19-09-2012 12:37 Watch how the winds of a large Arctic cyclone broke up the thinning sea ice cover of the Arctic Ocean in early August 2012. The storm likely contributed to the ice cap's shrinking to the smallest recorded extent in the past three decades. The frozen cap of the Arctic Ocean likely reached its annual summertime minimum extent and broke a new record low on Sept. 16, the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) at the University of Colorado in Boulder has reported. Analysis of satellite data by NASA and the NASA-supported NSIDC showed that the sea ice extent shrunk to 1.32 million square miles (3.41 million square kilometers), or 293000 square miles less than the previous lowest extent in the satellite record, set in mid-September, 2007. "Climate models have predicted a retreat of the Arctic sea ice; but the actual retreat has proven to be much more rapid than the predictions," said Claire Parkinson, a climate scientist atNASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. "There continues to be considerable interannual variability in the sea ice cover, but the long-term retreat is quite apparent." This year, the cyclone formed off the coast of Alaska and moved on Aug. 5 to the center of the Arctic Ocean, where it churned the weakened ice cover for several days. The storm cut off a large section of sea ice north of the Chukchi Sea and pushed it south to warmer waters that made it melt entirely. It also broke vast extensions of ice into smaller pieces more likely to melt. "The ...

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NASA | Arctic Cyclone Breaks Up Sea Ice - Video

WASHINGTON Disappointed with the direction of NASA's human spaceflight program over the past two decades, two Texas congressmen introduced legislation Thursday aimed at de-politicizing the agency.

Rep. John Culberson, a Houston Republican, said the lawmakers were pushing the proposal "today to restore the NASA we know and love."

"The NASA that we know is capable of maintaining that world leadership in space exploration if we would just make them get the politics out of NASA to allow them do what they do best, to let the scientists, the engineers, the astronauts and the professional that have made that agency such an amazing place," he said at a news conference in front of the U.S. Capitol.

The proposal, called the Space Leadership Preservation Act of 2012, would create a 10-year term for the NASA administrator - inspired by the 10-year term of the nonpartisan FBI director - and the establishment of an 11-member board of directors.

Under the act, the president, speaker of the House and president pro tempore of the Senate would each appoint three members of the board and the Senate and House minority leaders would each select one. It is co-sponsored by Culberson, Sugar Land Rep. Pete Olson, Florida Rep. Bill Posey and Virginia Rep. Frank Wolf. The measure has no Democratic sponsors.

Culberson said NASA abandoned missions and wasted taxpayer money because of a lack of continuity in its leadership and an overabundance of influence from presidential administrations, citing 27 program cancellations in 20 years.

The congressmen also expressed concern that the U.S. is steadily falling behind other countries in space exploration and losing its standing as the leader in the new frontier. Olson accused NASA of settling to be "space hitchhikers with the Russians."

"After 40 years of unquestioned U.S. dominance in space, the 21st century has already seen competition from other countries, including those who do not share our democratic values," Wolf said, referring to the advancements in the Chinese space program.

The bill has virtually no chance of winning passage in the waning days of the current Congress. But GOP lawmakers were laying down a marker for debate over NASA's future in the next Congress.

Culberson and Olson said the proposal has the blessing of Rep. Lamar Smith, the San Antonio Republican expected to become chairman of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee if Republicans retain control of the House.

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Legislation would change how NASA is led

WASHINGTON Disappointed with the direction of NASA's human spaceflight program over the past two decades, two Texas congressmen introduced legislation Thursday aimed at de-politicizing the agency.

Rep. John Culberson, a Houston Republican, said the lawmakers were pushing the proposal "today to restore the NASA we know and love."

"The NASA that we know is capable of maintaining that world leadership in space exploration if we would just make them get the politics out of NASA to allow them do what they do best, to let the scientists, the engineers, the astronauts and the professional that have made that agency such an amazing place," he said at a news conference in front of the U.S. Capitol.

The proposal, called the Space Leadership Preservation Act of 2012, would create a 10-year term for the NASA administrator - inspired by the 10-year term of the nonpartisan FBI director - and the establishment of an 11-member board of directors.

Under the act, the president, speaker of the House and president pro tempore of the Senate would each appoint three members of the board and the Senate and House minority leaders would each select one. It is co-sponsored by Culberson, Sugar Land Rep. Pete Olson, Florida Rep. Bill Posey and Virginia Rep. Frank Wolf. The measure has no Democratic sponsors.

Culberson said NASA abandoned missions and wasted taxpayer money because of a lack of continuity in its leadership and an overabundance of influence from presidential administrations, citing 27 program cancellations in 20 years.

The congressmen also expressed concern that the U.S. is steadily falling behind other countries in space exploration and losing its standing as the leader in the new frontier. Olson accused NASA of settling to be "space hitchhikers with the Russians."

"After 40 years of unquestioned U.S. dominance in space, the 21st century has already seen competition from other countries, including those who do not share our democratic values," Wolf said, referring to the advancements in the Chinese space program.

The bill has virtually no chance of winning passage in the waning days of the current Congress. But GOP lawmakers were laying down a marker for debate over NASA's future in the next Congress.

Culberson and Olson said the proposal has the blessing of Rep. Lamar Smith, the San Antonio Republican expected to become chairman of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee if Republicans retain control of the House.

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2 congressmen want NASA board, 10-year term for leader