Dec. 21, 2011 Sonja Alexander Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1761 sonja.r.alexander@nasa.gov Cynthia M. O'Carroll Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. 240-684-0821 cynthia.M.Ocarroll@nasa.gov CONTRACT RELEASE: 11-056 NASA EXTENDS ELECTRICAL SYSTEMS ENGINEERING SERVICES CONTRACT GREENBELT, Md. -- NASA has extended the ordering period and increased the maximum ordering value of the Electrical Systems Engineering Services (ESES) interim contract with MEI Technologies, I ...Continue Reading

Dec. 21, 2011 Trent J. Perrotto Headquarters, Washington 202-358-0321 trent.j.perrotto@nasa.gov Mary Blake Northrop Grumman, Redondo Beach, Calif. 310-812-6291 mary.blake@ngc.com RELEASE: 11-424 CRYOGENIC TESTING COMPLETED FOR NASA'S WEBB TELESCOPE MIRRORS GREENBELT, Md. -- Cryogenic testing is complete for the final six primary mirror segments and a secondary mirror that will fly on NASA's James Webb Space Telescope. The milestone represents the successful culmination of a process that took ...Continue Reading

The following sections have been updated in the past 1 days. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- VOLCANOES AND EARTHQUAKES (1 updated events, 1 new images) -- EL HIERRO SUBMARINE VOLCANO ERUPTION A submarine volcano off of El Hierro in the Canary Islands began erupting gas and tephra into the sea in mid-October 2011. * http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=76717&src=nha *** ALI(EO-1) image from Dec 16, 2011 (Posted on Dec 20, 2011 2:15 PM) ------------- ...Continue Reading

Dec. 21, 2011 J.D. Harrington Headquarters, Washington 202-358-5241 j.d.harrington@nasa.gov Josh Byerly Johnson Space Center, Houston 281-483-5111 josh.byerly@nasa.gov RELEASE: 11-423 NASA CONDUCTS ORION PARACHUTE TESTING FOR ORBITAL TEST FLIGHT HOUSTON -- NASA successfully conducted a drop test of the Orion crew vehicle's parachutes high above the Arizona desert Tuesday in preparation for its orbital flight test in 2014. Orion will carry astronauts deeper into space t ...Continue Reading

Dec. 21, 2011 Ann Marie Trotta Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1601 ann.marie.trotta@nasa.gov Rachel Kraft Johnson Space Center, Houston 281-483-5111 rachel.h.kraft@nasa.gov RELEASE: 11-422 NASA SELECTS STUDENT TEAMS FOR MICROGRAVITY RESEARCH FLIGHTS WASHINGTON -- NASA has selected 24 undergraduate student teams to test science experiments under microgravity conditions. The teams will fly during 2012 as part of the agency's Reduced Gravity Education Flight Program (RGEFP). The teams will design and ...Continue Reading

Dec. 21, 2011 Michael Curie Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1100 michael.curie@nasa.gov Kelly Humphries Johnson Space Center, Houston 281-483-5111 kelly.o.humphries@nasa.gov RELEASE: 11-425 TRIO HEADS FOR HOLIDAY REUNION WITH SPACE STATION RESIDENTS HOUSTON -- NASA Flight Engineer Don Pettit, Russian Soyuz Commander Oleg Kononenko and European Space Agency Flight Engineer Andre Kuipers of the Netherlands launched to the International Space Station aboard their Soyuz TMA-03M craft at 7:16 a.m. ...Continue Reading

:Product: Solar Region Summary :Issued: 2011 Dec 21 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 355 Issued at 0030Z on 21 Dec 2011 Report compiled from data received at SWO on 20 Dec I. Regions with Sunspots. Locations Valid at 20/2400Z Nmbr Location Lo Area Z LL NN Mag Type 1374 S19W90 352 0050 Hsx 02 01 Alpha 1376 N19W46 308 0040 Dai 04 14 Beta 1377 N12W40 ...Continue Reading

Dec. 20, 2011 Michael Cabbage Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1600 mcabbage@nasa.gov RELEASE: 11-415 NASA ANNOUNCES PLANS FOR HUMAN EXPLORATION OF DEEP SPACE, FOSTERS COMMERCIAL SPACEFLIGHT AND MAKES MAJOR DISCOVERIES IN 2011 WASHINGTON -- In 2011, NASA began developing a heavy-lift rocket for the human exploration of deep space, helped foster a new era of commercial spaceflight and technology breakthroughs, fully utilized a newly complete space station, and made major discoveries about the universe we live ...Continue Reading

The following sections have been updated in the past 1 days. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- SEVERE STORMS (1 updated events, 2 new images) -- TROPICAL STORM WASHI Tropical Storm Washi inundated the Philippines with heavy rain in mid-December 2011. * http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=76710&src=nha *** MODIS(Aqua) image from Dec 19, 2011 (Posted on Dec 19, 2011 6:46 PM) * http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=76702&src=nha ...Continue Reading

Dec. 20, 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: 11-421 NASA DISCOVERS FIRST EARTH-SIZE PLANETS BEYOND OUR SOLAR SYSTEM MOFFET FIELD, Calif. -- NASA's Kepler mission has discovered the first Earth-size planets orbiting a sun-like star outside our solar system. The planets, called Kepler-20 ...Continue Reading