March 11, 2008 John Yembrick Headquarters, Washington 202-358-0602 john.yembrick-1@nasa.gov Kylie Clem Johnson Space Center, Houston 281-483-5111 kylie.s.clem@nasa.gov CONTRACT RELEASE: C08-011 NASA EXTENDS CONTRACT FOR ASTRONAUT TRAINING FACILITIES HOUSTON - NASA has issued a contract extension with a potential value of $78.25 million to Raytheon Technical Services Co. of Webster, Texas. The contractor will support facilities and operations for astronaut training at NASA's Johnson Space Center and Sonny Cart ...Continue Reading

March 11, 2008 Beth Dickey Headquarters, Washington 202-358-2087 beth.dickey-1@nasa.gov RELEASE: 08-080 NASA ANNOUNCES AERONAUTICS RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES WASHINGTON - NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate has released its "Research Opportunities in Aeronautics 2008" announcement. The initial version of this announcement solicits research in support of the Supersonics Project. The goals of the Supersonics Project are to address technical challenges associated with supersonic flight over lan ...Continue Reading

The following sections were updated since 10 March 2008. -- FLOOD (1 updated events, 1 new images) -- LA NINA FLOODS SOUTH AMERICA La Nina brought persistent heavy rains to parts of South America, causing deadly flooding in early 2008. * http://naturalhazards.nasa.gov/shownh.php3?img_id=14739 *** (TRMM) image from Mar 04 2008 (Posted on Mar 11 2008 12:54PM) -- STORM (1 updated events, 1 new images) -- TROPICAL CYCLONE JOKWE Tropical Cyclone Jokwe had just skimmed past northern Madagascar and was moving south into th ...Continue Reading

March 11, 2008 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: 08-077 NASA'S SHUTTLE ENDEAVOUR BEGINS MISSION TO THE SPACE STATION CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Space shuttle Endeavour brought an early sunrise to the East Coast Tuesday, launching from NASA's Kennedy Space Center at 2:28 a.m. EDT and beginning the STS-123 mission to the International Space Station. During the 16-day flight, En ...Continue Reading

March 10, 2008 Dwayne Brown Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1726 dwayne.c.brown@nasa.gov RELEASE: 08-079a CORRECTION -- NASA SELECTS SCIENTISTS AND INVESTIGATIONS FOR ROBOTIC MOON MISSION The URL given for viewing the list of selected scientists announced in this press release was incorrect. The release should read: For a complete list of the selected scientists and their investigations, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/216482main_LRO_Participating_Scientists.pdf WASHINGTON - NASA has selected 24 scientists to ...Continue Reading

March 10, 2008 Dwayne Brown Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1726 dwayne.c.brown@nasa.gov RELEASE: 08-079 NASA SELECTS SCIENTISTS AND INVESTIGATIONS FOR ROBOTIC MOON MISSION WASHINGTON - NASA has selected 24 scientists to initiate new investigations and assist with planned measurements to be conducted by the agency's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO). Scheduled for launch later this year, LRO represents NASA's first step toward returning humans to the moon. The orbiter will conduct a one-year primary mission ...Continue Reading

March 10, 2008 Dwayne Brown Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1726 dwayne.c.brown@nasa.gov Carolina Martinez Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. 818-354-9382 carolina.martinez@jpl.nasa.gov RELEASE: 08-078 CASSINI SPACECRAFT TO DIVE INTO WATER PLUME OF SATURN MOON PASADENA, Calif. - NASA's Cassini spacecraft will make an unprecedented "in your face" flyby of Saturn's moon Enceladus on Wed., March 12. The spacecraft, orchestrating its closest approach to date, will skirt along the edges of hug ...Continue Reading

The following sections were updated since 07 March 2008. -- DUST AND SMOKE (2 updated events, 3 new images) -- DUST STORM OVER EAST ASIA A dust storm passed over the Beijing region and the Yellow Sea in early March 2008. * http://naturalhazards.nasa.gov/shownh.php3?img_id=14735 *** MODIS(Terra) image from Mar 01 2008 (Posted on Mar 10 2008 12:30PM) DUST STORMS OVER THE MIDDLE EAST Dust storms struck the Middle East in late February 2008. * http://naturalhazards.nasa.gov/shownh.php3?img_id=14734 *** MODIS(Terra) ima ...Continue Reading

March 10, 2008 Steve Cole Headquarters, Washington 202-358-0918 stephen.e.cole@nasa.gov MEDIA ADVISORY: M08-056 MEDIA INVITED TO NASA CO-SPONSORED 'POLAR-PALOOZA' TOUR WASHINGTON - "Polar-Palooza: Stories from a Changing Planet," an education initiative supported by NASA and the National Science Foundation (NSF), comes to the National Geographic Society in Washington on March 13 as part of a national tour of science centers and museums. Polar-Palooza is a multimedia presentation featuring original ...Continue Reading

March 7, 2008 J.D. Harrington Headquarters, Washington 202-358-5241 j.d.harrington@nasa.gov Robert Naeye/Rob Gutro Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. 301-286-4453/4044 Lisa De Nike Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md. 443-287-9960 Lde@jhu.edu Kitta MacPherson Princeton University, Princeton, N.J. 609-258-5729 kittamac@princeton.edu Rebecca Johnson University of Texas at Austin McDonald Observatory 512-475-6763 rjohnson@astro.as.utexas.edu RELEASE: 08-079 WMAP REVEALS NEUTRINOS, END OF DARK AGES, ...Continue Reading