Magnetic Fields - A Comparison Between Earth and Mars | NASA Space Science Video
Visit my website at http://www.junglejoel.com - a comparison between Earth #39;s extensive magnetosphere, and Mars #39; minor, localized magnetic fields. A strong magnetosphere may help prevent the solar wind from eroding a planet #39;s atmosphere away. Please rate and comment, thanks! Credit NASAFrom:CoconutScienceLabViews:0 0ratingsTime:00:32More inScience Technology

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Magnetic Fields - A Comparison Between Earth and Mars | NASA Space Science Video - Video

NASA today announced that it has awarded three different companies contracts to develop technology that will enable commercial manned spaceflight from U.S. soil. The Boeing Company, Sierra Nevada Corporation Space System, and Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) were all contracted for …

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NASA Issues Contracts For Future Manned Spaceflights

REUTERS - NASA is adding $30 million to its investment in three companies' efforts to develop spaceships that can fly astronauts to the International Space Station, officials said on Monday.

The U.S. space agency awarded $10 million to privately owned Sierra Nevada Corp, $9.99 million to Boeing and $9.59 million to privately owned Space Exploration Technologies to help the firms get their vehicles certified to fly to the station.

Since the retirement of the space shuttles last year, NASA has been dependent on Russia to fly astronauts to the $100 billion orbital outpost, a research laboratory owned and operated by 15 countries that flies about 250 miles (400 km) above Earth.

The companies have separate agreements with NASA to develop space transportation systems, with the aim of breaking Russia's monopoly by 2017. Boeing was awarded $460 million for its CST-100 capsule, Space Exploration Technologies received $440 million to upgrade its Dragon cargo capsule to carry people and Sierra Nevada was awarded $212.5 million for work on its winged Dream Chaser.

The earlier awards were to help fund the spaceship designs, while the new awards will help fund the process of certifying that they meet NASA safety requirements to carry humans.

"These contracts represent important progress in restoring human spaceflight capabilities to the United States," Phil McAlister, who oversees NASA's commercial spaceflight programs, said in a statement.

"NASA and its industry partners are committed to the goal of safely and cost-effectively launching astronauts from home within the next five years," he said.

The contracts run from January 22, 2013, through May 30, 2014.

(Reporting by Irene Klotz in Mojave, California; Editing by Jane Sutton and Lisa Shumaker)

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NASA adds $30 million for space taxi work

NASA celebrated the 25th anniversary Wednesday for one of the largest and most distinctive structures in the Bay Area. Photo Credit: Mike Anderson

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NASA Ames Wind Tunnel Marks Quarter Century

A new study by the Space Foundation says that NASA should return to its roots by establishing pioneering as its singular, compelling purpose.

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NASA Needs to Re-Discover its Pioneering Roots

Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online NASA has just handed out $30 million to the private spacecraft companies to help get their vehicles certified to fly to the International Space Station (ISS). The U.S. space agency has been relying on the Russian Federal Space Agency to ferry its astronauts to and from the space station since it retired its space shuttle program in the spring ...

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NASA Gives Private Spacecraft Companies $30M To Build ISS Taxi

Using NASA and NOAA's striking images of the Earth after dark, the Web giant creates an interactive map showing the world's flickering lights on a cloudless night. Originally posted at News - Internet & Media

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Google Maps lets users explore NASA's 'Black Marble'

NASA has selected three companies to conduct activities under contracts that will enable future certification of commercial spacecraft as safe to carry humans to the International Space Station.

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NASA Awards Commercial Crew Certification Contracts

NASA's twin Grail spacecraft will crash into the lunar surface intentionally next week, bringing their gravity-mapping mission to a spectacular end.

The probes, known as Ebb and Flow, will be commanded to slam into the moon on Dec. 17, NASA officials said Monday (Dec. 10). The agency will host a press conference Thursday (Dec. 13) at 1:30 p.m. EST (1830 GMT) to discuss the impact and the events leading up to it.

The $496 million Grail mission short for Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory launched in September 2011 to map the moon's gravity field in unprecedented detail. Ebb and Flow arrived in orbit around the moon about one year ago on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, respectively.

The washing-machine-size spacecraft were originally tasked with 90-day science missions, which ran from March to May. But NASA extended Grail, allowing the two probes to gather a trove of additional data.

Ebb and Flow have been flying in formation around the moon, detecting the tiny changes in the distance between them caused by lunar mountains, craters and subsurface mass concentrations. Scientists used these ultra-precise measurements to construct an incredibly accurate map of the lunar gravity field.

This map, unveiled last week at the fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco, reveals that the moon's crust is almost completely pulverized. The surprising find suggests that the moon and other rocky bodies in the inner solar system were pounded by long-ago impacts far more violently than previously believed, researchers said.

The new map was based on data gathered during Grail's original science mission; scientists expect to upgrade it based on measurements the spacecraft made during their extended mission, which brought them even closer to the lunar surface an average altitude of 14 miles (23 km) as opposed to 34 miles (55 km).

Ebb and Flow are now running low on fuel as expected, NASA officials said, so the end is near for the probes. Mission managers will ensure that they go out in style on Dec. 17.

Follow SPACE.com senior writer Mike Wall on Twitter @michaeldwallor SPACE.com @Spacedotcom. We're also on FacebookandGoogle+.

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Twin NASA Probes to Crash into Moon Next Week

ANOTHER ERUPTION MISSES EARTH
Magnetic fields around departing sunspot AR1621 became unstable and erupted during the late hours of Dec. 7th, hurling a bulb of plasma off the sun #39;s western limb. Earth was not in the line of fire. No auroras or other space weather effects will be felt as a result of the blast. Overall, solar activity is very low. The face of the sun is nearly blank (few sunspots) and NOAA forecasters estimate a slight 1% chance of strong flares during the next 24 hours. Video is from the official NASA website and used with their permission: http://www.nasa.govFrom:alabamahitViews:0 0ratingsTime:00:09More inScience Technology

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ANOTHER ERUPTION MISSES EARTH - Video

NASA | GPM Enters Thermal Vacuum Chamber
On Tuesday Nov. 13, 2012, the GPM core observatory was moved from the clean room to the thermal vacuum chamber. The spacecraft, wrapped in protective blankets, made the short trip by crane across the testing facility where it was then lowered into the 40-foot (12 meter) diameter test chamber. This video is public domain and can be downloaded at: svs.gsfc.nasa.gov Like our videos? Subscribe to NASA #39;s Goddard Shorts HD podcast: svs.gsfc.nasa.gov Or find NASA Goddard Space Flight Center on facebook: http://www.facebook.com Or find us on Twitter: twitter.comFrom:NASAexplorerViews:182 24ratingsTime:01:23More inScience Technology

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NASA | GPM Enters Thermal Vacuum Chamber - Video

Strange Lights In Sky Over Washington DC, December 10, 2012 2:23 AM
These strange lights were captured on video over Washington DC on the morning of December 10, 2012 Nasa denies any such sightings.From:rick rickViews:2 0ratingsTime:00:15More inNews Politics

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Strange Lights In Sky Over Washington DC, December 10, 2012 2:23 AM - Video

Space Military - TNC for December 6, 2012 - Section 1 Part 3
Join us Thursdays at 11pm EST: http://www.justin.tv/turbonewscast Featured on ToasterpigTV: http://www.toasterpig.com Links and Credits for News Sources: Taiwan engineers defeat limits of flash memory: phys.org Fiber-optic spanner: http://www.opticsinfobase.org Voyager 1 spots new region at the edge of the Solar System: arstechnica.com Scientists say NASA #39;s budget inadequate for its goals: phys.org Space spider landed at Smithsonian after journey on international space station: articles.washingtonpost.com NASA Mars Rover Fully Analyzes First Soil Samples: http://www.nasa.gov Volvo S60 Concept drives itself in stop-start traffic: http://www.gizmag.com Psy admits getting tired of #39;Gangnam Style #39;: http://www.gmanetwork.com *Note: Website pages may be taken down, that is out of our control.* Disclaimer: The articles shown in this video are used under Fair Use for commentary, criticizing, and news reporting purposesFrom:TurboNewscastViews:0 0ratingsTime:28:38More inNews Politics

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Space Military - TNC for December 6, 2012 - Section 1 Part 3 - Video

NASA Jan 2012 Announcement on Galactic Wind with Annotations
From:ZeroPointZapViews:0 0ratingsTime:03:00More inScience Technology

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NASA Jan 2012 Announcement on Galactic Wind with Annotations - Video

9 Dec - 10 Dec: 24 Hour Solar Activity (Earth Facing; Solar Storm, Sunspot, Solar Flare, CME)
This short video is the 304 imagery from NASA SDO during the course of the past 24 hours (From Sunday, 9 Dec 2012 to Monday, 10 Dec 2012). From this video you #39;ll be able to visually see sunspot, solar flare and coronal mass ejection (CME) events from the past 24 hours. Please feel free to post remarks in our timeline for anything interesting you see. What is a solar storm? What is emergency preparedness and how does it relate to solar storm preparedness? Learn about solar flares and protect your family and friends by visiting FlareAware.com Your source for instant severe solar weather alerts direct to your phone.From:flareawareViews:4 2ratingsTime:00:16More inScience Technology

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9 Dec - 10 Dec: 24 Hour Solar Activity (Earth Facing; Solar Storm, Sunspot, Solar Flare, CME) - Video

The Earth From Space at Night | HD Video | NASA NOAA Suomi NPP Satellite
Visit my website at http://www.junglejoel.com - the Earth comes alive when viewed from orbit at night. Video was created using data from the Suomi NPP satellite. Please rate and comment, thanks! Credit NASA Earth Observatory/NOAA NGDCFrom:CoconutScienceLabViews:1 0ratingsTime:02:12More inScience Technology

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The Earth From Space at Night | HD Video | NASA NOAA Suomi NPP Satellite - Video

Sweeping Active Region Jet [Hinode/XRT]
Today #39;s observations show some interesting activity from Active Region 11613 that occurred on the 18th and 19th of September. Streams of plasma originating from the bright (the colors are reversed so the darkest regions have the greatest intensity) central region are seen sweeping from left to right across the field. This action plays out over about 17 hours and is condensed in the gif animation (see link below). As flux wells up from beneath the surface, the overlying collection of magnetic field lines (arcade) is pushed higher into the corona, where the rising closed loops meet field lines open into space or elsewhere on the sun. This spurs magnetic reconnection between the closed and open fields, allowing plasma to jet out along the open field lines, and a series of these events produces the sweeping motion. A schematic of this model can be found here: tinyurl.com And since flux springs continuously during this period (see HMI magnetogram movie in original post, link below), this process happens several times with a few hours between each event. Visit us at xrt.cfa.harvard.edu and view the original post at xrt.cfa.harvard.edu Questions and comments welcome at xrtpow "at" gmail "dot" com Hinode is a Japanese mission developed and launched by ISAS/JAXA, with NAOJ as domestic partner and NASA and STFC (UK) as international partners. It is operated by these agencies in co-operation with ESA and the NSC (Norway).From:Hinode XRTViews:0 0ratingsTime:00:39More inScience Technology

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Sweeping Active Region Jet [Hinode/XRT] - Video

Watch the Planet Earth at Night - New NASA Footage from Space - [HD]
The Planet Earth at Night - NASA Footage from Space This view of Earth at night is a cloud-free view from space as acquired by the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership Satellite. A joint program by NASA and NOAA, Suomi NPP captured this nighttime image by the day-night band of the satellite #39;s Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite VIIRS. It combines the Earth at night view created by NASA #39;s Earth Observatory with data processed by NOAA #39;s National Geophysical Data Center with the EO Blue Marble: Next Generation. (summary from nasa.gov) - SUBSCRIBE to Bright Enlightenment http://www.youtube.com - JOIN the club: http://www.facebook.com In daylight our big blue marble is all land, oceans and clouds. But the night - is electric. This view of Earth at night is a cloud-free view from space as acquired by the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership Satellite (Suomi NPP). A joint program by NASA and NOAA, Suomi NPP captured this nighttime image by the satellite #39;s Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS). The day-night band on VIIRS detects light in a range of wavelengths from green to near infrared and uses filtering techniques to observe signals such as city lights, gas flares, and wildfires. This new image is a composite of data acquired over nine days in April and thirteen days in October 2012. It took 312 satellite orbits and 2.5 terabytes of data to get a clear shot of every parcel of land surface. This video uses the Earth at night view created by NASA #39;s Earth ...From:Bright EnlightenmentViews:1 1ratingsTime:02:12More inEducation

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Watch the Planet Earth at Night - New NASA Footage from Space - [HD] - Video

Budget contraints are hobbling NASA's space exploration ambitions.

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NASA risks space leadership

Satellite images from NASA have revealed the intensity and extent of wildfires across WA.

NASA says it was forced to take a closer look at the strange patches of bright light on its 'black marble' photographs, prompting the conclusion that it showed an enormous spread of bushfires across the State's outback.

The images of Earth at night were released by NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

"Away from the cities, much of the night light observed by the NASA-NOAA Suomi NPP satellite in these images comes from wildfires," NASA says. "In the bright areas of Western Australia, there are no nearby cities or industrial sites but, scientists have confirmed, there were fires in the area when Suomi NPP made passes over the region."

The photographs were assembled from data acquired over nine days in April this year and 13 days in October 2012.

NASA said this meant the fires could have been detected on any one day and integrated into the composite picture, despite being "temporary phenomena".

"Because different areas burned at different times when the satellite passed over, the cumulative result in the composite view gives the appearance of a massive blaze," NASA said.

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NASA images show WA fire intensity