Freedom's Late Rally Comes up Short

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July 20, 2012 - Frontier League (FL) Florence Freedom O'Fallon,MO-The Florence Freedom took an early 2-0 lead against the River City Rascals Thursday night, but the Rascals offense proved to be too powerful, coming away with a 10-7 win over the Freedom. The Rascals improved to 29-26 on the season, while the Freedom fell to 28-27 with their fifth straight loss.

John Malloy started the game off well for Florence, launching a game opening solo homer over the 38 foot wall in right field to put the Freedom ahead 1-0. It was Malloy's 6th homerun of the season. In the same inning, Junior Arrojo doubled, which was one of his three hits on the night. Two batters later, Eddie Rodriguez hit an RBI double scoring Arrojo which gave the Freedom a 2-0 lead. Rodriguez finished the game 3-4 with 2 RBI.

Maxx Catapano who was fresh off the 7 day DL, couldn't maintain the early lead that his offense provided him. In the 1st inning, a wild pitch allowed one run to score, and a throwing error by catcher Jim Jacquot allowed another one to come home to tie the game at 2-2. A two run double by Matt Serna later in the inning extended the Rascal lead to 4-2.

The Rascals built an 8-2 lead against Catapano(4-2), who only went 3.2 innings giving up 10 hits, on 8 earned runs. The Freedom battled back though in the 6th inning. After Rodriguez and Drew Rundle singled, Jacquot walked to load the bases. David Harris then hit one deep into right center field as right fielder Jeremy Synan dropped the ball on the run which allowed Rodriguez and Rundle to score to cut the deficit to 8-4. The Freedom then made it closer in the 7th on a SAC Fly by Peter Fatse, and an RBI single by Rodriguez. The Rascals however, scored twice in the their 7th, as Chris Andreas scored on a wild pitch from Brandon Mathes, and Curran Redal provided an RBI single to push the lead to 10-6.

In the 9th, the Freedom made it interesting against Brandon Cunniff. Arrojo lined a double down the left field line which he later scored on a Rundle RBI single. With two runners on, and with only one out, Cunniff then buckled down to strikeout Jacquot, and get Harris to bounce out into a game ending fielder's choice.

The Freedom and Rascals will continue their series Friday night as Andres Caceres will start for Florence, while River City sends Keli'I Zablan to the mound. Friday's game can be heard with Steve Jarnicki starting at 7:50 pm on Real Talk 1160 and realtalk1160.com.

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Freedom's Late Rally Comes up Short

DoD Names Citi as 2012 Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award Recipient

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NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Citigroup today announced that it has been selected to receive the 2012 Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award by the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR), a Department of Defense (DoD) agency. Fifteen employers will be honored with this year's Freedom Award, the DoDs highest recognition given to employers for exceptional support of Guard and Reserve employees. Citi is the only bank to receive the 2012 Freedom Award. These recipients distinguished themselves among the 3,236 nominations submitted earlier this year by Guardsmen and Reservists, or family members acting on their behalf. Thirty employee-service members nominated Citi for the award.

Citi is honored to receive the Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award, said Vikram Pandit, Citi CEO. The Guard and Reserve are essential to the strength of our nation and the well-being of our communities. We currently employ nearly 2,000 self-identified veterans across our business, and were dedicated to their professional development. In addition, we are working with our businesses and community partners to promote and preserve homeownership for military families and empower them to manage their finances. We are committed to providing Americas veterans and men and women in uniform with professional opportunities and to ensuring that military families around the country have the support they deserve."

Freedom Award recipients go above and beyond what the law requires of Guard and Reserve employers. The nominations for Citi reported that Citi has distinguished itself in supporting members of the Guard and Reservists through its Citi Salutes initiative, which includes employee networks and hiring commitments, including onboarding an additional 1,000 veterans by the end of 2012. In 2011, Citi hired nearly 700 veterans, became a founding member of Veterans on Wall Street and continued its leadership in Joining Forces. Citi also joined the U.S. Chamber of Commerces Veterans Employment Advisory Council and developed a training program to ensure recruiters and hiring managers are equipped to translate military experience into job-specific qualifications.

"On behalf of the Secretary of Defense, I thank the 2012 Freedom Award recipients for taking such exceptional care of the Guard and Reserve members they employ," said Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs, Jessica L. Wright. "Our military could not meet todays national security demands without the Guard and Reserve, who in turn could not provide such dedicated service without the cooperation of their employers at home. These Freedom Award recipients have distinguished themselves nationally for their remarkable efforts, and we greatly appreciate their unwavering support."

A selection board comprised of senior DoD officials, business leaders and prior awardees selected the 15 recipients. Out of the 30 nominations for Citi, a specific nomination from an Air National Guardsman employed by Citibank in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, was highlighted by the selection board in naming Citi a Freedom Award recipient.

Since 1996, only 160 employers have received the Freedom Award. The 2012 honorees will be recognized at the 17th annual Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award Ceremony in Washington, D.C. on September 20th.

Citi is an official partner of the Military Spouse Employment Partnership, and in 2011 Vikram Pandit signed the Department of Defenses Employer Support of the Guard & Reserve Statement of Support. Citi was also named among the top ten Best for Vets Employers for 2012 by Military Times EDGE.

For more information about the Freedom Award and this years recipients, visit http://www.FreedomAward.mil. For more information about Citis work to support U.S. Armed Service members, veterans and their families, visit http://www.citisalutes.com.

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DoD Names Citi as 2012 Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award Recipient

Swimming ban at beaches over e-coli threat

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By Gordon Deegan

Saturday, July 21, 2012

Fears over a possible e-coli outbreak yesterday forced Clare County Council to immediately ban swimming at two beaches at Lahinch and Kilkee.

Swimming at Spanish Point beach on Clares Atlantic coast was also banned after trace levels of e-coli were found in water samples from the three beaches on Wednesday.

Thousands are expected to travel to the resorts this weekend with good weather forecast, after weeks of poor weather adversely affected tourist businesses in the area.

However, public bathing notices and red flags confirming that swimming and surfing is prohibited were yesterday placed on all of the affected beaches. The blue flags at Lahinch and Kilkee beaches have been removed for now.

Director with Clare County Council, Ann Haugh said the move "is unprecedented. It is very unfortunate, but public safety is paramount and we are unwilling to take any risks".

She said fresh tests were taken at the three beaches yesterday and it will be tomorrow before the results are known. A decision will be made then as to whether the waters can re-open.

The decision was taken in consultation with the HSE.

Ms Haugh said abnormal weather conditions and run- off from lands surrounding the beaches was the cause.

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Swimming ban at beaches over e-coli threat

Five Pinellas beaches safe again with lifting of advisory

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A health advisory was lifted at five Pinellas County beaches days after they were reported to have elevated levels of enteric bacteria.

Honeymoon Island, Sand Key Park, Indian Rocks Beach, Madeira Beach's Archibald Park and Redington Shores are again safe for swimmers, the Pinellas County Health Department said Friday.

After resampling the locations, the department received lab results with "moderate" or "good" readings," Maggie Hall, a spokeswoman for the department, said in a news release.

The advisory was based on the bacterial indicator recommended by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA standard for the bacteria is no more than 104 colony forming units per 100 milliliters of water.

On Monday, the beaches had been given grades of "poor," meaning 105 units or greater were found, according to the monitoring program's website.

The next routine sampling will be conducted July 30.

Testing is done through the state's Healthy Beaches Monitoring Program.

The presence of enteric bacteria is an indication of fecal pollution, which may come from stormwater runoff, pets, wildlife and sewage, the health department said. The bacteria may cause disease, infections or rashes.

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Five Pinellas beaches safe again with lifting of advisory

No-swimming advisories at Lido, Turtle and North Jetty beaches

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A no-swimming flag flies at Lido Beach in Sarasota. The Sarasota County Health Department issued no-swimming advisories for Lido, Turtle and North Jetty beaches on Thursday.

By VINCENT F. SAFUTO, Correspondent

High levels of bacteria at three Sarasota County beaches have led to advisories against swimming or engaging in water recreation, though residents and visitors still can use the beaches.

Water samples taken Wednesday at Lido Beach, Turtle Beach and North Jetty Beach showed an elevated level of enterococci (enteric) bacteria, according to a press release from the Sarasota County Health Department on Thursday afternoon.

Signs at the three beaches warning against swimming or water recreation will be posted, the department said, until follow-up testing today with results expected Saturday shows that the levels are safe. The results have to meet federal Environmental Protection Agency recreational water safety standards.

Enteric bacteria can come from stormwater runoff, pet waste and wildlife and human sewage, said Tom Higginbotham, the Health Department's environmental health administrator.

The intent of the Florida Healthy Beaches program is to provide residents and visitors with accurate, up-to-date information about the water quality at our 16 area beaches. Enteric bacteria can come from stormwater runoff, pet waste and wildlife and human sewage," he said. High concentrations of these bacteria can cause gastrointestinal illnesses, infections or rashes if ingested while swimming or after entering the skin through a cut or sore."

Health officials said that shellfish collected in the immediate area of Lido, Turtle and North Jetty beaches, or from any beach water that has a brown tint, should not be consumed. It is safe to fish and consume fin-fish, however.

The areas not under a beach water advisory are Ringling Causeway, North and South Lido, Longboat Key, Siesta, Nokomis, Brohard Park, Blind Pass, Manasota Key, Caspersen, Venice Fishing Pier, Service Club and Venice public beaches.

To find out about beach water conditions, visit http://www.OurGulfEnvironment.net, click on Water Monitoring and then click on "Bacterial Testing" to check the testing results of area Gulf Beaches, or call the Sarasota County Health Department Environmental Health office at (941) 861-6133.

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No-swimming advisories at Lido, Turtle and North Jetty beaches

East Lyme beaches closed after sewage spill

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EAST LYME, Conn.Health officials say several beaches in East Lyme will remain closed until tests show the water is safe, following a sewage spill totaling 15,000 to 20,000 gallons.

Ledge Light Health District Director Stephen Mansfield says test results on water samples collected Thursday morning should be available Friday afternoon. Until then, swimming is prohibited at McCook's Point, Hole in the Wall, Pine Grove, Oswegatchie and Crescent beaches.

Officials say a computer at a pumping station failed to activate a sewage pump on Wednesday afternoon. That caused the system to overflow from manhole covers and spill into a storm drain near the Niantic River.

Officials say the computer problem has been fixed.

Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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East Lyme beaches closed after sewage spill

Swimming banned at Clare beaches

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The Irish Times - Saturday, July 21, 2012

GORDON DEEGAN

FEARS OVER a possible E.coli outbreak yesterday forced Clare County Council to ban swimming at three of the countys most popular beaches at Lahinch, Kilkee and Spanish Point.

The council made the move after trace levels of E.coli were found in water samples from the beaches on Wednesday.

Thousands of holidaymakers are expected to travel to the resorts this weekend with good weather forecast after weeks of poor conditions adversely affecting tourism businesses in the area.

However, public bathing notices and red flags confirming that swimming was prohibited were yesterday placed on all of the affected beaches, while the blue flags at Lahinch and Kilkee beaches have been temporarily removed.

The director of services with Clare County Council, Ann Haugh, said last night that the move to shut down swimming at the three beaches is unprecedented. It is very unfortunate, but public safety is paramount and we are unwilling to take any risks.

Lahinch is one of the most popular surf beaches in the country, with five surf schools operating in the water instructing hundreds of surfers every day.

Ms Haugh said that the swimming ban also included surfing. She confirmed it was a prohibition on entering the water.

Last night, Lahinch hotelier Michael Vaughan described the move as a shocking development.

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Swimming banned at Clare beaches

Beaches reopen after sewage spill

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EAST LYME, Conn. (WTNH) It's safe to swim at East Lyme beaches again after a sewage spill totaling 15,000 to 20,000 gallons shut them down.

"Everything's okay," said Joseph Aseltine, beach-goer.

Are you glad to hear that," asked News 8's Tina Detelj

Yeah it's been a pretty nice day so far," said Aseltine.

Now the Hole in the Wall beach, along with four other swimming holes in East Lyme got the clean bill of health. Concerns rose when a computer glitch at a pump station failed and waste in a well was sent onto the street.

News 8 is told more than 15,000 gallons of sewage came up through the manhole cover and then flowed into the nearby catch basins. Just on the other side of the railroad tracks there is Niantic Bay.

The mishap didn't bury Ryan Knoechelman's plans. The latest water tests came up clean.

"It was a little chilly, but it's nice to be able to if you want to," said Knoechelman.

And come this weekend many will want to take a dip, especially with the annual Celebrate East Lyme day on tap.

"It wouldn't be the same to have the beaches closed, you know, it's kind of a gloomy outside to it," said Jack Giuliano, Giuliano's Bakery.

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Beaches reopen after sewage spill

Research and Markets: Indian Aerospace Sector: Industry Profile

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DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/2q9l5z/indian_aerospace_s) has announced the addition of the "Indian Aerospace Sector: Industry Profile" report to their offering.

This industry profile helps to gain an insight into the evolution of the industry and competitive dynamics prevalent in the market. It discusses the significant developments in the industry and analyzes the key trends and issues. The profile provides inputs in strategic business planning of industry professionals.

This profile is of immense help to management consultants, analysts, market research organizations and corporate advisors.

The objective and scope of various sections of our industry profile has been discussed below.

Industry Snapshot

This section gives a holistic overview of the industry. It starts with defining the market and goes on to give historical and current market size figures. It also clearly illustrates the major segments of the market which would be discussed later on in the report.

Industry Analysis

It involves a comprehensive analysis of the industry and its market segments. This section discusses the key developments that have taken place in the industry. It also identifies and analyzes the driving factors and challenges of the industry. A description of the regulatory structure tells us about the major regulatory bodies, laws and government policies.

Country Analysis

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Research and Markets: Indian Aerospace Sector: Industry Profile

Boy Abunda Tackles the Benefits and Dangers of Stem Cell Theraphy this Saturday on 'The Bottomline'

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Boy Abunda Tackles the Benefits and Dangers of Stem Cell Theraphy this Saturday on 'The Bottomline'

This Saturday, July 21, in The Bottomline With Boy Abunda, Boy will tackle the benefits and dangers of the fast rising medical breakthrough. With the expertise of National Kidney and Transplant Institute urologist Dr. Dante Dator, discover the reason why a lot of people, including political figures and showbiz personalities, want to undergo the treatment. What is the process of stem cell therapy? How effective is it? Is the stem cell therapy the most effective cure for serious illnesses such as HIV and cancer?

Dont miss the Ani ng Dangal 2012 awardee The Bottomline with Boy Abunda this Saturday, 11:30 pm, after Banana Split on ABS-CBN. For more updates, log on to http://www.abs-cbn.com or follow @abscbndotcom on Twitter.

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Boy Abunda Tackles the Benefits and Dangers of Stem Cell Theraphy this Saturday on 'The Bottomline'

NASA Television to Air Space Station Cargo Ship Moves and Test

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WASHINGTON -- NASA Television will broadcast the move of a Russian cargo spacecraft at the International Space Station and the demonstration of a new docking system beginning Sunday, July 22.

NASA TV coverage of ISS Progress 47's initial undocking starts at 4 p.m. EDT, July 22. Progress 47 will undock at 4:27 p.m.

Russian flight controllers will command the resupply ship to undock from the space station's Pirs compartment in a test of an updated docking system that will be used for both Progress and Soyuz human spacecraft in the future. The new automated rendezvous system, known as Kurs-NA, will use a single antenna, which will allow four others to be removed. The Kurs-NA-enabled Progress and Soyuz spacecraft will have only three antennas, half as many as the current versions. Kurs-NA also will use less power, improve safety and possess updated electronics.

Progress 47 arrived at the station in April. After it was emptied of its cargo, the space station crew filled it with trash for disposal.

NASA TV coverage of the Progress' re-rendezvous and docking will begin at 9:15 p.m. Monday, July 23. The ship will re-dock to the station at 9:57 p.m.

Coverage of Progress 47's final departure from the station begins at 2 p.m. Monday, July 30, with undocking set for 2:11 p.m. It then will be commanded to re-enter the atmosphere and burn up.

The next Russian cargo spacecraft, ISS Progress 48, is scheduled to launch Wednesday, Aug. 1, from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Expedition 32 Commander Gennady Padalka of the Russian Federal Space Agency and his five crewmates, including NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Joe Acaba, will monitor events as the Progress 47 tests unfold.

For NASA TV streaming video, schedule and downlink information, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

For more information about the International Space Station and its crew, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/station

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NASA Television to Air Space Station Cargo Ship Moves and Test

IRVE-3 flight hardware test sounding rocket

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Public release date: 19-Jul-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Susan Hendrix Susan.m.hendrix@nasa.gov 301-286-7745 NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

NASA will launch an inflatable aeroshell/heat shield technology demonstrator on a Black Brant XI sounding rocket July 22 from the agency's launch range at the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.

The Inflatable Reentry Vehicle Experiment (IRVE-3) is the third in a series of suborbital flight tests of this new technology.

Technicians will vacuum pack the uninflated 10-foot (3.05 meters) diameter cone of high-tech inner tubes into a 22-inch (56 centimeters) diameter sounding rocket.

During the flight test an on board system will inflate the tubes -- stretching a thermal blanket that covers them -to create an aeroshell or heat shield. That heat shield will protect a payload that consists of four segments including the inflation system, steering mechanisms, telemetry equipment and camera gear.

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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

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IRVE-3 flight hardware test sounding rocket

NASA | Van Gogh Sun – Video

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19-07-2012 09:01 A crucial, and often underappreciated, facet of science lies in deciding how to turn the raw numbers of data into useful, understandable information -- often through graphs and images. Such visualization techniques are needed for everything from making a map of planetary orbits based on nightly measurements of where they are in the sky to colorizing normally invisible light such as X-rays to produce "images" of the sun. More information, of course, requires more complex visualizations and occasionally such images are not just informative, but beautiful too. Such is the case with a new technique created by Nicholeen Viall, a solar scientist atNASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. She creates images of the sun reminiscent of Van Gogh, with broad strokes of bright color splashed across a yellow background. But it's science, not art. The color of each pixel contains a wealth of information about the 12-hour history of cooling and heating at that particular spot on the sun. That heat history holds clues to the mechanisms that drive the temperature and movements of the sun's atmosphere, or corona. To look at the corona from a fresh perspective, Viall created a new kind of picture, making use of the high resolution provided by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). SDO's Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) provides images of the sun in 10 different wavelengths, each approximately corresponding to a single temperature of material. Therefore, when one looks at the ...

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NASA | Van Gogh Sun - Video

NASA's Newest Mars Rover Is Biggest and Best Yet

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When NASA's newest rover, Curiosity, reaches Mars in about three weeks, it will not be the first to set its wheels on the Red Planet, but it will be the largest and most advanced robotic explorer that has ever been sent to our planetary neighbor.

The Curiosity rover, also called the Mars Science Laboratory, was launched in late November 2011, and is expected to land on Mars on the night of Aug. 5 PDT (early Aug. 6 EDT). The $2.5 billion rover will touch down at Gale Crater, and is designed to search for clues that Mars could be now, or in the ancient past, a habitable planet for microbial life.

NASA first set its sights on landing on the Red Planet in the 1970s. The agency achieved its first Mars landing in 1976 with the Viking 1 lander. Since then, the agency has had six spacecraft successfully touch down on the Martian surface. But with the impending arrival of Curiosity, NASA will showcase the most sophisticated Martian rover yet.

"The Curiosity landing is the hardest NASA robotic mission ever attempted in the history of exploration of Mars, or any of our robot exploration," John Grunsfeld, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, said in a news briefing Monday (July 16) at the agency's headquarters in Washington, D.C.

Bigger and better

For starters, the way Curiosity will lower itself to the surface of Mars in less than 20 days is unprecedented. The rover will use a new and complex sky crane system to slow its descent.

According to Doug McCuistion, director of the Mars Exploration Program at NASA Headquarters, Curiosity's landing "could arguably be the most important event most significant event in the history of planetary exploration." [How Curiosity's Nail-Biting Landing Works (Pictures)]

Previous Mars rovers, such as the twin Spirit and Opportunity rovers (collectively known as the Mars Exploration Rovers), used airbags to cushion their landing. Spirit and Opportunity arrived at the Red Planet about three weeks apart in January 2004. Each rover weighs about 384 pounds (174 kilograms), but since Curiosity tips the scales at 1 ton, it was deemed too heavy and too large for an airbag-assisted landing.

"The mass of Spirit and Opportunity was just about at the limit for what that airbag design could handle," McCuistion said.

Spirit and Opportunity were designed for three-month missions on Mars, but both far outlived their warranties. After getting stuck in Martian sand and losing contact with Earth, Spirit was officially declared dead in May 2011. But, Opportunity is still alive and well, and is currently exploring a massive crater, called Endeavour. Since it landed on the Red Planet, Opportunity has logged an impressive 21.4 miles (34.4 km).

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NASA's Newest Mars Rover Is Biggest and Best Yet

NASA KSC Solicitation: Cubesat Nano Launcher Deployer System

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Synopsis/Solicitation Combo - Jul 19, 2012 General Information Solicitation Number: NNK12LZS0001R Posted Date: Jul 19, 2012 FedBizOpps Posted Date: Jul 19, 2012 Recovery and Reinvestment Act Action: No Original Response Date: Aug 20, 2012 Current Response Date: Aug 20, 2012 Classification Code: A -- Research and Development NAICS Code: 336414 Set-Aside Code: Total Small Business

Contracting Office Address

NASA/John F. Kennedy Space Center, Procurement, Kennedy Space Center, FL 32899

Description

NASA/KSC has a requirement for a CubeSat Nano Launcher Deployer System Design in accordance with attached Statement of Work.

This notice is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in FAR Subpart 12.6, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation, which is issued as a Request for Quotation (RFQ); quotes are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued.

Offers for the items(s) described above are due by August 20, 2012 at 10:00AM ET to NASA/Kennedy Space Center, Procurement, Attn: Jennifer Dorsey, OP-LS, KSC, FL 32899 or Jennifer.L.Dorsey@nasa.gov and must include solicitation number, proposed delivery schedule, discount/payment terms, warranty duration (if applicable), taxpayer identification number (TIN), identification of any special commercial terms, and be signed by an authorized company representative.

Offerors are required to use the On-Line RFQ system to submit their quote. The On-line RFQ system is linked above or it may be accessed at http://prod.nais.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/eps/bizops.cgi?gr=C&pin= . The information required by FAR Subpart 12.6 is included in the on-line RFQ. Oral communications are not acceptable in response to this notice. All responsible sources may submit an offer which shall be considered by the agency.

All offers shall be valid for 60 days.

This procurement is a total small business set-aside. The NAICS Code and the small business size standard for this procurement are ------336414, 1,000 employees respectively. The offeror shall state in their offer their size status for this procurement.

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NASA KSC Solicitation: Cubesat Nano Launcher Deployer System

Will Curiosity be NASA's last Mars rover?

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Budget cuts have forced NASA to drastically scale back its planetary science missions. But the space agency still has hopes for a future mission that will collect samples of Martian soil and bring them to Earth.

Despite NASA's tough budget situation, the 1-ton rover streaking toward an Aug. 5 landing on Mars is unlikely to be the space agency's last big, ambitious Red Planet mission.

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Funding cuts have forced NASA to shelve plans for future multibillion-dollar "flagship" planetary missions beyond the $2.5 billionCuriosity rover, which will investigate Mars' potential to host past or present microbial life after it touches down three weeks from now. For the time being, the space agency is looking for ways to explore the Red Planet on the cheap.

But over the long haul, NASA still has its sights set on a particularly alluring flagship a sample-return effort that would bring pieces ofMarsback to Earth for study.

"The scientific goal and for human exploration as well of a Mars sample-return is still the highest priority in the long term," John Grunsfeld, NASA's associate administrator for science, said in April. [7 Biggest Mysteries of Mars]

President Barack Obama's federal budget request for 2013, which was unveiled in February, keeps NASA's overall budget flat, at $17.7 billion.

But the requestcuts NASA's planetary science fundingfrom $1.5 billion to $1.2 billion, with further reductions expected in coming years. The space agency's Mars program gets hit particularly hard, with funding dropping from $587 million this year to $360 million in 2013, then falling to just $189 million in 2015.

As a result, NASA is scaling back and reformulating its Red Planet exploration strategy. The space agency has put together a committee called the Mars Program Planning Group, which is assessing possiblefuture missions to Mars.

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Will Curiosity be NASA's last Mars rover?

NASA spies bright-blue 'intense' lightning on Saturn

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A NASA spacecraft orbiting Saturn has captured an amazing view of lightning in broad daylight on the ringed planet.

The Cassini orbiter captured the daytime lightning on Saturn as bright blue spots inside a giant storm that raged on the planet last year. NASA unveiled the new Saturn lightning photos Wednesday (July 18), adding that the images came as a big surprise.

"We didn't think we'd see lighting on Saturn's day side only its night side," said Ulyana Dyudina, a Cassini imaging team associate at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, in a statement. "The fact that Cassini was able to detect the lightning means that it was very intense."

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Cassini spotted the daytime lightning while observing a giant Saturn storm on March 6, 2011. A blue filter on the spacecraft's main camera recorded the lightning flashes, and scientists then exaggerated the blue tint in order to pin down the lightning's location and size, researchers said.

The Saturn lightning in Cassini's new images apparently packs quite a wallop. An analysis of the new images revealed that the energy from the visible lightning flashes alone could have spiked up to 3 billion watts over one second. That makes the daytime Saturn lightning on par with some of the strongest lightning flashes on Earth.

Cassini mission scientists said the lightning on Saturn was spotted across a region 100 miles (160 kilometers) wide where it exited the cloud layer. In all, Cassini spotted eight daytime lightning flashes on Saturn, five in one part of the storm and three in an another, they added.[More Photos of Saturn's Monster Storm]

The lightning-spawning storm on Saturn was not a short-lived tempest. The storm wrapped completely around Saturn at its peak and is the longest-lived storm ever seen on the ringed planet. It began in December 2010 and lasted about 200 days, finally sputtering out in late June 2011.

One mystery that remains is why the daytime Saturn lightning only turned up in Cassini's blue imaging filter. Scientists aren't sure if that means the lightning is actually blue in color, or if it's due to a short exposure time of the camera that helps the camera filter detect the lightning.

"As summer storm season descends upon Earth's northern latitudes, Cassini provides us a great opportunity to see how weather plays out at different places in our solar system," Cassini project scientist Linda Spilker, of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., said in a statement. "Saturn's atmosphere has been changing over the eight years Cassini has been at Saturn, and we can't wait to see what happens next."

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NASA spies bright-blue 'intense' lightning on Saturn

Orion space capsule: NASA gets ready for 2014 test launch

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NASA has unveied the brand new Orion space capsule, which is expected to have its first test launch in spring 2014.

Without a heat shield or wiring, and with only welded metal panels to see, NASA's new spacecraft designed to take astronauts out beyond Earth and into the solar system doesn't look like much yet.

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But to NASA, congressional and space industry leaders, the capsule's olive-green pressure shell is an exciting sight to behold. The capsule, NASA's first space-bound Orion crew module, was unveiled today (July 2) to mark its arrival at NASA's Kennedy Space Center here, the site of the spacecraft's planned 2014 launch on an unmanned test flight.

"Isn't this beautiful," Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL) told an audience of more than 450 Orion team members looking at the spacecraft behind him. "I know there is a lot of people here who can't wait to get their hands and fingers on this hardware.

"We are really proud of it," NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver told SPACE.com. "It is going to start looking more like the shape of capsule soon. But to me, it looks like the future."

The Orion capsule, which arrived in Florida from the Michoud Assembly Facility in Louisiana last week, now sits inside Kennedy's Operations and Checkout (O&C) building. It is in here, the same high bay where more than 40 years ago NASA readied similarly-shaped capsules for launches to the moon, that Lockheed Martin engineers and technicians will conduct the final preparations to launch this Orion higher and faster than any capsule since the Apollo moon missions.

"The future is here, now," Kennedy Space Center's director Robert Cabana said. "The vehicle we see here today is not a Powerpoint chart. It is a real spacecraft moving toward a test flight in 2014." [Gallery: Orion Exploration Flight Test-1 Capsule]

Cabana said the Orion's unveiling was aptly timed since it came one day after the 50th anniversary of the Kennedy Space Center, which has been NASA's home port for manned space launches for decades.

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Orion space capsule: NASA gets ready for 2014 test launch