International Space Station Astronauts Congratulate Gravity On Oscars 2014 Wins From Space [VIDEO]

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Alfonso Cuaron won for Best Director and the movie took home seven Academy Awards including for Best Cinematography and Best Visual Effects. It was enough to draw the attention of fans who escaped Earth's gravitational pull.

Expedition 38 crew members Richard A. Mastracchio and Michael S. Hopkins, from NASA, and Koichi Wakata, from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, congratulated Gravity and the films crew from the ISS. Hopkins, Wakata and Mastracchio took turns discussing life in space, complete with Hopkins tumbling in the background, as well as the movie itself.

Wakata said the stunning visuals and stark imagery of Gravity was what most impressed the astronauts aboard the space station. During the message, Hopkins completed seven full flips and was halfway through his eighth before the end of the video.

Even if Gravity did not win big at the Oscars it would have been easy to call the film a success, in part due to its box office take as well as furthering awareness of space exploration and helping foster curiosity about NASA and their programs. According to Box Office Mojo, Gravity grossed $704.9 million worldwide, $270.5 domestically and $434.4 million overseas, with an estimated budget of $100 million.

During the filming of the movie, Sandra Bullock consulted NASA astronaut Catherine Cady Coleman to prepare for the role of an astronaut. Coleman discussed what movement was like in microgravity and talked to Bullock about life aboard the ISS.

NASA also points to the International Space Station as another star in Gravity. Much like the real ISS mission, Gravity features several scenes where Bullock is conducting experiments. On the ISS there are hundreds of experiments that are assigned to the crew.

During the Oscars 2014 broadcast, NASA launched the #RealGravity campaign on Twitter which highlighted photo galleries of the ISS, the Hubble Space Telescope and views from space. The space agency used the hashtag to highlight upcoming missions to Mars and its asteroid initiative.

You can watch the ISS crew, as well as NASA astronaut Mike Massimino, congratulate "Gravity" below.

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International Space Station Astronauts Congratulate Gravity On Oscars 2014 Wins From Space [VIDEO]

Shuttle: The Space Flight Simulator (PC,DOS) 1992 Virgin Games/Vector Grafix ltd, – Video

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Shuttle: The Space Flight Simulator (PC,DOS) 1992 Virgin Games/Vector Grafix ltd,
Wikipedia link - http://adf.ly/3071562/shuttle-the-space-flight-simulator-1992- -- Mobygames link - http://www.mobygames.com/game/shuttle-the-space-flight-si...

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Shuttle: The Space Flight Simulator (PC,DOS) 1992 Virgin Games/Vector Grafix ltd, - Video

Russia, India to discuss space cooperation

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Russia and India have agreed to hold consultations on space cooperation and joint projects in this field, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said on Wednesday, February 26.

"We also discussed GLONASS and think there is an enormous potential for cooperation in this area and the joint use of space services in general," Rogozin, who is co-chair of the Russian-Indian inter-governmental commission on trade, economic, scientific, technical and cultural cooperation, said.

He noted that this year India would be celebrating the 30th anniversary of its first astronaut Rakesh Sharma's space flight accomplished in 1984.

"We have agreed to hold a series of consultations between our space agencies to engage our Indian partners in the plans and projects to be undertaken by the United Rocket and Space Corporation," Rogozin said.

He met with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid and Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma.

Source: Voice of Russia

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Russia, India to discuss space cooperation

Air Force General Reveals New Space Surveillance Program

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The U.S. Air Force plans to launch two space surveillance spacecraft into high-altitude orbits later this year to monitor satellite traffic in the congested geosynchronous belt 22,300 miles above Earth, the head of Space Command has announced.

The previously classified program will help the Air Force track man-made orbiting objects in high-altitude orbits, a region populated by the military's strategic communications and early warning satellites.

The capabilities of existing space surveillance assets on the ground and in orbit a few hundred miles above Earth are limited in detecting satellite movements at higher altitudes, according to military officials.

Known as the Geosynchronous Space Situational Awareness Program, or GSSAP, the initiative was revealed Friday by Gen. William Shelton, head of Air Force Space Command, who described the system as a "neighborhood watch" for satellites. [Top 10 Space Weapons]

"GSSAP will produce a significant improvement in space object surveillance, not only for better collision avoidance but also for detecting threats," Shelton said in a speech at the Air Warfare Symposium in Orlando, Fla. "GSSAP will bolster our ability to discern when adversaries attempt to avoid detection and to discover capabilities they may have which might be harmful to our critical assets at these higher altitudes."

The service published a fact sheet on the program in conjunction with Shelton's announcement.

According to the fact sheet, the surveillance project's primary contractor is Orbital Sciences Corp. The GSSAP program's budget and details of the satellites were not released.

The Air Force's Space Based Space Surveillance, or SBSS, satellite launched in 2010 with an optical telescope to peer at spacecraft in geosynchronous orbit. But SBSS flies in low Earth orbit about 300 miles high, putting it thousands of miles away from its observational targets.

The GSSAP satellites will be much closer, but the Air Force has not said how close.

"As other nations show their commitment in investing in systems capable of harming our satellites, we are committed to investing in space surveillance assets like GSSAP that will directly enable safe operations, protect our spacecraft, and indirectly enable a range of decisive responses that will enable counterspace threats ineffective," Shelton said.

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Air Force General Reveals New Space Surveillance Program

Oscars 2014 worst-dressed led by Penelope Cruz, Anna Kendrick and Ireland Baldwin

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By Margot Peppers

PUBLISHED: 21:50 EST, 2 March 2014 | UPDATED: 02:47 EST, 3 March 2014

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At the 86th annual Academy Awards, all eyes were on the red carpet looks. Unfortunately for Anna Kendrick, Penelope Cruz and Ireland Baldwin, heads were turned for all the wrong reasons.

Penelope Cruz rarely makes a fashion misstep, and in fact typically features on best-dressed lists. But the 39-year-old actress's powder pink Giambattista Valli Haute Couture silk gown, accented with a stark black ribbon at the waist, was not a winning look

With its toga-esque fit and excess of fabric - especially at the back, where it draped around her in pleated layers - the ensemble resembled something of a bed sheet and failed to accentuate her womanly curves.

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Award for worst dressed: Penelope Cruz rarely makes a fashion misstep. But on the Oscars red carpet, the 39-year-old actress looked ready for a toga party in her powder pink Giambattista Valli Haute Couture silk gown, accented with a stark black ribbon at the waist

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Oscars 2014 worst-dressed led by Penelope Cruz, Anna Kendrick and Ireland Baldwin

Microbes, How Low Can You Go?

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The Sun was once thought to provide energy for all life on Earth - meaning that life could not survive without it. In the 20th century, as astrobiologists began to explore the Earth's most remote and harsh environments, scientists began to question that assumption.

We now know that numerous microorganisms are able to obtain the energy they need for life through chemical reactions that do not involve sunlight. These incredible organisms can be found in many environments - from sediments below the dark ocean floor to microscopic pockets of water inside solid rock.

Many questions about these microbial ecosystems remain. How do microbes get into the deep subsurface in the first place? Are communities capable of growing, or do they just sort of sit there in the rock recycling nutrients and carbon from dead cells? How much of the deep biosphere is actually living, and how much of it is just dead matter trapped in the slow, grinding motion of our planet's geology?

Field studies have revealed that subsurface microorganisms can and do live active lives, even when buried kilometers under the surface. But we're still not entirely sure how large the living subsurface biosphere is, how deep it actually goes, and how it originated.

Previous Studies: A Community Harvest Organisms in the deep subsurface can be identified by simply digging up samples, sticking them under a microscope, and then seeing what's there. The problem is, even though microbes might be present, it's sometimes hard to tell if they're active - or how they behave in their native environment.

Previously, scientists have tried to define the depth limit for life based on environmental constraints like temperature. In general, the environment gets hotter and hotter as you get closer and closer to the Earth's core. Life simply cannot survive when it gets too hot. However, it's hard to tell just how close to that boundary a living community can get.

"The reality is that in order to live at high temperatures, you are forced to replace your proteins very frequently," said Tullis Onstott, a geoscience professor at Princeton University. "If you do not have enough metabolic energy to support that replacement then you, as an individual cell, cannot live."

High temperature environments can be challenging for life. Cellular components break down at an increased rate. If a cell cannot actively repair the damage, the conditions quickly take a turn toward the uninhabitable. Proteins stop working, causing metabolism to grind to a halt. Cell membranes, cell walls and DNA also begin to deteriorate. So it's not temperature alone that affects habitability, it also comes down to an organism's ability to repair the damage that high temperatures cause.

"You will die at a lower temperature even though under energy and nutrient-rich situations you can live at higher temperatures and to much greater depths," said Onstott. "The most important constraint that this places on deep life is its abundance as a function of depth."

The depth and abundance of living organisms in Earth's subsurface depends on how active they are, and how quickly they can repair and reproduce. This is a question of resources and energy. Previous studies have often focused on the resource part of the question - specifically the resource of organic carbon.

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Microbes, How Low Can You Go?

NASA JAXA Global Precipitation Measurement Mission Launches from Japan with Post Launch Comments – Video

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NASA JAXA Global Precipitation Measurement Mission Launches from Japan with Post Launch Comments
The Global Precipitation Measurement launched on Feb. 27, 2014 at 1:37 pm EST, from Tanegashima Space Center in Japan on a mission that will set a new standa...

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News UFOs near the Sun – NASA satellite images monitoring for March 2, 2014 – Video

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NTG: Michael Martinez, nasa Amerika bilang paghahanda sa kanyang pagsabak sa Junior Olympics – Video

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NTG: Michael Martinez, nasa Amerika bilang paghahanda sa kanyang pagsabak sa Junior Olympics
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NTG: Michael Martinez, nasa Amerika bilang paghahanda sa kanyang pagsabak sa Junior Olympics - Video

NASA Congratulates 'Gravity' Crew On Academy Award Wins

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Image Caption: Sandra Bullock as Ryan Stone in Warner Bros. Pictures' dramatic thriller "Gravity," a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures

[ Watch The Video: NASA Astronaut Cady Colemen on Gravity Oscar Win ]

NASA

NASA congratulates everyone involved with producing the movie Gravity for all of the Oscar wins, especially Alfonso Cuarn for winning Best Director at the 86th Academy Awards Ceremony held on March 2, 2014.

In the Warner Bros. movie Gravity, two astronauts find themselves adrift in space and struggling for survival after their spacecraft is destroyed by space debris. Although this scenario makes for gripping Hollywood entertainment, NASA actively works to protect its astronauts and vehicles from the dangers portrayed in the movie.

From protective material coating the outside of the International Space Station to meticulous and methodical training on the ground and in space covering everything from spacewalking to fires or decompression inside the space station, NASAs ground crews and astronauts are as prepared as they can be for potential anomaly, no matter how remote they may be.

On Sept. 16, Expedition 26 astronaut Cady Coleman spoke with actress Sandra Bullock to discuss Bullocks character in the movie. While developing her role, Bullock gave Coleman a call while she was aboard the space station. At the time, the actress asked Coleman to elaborate on what its like living and moving about in microgravity. I told her that I had long hair, and if you pulled a hair out and pushed it against something, you could move yourself across the space station, said Coleman. Thats how little force it takes.

Featured alongside Bullock and George Clooney, Gravity has another major star: the International Space Station. Look closely during the films interior shots of the space station and you may get a glimpse into whats really going on 240 miles above Earth. To focus on the facts behind the fiction, Coleman recalled her own experience living and working in space aboard the orbiting laboratory after an advanced screening of the film. This isnt a documentary; its a movie, said Coleman. It transports people from this planet into space. I am really lucky, as an astronaut, to get to go and live there.

[ Watch The Video: NASA Astronaut Mike Massimino on "Gravity" Award Win ] Viewers of the movie may notice that free water forms spheres in space. Although special effects helped this occur in the movie, this is a true phenomenon. It is the result of surface tension, and the Capillary Flow Experiment (CFE) is helping predict liquid behavior in microgravity. Coleman gained hands-on experience with this investigation during Expedition 26, assisting researchers in studying how fluids flow in containers with complex geometries. These findings provide insight used to build better ground water transportation on Earth, as well as improved cooling capabilities for electronics using heat pipes. This information also applies to the design for fuel tanks in spacecraft for long duration exploration.

Fire also plays a role in the movie, and two studies underway on the space station touch on this topic: the Burning and Suppression of Solids (BASS) investigation and the Flame Extinguishment Experiment (FLEX). FLEX recently made headlines when the space station study led to the discovery of cool flames. Findings from BASS may contribute to improved fire suppression methods for spacecraft. FLEX may lead to improved fuel efficiency on Earth and minimize pollutants in our atmosphere associated with combustion.

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NASA Congratulates 'Gravity' Crew On Academy Award Wins

NASA Marshall Meteor Experts to Answer Reddit Questions Online

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NASA meteor and fireball experts Dr. Bill Cooke, Danielle Moser and Rhiannon Blaauw will answer questions onReddit.combeginning at 1 p.m. CST Thursday, March 6, on the Reddit IAmA forum.

Reddit is a popular online community where users vote on content they find interesting. The Ask Me Anything sub-forum features interviews with volunteers who answer questions about their specific expertise.

Anyone may ask questions beginning at 1 p.m. CST at:

http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/

Cooke, the lead of the NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office, specializes in studying the meteoroid environment and its effects on space vehicles of all sorts. Cooke came to work at NASAs Marshall Space Flight Center as a member of the Space Environments Team in 1994. When not occupied with meteor observations and shower forecasts, he builds model rockets and is a mentor for the Team America Rocketry Challenge and other amateur rocketry projects.

Moser has been working in the Space Environments Team at Marshall for more than 10 years and has supported the NASA meteor environments team since its inception in late 2004. Her work includes modeling meteor showers, analyzing lunar meteoroid impact data and managing the cameras for the NASA All Sky Fireball Network.

Blaauw has more than three years experience with the Meteoroid Environment Office and came to Marshall from the University of Western Ontario in Ontario, Canada. During her masters studies, she gained experience in meteor physics working with data from a meteor radar. She enjoys the diversity of her projects, which include analyzing automated meteor fluxes from optical detectors, managing wide-field meteor cameras and comet monitoring.

Cooke, Moser and Blaauw will make exciting subjects for an Ask Me Anything due to their extensive and diverse skywatching expertise.

For the live link to the Reddit Ask Me Anything, come back here just a few minutes before 1 p.m. CST on March 6.

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NASA Marshall Meteor Experts to Answer Reddit Questions Online

NASA Goes Down Under to Tap High-Altitude Ice

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During the cold winter months many airline passengers know what happens when it's icy. Not only can it be tough to get to the airport - planes can end up being delayed and/or face de-icing while on the ground.

But ice formation in engines while the plane is flying - in certain weather conditions - is also a concern year round. Researchers, including a group from NASA, are in Darwin, Australia during its summer months to study the issue. They are part of an international team working to improve aviation safety by analyzing high altitude ice crystals with the help of a specially equipped French jet.

Engineers and scientists from three NASA facilities are supporting the European Airbus-led High Altitude Ice Crystals (HAIC)/High Ice Water Content (HIWC) flight campaign in the "land down under" through March 2014. The primary goal of the campaign is to fly into weather that produces specific icing conditions so researchers can study the characteristics present.

NASA's Glenn Research Center in Cleveland is supplying an isokinetic probe for the Darwin flights that was designed and built by Science Engineering Associates and National Research Council Canada, with funding from NASA and the Federal Aviation Administration, as well as instrument and meteorological ground support. The probe is mounted under the wing of a French Falcon 20 aircraft. It measures the total water content in clouds that have high concentrations of ice crystals in the vicinity of oceanic and continental thunderstorms.

NASA Glenn has a 70-year history of icing research. "The data captured during the HAIC/HIWC campaign will add to the ground-based icing research NASA has already conducted in Glenn's Propulsion Systems Laboratory," said Tom Ratvasky, the NASA Glenn project scientist supporting the campaign. "We have tested a full scale engine under high altitude ice crystal icing conditions in that lab."

NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., and NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York, are also part of the Australian research effort. The Langley researchers are contributing sensors expertise. One team is analyzing data from the Falcon's onboard weather radar.

Another is capturing satellite imagery to help forecast where the jet might encounter the best icing conditions. Goddard scientists are providing their cloud expertise, using flight data to improve modeling algorithms to predict the high ice concentrations in these environments.

"The aviation industry around the world is very interested in this research. That's because ice crystals at high altitudes are not normally detected by onboard weather radar and visibly do not appear to be a danger to pilots," said Steve Harrah, HAIC/HIWC weather radar principal investigator at NASA Langley.

"If those crystals are ingested into a turbofan engine and reach its core, they can cause a temporary loss of power - with no warning," added Ratvasky.

Over the last 20 years, the aviation industry has documented more than 200 incidents where turbofan jet engines have lost power during high-altitude flights. For many of these events, the aircraft were flying in the vicinity of heavy storm clouds, but with little activity showing on the weather radar at their flight altitude. Investigators developed a theory that the planes are actually flying through clouds with high concentrations of small ice crystals.

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NASA Goes Down Under to Tap High-Altitude Ice