http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2008-138

Spitzer Reveals 'No Organics' Zone Around Pinwheel Galaxy
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
July 21, 2008

The Pinwheel galaxy is gussied up in infrared light in a new picture
from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope.

The fluffy-looking galaxy, officially named Messier 101, is dominated
by a mishmash of spiral arms. In Spitzer's new view, in which infrared
light is color coded, the galaxy sports a swirling blue center and a
unique, coral-red outer ring.

A new paper appearing July 20 in the Astrophysical Journal explains
why
this outer ring stands out. According to the authors, the red color
highlights a zone where organic molecules called polycyclic aromatic
hydrocarbons, which are present throughout most of the galaxy,
suddenly
disappear.

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/phoenix/release.php?ArticleID=1796

NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander Works Through the Night
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
July 21, 2008

TUCSON, Ariz. -- To coordinate with observations made by an orbiter
flying repeatedly overhead, NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander is working a
schedule Monday that includes staying awake all night for the first
time.

Phoenix is using its weather station, stereo camera and conductivity
probe to monitor changes in the lower atmosphere and ground surface at
the same time NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter studies the
atmosphere
and ground from above.

July 21, 2008

John Yembrick
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-0602
John.yembrick-1@nasa.gov

RELEASE: 08-181

STATEMENT ON INACCURATE REPORTS ABOUT JAPANESE CARGO SERVICES

WASHINGTON -- Contrary to news reports, NASA has not officially or
unofficially been discussing the purchase of H-II Transfer Vehicles
(HTV) -- uninhabited resupply cargo ships for the space station --
from the Japanese Space Agency, or JAXA.

International Astronomical Union
Paris, France

For more information, please contact:

Dr. Edward L.G. Bowell
IAU Division III President
Lowell Observatory, USA
Tel: +1-928-774-3358

Mike Brown
Professor of Planetary Astronomy
California Institute of Technology
Phone: +1-626-395-8423

Lars Lindberg Christensen
IAU Press Officer
ESA/Hubble, Garching, Germany
Phone: +49-89-32-00-63-06

Jul 19, 2008

News Release: IAU0806

Fourth dwarf planet named Makemake

MARS ODYSSEY THEMIS IMAGES
July 14-18, 2008

o THEMIS ART #89 (Released 14 July 2008)
http://themis.asu.edu/zoom-20080714a

o THEMIS ART #90 (Released 15 July 2008)
http://themis.asu.edu/zoom-20080715a

o THEMIS ART #91 (Released 16 July 2008)
http://themis.asu.edu/zoom-20080716a

o THEMIS ART #92 (Released 17 July 2008)
http://themis.asu.edu/zoom-20080717a

o THEMIS ART #93 (Released 18 July 2008)
http://themis.asu.edu/zoom-20080718a

All of the THEMIS images are archived here:

http://themis.asu.edu/latest.html

July 18, 2008

Sonja Alexander
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1761
sonja.r.alexander@nasa.gov

RELEASE: 08-180

NASA ANNOUNCES COMPETITIVE GRANT PROGRAMS

WASHINGTON -- NASA's Office of Education at headquarters in
Washington
has announced three new extramural funding opportunities that could
result in the award of grants or cooperative agreements.

One of the three funding opportunities is the K-12 Competitive Grants
Opportunity, a competitive education grant program targeting
secondary school level teaching and learning, with grants being
awarded to U.S. public schools and non-profit organizations. The goal
of the opportunity is to seek out and support new, innovative, and
replicable approaches to improving science, technology, engineering
and mathematics (STEM) learning and instruction. This will leverage
NASA's unique contributions to STEM fields.

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/phoenix/release.php?ArticleID=1794

Nasa's Phoenix Mars Lander Continues Tests with Rasp
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
July 18, 2008

TUCSON, Ariz. -- The team operating NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander plans
to
tell the lander today to do a second, larger test of using a motorized
rasp to produce and gather shavings of frozen ground.

The planned test is a preparation for putting a similar sample into
one
of Phoenix's laboratory ovens in coming days. The instrument with the
oven, the Thermal and Evolved- Gas Analyzer (TEGA), will be used to
check whether the hard layer exposed in a shallow trench is indeed
rich
in water ice, as scientists expect, and to identify some other
ingredients in the frozen soil.

Cassini Significant Events
for 07/09/08 - 07/15/08

The most recent spacecraft telemetry was acquired on July 15 from the
DSN tracking complex at Goldstone, California. The Cassini spacecraft
is in an excellent state of health and all subsystems are operating
normally. Information on the present position and speed of the
Cassini spacecraft may be found on the "Present Position" page at:
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/operations/present-position.cfm.

Wednesday, July 9 (Day of Year (DOY) 191)

A Spacecraft AACS Periodic Engineering Maintenance (PEM) occurred
July 9, 2008. Performed every 90 days, this activity exercises the
Engine Gimbal Actuators and the back-up Reaction Wheel Assembly (RWA)
#3. In the RWA exercise, the wheel is commanded to +100 rpm, -100
rpm, 0 rpm, then turned off.

MARS RECONNAISSANCE ORBITER HIRISE IMAGES
July 16, 2008

o Mystery Mounds
http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/PSP_008778_1685

o Layering and Inverted Streams
http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/PSP_008774_1755

o Cratered Cones in Utopia Planitia u
http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/PSP_008767_2055

o Layered Rocks in Orson Welles Crater
http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/PSP_008391_1790

All of the HiRISE images are archived here:

http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/

July 17, 2008

David Mould/Jason S. Sharp
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600/5213
david.r.mould@nasa.gov, jason.s.sharp@nasa.gov

Mark Hess
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
301-286-6255
mark.s.hess@nasa.gov

RELEASE: 08-179

NASA NAMES STRAIN NEW GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER DIRECTOR

WASHINGTON -- NASA Administrator Michael Griffin on Thursday
announced
that Rob Strain will be the next center director of NASA's Goddard
Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. Strain is currently the head of
the Space Department at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics
Lab in Laurel, Md. He will assume his duties as center director on
Aug. 4.