SPACE.com Update for August 31, 2006 A {color: 333366; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 8pt; font-weight: bold}  * DESTINATIONS:* *News* *|* *SpaceFlight* *|* *Science/Astronomy* *|* *SETI* *|*   *Space Business News* *August 31, 2006*   *TOP STORY* *posted: August 31, 2006 03:47 pm EDT* *Sky High Plans For UP Aerospace*Momentum is picking up in staging the X Prize Cup, to be held ...Continue Reading

First, the NASA History Division is pleased to announce the publication of/ Science in Flux: NASA's Nuclear Program at Plum Brook Station, 1955-2005/ (NASA SP-2006-4317) by Mark D. Bowles. Please order by contacting the NASA Center for Aerospace Information at 7121 Standard Drive Hanover, Maryland 21076, (301) 621-0390 or order from _https://www.sti.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/ordersti.pl_ online. Please mention the title and Document ID # 20060027114. The price code is EA5 (Within U.S. $25; outside U.S. $40.00). Shipping and han ...Continue Reading

Aug. 31, 2006 Michael Braukus/Beth Dickey Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1979/2087 Kelly Humphries Johnson Space Center, Houston 281-483-5111 RELEASE: 06-305 NASA SELECTS ORION CREW EXPLORATION VEHICLE PRIME CONTRACTOR NASA selected Wednesday Lockheed Martin Corp., based in Bethesda, Md., as the prime contractor to design, develop, and build Orion, America's spacecraft for a new generation of explorers. Orion will be capable of transporting four crewmembers for lunar missions and later supporting crew transf ...Continue Reading

The following sections were updated since 30 August 2006. -- FIRE (2 updated events, 2 new images) -- FIRES IN NORTHERN TERRITORY, AUSTRALIA At the end of August 2006, late dry-season fires were burning in Arnhem Land in Australia's Northern Territory and across the Kimberley Plateau in Western Australia. * http://naturalhazards.nasa.gov/shownh.php3?img_id=13826 *** MODIS(Aqua) image from Aug 31 2006 (Posted on Aug 31 2006 1:23PM) FIRES IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA In late August 2006, firefighters in northern California ...Continue Reading

Aug. 31, 2006 Erica Hupp/Dwayne Brown Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1237/1726 Rob Gutro Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. 301-286-4044 RELEASE: 06-306 NASA STUDY SOLVES OCEAN PLANT MYSTERY A NASA-sponsored study shows that by using a new technique, scientists can determine what limits the growth of ocean algae, or phytoplankton, and how this affects Earth's climate. Phytoplankton is a microscopic ocean plant and an important part of the ocean food chain. By knowing what limits its growth scientist ...Continue Reading

Strategic Space and Defense 2006 gathers again in Omaha *Strategic Space and Defense 2006 gathers again in Omaha* The Space Foundation and /Space News/ present *Strategic Space and Defense 2006* at the Qwest Center Omaha 10-12 Oct. The conference addresses the space-related and other key missions of the United States Strategic Command, its component and supported commands, and the contributions and leadership of the aerospace contractor ...Continue Reading

------------------------------------------------------------------- Thursday, Aug. 31, 2006 NASA UPDATE WITH THE ADMINISTRATOR Date/Time/Location: Thursday, Aug. 31, 1 p.m., auditorium NASA Administrator Michael Griffin will hold a NASA Update to discuss NASA¹s Commercial Orbital Transportation Services initiative, the upcoming Crew Exploration Vehicle (Orion) contract award, as well as our progress toward "return to assembly" for the International Space Station. The program is schedul ...Continue Reading

The following sections were updated since 29 August 2006. -- STORM (2 updated events, 3 new images) -- SUPER TYPHOON IOKE Super Typhoon Ioke started as a tropical depression on August 19, 2006, and quickly became a tropical storm. Ioke was the first tropical storm to form in the central Pacific since 2002. * http://naturalhazards.nasa.gov/shownh.php3?img_id=13822 *** MODIS(Terra) image from Aug 29 2006 (Posted on Aug 30 2006 12:05PM) HURRICANE ERNESTO Hurricane Ernesto formed in the eastern Caribbean Sea on August 2 ...Continue Reading

Aug. 30, 2006 Erica Hupp/Dwayne Brown Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1237/1726 Alan Buis Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. 818-354-0474 RELEASE: 06-300 NASA, NOAA DATA INDICATE OZONE LAYER IS RECOVERING A new study using NASA and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) data finds consistent evidence that Earth's ozone layer is on the mend. A team led by Eun-Su Yang of the Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, analyzed 25 years of independent ozone observations at different altit ...Continue Reading

SPACE.com Update for August 30, 2006 A {color: 333366; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 8pt; font-weight: bold}  * DESTINATIONS:* *News* *|* *SpaceFlight* *|* *Science/Astronomy* *|* *SETI* *|*   *Space Business News* *August 30, 2006*   *TOP STORY* *posted: August 30, 2006 11:27 am EDT* *Mars Orbiter Ready to Begin Engine Burn*BOULDER, Colorado – Ground controllers are ...Continue Reading