Dec. 10, 2007 Dwayne Brown Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1726 dwayne.c.brown@nasa.gov RELEASE: 07-269 INTERNATIONAL GROUP PLANS STRATEGY FOR MARS SAMPLE RETURN MISSION WASHINGTON - NASA and an international team are developing plans and seeking recommendations to launch the first Mars mission to bring soil samples back to Earth. The ability to study soil from Mars here on Earth will contribute significantly to answering questions about the possibility of life on the Red Planet. Returned samples also will in ...Continue Reading

As the near-real time users may have noticed, there is a break in the QuikSCAT data stream between Dec 6 and Dec 7 after the system was put in a receive only operational mode, in response to unexpected scatterometer subsystems power reset. There is no evidence that links this incident with the recent battery cell problem. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= User Services Office Physical Oceanography DAAC Email: podaac@podaac.jpl.nasa.gov Jet Propulsion ...Continue Reading

Dec. 10, 2007 Michael Braukus Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1979 michael.j.braukus@nasa.gov Veronica Ramirez U.S. Embassy, Guatemala City, Guatemala 011-502-2326-4483 RamirezV@state.gov MEDIA ADVISORY: M07-179 NASA DEPUTY ADMINISTRATOR VISITS CENTRAL AMERICA WASHINGTON - On Wednesday, Dec. 12, NASA's Deputy Administrator Shana Dale will join NASA researchers to brief reporters about the agency's Earth sciences activities in Central America and their benefits to the region. The briefing will begin at 10:30 a. ...Continue Reading

The following sections were updated since 07 December 2007. -- DUST AND SMOKE (1 updated events, 1 new images) -- HAZE ALONG THE HIMALAYA Haze hugged the southern slopes of the Himalaya in early December 2007. * http://naturalhazards.nasa.gov/shownh.php3?img_id=14651 *** MODIS(Terra) image from Dec 10 2007 (Posted on Dec 10 2007 1:18PM) -- FIRE (1 updated events, 1 new images) -- KANGAROO ISLAND BUSHFIRES Fires have been burning in and near several parks and conservation areas on South Australia's Kangaroo Island fo ...Continue Reading

Dec. 10, 2007 Grey Hautaluoma Headquarters, Washington 202-358-0668 grey.hautaluoma-1@nasa.gov Jennifer Morcone Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala. 256-544-7199 jennifer.j.morcone@nasa.gov Megan Watzke Chandra X-ray Center, Cambridge, Mass. 617-496-7998 mwatzke@cfa.harvard.edu MEDIA ADVISORY: M07-178 NASA ANNOUNCES DISCOVERY OF ASSAULT BY A BLACK HOLE WASHINGTON - Astronomers will hold a media teleconference Monday, Dec. 17, at 1 pm EST to announce the discovery of a first-of-its-kind phenomenon inv ...Continue Reading

Dec. 9, 2007 Katherine Trinidad Headquarters, Washington 202-358-3749 katherine.trinidad@nasa.gov Candrea Thomas Kennedy Space Center, Fla. 321-867-2468 candrea.k.thomas@nasa.gov RELEASE: 07-273 NASA TARGETS SPACE SHUTTLE ATLANTIS LAUNCH ON JAN. 2 CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Space shuttle Atlantis' STS-122 mission to the International Space Station now is targeted to launch no earlier than Jan. 2 from NASA's Kennedy Space Center. The liftoff date depends on the resolution of a problem in a fuel sensor system. Early ...Continue Reading

Dec. 9, 2007 Mike Curie Headquarters, Washington 202-358-4715 michael.curie@nasa.gov Candrea Thomas Kennedy Space Center, Fla. 321-867-2468 candrea.k.thomas@nasa.gov RELEASE: 07-272 NASA POSTPONES SHUTTLE ATLANTIS LAUNCH CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - NASA has delayed Sunday's launch of space shuttle Atlantis on its STS-122 mission to the International Space Station. Shuttle program managers made the decision at 7:24 a.m. EST after a failure occurred in a fuel sensor system while Atlantis' external fuel tank was being ...Continue Reading

Dec. 8, 2007 Katherine Trinidad Headquarters, Washington 202-358-3749 katherine.trinidad@nasa.gov Candrea Thomas Kennedy Space Center, Fla. 321-867-2468 candrea.k.thomas@nasa.gov RELEASE: 07-271 NASA TO LAUNCH SPACE SHUTTLE ATLANTIS SUNDAY CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Space shuttle Atlantis is scheduled to launch Sunday, Dec. 9, at 3:21 p.m. EST, from NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Fla. Shuttle program managers made the liftoff decision after three days of reviewing data on a problem with fuel sensors. Atlantis' sche ...Continue Reading

Dec. 7, 2007 Katherine Trinidad Headquarters, Washington 202-358-3749 katherine.trinidad@nasa.gov Candrea Thomas Kennedy Space Center, Fla. 321-867-2468 candrea.k.thomas@nasa.gov RELEASE: 07-270 NASA TO LAUNCH SPACE SHUTTLE ATLANTIS NO EARLIER THAN SUNDAY CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - NASA is targeting the launch of space shuttle Atlantis no earlier than Sunday, Dec. 9, at 3:21 p.m. EST from the Kennedy Space Center, Fla. Shuttle program managers made the decision after a meeting Friday to review data on a problem wit ...Continue Reading

The following sections were updated since 06 December 2007. -- STORM (2 updated events, 2 new images) -- TROPICAL CYCLONE DAMAN Cyclone Daman tracked across the South Pacific Ocean in early December 2007, threatening Fiji with powerful winds. * http://naturalhazards.nasa.gov/shownh.php3?img_id=14648 *** MODIS(Terra) image from Dec 06 2007 (Posted on Dec 07 2007 1:08PM) FIRST SNOW IN US NORTHEAST A string of storms brought the season's first snow to the eastern United States from the mid-Atlantic states to New Englan ...Continue Reading