March 21, 2011 J.D. Harrington Headquarters, Washington 202-358-5241 j.d.harrington@nasa.gov Joe Caspermeyer Arizona State University, Tempe 480-727-0369 joseph.caspermeyer@asu.edu MEDIA ADVISORY: 11-080 SPACEBOUND BACTERIA INSPIRE EARTHBOUND REMEDIES WASHINGTON -- Recent research aboard the space shuttle is giving scientists a better understanding of how infectious disease occurs in space and could someday improve astronaut health and provide novel treatments for people on Earth. "With our s ...Continue Reading

The following sections have been updated in the past 3 days. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- FLOODS (1 updated events, 1 new images) -- EARTHQUAKE AND TSUNAMI NEAR SENDAI, JAPAN On March 11, 2011, a magnitude 8.9 earthquake struck off the east coast of Japan, triggering a large tsunami across the Pacific Ocean and inundating Japan's coast. * http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=49756&src=nha *** ALI(EO-1) image from Mar 18, 2011 (Posted on Mar 18, ...Continue Reading

:Product: Solar Region Summary :Issued: 2011 Mar 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 80 Issued at 0030Z on 21 Mar 2011 Report compiled from data received at SWO on 20 Mar I. Regions with Sunspots. Locations Valid at 20/2400Z Nmbr Location Lo Area Z LL NN Mag Type 1173 S29W13 307 0020 Bxo 04 05 Beta 1174 N23W76 011 0000 Axx 01 01 Alpha 1175 N14W36 ...Continue Reading

:Product: Solar Region Summary :Issued: 2011 Mar 20 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 79 Issued at 0030Z on 20 Mar 2011 Report compiled from data received at SWO on 19 Mar I. Regions with Sunspots. Locations Valid at 19/2400Z Nmbr Location Lo Area Z LL NN Mag Type 1173 S30E01 307 0020 Bxo 06 06 Beta 1174 N23W63 011 0000 Axx 01 01 Alpha 1175 N14W22 ...Continue Reading

:Product: Solar Region Summary :Issued: 2011 Mar 19 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 78 Issued at 0030Z on 19 Mar 2011 Report compiled from data received at SWO on 18 Mar I. Regions with Sunspots. Locations Valid at 18/2400Z Nmbr Location Lo Area Z LL NN Mag Type 1173 S29E14 307 0030 Cro 07 09 Beta 1175 N13W09 330 0020 Cro 05 06 Beta IA. H-alpha Pla ...Continue Reading

March 18, 2011 Michael Curie Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1100 michael.curie@nasa.gov Candrea Thomas Kennedy Space Center, Fla. 321-867-2468 candrea.k.thomas@nasa.gov MEDIA ADVISORY: M11-063 NASA RELEASES FIRST-EVER HD FOOTAGE OF SRB RECOVERY SHIP MISSION CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- For the first time, NASA has released high-definition video taken during the retrieval of solid rocket booster segments from the Atlantic Ocean. The solid rocket boosters provided 144 million pounds of thrust for the final l ...Continue Reading

March 18, 2011 Katherine Trinidad Headquarters, Washington 202-358-3749 katherine.trinidad@nasa.gov RELEASE: 11-074 NASA HOLDS INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SUMMIT IN AUGUST WASHINGTON -- NASA's second Information Technology Summit will bring together government and industry leaders to provide the latest perspectives on the IT field. The summit will take place August 15-17 at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in San Francisco. Approximately 2,000 ...Continue Reading

March 18, 2011 Grey Hautaluoma Headquarters, Washington 202-358-0668 grey.hautaluoma-1@nasa.gov MEDIA ADVISORY: M11-062 NASA ADMINISTRATOR PARTICIPATES IN CEREMONY HONORING ASTRONAUT RON MCNAIR WASHINGTON -- NASA Administrator Charles Bolden will travel to his home state of South Carolina Monday, March 21, to participate in the dedication of the Dr. Ronald E. McNair Life History Center in Lake City. McNair, a Lake City native, was a member of the space shuttle Challenger crew lost in the January 1986 acci ...Continue Reading

March 18, 2011 Ann Marie Trotta Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1601 ann.marie.trotta@nasa.gov MEDIA ADVISORY: M11-060 NASA LEADERS TO MENTOR NEW YORK STUDENTS ON MARCH 22 WASHINGTON -- NASA is hosting a March 22 forum in New York City to share the excitement of space exploration and encourage students - especially girls - to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). NASA's Deputy Administrator Lori Garver and NASA's Associate Administrator for Education Leland Me ...Continue Reading

March 17, 2011 Dwayne Brown Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1726 dwayne.c.brown@nasa.gov Paulette Campbell Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Md. 240-228-6792 paulette.campbell@jhuapl.edu RELEASE: 11-079 NASA'S MESSENGER SPACECRAFT BEGINS HISTORIC ORBIT AROUND MERCURY WASHINGTON -- NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft successfully achieved orbit around Mercury at approximately 9 p.m. EDT Thursday. This marks the first time a spacecraft has accomplished this engineering and scienti ...Continue Reading