Five Mintz Levin Members Named San Diego Super Lawyers

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SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Mitch Danzig, Jeffry A. Davis, John Giust, Jeremy D. Glaser and Eddie Wang Rodriguez of Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C. have been selected as San Diego Super Lawyers for 2012. The annual list identifies lawyers who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. Only five percent of area lawyers were named 2012 San Diego Super Lawyers.

Mitch Danzig is a Member of the firms Employment, Labor and Benefits, Litigation, Israel Business and Intellectual Property Sections. Mr. Danzig has extensive experience in employment law, intellectual property litigation and complex commercial litigation. His work focuses on litigation in the areas of trade secrets, employee mobility, wrongful termination, discrimination, harassment, contracts, defamation, wage and hour, and unfair competition. Mr. Danzig has represented employers before numerous state and federal agencies including the Equal Employment and Opportunity Commission, the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing, the California Labor Commissioner, and the Department of Justice.Mr. Danzig has been named a San Diego Super Lawyer in 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2011. In 2010, he was selected by the Corporate Counsel Edition of Super Lawyers as one of the Top Attorneys in California for Corporate IP Litigation and was named one of the Top 60 Labor and Employment Lawyers in California by the Daily Journal. Mr. Danzig received his B.A., cum laude, from Hunter College and his J.D., cum laude, from the University of Arizona College of Law.

Jeff Davis is a Member of the firms Bankruptcy, Restructuring and Commercial Law Section. His practice is focused on all aspects of bankruptcy (including debtors, creditors, and committees), out of court workouts, insolvency, receiverships, and debtor/creditor rights. He is also a commercial law litigator in areas such as contract and business disputes. Mr. Davis has represented clients in multiple industries including real estate, health care, telecommunications, software, agriculture, consumer products and food services. Mr. Davis has been included in Best Lawyers in America every year since 1995, and annually in the San Diego Super Lawyers list since 2007. He received his B.A. from the State University of New York and his J.D. from Boston University School of Law.

John Giust is a Member of the firms Intellectual Property Section. His practice focuses on patent litigation in the Federal Courts and at the U.S. International Trade Commission. He has litigated cases involving storage area networks, audio compression, image processing, printing technologies, semiconductor technology, wireless communications, and PC technology. Mr. Giust has substantial courtroom experience and, as an electrical engineer, he is particularly skilled at presenting complex concepts to juries and judges as well as deposing and cross-examining expert witnesses on matters relating to critical technology. He has been named a San Diego Super Lawyer since 2009. Mr. Giust received his B.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of New Hampshire, his J.D., summa cum laude, from American University and his LL.M. in Patent and Intellectual Property Law, summa cum laude, from George Washington University.

Jeremy D. Glaser is a Member of the firms Corporate & Securities Section and Co-chair of the Venture Capital & Emerging Companies Practice Group. His practice focuses on serving emerging growth companies and the companies that fund them. He has substantial experience in venture capital financings, securities offerings, mergers and acquisitions, SEC compliance, licensing arrangements, and other general corporate matters. He has represented venture capital firms, hedge funds, and their portfolio companies in venture capital and PIPE financings as well as both issuers and underwriters in a wide variety of securities transactions, including IPOs, secondary offerings, and private placements. Mr. Glaser represents companies in a broad variety of industries, including Internet, software, wireless, semiconductors, computer hardware, medical devices, biotechnology, health care services, clean technology, and the investment management industry. He was selected as aTop Attorney by the San Diego Daily Transcript from 2008-2010 and has been named a San Diego Super Lawyer in 2010 and 2011. He received his A.B., summa cum laude, from Duke University and his J.D., magna cum laude, from Harvard Law School.

Eddie Wang Rodriguez is the Managing Member of the firms San Diego office and Member of the Corporate & Securities Section. His practice focuses on a wide range of corporate and securities matters, including corporate formation, mergers and acquisitions, venture financing, technology licensing, and general business counseling. He has extensive experience with counseling public and private companies in the life science, telecommunications, software, hardware, e-commerce and information technology industries in a broad range of transactional matters. Mr. Rodriguez has represented clients in more than 200 mergers and acquisition transactions and numerous securities offerings. He has also represented investors and private companies in private equity financings. Mr. Rodriguez has been named a San Diego Super Lawyer annually since 2007, included in Lawdragons Lawdragon 500 New Stars, New Worlds and 500 Leading Dealmakers in America, and the San Diego Daily Transcripts Top Attorneys in 2008 and its Transcript Ten and Top Influential People in San Diego in 2006. He received his B.A. from the University of California at Los Angeles and his J.D. from Stanford Law School. He was the editor-in-chief of the Stanford Journal of International Law and the articles editor of the Stanford Law and Policy Review.

For more information about Mintz Levin, please visit http://www.mintz.com

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Five Mintz Levin Members Named San Diego Super Lawyers

Researchers Block Pathway to Cancer Cell Replication

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NOTCH1 Signaling Promotes T-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Initiating Cell Regeneration

Newswise Research suggests that patients with leukemia sometimes relapse because standard chemotherapy fails to kill the self-renewing leukemia initiating cells, often referred to as cancer stem cells. In such cancers, the cells lie dormant for a time, only to later begin cloning, resulting in a return and metastasis of the disease.

One such type of cancer is called pediatric T cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia, or T-ALL, often found in children, who have few treatment options beyond chemotherapy.

A team of researchers led by Catriona H. M. Jamieson, MD, PhD, associate professor of medicine at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and Director of Stem Cell Research at UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center studied these cells in mouse models that had been transplanted with human leukemia cells. They discovered that the leukemia initiating cells which clone, or replicate, themselves most robustly activate the NOTCH1 pathway, usually in the context of a mutation.

Earlier studies showed that as many as half of patients with T-ALL have mutations in the NOTCH1 pathway an evolutionarily conserved developmental pathway used during differentiation of many cell and tissue types. The new study shows that when NOTCH1 activation was inhibited in animal models using a monoclonal antibody, the leukemia initiating cells did not survive. In addition, the antibody treatment significantly reduced a subset of these cancer stem cells (identified by the presence of specific markers, CD2 and CD7, on the cell surface.)

We were able to substantially reduce the potential of these cancer stem cells to self-renew, said Jamieson. So were not just getting rid of cancerous cells: were getting to the root of their resistance to treatment leukemic stem cells that lie dormant.

The study results suggest that such therapy would also be effective in other types of cancer stem cells, such as those that cause breast cancer, that also rely on NOTCH1 for self-renewal.

Therapies based on monoclonal antibodies that inhibit NOTCH 1 are much more selective than using gamma-secretase inhibitors, which also block other essential cellular functions in addition to the NOTCH1 signaling pathway, said contributor A. Thomas Look, MD of Dana-Farber/Children Hospital Cancer Center in Boston. We are excited about the promise of NOTCH1-specific antibodies to counter resistance to therapy in T-ALL and possibly additional types of cancer.

In investigating the role of NOTCH1 activation in cancer cell cloning, the researchers showed that leukemia initiating cells possess enhanced survival and self-renewal potential in specific blood-cell, or hematopoietic, niches: the microenvironment of the body in which the cells live and self-renew.

The scientists studied the molecular characterization of CD34+ cells a protein that shows expression in early hematopoietic cells and that facilitates cell migration from a dozen T-ALL patient samples.

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Researchers Block Pathway to Cancer Cell Replication

Generating dopamine via cell therapy for Parkinson's disease

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Public release date: 2-Jul-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Sarah Jackson press_releases@the-jci.org Journal of Clinical Investigation

In Parkinson's disease, the loss of dopamine-producing cells in the midbrain causes well-characterized motor symptoms. Though embryonic stem cells could potentially be used to replace dopaminergic (DA) neurons in Parkinson's disease patients, such cell therapy options must still overcome technical obstacles before the approach is ready for the clinic. Embryonic stem cell-based transplantation regimens carry a risk of introducing inappropriate cells or even cancer-prone cells. To develop cell purification strategies to minimize these risks, Dr. Lorenza Studer and colleagues at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York developed three different mouse lines to fluorescently label dopaminergic neurons at early, mid, and late stages of differentiation. Their data suggest that mouse embryonic stem cells induced to the mid stage of neuronal differentiation are best suited for transplantation to replace dopaminergic neurons. Further, their work identified new genes associated with each stage of neuronal differentiation. Their results in the mouse model system help define the differentiation stage and specific attributes of embryonic stem cell-derived, dopamine-generating cells that hold promise for cell therapy applications.

###

TITLE:

Identification of embryonic stem cellderived midbrain dopaminergic neurons for engraftment

AUTHOR CONTACT:

Lorenz Studer

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA

Phone: 212.639.6126; E-mail: studerl@mskcc.org

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Generating dopamine via cell therapy for Parkinson's disease

Stem-cell research leaders to meet in NUIG

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The Irish Times - Monday, July 2, 2012

LORNA SIGGINS

WORLD leaders in stem-cell technology are due to exchange knowledge of potential treatments at a conference opening in NUI Galway today.

Researchers from NUIG, University College Cork and NUI Maynooth will participate in the event, which has been billed as the first major conference on stem-cell therapy in Ireland.

Prof Anthony Hollander of the University of Bristol, England who was one of a team which successful created and then transplanted the first tissue-engineered trachea or windpipe is among a number of international speakers presenting findings.

The gathering will focus on the realities of stem-cell treatment, Prof Frank Barry, director of NUIGs National Centre for Biomedical Engineering Science has said.

The therapy is complex and controversial, and sometimes exaggerated claims are made, he said.

The researchers are specialists in Mesenchymal, or adult, stem cells, and will be concentrating on what is likely in the future, he added.

The list of conditions which could be treated successfully by stem cells is small, but growing, Prof Barry said.

Leukaemia and other diseases of the blood appear to respond best.

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Stem-cell research leaders to meet in NUIG

Inner Awakening Should Be The Flow Of Your Very Life – says His Holiness Paramahamsa Nithyananda

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Paramahamsa Nithyananda translated 13th verse of Chapter 5, Sanyas yoga from the sacred scripture Bhagavad Gita as- “the soul which is the controller through the faculty of discrimination having renounced all actions remains with ease and comfort in the body, the city of nine openings, neither doing nor having it done.”(PRWEB) July 02, 2012 Madurai Aadheenam 30th June 2012: Paramahamsa ...

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Inner Awakening Should Be The Flow Of Your Very Life – says His Holiness Paramahamsa Nithyananda

[ISS] Manned Soyuz TMA-03M Departs Space Station – Video

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01-07-2012 01:21 The manned Russian Soyuz TMA-03M spacecraft undocked from the International Space Station today, July 1st 2012, at 04:48 UTC as they prepare to return to Earth. Expedition 31 crew members Oleg Kononenko, Andre Kuipers and Don Pettit having spent 194 days in Space are returning home today with their de-orbit burn to slow them down and exit Earth's orbit set for 07:19 UTC and their landing in Kazachstan at 08:14 UTC. Expedition 32, the next increment of crewed operations on the Space Station officially began when this Soyuz TMA-03M undocked.

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[ISS] Manned Soyuz TMA-03M Departs Space Station - Video

Space Travelers Make Safe Return to Earth – Video

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01-07-2012 03:46 Expedition 31 Commander Oleg Kononenko, NASA Flight Engineer Don Pettit and European Space Agency Flight Engineer Andre Kuipers landed safely in their Soyuz TMA-03M spacecraft on the steppe of Kazakhstan near the town of Dzhezkazgan on July 1, 2012. The trio completed 193 days in space and 191 days on the International Space Station since launching in late December 2011. They are shown being assisted into reclining chairs by Russian personnel and beginning their adaptation to gravity after they were extracted from their capsule in Kazakhstan.

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After six months in orbit, space station astronauts land safely in Kazakhstan

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The team of Russian, Dutch, and American astronauts touched down in a Soyuz space capsule.

After half a year living on the International Space Station, three astronauts safely returned to Earth Sunday (July 1) aboard a Russian-built space capsule.

The Soyuz spacecraft landed on Central Asian steppes of Kazakhstan at 4:14 a.m. EDT (0414 GMT) to return NASA astronaut Don Pettit, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko and Dutch astronaut Andre Kuipers back to their home planet.

"Everything is good, we feel great," Kononenko radioed Russia's Mission Control Center just before landing.

The spaceflyers had undocked from the space station several hours earlier in theirRussian-built Soyuz TMA-03M spacecraftto begin the journey home. They landed upright under a blue sky dotted with some white clouds in Kazakhstan, where the local time was Sunday afternoon.

Pettit, Kononenko and Kuipers arrived at the orbiting outpost in December 2011. All three had flown previousmissions to the space station, making them a crew of veteran spaceflyers.

In a blog post describing his final day in space, Pettit reflected on the impact of his months-long mission, and encouraged humanity to keep pushing the boundaries of space exploration.

"On Earth, the frontiers opened slowly," Pettit wrote. "The technology of sailing was known and advanced for over a thousand years before the Earth was circumnavigated. Such bold acts require the technology, the will, and the audacity to explore. Sometimes you have one, but not the others. I only hope that my small efforts here, perhaps adding one grain of sand to the beach of knowledge, will help enable a generation of people in the future to call space 'home.'" [Landing Photos: Soyuz Capsule Returns 3 Astronauts Home]

Throughout their mission, Pettit and Kuipers shared with the public stunning photos of the Earth from space through Twitter and the photo sharing flight Flickr. Pettit also regularly updated a blog about his experiences on the space station, which included severalpoems in tribute to life in space.

Pettit also kept a journal as a fun way to document his scientific activities on the orbiting outpost. For instance, Pettit wrote blog updatesin the voice of a zucchini plantwhen he experimented with growing different kinds of plants in microgravity.

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After six months in orbit, space station astronauts land safely in Kazakhstan

Company promises flights to the moon aboard recycled Soviet space station

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The moon may soon be a tourist destination for millionaires with Excalibur Almaz, a British spaceflight firm, preparing to sell $150,000 tickets aboard a 1970s Soviet space station retrofitted with new thrusters

Space tourists may soon be able to pay their own way to the moon on board old Russian spacecraft retrofitted by a company based in the British Isles.

The spaceflight firm Excalibur Almaz estimates that it can sell about 30 seats between 2015 and 2025, for $150 million each, aboard moon-bound missions on a Salyut-class space station driven by electric hall-effect thrusters.

Excalibur Almaz founder and chief executive officer Art Dula estimates it will take 24 to 30 months to develop the remaining technology needed and to refurbish the ex-Soviet spacecraft and space stations the company already owns. It bought four 1970s-era Soviet Almaz program three-crew capsules and two Russian Salyut-class 63,800-pound (29,000 kilograms) space station pressure vessels.

Declaring that he is ready to sell tickets and that a 50 percent return on investment could be achieved in three years, Dula told the Royal Aeronautical Society's third European space tourism conference on June 19, "At $100 million to 150 million [per seat, we can sell] up to 29 seats in the next 10 years, and that is a conservative estimate. We [chose] not to use, for this presentation, the aggressive estimates." [Gallery: Private Space Stations of the Future]

Those conservative and aggressive estimates are from a market study entitled "Market analysis of commercial human orbital and circumlunar spaceflight" carried out for Excalibur Almaz by the management consultancy Futron. In 2009, Excalibur Almaz officials told SPACE.com the company's first flight would be in 2013.

The architecture for the lunar mission involves a Soviet Almaz Reusable Return Vehicle (RRV), which can carry three people, launched by a Soyuz-FG rocket. This rocket also launches Russia's Soyuz manned capsule. The RRV weighs 6,600 pounds (3,000 kg) and has a habitable volume of 159 cubic feet (4.5 cubic meters). The lunar flight also uses a Salyut-class 63,800-pound (29,000 kg) space station that is launched by a Proton rocket. While Excalibur Almaz intends to use the Soyuz-FG and Proton initially, Dula did not rule out using other rockets, including Space Exploration Technologies' (SpaceX) Falcon 9 in the future. Dula said Excalibur Almaz would wait for the Falcon 9 to accumulate enough flights that it became feasible to insure the space station module aboard the rocket.

"Our customers are private expedition members and I think it is fundamentally different to tourism," Dula said. "What we are offering [with the lunar flight] is more like expeditions."

Once in orbit, the station and RRV will dock and the station's propulsion system, which is a group of electric hall-effect thrusters, propels the stack out to the moon. Excalibur Almaz is in talks with Natick, Mass.-based Busek Space Propulsion to develop the hall-effect thrusters needed. Dula described an electric system for the station module that would use up to 100,000 watts of power for its thrusters. If a solar or cosmic radiation event threatened a flight's crew and passengers, the company could run power through "electrical lines around the station and keep most of the charged articles away protons you can keep out with an electrical field." He also said the station would have a refuge area crew and passengers could use to protect against radiation storms.

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Company promises flights to the moon aboard recycled Soviet space station

Space station crew lands back on Earth

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Three International Space Station crew members landed safely back on Earth Sunday, culminating a 6 1/2-month mission, NASA staff said.

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Updated July 2, 2012 at 7:28 AM

ASTANA, Kazakhstan, July 1 (UPI) -- Three International Space Station crew members landed safely back on Earth Sunday, culminating a 6 1/2-month mission, NASA staff said.

Staff at the Johnson Space Center in Houston said the trio of space travelers who comprised the crew of Expedition 31 -- Russian Commander Oleg Kononenko, NASA flight engineer Don Pettit and European Space Agency flight engineer Andre Kuipers -- landed their Soyuz TMA-03M spacecraft in Kazakhstan at 2:14 p.m. local time (3:14 p.m. EDT). They had left the space station's Rassvet module Saturday night.

The three crew members had arrived at the station Dec. 23 and spent a total of 193 days in space, with all but two of them aboard the space station.

Their work while at the station helped support more than 200 scientific investigations involving more than 400 researchers worldwide. The studies ranged from integrated investigations of the human cardiovascular and immune systems to fluid, flame and robotic research, NASA said.

Before heading back to Earth, Kononenko handed over command of Expedition 32 to Russia's Gennady Padalka, who remains at the station with NASA astronaut Joe Acaba and Russian cosmonaut Sergei Revin.

NASA astronaut Sunita Williams, Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Akihiko Hoshide will join them July 17. Williams, Malenchenko and Hoshide are scheduled to launch July 14 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

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Space station crew lands back on Earth

NASA Space shuttle trainer lands in Seattle

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(SPACE.com) Seattle's The Museum of Flight moved a nose closer to exhibiting a full-size mockup of the space shuttle on Saturday (June 30) with the delivery of the front section of a retired astronaut trainer by a large NASA cargo plane.

Thousands of spectators gathered for a "Shuttlefest" in the museum's parking lot to see the Super Guppy aircraft deliver NASA's Full Fuselage Trainer's (FFT) crew compartment from Johnson Space Center in Houston. Before landing at Boeing Field, the bulbous cargo plane circled the Seattle area -- including flying by the city's landmark Space Needle -- then made a low pass over The Museum of Flight to the delight of the waiting crowd.

Once the aircraft was on the ground and towed into place, the Guppy's flight crew began the process of swinging open the plane's unique hinged nose to reveal and offload the nose of the mockup shuttle.

"I think I can speak for all Washingtonians, when I say I am honored that such a critical part of our nation's history will be right here in Washington state at The Museum of Flight," Governor Christine Gregoire said during an arrival ceremony staged in front of the Super Guppy. [Gallery: Shuttle Trainer Lands in Seattle]

Staged for flight

The Full Fuselage Trainer was used for more than 30 years to train every person who flew on the space shuttle. Astronauts used the mockup to learn how to exit the vehicle after emergency landings and to gain familiarity with the lighting inside the orbiter's payload bay.

The crew compartment, which is approximately the same size as the observation deck of the Space Needle, is a mostly wooden but detailed replica of the shuttle's iconic black and white nose section with its interior, dual level cockpit and living area. It was the first and most recognizable of the mockup's three large segments to arrive at the museum.

Smaller parts, at least in relation to the crew cabin, were shipped to the museum earlier, including the FFT's three mock main engines. Still to be delivered by the Super Guppy are the trainer's 60 foot (18 meter) payload bay and the shuttle's aft section that supports the vertical stabilizer, or tail, and twin maneuvering engine pods.

Once all the parts have arrived in Seattle later this summer, the museum plans to reassemble the wingless FFT in its Charles Simonyi Space Gallery, a 15,500 sq. foot exhibition hall that was originally built to display a space-flown shuttle. Unlike the real orbiters' displays however, visitors to The Museum of Flight will be able to go inside and tour the trainer.

No better space on Earth

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NASA Space shuttle trainer lands in Seattle

Fly decapitates ants, lives in their heads

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A new fly discovered in Thailand is the world's smallest. It is five times smaller than a fruit fly and tinier than a grain of salt (0.4 millimeters) in length half the size of the smallest "no see-ums." It probably also feeds on tiny ants, likely decapitating them and using their head casings as its home.

"It's so small you can barely see it with the naked eye on a microscope slide. It's smaller than a flake of pepper," said Brian Brown, of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, who identified the fly as a new species. "The housefly looks like a Godzilla fly beside it."

The tiny finding is detailed in the July 2012 issue of the journal Annals of the Entomological Society of America.

More science news from msnbc.com

Science editor Alan Boyle's blog: Has the Higgs boson finally been detected? It's almost gotten to the point that if a discovery of some sort doesn't come out of next week's update on the multibillion-dollar subatomic search, it'll be a big surprise.

Thailand's tiny fly The type specimen, a female, was picked up by the Thailand Inventory Group for Entomological Research in Kaeng Krachan National Park. The fly is the first of its kind discovered in Asia. [ Microscopic Monsters: Gallery of Amazing Bugs ]

It has smoky gray wings and the female they discovered has an egg-depositing organ that is pointed to make it easy to lay eggs inside another insect, as a parasitic fly would. While it's not the smallest insect (that title belongs a species of fairy wasp, coming in at 0.14 millimeters in length, about the size of a human egg cell), it is the world's smallest fly.

"When you get really small like that, the environment changes," Brown said. "The viscosity of air starts to become a problem and wind currents are major events. It's amazing how small something can be and still have all of its organs. This is a new frontier, and publishing this tiny fly is basically a challenge to other people to find something smaller," he said.

Feeding on ants The researchers named the new fly Euryplatea nanaknihali. It comes from a group of 4,000 hump-backed flies called phorid flies. One genus of the fly, Pseudacteon, is known for its anti-ant behaviors, which include decapitation. They usually range from 0.04 inches to 0.12 inches (1 millimeter to 3 millimeters) in length, so they can only prey on larger ants.

The flies lay their eggs in the body of the ant; the eggs develop and migrate to the ant's head where they feed on the huge muscles used to open and close the ant's mouthparts. They eventually devour the ant's brain as well, causing it to wander aimlessly for two weeks. The head then falls off after the fly larva dissolve the membrane that keeps it attached.

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Fly decapitates ants, lives in their heads

'Flying Squirrel' soars, heads for London Games

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By NANCY ARMOUR AP National Writer

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) - Now that she's on her way to the Olympics, Gabby Douglas has a new goal.

"I'm hoping I can catch an accent," she said. "I've always wanted an accent."

Look out London. The 16-year-old whose "Flying Squirrel" nickname might be the only thing more appealing than her personality or her high-flying uneven bars routine is ready to take on a new continent after upsetting world champion Jordyn Wieber to win the Olympic trials Sunday night.

Oh, she's bringing friends, too. Led by the 1-2 punch of Douglas and Wieber, this will be the strongest team the Americans have had since 1996, one that will be not just favored but expected to bring home only the second Olympic team gold.

McKayla Maroney and Aly Raisman, who were with Douglas and Wieber on the U.S. team that won the title at last fall's world championships, also made the team, as did Kyla Ross.

"This is a very strong team. I feel this team is even stronger than four years ago," said Douglas' coach, Liang Chow.

Considering that 2008 squad had Nastia Liukin, Shawn Johnson and Alicia Sacramone, that's a pretty bold statement. After seeing Douglas' stunning ascension over the last six months, however, no one should bet against her and the Americans.

"You want to peak at the right time," Douglas said. "And also still be awesome and great."

Douglas convinced her mother to let her leave her hometown of Virginia Beach, Va., almost two years ago to move to Iowa and train with Chow, Johnson's coach. Though she was a member of that world team, few would have ever guessed that she, rather than Russia's Aliya Mustafina or Viktoria Komova, would present the biggest challenge to Wieber.

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Bill to expand use of red light cameras heads to Gov. Tom Corbett's desk

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A bill to expand the use of red light cameras to catch traffic violators in Pittsburgh and suburban Philadelphia is on its way to the governors desk to be signed into law. The measure would not impact Harrisburg-area municipalities.

The state House of Representatives joined the Senate in approving the measure early Sunday, as lawmakers stayed past their usual 11 p.m. deadline to finish voting on nonbudget matters.

It would extend the use of automated cameras in Philadelphia through 2017 and allow the devices in Pittsburgh and suburban Philadelphia municipalities with at least 20,000 residents and accredited police departments.

The programs would be subject to approval by the state Department of Transportation.

The bill also would require people younger than 18 to complete a PennDOT-approved safety course before they can obtain a junior license to operate motorcycles.

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Lockheed Martin Delivers Orion Spacecraft to NASA Kennedy Space Center

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DENVER, July 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Lockheed Martin (LMT) has delivered the first space-bound Orion spacecraft crew module structure to the Operations and Checkout Building on NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida. The crew module structure recently underwent its final friction stir weld at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, La. and was transported to KSC last week to be readied for its Exploration Flight Test (EFT-1) in 2014.

"Completing the Orion EFT-1 structure in New Orleans and delivering it to Kennedy Space Center is a tremendous accomplishment in the manufacturing of this deep space hardware," said Cleon Lacefield, Lockheed Martin vice president and Orion program manager. "Now we have our eyes set on the Exploration Flight Test which will take this amazing spacecraft designed for crew significantly farther from Earth than any mission since Apollo."

This Orion capsule will be the first to be sent into space. Over the next year and a half, the crew module will undergo final assembly, integration and testing at KSC in preparation for the Exploration Flight Test. Additional subsystems will be installed, including propulsion, thermal protection, environmental control, avionics, power, mechanisms, and landing and recovery systems.

The EFT-1 flight will be NASA's first orbital flight test beyond low Earth orbit since the 1960s. The test will evaluate critical capabilities needed for safe deep-space exploration and reduce overall risk for Orion's first human-rated flight in 2017. An uncrewed Orion capsule will be launched aboard a Delta IV Heavy to an altitude of more than 3,600 miles and demonstrate integrated vehicle performance for ascent, on-orbit flight, and a high energy re-entry profile with speeds up to 20,000 mph. The EFT-1 test will also enable the team to collect early critical flight performance data and assess the integration benefits for the Orion, Space Launch System and Ground Operations programs.

Lockheed Martin is the prime contractor to NASA for the Orion crew exploration vehicle the world's first interplanetary spacecraft designed for human exploration of our solar system. Orion is designed to carry astronauts beyond low Earth orbit on long-duration, deep-space missions to destinations such as asteroids, Lagrange Points or the moon.

NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston manages the Orion Program. Lockheed Martin leads the Orion industry team which includes major subcontractors as well as a nationwide network of minor subcontractors and small businesses. In addition, Lockheed Martin contracts with hundreds of small and disadvantaged business suppliers across the United States through an expansive supply chain network.

Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company that employs about 123,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The Corporation's net sales for 2011 were $46.5 billion.

More information about NASA's Orion spacecraft can be found at:

MEDIA CONTACT:

Gary Napier, Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company

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NASA's 'Webb-Cam' has double vision for MIRI's arrival

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This is an image taken from one of NASAs two special "Webb-cams, a camera in a giant clean room at NASA Goddard. The Webb-cams focus on what's happening with the very first completed instrument that will fly onboard the James Webb Space Telescope. The flight Integrated Science Instrument Module (ISIM) is at left center. The Ambient Optical Assembly Stand is on the right side of the image. Credit: NASA

(Phys.org) -- NASA's special "Webb-cam," the camera in a giant clean room at NASA Goddard, now has "double vision," because there are two video cameras now focusing on what's happening with the very first completed instrument that will fly onboard the James Webb Space Telescope. Recently, there's been a lot to look at because the MIRI instrument arrived at Goddard from the United Kingdom.

These aren't just typical webcams, they're "Webb-cams" because they're focused on the progress of work being done on components of the upcoming James Webb Space Telescope in the largest clean room at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.

"We now have two webcams in the Building 29 clean room at Goddard, one showing the left side and one showing the right," said Maggie Masetti, Web Developer on the Webb telescope mission at NASA Goddard. "The screenshots on-line are updated every minute. The clean room is generally occupied from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time in the U.S., Monday through Friday. There may not be much activity outside of these hours." The Webb-cam can be seen on-line at: http://jwst.nasa.g /webcam.html .

The James Webb Space Telescope contains four science instruments, but only one of them, the MIRI, sees light in the mid-infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum. Mid-infrared light is longer in wavelength than that which the other Webb instruments are designed to observe. This unique capability of the MIRI allows the Webb telescope to study physical processes occurring in the cosmos that the other Webb instruments cannot see. The MIRI will be integrated into the Integrated Science Instrument Module (ISIM) Structure and viewers of the "Double Vision Webb Cams" can see it happen.

The MIRI is important to the Webb telescope because its sensitive detectors will allow it to make unique observations of many things including the light of distant galaxies, newly forming stars within our own Milky Way, the formation of planets around stars other than our own, as well as planets, comets, and the outermost debris disk in our own solar system.

Enlarge

Three engineers from the European Space Agency wearing blue hood are investigating the Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) that recently arrived at NASA Goddards clean room. The MIRI sees light in the mid-infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum. Keep watching the Webb-cams, and the MIRI will likely be moved into view soon. Credit: NASA/Chris Gunn

The Webb telescope project is managed at Goddard, and several components of this next generation space telescope are already in a clean room there. The Webb telescope is the world's next-generation space observatory and successor to the Hubble Space Telescope. The most powerful space telescope ever built, the Webb telescope will provide images of the first galaxies ever formed, and explore planets around distant stars. It is a joint project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency.

What is a Clean Room?

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NASA's 'Webb-Cam' has double vision for MIRI's arrival

Nasa shuttle astronaut dies in jet ski accident

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Poindexter's sons were not injured in the accident, which is under investigation.

Poindexter, who went by the nickname "Dex," made two space flights during his career with NASA. In February 2008, he was the pilot aboard the shuttle Atlantis on a mission to deliver the European Space Agency's Columbus laboratory module to the International Space Station.

Poindexter returned to space in April 2010 as commander of the shuttle Discovery on one of the final cargo runs to the station before the shuttles were retired.

"He was a talented, courageous Navy veteran with gifts," astronaut Greg Johnson wrote on Twitter. "Dex was a lovable guy with a strong work ethic."

A captain in the US Navy, Poindexter left NASA in December 2010 to become dean of students at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. He earned a master of science degree in aeronautical engineering from the school in 1995.

He is the son of former National Security Adviser John Poindexter, who served in the Reagan administration.

Alan Poindexter was born in 1961 in Pasadena, California, but considered Rockville, Maryland, to be his hometown. He earned a bachelor of aerospace engineering degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology, then was commissioned in the Navy.

Poindexter flew combat missions in Iraq during Operation Desert Storm and Operation Southern Watch, then became a test pilot. He logged more than 4,000 hours flying time in more than 30 types of aircraft.

He was selected to join NASA's astronaut corps in June 1998.

Source: Reuters

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Nasa shuttle astronaut dies in jet ski accident

NASA shows off deep-space exploration capsule at Kennedy Space Center

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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER Though NASA relies on Russia to transport astronauts into orbit, retired astronaut Winston Scott remains optimistic about the next half-century of American spaceflight.

Monday, NASA showed off its new Orion crew capsule at Kennedy Space Center in advance of an unmanned 2014 orbital test flight. This deep-space exploration program may ultimately send humans to the moon, asteroids and Mars.

And on a parallel path, SpaceX's Dragon capsule splashed down in May in the Pacific Ocean, pushing commercial spacecraft closer to servicing the International Space Station.

"We're moving forward. We're just moving forward very slow," Scott said Sunday during ceremonies marking KSC's 50th anniversary.

"Many of us would like to see America accelerate let's get back in the game quickly. But it's slow. And we are making progress," Scott said.

KSC opened July 1, 1962, as NASA's Launch Operations Center during the Space Race with the Soviet Union. The Merritt Island complex was renamed Kennedy Space Center on Nov. 29, 1963, one week after President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, said Stephen Smith, KSC Visitor Complex spokesman.

Constructed amid mosquito-infested marshland, the facility later hosted the historic Apollo 11 lunar launch and 135 shuttle missions.

Scott flew aboard Shuttles Endeavour and Columbia as a mission specialist in 1996-97. Sunday, he shared photos, videos and personal anecdotes including a primer on how astronauts use strap-in space toilets with spectators at the KSC Visitor Complex. He also signed autographs and posed for photos.

Scott said astronauts should have set foot on Mars by now but the federal government has lacked political will and economic incentive to even return to the moon in recent decades.

Carol Scott, NASA commercial crew program manager, said the final shuttle flight last July has caused confusion among the general public

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NASA shows off deep-space exploration capsule at Kennedy Space Center