA program brings the excitement of space exploration to children learning to live a healthy lifestyle. Inspired by First Lady Michelle Obama's Let's Move! initiative, NASA's Train Like an Astronaut program aims to increase oppo ...Continue Reading

Dec. 5, 2011 Michael Braukus/J.D. Harrington Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1979/5241 michael.j.braukus@nasa.gov/j.d.harrington@nasa.gov Josh Byerly Johnson Space Center, Houston 281-483-5111 josh.byerly@nasa.gov Amy Johnson Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va. 757-864-7022/272-9859 (mobile) amy.johnson@nasa.gov MEDIA ADVISORY: M11-244 MEDIA INVITED TO ORION SPACECRAFT WATER LANDING TEST AT LANGLEY HAMPTON, Va. -- Reporters are invited to watch a test version of the Orion crew capsule take its final s ...Continue Reading