NASA is seeking applications from U.S. graduate students for the agency's Space Technology Research Fellowships. The research grants, worth as much as $68,000 per year, will coincide with the start of the 2014 fall term.

Applications will be accepted from students pursuing or planning to pursue master's or doctorate degrees in relevant space technology disciplines at accredited U.S. universities. The grants will sponsor U.S. graduate student researchers who show significant potential to contribute to NASA's strategic space technology objectives through their studies. To date, NASA has awarded grants to 193 student researchers from 68 universities located in 33 states and one U.S. territory.

"To maintain our global leadership in space technology we must continue our investments in university research where some of the best future advancements in space technology reside," said Michael Gazarik, NASA's associate administrator for space technology in Washington. "These investments will enable a new generation of our best and brightest graduate students to contribute meaningfully to the advancement of technology capabilities for future NASA missions, as well as the nations technology based economy."

Sponsored by NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate, the fellowships are improving Americas technological competitiveness by providing the nation with a pipeline of innovative space technologies.

The deadline for submitting applications is Nov. 13. For more information and instructions on how to submit applications, visit: http://tinyurl.com/NSTRF14

NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate is building, testing and flying the technologies needed for NASA's missions that are also of benefit to the nation. For more information about NASA's Space Technology Program, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/spacetech

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NASA Seeks America's Best and Brightest for Space Technology Research Fellowships

NASA Global Hawk 871 rolls out on the runway at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility after landing following a flight in the 2013 HS3 hurricane formation and intensification mission.Image Credit: NASA WFF.

NASA's Global Hawk unmanned aircraft project celebrated a flight milestone on Sept. 17, 2013. The two Global Hawks reached a combined 100 NASA flights while deployed to NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Wallops Island, Va., to study hurricane formation and intensification in the Atlantic Ocean region.

NASA's Global Hawk 871 departed Sept. 17 from Wallops marking the 25th flight for this aircraft, the first of seven built by Northrop Grumman under the original Global Hawk Advanced Concept Technology Demonstrator development program sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. This aircraft first flew under NASA operation in May 2010.

The same day, NASA Global Hawk 872 returned to Wallops after making its 75th flight. This aircraft was the sixth built as a technology demonstrator and was first flown by NASA in October 2009.

The 100 flights are a combination of early evaluation flights, science instrument checkout flights, science missions and several technology development flights flown for the Northrop Grumman Corp. under a Space Act Agreement with NASA.

This graphic image shows the flight path (red lines) of NASA Global Hawk 872 over tropical storm Humberto during its flight on Sept. 16 and 17, overlaid on this NOAA GOES-East satellite image from Sept. 17.Image Credit: NASA GOES Project.

The two aircraft are currently supporting NASA's Hurricane and Severe Storm Sentinel (HS3) mission, which is studying tropical storms and the processes that underlie hurricane formation and intensification. The aircraft are equipped with instruments to survey the overall environment of the storms and peer into the inner core of hurricanes to study their structure and processes. Global Hawks are well suited for hurricane investigations because they can fly for as long as 28 hours and over-fly hurricanes at altitudes greater than 60,000 feet. The aircraft have a range of 11,000 nautical miles.

The Global Hawks were transferred to NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center on Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., from the U.S. Air Force in 2007. In addition to a ground operations center at Dryden, a newer second operations center was developed at Wallops and is in use for the HS3 mission. The project also developed a portable operations center, giving the aircraft the additional capability of deploying to other U.S. and foreign locations.

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NASA's Global Hawks Mark 100th NASA Flight Milestone

LOS ANGELES NASA's Curiosity rover hasn't discovered any signs of methane in the atmosphere of Mars, a finding that does not bode well for the possibility that microbes capable of producing the gas could be living below the planet's surface, scientists said Thursday.

Since landing in Gale Crater last year, the car-size rover has gulped Mars air and scanned it with a tiny laser in search of methane. On Earth, most of the gas is a byproduct of life, spewed when animals digest or plants decay.

Curiosity lacks the tools to directly hunt for simple life, past or present. But scientists had high hopes that the rover would inhale methane after orbiting spacecraft and Earth-based telescopes detected plumes of the gas several years ago.

During Curiosity's first eight months on the red planet, it sniffed the air during the day and at night as the season changed from spring to summer.

"Every time we looked, we never saw it," said Christopher Webster, of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, who led the research published online in the journal Science.

Webster said while the result was "disappointing in many ways," the hunt for the elusive gas continues.

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NASA rover finds no methane on Mars in blow to search for life

Barring a catastrophic malfunction or damaging impacts from space debris, NASA should be able to keep the International Space Station (ISS) in operation at least through 2020 and, with steady funding, careful planning and a bit of luck, through 2028 -- the 30th anniversary of the first module's launch -- officials say.

But reduced power from degraded solar arrays and other crippling consequences of decades spent in the extreme environment of space will slowly but surely take their toll and the cost-benefit ratio eventually will tilt in favor of abandonment and a fiery controlled re-entry.

The International Space Station.

While the engineering and management challenges associated with keeping the station operational are daunting, ISS program manager Michael Suffredini says they should be doable, as long as NASA has the resources to build spare parts, pay for cargo launches and provide transportation for U.S. astronauts, either aboard U.S. commercial spacecraft or Russian Soyuz capsules.

"We have a space station that is designed in a modular fashion meant for repair," Suffredini told CBS News. "So as long as you have spares for all the things that can break, you can last as long as the structure will let you last. Within reason.

"The structure, it turns out, most of it was originally designed for 30 years. So all that margin has made it relatively easy for us to get to 2020. 2028 will be a little bit more challenging. ... We may have to sharpen our pencils to get to 2028."

Boeing, NASA's space station prime contractor, is currently conducting a detailed engineering analysis to verify that the U.S. segment of the complex can safely operate through the end of the decade. Russian engineers are assessing their own hardware, as are the other international partners.

The Boeing analysis is not yet complete and additional work will be needed to to show the lab can be safely operated beyond 2020. But Suffredini said no major surprises have cropped up so far and he's optimistic the station eventually can be cleared to fly through 2028 -- in theory, at least.

"When we get to 2028, the solar arrays are going to be struggling, I'm probably going to have a handful of radiator lines that have been isolated," he said. "2028 might be possible, but it also might be very challenging because then you're talking about the cost of replacing big things that may be prohibitive.

"All our analysis kind of says we think we can get to 2028 and that's the path we're headed on. As we start getting beyond 2028, if it makes sense, and things aren't failing at a rate that makes it difficult for us to keep up, and the country thinks it's the right thing to do, then we can look at going beyond that.

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NASA looks to post-2020 International Space Station operations

Voyager 1 Has Finally Reached Interstellar Space | NASA JPL Space Science HD Video
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Voyager 1 Has Finally Reached Interstellar Space | NASA JPL Space Science HD Video - Video

Google loses NASA discount on jet fuel
CNN #39;s Dan Simon takes a look at the deal that helped Google founders get a discount on jet fuel from NASA.

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Google loses NASA discount on jet fuel - Video

NASA Fall Fling Spec E30 lightning race Sunday September 15th, 2013
My first Spec E30 win in NASA racing. #40 RAAW Motorsports start on pole and finished 1st place. Dropped back to 5th during race due to a thunder roadster sl...

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NASA Fall Fling Spec E30 lightning race Sunday September 15th, 2013 - Video

NASA has launched its third lunar probe in five years with an unmanned spacecraft that aims to study the Moon's atmosphere.

Blazing a red path in the night sky, the spacecraft lifted off from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia at 11.27pm local time Friday (1327 AEST Saturday) aboard a converted Air Force ballistic missile known as the Minotaur V rocket.

'The spacecraft is in good health and a good orbit at this point,' said NASA commentator George Diller about half an hour after the launch.

The Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) aims to learn more about the atmosphere and dust while circling the Moon.

When US astronauts last walked on the Moon four decades ago, they learned that dust could be a huge problem for sensitive spacecraft and equipment, said space expert John Logsdon.

'If we were ever to go there with people for long duration, the dust gets in everything. It's not smooth dust like a piece of sand on the beach. It's made of very, very small fragments,' said Logsdon, a NASA adviser and former director of the Space Policy Institute at George Washington University.

'All the Apollo crews complained about the lunar dust getting everywhere.'

US astronauts first walked on the Moon in 1969, and the last explorers of the Apollo era visited in 1972.

The journey to the Moon will take about a month and the probe will initially orbit at a height of about 250km for 40 days before moving lower for the science portion of its mission.

After 100 days spent measuring chemical variations in the lunar atmosphere, analysing exosphere gasses and lunar dust grains and looking for water molecules in the lunar atmosphere, the LADEE spacecraft will make a death plunge into the Moon's surface.

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NASA launches spacecraft to study Moon

PASADENA, Calif. - NASA is inviting its social media followers to apply for participation in a two-day NASA Social on Nov. 4 and 5 at the agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. The event will highlight NASA and JPL's role in studying Earth and its climate and will preview three Earth-observing missions JPL is preparing for launch in 2014.

The event will offer people who connect with NASA through Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and other social networks the opportunity to interact with scientists and engineers working on upcoming missions and participate in hands-on demonstrations. Participants will also interact with fellow tweeps, space enthusiasts and members of NASA's social media team. They will get a behind-the-scenes tour of JPL, including:

* The Spacecraft Assembly Facility, where hardware for two upcoming Earth missions is currently under construction. This clean room is also where NASA's Voyager and Cassini spacecraft and the Curiosity, Opportunity and Spirit Mars rovers were built and tested.

* The JPL Earth Science Center, where data from many of the agency's Earth-observing missions are showcased in interactive displays.

* The Mission Control Center of NASA's Deep Space Network, where engineers "talk to" spacecraft across the solar system and in interstellar space.

* The JPL Mars Yard, where engineers and scientists test engineering models of NASA's Curiosity rover in a sandy, Mars-like environment.

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NASA Invites Social Media Fans to Earth Science Event

NASA will give 150 of its social media followers an insider's look at America's space program and the opportunity to see a launch in person. The NASA Social, scheduled for Nov. 16 and 18 to coincide with the launch of NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN), will be held at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

NASA Socials are in-person meetings with people who engage with the agency through Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and other social networks.

MAVEN is targeted to launch at 1:27 p.m. EST Nov. 18 on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket.

Registration for the NASA Social opens at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 17 and closes at 3 p.m. Friday, Sept. 27. Participants will be selected from online registrations.

International guests selected to attend the social will be required to submit a scanned copy of their visa and passport. Green card holders will be required to submit a scanned copy of their card.

NASA Social participants will have the opportunity to:

- View the launch of the Atlas V rocket carrying MAVEN.

- Hear first-hand accounts of the mission development and research goals from the MAVEN science and engineering teams from NASA Kennedy, Goddard and other organizations.

- Get a behind-the-scenes tour of the Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (Note: All sites on KSC / CCAFS are subject to closure due to mission or operation requirements), including potential opportunities to: * Look Inside the Vehicle Assembly Building. *View the Atlas V launch pad. * Visit the Launch Control Center.

- Meet and interact with representatives from NASA and other organizations.

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NASA Hosts Social Media Event at MAVEN Launch in Florida

NASA is reaching out to a new community for ideas on how to find and track potentially hazardous asteroids, and protect the planet from their impacts. The World Maker Faire is being held Sept. 21-22 at the New York Hall of Science, 47-01 111th St., in New York.

The World Maker Faire is a festival of invention, creativity and resourcefulness - the exact qualities NASA is looking for to help in solving the global challenge asteroid threats present.

NASA Chief Technologist Mason Peck will be on hand to talk about how Makers can help shape space exploration and be a critical player in NASA's asteroid initiative.

"Unlike traditional NASA missions of exploration and science, this grand challenge is driven by the idea that protecting our planet is an issue bigger than any one program, mission or country," Peck said. "For the first time, NASA has reached out to industry, academia, stakeholder organizations and private citizens for ideas on how to find, track and deflect asteroids. These partnerships represent a new way of doing business for NASA and a call to action for Makers: join us to become a critical part of the future of space exploration."

NASA will offer Makers a chance to program science hardware and learn how small, do-it-yourself projects might be used to help track and understand asteroids, using their own personal computers. NASA also will showcase the Centennial Challenges Program, with winning teams and technology from the Astronaut Glove and Sample Robot Return challenges.

Media interested in attending Maker Faire should register online at:

Home Page

Media interested in speaking to Peck should contact Sarah Ramsey at sarah.ramsey@nasa.gov.

NASA's asteroid initiative has two parts: the mission by astronauts to explore an asteroid and a grand challenge to protect the planet. It is included in President Obama's fiscal year 2014 budget request for NASA, and leverages the agency's progress on asteroid discovery and study, the Space Launch System rocket, Orion spacecraft and cutting-edge technology development.

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NASA Highlights Asteroid Grand Challenge at World Maker Faire

NASA commercial space partner Orbital Sciences Corporation of Dulles, Va., successfully launched its Cygnus cargo spacecraft aboard its Antares rocket at 10:58 a.m. EDT Wednesday from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport Pad-0A at NASAs Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.

This is the first time a spacecraft launched from Virginia is blazing a trail toward the International Space Station, heralding a new U.S. capability to resupply the orbiting laboratory.

Traveling 17,500 mph in Earth's orbit, Cygnus is on its way to rendezvous with the space station Sunday, Sept. 22. The spacecraft will deliver about 1,300 pounds (589 kilograms) of cargo, including food and clothing, to the Expedition 37 crew, who will grapple and attach the capsule using the station's robotic arm.

"Today marks a milestone in our new era of exploration as we expand the capability for making cargo launches to the International Space Station from American shores," said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden. "Orbital's extraordinary efforts are helping us fulfill the promise of American innovation to maintain our nation's leadership in space."

Orbital is building and testing its Antares rocket and Cygnus spacecraft under NASAs Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) Program. The successful completion of the COTS demonstration mission will pave the way for Orbital to conduct eight planned cargo resupply flights to the space station through NASAs $1.9 billion Commercial Resupply Services contract with the company.

Future Cygnus flights will significantly increase NASA's ability to deliver new science investigations to the only laboratory in microgravity. As one of two U.S. carriers capable of providing cargo resupply missions to the space station, a successful demonstration mission will ensure a robust national capability to deliver critical science payloads to orbit. NASA's other cargo resupply provider, Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX), began flying regular cargo missions to the space station in 2012, following its own COTS demonstration mission.

"Todays launch is the culmination of more than five years work between the NASA and Orbital teams," said Alan Lindenmoyer, NASAs program manager for commercial crew and cargo. "Everyone involved should be extremely proud, and we are looking forward to a successful series of checkouts between now and when Cygnus reaches the space station this weekend."

Over the next several days, Cygnus will perform a series of maneuvers to test and prove its systems, ensuring it can safely enter the so-called "keep-out sphere" of the space station, a 656-foot (200-meter) radius surrounding the complex.

NASA Television coverage for grapple and berthing operations will begin at 4:30 a.m. Sept. 22 and continue through the capture and installation of the Cygnus spacecraft. Capture is scheduled for about 7:25 a.m. with installation of the spacecraft beginning around 9 a.m.

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NASA Partner Orbital Sciences Launches Demonstration Mission to Space Station

Washington, Sept 18 : NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) will kick off a quest for an innovative and affordable space-based system to extend the Landsat satellite data record for decades to come with a public forum and call for ideas Wednesday, Sept. 18.

The Sustainable Land Imaging Architecture Study Industry and Partner Day will take place from 1-4:30 p.m. EDT in the NASA Headquarters Webb Auditorium at 300 E St. SW in Washington.

Following this public forum, NASA will release a request for information to seek new ideas on the design of such a system.

In April, the Obama Administration directed NASA to conduct the study as part of its initiative to create for the first time a long-term, sustainable system in space to provide Landsat-quality global observations for at least the next 20 years.

The Sustainable Land Imaging Program, announced in President Obama's proposed fiscal year 2014 budget, directs NASA to lead the overall system architecture study with participation from USGS.

Representatives of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, NASA and USGS will present details of the study process and planning timeline during the public forum.

"We are looking for system design solutions that spur innovation and increase efficiencies, making use of aerospace expertise from across the government and commercial aerospace sector," said David Jarrett, study lead in the Earth Science Division of NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington.

"We will evaluate a range of solutions, including large and small dedicated spacecraft, formation flying, hosted payloads, and international and private sector collaborations."

"Landsat data are used by a broad range of specialists to assess some of the world's most critical issues -- the food, water, forests, and other natural resources needed for a growing world population." said Matt Larsen, USGS associate director for climate and land use change.

"We are happy to participate in the NASA study to help develop and refine the long-term future of this program, while at the same time recognizing that it is vital that we maintain our Landsat observational capabilities over the short-term to ensure that no data gap occurs."

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NASA launches global land imaging system study

NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) will kick off a quest for an innovative and affordable space-based system to extend the Landsat satellite data record for decades to come with a public forum and call for ideas Wednesday, Sept. 18.

The Sustainable Land Imaging Architecture Study Industry and Partner Day will take place from 1-4:30 p.m. EDT in the NASA Headquarters Webb Auditorium at 300 E St. SW in Washington. Following this public forum, NASA will release a request for information to seek new ideas on the design of such a system.

In April, the Obama Administration directed NASA to conduct the study as part of its initiative to create for the first time a long-term, sustainable system in space to provide Landsat-quality global observations for at least the next 20 years. The Sustainable Land Imaging Program, announced in President Obama's proposed fiscal year 2014 budget, directs NASA to lead the overall system architecture study with participation from USGS.

Representatives of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, NASA and USGS will present details of the study process and planning timeline during the public forum.

"We are looking for system design solutions that spur innovation and increase efficiencies, making use of aerospace expertise from across the government and commercial aerospace sector," said David Jarrett, study lead in the Earth Science Division of NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. "We will evaluate a range of solutions, including large and small dedicated spacecraft, formation flying, hosted payloads, and international and private sector collaborations."

"Landsat data are used by a broad range of specialists to assess some of the worlds most critical issues -- the food, water, forests, and other natural resources needed for a growing world population. said Matt Larsen, USGS associate director for climate and land use change. "We are happy to participate in the NASA study to help develop and refine the long-term future of this program, while at the same time recognizing that it is vital that we maintain our Landsat observational capabilities over the short-term to ensure that no data gap occurs."

The objective of the Sustainable Land Imaging study is to design an approach to develop space-based systems that can provide continuous Landsat-quality data for at least 20 years and be sustained in a tight federal budget environment. The system is planned to continue the 41-year-old Landsat data record, which was assembled with a series of single satellites implemented one at a time.

The most recent addition to the long-running series, Landsat 8, launched in February, is performing well. Landsat 7, launched in 1999 and now operating with limited redundancy and a waning fuel supply, could fail or run out of fuel in the next few years. Both satellites were developed and launched by NASA. The spacecraft are operated by the USGS, which is responsible for generating, archiving, and distributing a range of standard products based on the spaceborne measurements.

The Landsat program provides continuous global, moderate-resolution measurements of land and coastal regions, providing humanity's longest record of our planet from space. Landsat data provide a consistent and reliable foundation for research on land use change, forest health and carbon inventories, and changes to our environment, climate, and natural resources.

The free and open availability of Landsat data enables routine use of the measurements by decision makers both inside and outside the government, for a wide range of natural resource issues including water resource management, wildfire response, agricultural productivity, rangeland management, and the effects of climate change.

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NASA Launches Study of New Global Land Imaging System

NASA #39;s Voyager 1 enters interstellar space
For more: http://lat.ms/18THP1r NASA said Thursday that the Voyager 1 probe has become the first human-made object to leave our solar system and enter inters...

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NASA's Voyager 1 enters interstellar space - Video

NASA Launches Frog Toward Space by Accident
A photo captured by NASA shows a frog at the launch site of the LADEE rocket.

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NASA Launches Frog Toward Space by Accident - Video

NASA/JPL Voyager News Conference: Voyager Leaves The Solar System And Enters Interstellar Space
NASA/JPL Voyager News Conference. Voyager Leaves The Solar System, Becomes First Interstellar Spacecraft NASA #39;s Voyager 1 spacecraft officially is the first ...

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NASA/JPL Voyager News Conference: Voyager Leaves The Solar System And Enters Interstellar Space - Video

Large Solar Prominence on September 11, 2013 | NASA SDO Space Science HD Video
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Large Solar Prominence on September 11, 2013 | NASA SDO Space Science HD Video - Video

Hi-Def - NASA JPL Voyager News Conference Voyager Leaves The Solar System And Enters Interstellar S
NASA/JPL Voyager News Conference. Voyager Leaves The Solar System, Becomes First Interstellar Spacecraft NASA #39;s Voyager 1 spacecraft officially is the first ...

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Hi-Def - NASA JPL Voyager News Conference Voyager Leaves The Solar System And Enters Interstellar S - Video

Voyager 1 becomes the first manmade probe to enter interstellar space, NASA says
More Breaking News: http://smarturl.it/BreakingNews Subscribe: http://smarturl.it/reuterssubscribe NASA scientists say it took 36 years for the unmanned probe to leave the solar system. Linda...

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Voyager 1 becomes the first manmade probe to enter interstellar space, NASA says - Video