June 12, 2008 John Yembrick Headquarters, Washington 202-358-0602 john.yembrick-1@nasa.gov Candrea Thomas Kennedy Space Center, Fla. 321-867-2468 candrea.k.thomas@nasa.gov MEDIA ADVISORY: M08-120 NASA SETS JUNE 16 FOR MEDIA VIEWING OF KENNEDY LAUNCH PAD DAMAGE CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center will be opened to journalists to allow viewing of a site damaged during the May 31 launch of space shuttle Discovery. Reporters will have the opportunity to ask questions about ongoing ...Continue Reading

June 12, 2008 Michael Curie Headquarters, Washington 202-358-4715 michael.curie@nasa.gov Candrea Thomas Kennedy Space Center, Fla. 321-867-2468 candrea.k.thomas@nasa.gov MEDIA ADVISORY: M08-118 SPACE SHUTTLE DISCOVERY SET TO LAND SATURDAY CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- The space shuttle Discovery crew is expected to complete its 14-day flight to the International Space Station with a landing at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 11:15 a.m. EDT on Saturday, June 14. The STS-124 mission began May 31 and deliver ...Continue Reading

June 12, 2008 Stephanie Schierholz/Grey Hautaluoma Headquarters, Washington 202-358-4997/0668 stephanie.schierholz@nasa.gov, grey.hautaluoma-1@nasa.gov Lynnette Madison/Josh Byerly Johnson Space Center, Houston 281-483-5111 lynnette.b.madison@nasa.gov, bill.j.byerly@nasa.gov CONTRACT RELEASE: C08-037 NASA AWARDS CONTRACT FOR CONSTELLATION SPACESUIT FOR THE MOON WASHINGTON -- NASA has awarded a contract to Oceaneering International Inc. of Houston, for the design, development and production of a new spacesuit sys ...Continue Reading

June 12, 2008 Sonja Alexander Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1761 sonja.r.alexander@nasa.gov Keith Koehler Wallops Flight Facility, Va. 757-824-1579 keith.a.koehler@nasa.gov RELEASE: 08-146 UNIVERSITY FACULTY AND STUDENTS TO 'ROCKON!' WITH NASA WALLOPS ISLAND, Va. -- University faculty and students from across the country will RockOn! with NASA during a workshop June 22 - 27 at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island in Virginia. During RockOn!, they will learn the basics of building experiments for ...Continue Reading

June 12, 2008 John Yembrick Headquarters, Washington 202-358-0602 john.yembrick-1@nasa.gov Steve Roy Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala. 256-544-0034 steven.e.roy@nasa.gov CONTRACT RELEASE: C08-035 NASA AWARDS SPACE SHUTTLE MAIN ENGINE CONTRACT MODIFICATION WASHINGTON -- NASA has signed a $16.8 million contract modification to space shuttle main engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne Inc. of Canoga Park, Calif., to incorporate an employee retention plan implemented by the company. Incenti ...Continue Reading

June 12, 2008 Dwayne Brown Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1726 dwayne.c.brown@nasa.gov William P. Jeffs Johnson Space Center, Houston 281-483-5111 william.p.jeffs@nasa.gov RELEASE: 08-143 NASA FINDS NEW TYPE OF COMET DUST MINERAL HOUSTON -- NASA researchers and scientists from the United States, Germany and Japan have found a new mineral in material that likely came from a comet. The mineral, a manganese silicide named Brownleeite, was discovered within an interplanetary dust particle, or IDP, that appears to ...Continue Reading

June 12, 2008 Steve Cole Headquarters, Washington 202-358-0918 stephen.e.cole@nasa.gov RELEASE: 08-145 NASA AIRCRAFT EXAMINE IMPACT OF FOREST FIRES ON ARCTIC CLIMATE WASHINGTON -- As the summer fire season heats up, NASA aircraft are set to follow the trail of smoke plumes from some of Earth's northernmost forest fires, examining their contribution to arctic pollution and implications for climate change. Starting June 29, NASA's DC-8 and P-3B aircraft, based at a Canadian military base in Cold Lake, Alberta, ...Continue Reading

The following sections were updated since 11 June 2008. -- FIRE (1 updated events, 1 new images) -- EVANS ROAD FIRE, NORTH CAROLINA A lightning-triggered fire in a North Carolina wildlife refuge spread smoke over a wide area in mid-June 2008. * http://naturalhazards.nasa.gov/shownh.php3?img_id=14884 *** MODIS(Terra) image from Jun 11 2008 (Posted on Jun 12 2008 9:18AM) -- FLOOD (1 updated events, 1 new images) -- FLOODS IN THE U.S. MIDWEST Heavy rains flooded several rivers in the U.S. Midwest in early June 2008. ...Continue Reading

June 12, 2008 Dwayne Brown Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1726 dwayne.c.brown@nasa.gov DC Agle Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. 818-393-9011 agle@jpl.nasa.gov RELEASE: 08-144 INTERNATIONAL MISSION STUDYING SUN TO CONCLUDE WASHINGTON -- After more than 17 years of pioneering solar science, a joint NASA and European Space Agency mission to study the sun will end on or about July 1. The Ulysses spacecraft has endured for almost four times its expected lifespan. However, the spacecraft will cease ...Continue Reading

June 11, 2008 J.D. Harrington Headquarters, Washington 202-358-5241 j.d.harrington@nasa.gov Rob Gutro Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. 301-286-4044/443-858-1779 robert.j.gutro@nasa.gov George Diller Kennedy Space Center, Fla. 321-861-7643 george.h.diller@nasa.gov Lynn Cominsky Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park, Calif. 707-695-7140 lynnc@universe.sonoma.edu RELEASE: 08-141 NASA'S GLAST LAUNCH SUCCESSFUL CAPE CANAVERAL AIR FORCE STATION, Fla. -- NASA's Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope, or G ...Continue Reading