Space Weather News for Dec. 5, 2006 http://spaceweather.com MAJOR SOLAR FLARE: Earth-orbiting satellites detected a powerful X-class solar flare this morning, Dec. 5th, at 10:35 Universal Time. The source: big, new sunspot 929, which is emerging over the Sun's eastern limb. Because of the sunspot's position near the limb, this flare was not Earth-directed. Future eruptions could be, however, because the Sun's spin is turning the spot toward Earth. Sunspot 929 will be visible for the next two weeks as it glides a ...Continue Reading

SPACE.com Update for December 4, 2006  * DESTINATIONS:* *News* *|* *SpaceFlight* *|* *Science/Astronomy* *|* *SETI* *|*   *Space Business News* *December 4, 2006*     *TOP STORY* *posted: December 4, 2006 12:50 pm EDT* *Shuttle Discovery: Commander, Pilot Ready for Complex Mission*When NASA?s shuttle Discovery launches toward the International Space Station (ISS) this week, you can be sure that a s ...Continue Reading

Dec. 4, 2006 Michael Braukus/Beth Dickey Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1979/2087 Kelly Humphries Johnson Space Center, Houston 281-483-5111 RELEASE: 06-361 NASA UNVEILS GLOBAL EXPLORATION STRATEGY AND LUNAR ARCHITECTURE HOUSTON - NASA on Monday unveiled the initial elements of the Global Exploration Strategy and a proposed U.S. lunar architecture, two critical tools for achieving the nation's vision of returning humans to the moon. NASA Deputy Administrator Shana Dale, who is guiding the long-term strat ...Continue Reading

The following sections were updated since 01 December 2006. -- DUST AND SMOKE (1 updated events, 1 new images) -- DUST STORM NEAR BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA A dust storm, possibly mingled with smoke from nearby fires, clouded the skies over Brisbane, Australia, in late November 2006. By December 1, the dust plume had moved northward over the Coral Sea. * http://naturalhazards.nasa.gov/shownh.php3?img_id=13998 *** MODIS(Aqua) image from Nov 30 2006 (Posted on Dec 01 2006 10:02PM) -- FIRE (2 updated events, 2 new images) -- ...Continue Reading

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2006 LAUNCH OF SPACE SHUTTLE DISCOVERY Date/Time/Location: Thursday, Dec. 7, 9:35 p.m. EST, Cape Canaveral, Fla. During STS-116, Discovery's crew will rewire the International Space Station, bringing electrical power on line from the solar arrays installed earlier this year. Watch the launch on the Web at http://www.nasa.gov or on NASA Television. FINAL MANDATORY ETHICS TRAINING CLASS Date/Time/Location: Thursday, Dec. 7, 2 p.m., MIC 6 Cont ...Continue Reading

Dec. 4, 2006 Dwayne Brown/Erica Hupp Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1726/1237 Guy Webster Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. 818-354-6278 MEDIA ADVISORY: M06-186 NASA SCHEDULES BRIEFING TO ANNOUNCE SIGNIFICANT FIND ON MARS WASHINGTON - NASA hosts a news briefing at 1 p.m. EST, Wednesday, Dec. 6, to present new science results from the Mars Global Surveyor. The briefing will take place in the NASA Headquarters auditorium located at 300 E Street, S.W. in Washington and carried live on NASA Televis ...Continue Reading

LiveScience.com Monday, December 4, 2006 Survival of the Loudest: Urban Birds Change Their Tune To survive the urban jungle, birds change their tune, with faster-paced and higher-pitched songs to make them heard above the din. Earthquake Forecasts Possible with Seconds to Spare Italian scientists say the effects of strong earthquakes can be predicted seconds before the destruction occurs. Smart or Scary? Software That Follows You Rity, a software robot (or "sobot" ...Continue Reading

Space Weather News for Dec. 3, 2006 http://spaceweather.com FREQUENT FIREBALLS: Have you ever stepped outside after dinner to walk the dog--just in time to see a bright fireball streak across the sky? It makes you wonder, how often does that happen? More often than you think. A NASA meteor expert has used a computer model of Earth's meteoroid environment to calculate how often Earth runs into bits and pieces of comets and asteroids big enough to produce fireballs. (A fireball is defined to be a meteor brighter than ...Continue Reading

NASA Science News for December 1, 2006 Meteoroids are hitting the Moon more often than anyone expected. That's the tentative conclusion of astronomers who recently saw two Leonids hit the Moon and explode. The full story includes a movie of one of the Leonid impacts. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2006/01dec_lunarleonid.htm?list882224 Check out our RSS feed at http://science.nasa.gov/rss.xml! You are currently subscribed to snglist as: nasa_reports@aus-city.com. This is a free service. To unsubscrib ...Continue Reading

Dec. 1, 2006 David Mould/Bob Jacobs Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1898/1600 RELEASE: 06-360 NASA ADMINISTRATOR SPEAKS TO DISTINGUISHED ROYAL SOCIETY LONDON - NASA Administrator Michael Griffin on Friday called the exploration of space "the boldest human adventure yet conceived" and emphasized the importance of international collaboration in journeys to the moon, Mars and other destinations in the solar system. "The exploration and development of the space frontier is, truly, the most techn ...Continue Reading