Canadian Space Agency

December 29, 2006

BLAST, a balloon-borne telescope, flies over Antarctica

Longueuil, Montreal -- A fascinating experiment is being conducted this week
over Antarctica by Canada and its partners, the U.S., the U.K. and Mexico.
Attached to a huge helium balloon, 2,000-kilogram BLAST (balloon-borne large
aperture sub-millimetre telescope) is peering deep into space to study
distant stars and galaxies. Launched from the McMurdo Research Station in
Antarctica on December 21, BLAST is expected to fly for up to 10 days,
circling 38,000 metres above the frozen continent in the stratosphere. At
such an altitude, the two-metre telescope offers levels of sensitivity and
resolution unmatched by any observation facility on Earth.

The mission will shed light on fundamental questions about the formation and
evolution of stars and galaxies. BLAST will identify large numbers of
distant star-forming galaxies, study the earliest stages of star and planet
formation, and make high-resolution maps of diffuse galactic emissions.

Canada is providing the gondola, the pointing control system, the data
acquisition system, the flight and ground station software, the power
system, and overall system integration. Canadian partners in...

http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMSWMQJNVE_index_0.html

ESA polls stakeholders to inform its long-term exploration strategy
European Space Agency
19 December 2006

ESA PR 48-2006. On 8 and 9 January, in the historic city of Edinburgh,
ESA and BNSC are to hold a workshop to kick off the first in a series
of
consultations with key stakeholders. The aim is to define European
long-term strategy for space exploration and set the scene for the
decisions to be taken at the ESA Council meeting at ministerial level
scheduled for 2008.

Dec. 27, 2006

David Mould/Dean Acosta
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1898/1400

RELEASE: 06-376

NASA'S TOP EXPLORATION AND DISCOVERY STORIES OF THE YEAR

WASHINGTON - NASA moved forward in 2006 to extend humanity's
exploration of the solar system and learn more about the universe and
our home planet. The space shuttle got back to work building the
International Space Station, and the agency began developing the next
generation of spacecraft and outlined plans for returning to the moon
as a stepping stone toward Mars. Space science missions found new
evidence of water on Mars, sent the first-ever probes toward Pluto,
brought back dust from a comet and launched new instruments to study
the sun and the weather on Earth.

NEXT STOP - THE MOON
America's Vision for Space Exploration, the long-term plan for sending
humans to Mars and beyond, moved ahead in August with the selection
of Lockheed Martin Corp. as the prime contractor...

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2006/21dec_cycle24.htm

Scientists Predict Big Solar Cycle
NASA Science News
December 21, 2006

Dec. 21, 2006: Evidence is mounting: the next solar cycle is going to
be
a big one.

Solar cycle 24, due to peak in 2010 or 2011 "looks like its going to be

one of the most intense cycles since record-keeping began almost 400
years ago," says solar physicist David Hathaway of the Marshall Space
Flight Center. He and colleague Robert Wilson presented this
conclusion
last week at the American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco.

Their forecast is based on historical records of geomagnetic storms.

Hathaway explains: "When a gust of solar wind hits Earth's magnetic
field, the impact causes the magnetic field to shake. If it shakes hard
enough, we call it a geomagnetic storm." In the extreme, these storms
cause power outages and make compass needles swing in the wrong
direction. Auroras are a beautiful side-effect.

12.21.06

George Diller
Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
321-867-2468

RELEASE: 74-06

NASA'S KSC PROVIDING ASSISTANCE TO SANTA ON CHRISTMAS EVE

The Debris Imaging Radar System, used during the night launch of
NASA's space shuttle mission STS-116, is a new system at Kennedy
Space Center in Florida that will now be made available to Santa
Claus on Christmas Eve.

Based on its success in identifying even the smallest amount of debris
coming off the orbiter or the external tank, NASA has strong
confidence the system will provide assistance in observing Santa's
sleigh. Since the elves have the packages piled high, NASA can
determine with great accuracy if any gifts planned for delivery fall
off the sleigh. The radar system is capable of high-definition radar
imagery, so the approximate shape, size and weight of the packages
can be determined.

MARS ODYSSEY THEMIS IMAGES
December 18-22, 2006

o Channel & Crater (Released 18 December 2006)
http://themis.asu.edu/zoom-20061218a

o New Material (Released 19 December 2006)
http://themis.asu.edu/zoom-20061219a

o Ridges (Released 20 December 2006)
http://themis.asu.edu/zoom-20061220a

o Arcuate Fractures (Released 21 December 2006)
http://themis.asu.edu/zoom-20061221a

o Deuteronilus (Released 22 December 2006)
http://themis.asu.edu/zoom-20061222a

All of the THEMIS images are archived here:

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

Dec. 22, 2006

Erica Hupp/Dwayne Brown
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1237/1726

Steve Roy
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.
256-544-0034

RELEASE: 06-374

FIRST IMAGES FROM HINODE OFFER NEW CLUES ABOUT OUR VIOLENT SUN

WASHINGTON - Instruments aboard a Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
satellite named Hinode, or "Sunrise," are returning extraordinary new
images of our sun. The international mission to study the forces that
drive the violent, explosive power of the sun launched from Japan in
September.

Welcome to the Space Calendar!

This Space Calendar covers space-related activities and anniversaries
for the upcoming year. It is also available on the web at:

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/calendar/

The web version of the Space Calendar includes over 1,600 links to
related
home pages.

This calendar is compiled and maintained by Ron Baalke. Please send
any
updates or corrections to ron@jpl.nasa.gov. Note that launch dates
are subject to change at any time. Also, note that anniversary dates
are
listed in 5 year increments only.

The following people have contributed to this month's calendar:

o Vicky Barlow, Dieter Kaemmer, Bill Avery, Thomas Schiller

=========================
SPACE CALENDAR
December 22, 2006
=========================

tp://www.lockheedmartin.com/wms/findPage.do?dsp=fec&ci=18086&rsbci=0&fti=111&ti=0&sc...

LOCKHEED MARTIN INSTRUMENT ON LATEST NASA SUN MISSION SEES FIRST LIGHT

PALO ALTO, Calif., December 20, 2006 -- The Extreme Ultraviolet Imager
(EUVI) instrument -- designed and built at the Solar and Astrophysics
Laboratory of the Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] Advanced Technology
Center
(ATC) in Palo Alto -- has begun returning images of the Sun's corona as
part of NASA's Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO). STEREO
utilizes two nearly identical spacecraft on different trajectories to
study the most energetic events on the surface and in the lower
atmosphere of the Sun, and their travel through interplanetary space.

Data from spacecraft instruments will allow scientists to construct the
first ever three-dimensional views of the Sun, providing a new
perspective on Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs). CMEs are violent
explosions on the surface of the Sun that can propel up to 10 billion
tons of the Sun's atmosphere -- at a million miles an hour -- out
through
the corona and into space.

Dec. 20, 2006

Dwayne Brown
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1726

Susan Hendrix
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
301-286-7745

RELEASE: 06-373

NASA SATELLITE DISCOVERS NEW KIND OF BLACK HOLE EXPLOSION

GREENBELT, Md. - Scientists using NASA data are studying a newly
recognized type of cosmic explosion called a hybrid gamma-ray burst.
As with other gamma-ray bursts, this hybrid blast is likely signaling
the birth of a new black hole.

It is unclear, however, what kind of object or objects exploded or
merged to create the new black hole. The hybrid burst exhibits
properties of the two known classes of gamma-ray bursts yet possesses
features that remain unexplained.