Space Shuttle Discovery lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center at 5:02 p.m. EDT and successully arrived in low Earth orbit eight-and-a-half minutes later.

The push to explore the final frontier continues!

For the best up-to-the-minute coverage during the weekend I invite you to check out all of these sites:

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/launch/launch_blog.html

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts124/status.html

http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=NEWS02

Jim Banke
Cape Canaveral, FL

Space Florida and SPACEHAB, Inc. to send validation of salmonella vaccine target to the Space Station on upcoming mission of Space Shuttle Discovery
Marks a significant milestone in a new venture between the two entities

 

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (May 30, 2008) – A partnership between Space Florida and SPACEHAB’s new biotech subsidiary BioSpace Technologies Inc. is paving the way to develop multiple vaccine targets on the International Space Station (ISS).

“This new space age microgravity process is already revealing new opportunities in the development of life-saving biomedicines within Florida’s new biotech space corridor,” said Thomas Pickens, III, chairman and chief executive officer, SPACEHAB, Inc. 

What should the future of American human spaceflight be?

If you've got an answer to that question, the best video response could bring you a $2,000 cash prize.

That's the word from the folks running the 2008 Space VidVision Contest, with contestants asked to create a video essay posted on YouTube.com and/or Metacafe.com video websites. The essays -- running no more than 3 minutes -- must present a viewpoint on the future of U.S. spaceflight.

According to contest organizer, Greg Zsidisin: "A video entry can be just someone speaking into a camera, or it can be laden with special effects....and make a particularly good case for its viewpoint."

The contest is a project of the Space Frontier Foundation and is co-sponsored by SpaceContest.org.

Entries must be posted no later than Sunday, July 6, 2008...so start your cameras!

For more information on the 2008 Space VidVision Contest, contact Greg Zsidisin via email at:

gregnjny@yahoo.com or visit:

SpaceContest.org

-- Leonard David

 

May 27, 2008
Tuesday
8-9 a.m.

Space Place Live! Michelle Thaller, Program 6 (3-6)
Milestones of Flight (4-10)
Destination Tomorrow™ Six (9-Adult)

4-6 p.m. and 8-10 p.m.

Space Place Live! Michelle Thaller, Program 6 (3-6)
Milestones of Flight (4-10)
Destination Tomorrow™ Six (9-Adult)
NASA SCIence Files™: The Case of the Ocean Odyssey (3-5)

---

The success of Phoenix and its landing on the red planet on May 25 turns a new page in Mars exploration.

Next steps will involve readying the lander for a suite of scientific investigations to be carried out over the months to come.

Yesterday, as the Mars lander eased itself on down, planting its trio of legs firmly on the planet, cheers broke out at Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company  near Denver, Colorado. They designed, built and are now key to the safe and sustained operation of the spacecraft.

"It's a great day," explained Joanne Maguire, Executive Vice President, Space Systems for Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company. "We are charting uncharted territory," she told an audience gathered at the aerospace company on landing day.

Colorado Governor, Bill Ritter, also was on hand to observe the landing, labeling it a world-class event. He noted all "the competence in one room" at the company's Mission Support Area for Phoenix, spotlighting the fact that Colorado has the 2nd highest concentration of aerospace workers in the United States.

Meanwhile, Phoenix scientists are ready to start their scientific tasks on the red planet. Within the next day or so, the first tests of the lander's long robotic arm are slated.  But will the Mars craft find what it has been sent to dig for - ice, frozen water?

Does the Phoenix Mars lander now sit and operate on a site that has been a favorable environment for microbial life?

Making use of its robotic arm, Phoenix will, indeed, be breaking new ground in Mars exploration.

-- Leonard David

 

 

 

From Crystal:

The Phoenix landing has been perfect!  It is a wonderful success for our country, our scientists, and all who have been involved with the design, building, and launch.  It is also an excellent opportunity for our students and teachers to see the future of science and space exploration.  Follow the mission as we learn from the experiments being performed about the environment of Mars.

From team reporter Barb:

The first photos from the Mars Phoenix Lander are just coming down!  It's 8 PM (Mountain Time) here.   What a thrill!  Shots of the Martian surface, the foot of the lander - and the solar arrays are open!  The families of the Lockheed Martin engineers and managers who built Phoenix and media watching these first  photos at Lockheed Martin are so relieved and joyful.  View the Phoenix photos of Mars at  - http://phoenix.lpl.arizona.edu

More live coverage soon... 

From Crystal:  We are in a scheduled blackout for the next couple of hours, but will be hearing from some of the mission specialists here....more to come.

From Crystal:

LIVE from Lockheed Martin...We are less than 2 minutes to landing,  the parachute was deployed successfully and cheers erupted from the crowd.  It is a tense and exciting time - we are waiting for lander separation and it was successful.  We are at 250 meters and counting...... 60 meters....... touch down!  The goose bumps, tears and cheers are mixed!  What a wonderful success!  We are standing by for more information from the orbiting satelittes.  Confirmation - Phoenix has landed!

This is LIVE coverage of the landing of the Mars Phoenix Lander by the Coalition for Space Exploration's Education Station reporting team at Lockheed Martin near Denver on May 25, 2008! 

Lockheed Martin built the Phoenix spacecraft for NASA with the help of other aerospace companies and countries including the Canadian Space Agency.  NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory is handling the navigation - the entry into the martian atmopshere, the descent and landing on the red planet's surface.  Mission Control for Phoenix Lander's science instruments is at the University of Arizona in Tucson.

The Coalition's reporting team: 

- Crystal Bloemen - Teacher member of the Coalition for Space Exploration's advisory board and middle school science and biology teacher at Webber Junior High School in Fort Collins, Colorado

- Joel Peterson - Director of Webber Aerospace Ventures in Education (W.A.V.E.) and counselor at Webber Junior High School in Fort Collins

- Barbara David - Space Science Education Specialist, former teacher, journalist and space education consultant for the Coalition for Space Exploration (from Boulder, Colorado)

For more information and the latest on the Mars Phoenix Lander's mission, go to:   http://phoenix.lpl.arizona.edu

First report from Crystal:

It is an exciting, and nerve racking time waiting for the information on the landing to reach us.  After years of work for so many scientists, engineers, and all who worked on the Phoenix project, we are about to watch all of their hard work pay off.    There is a 15 minute time lapse between the events happening on Mars and the time the information can reach us here, even traveling at the speed of light.  This is an exciting mission for teachers and students to follow because we have only about 90 days of data collection on the polar ice caps of Mars.  What makes this mission so unique is all previous landers have landed in the equitorial region and this mission is to the polar ice caps at about 68 degrees north latitude; similar to northern Alaska here on Earth.  We are still waiting for the information........

Report from Joel:

The tension is palpable.  The whole room of people is tense with excitement.   The Lockheed Martin Control Center just reacted to a successful seperation of spacecraft portions as the Lander continues to descend to the Martian surface!  Lots of cheers and clapping here with the family members  .... it's standing room only here.  We are now waiting for the next stage of the landing sequence.  We're now 4 minutes past the separation and are awaiting parachute deployment.  This is a highly risky portion of the mission.  In the mission control area here the scientists and engineers are waiting nervously and many are pacing, unable to sit and wait.  Everyones eyes are glued to telemetry data generated on computer screens in mission control.  Phoenix has just entered the atmosphere of Mars.  Nervous laughter permeates through the mission control room. 

 

It's Mars landing day!

NASA's Phoenix lander is on course to land on the red planet at around 4:53 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time (7:53 Eastern Daylight Time).

There are two more chances to carry out small correction maneuvers -- 6x and 6xm -- as Phoenix speeds toward Mars for its entry, descent, and landing and landing at a pre-determined site.

Gary Napier, spokesman for Lockheed Martin Space Systems -- the firm that designed and built the Phoenix lander -- told me: "The only reason we would use them is if the gravity well of Mars does something outside of our prediction. Right now, the prediction is we're on target and we're going in."

That "going in" includes seven-minutes of nail-biting as Phoenix hot foots it through the Martian atmosphere, deploys its parachute, tosses off its heat shield, lowers its landing legs, turns on its landing radar, discards its parachute...then fires its gang of 12 thrusters to slow down for a touchdown. 

And here's even more history for you.

On this day, back on May 25, 1961, President John F. Kennedy presented a bold challenge before a joint session of Congress - to send a man to the Moon, and accomplish that feat by the end of that decade.

While you're waiting for the Phoenix Mars landing today, retrofire yourself back in time and listen to President Kennedy's speech that put the nation on course for, not only lunar exploration, but beyond.

Go to:

http://www.archive.org/details/jfks19610525

Under "individual streams" go to the first item labeled "stream".

-- Leonard David 

Here at the Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company, it's hugs all around. Engineers and mission managers are overwhelmed with excitement as the product of years of work has touched down on Mars.

Nervous technicians and operators of Phoenix watched nervously, pointing to computer screens that indicated all was going well with the spacecraft and its landing.

The Phoenix spacecraft was designed and built by Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company for NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The company is also providing flight operations of the Phoenix lander.

-- Leonard David

Yes, It is true that nobody can hear you scream in space.

But now the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has made available "Moonbell" - a site that you can use to hear the sound of the Moon.

Thank's to JAXA's Kaguya lunar orbiter -- injected into lunar orbit back in October of last year -- it is measuring the Moon's surface by laser altimeter. And listen to this...you can "hear" lunar surface ups and downs on the Moonbell site.

Also, you can customize the instruments and tones by clicking "preference" in the left bottom of the Moonbell window.

Give it a listen, but you'll need the latest Java plug-in installed on your browser.

Check out JAXA's Moonbell at:

http://wms.selene.jaxa.jp/selene_sok/

-- Leonard David

 

NASA’s Phoenix Mars lander is nearing its target – and prepared to open a new chapter in investigating the red planet.

If all goes according to plan, the Phoenix spacecraft will nosedive into Mars’ thin atmosphere on Sunday, May 25th. The three-legged lander is to alight at the martian polar north at around 7:53 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time.

Its mission is to help address the role of water on Mars and delve into conditions that could support past, perhaps even present, life.

Peter Smith is the Principal Investigator for the Phoenix mission, a leading Mars scientist at the University of Arizona in Tucson.

“Things look great. The spacecraft is doing well,” Smith told this Coalition reporter in an exclusive interview. “We’re prepared for the surface mission. We’ve gone through all of our dress rehearsals and preparations. We’re in the best shape we know how to be.”

Rockets roared and sped into the sky - not from Cape Canaveral in Florida or from California’s Vandenberg Air Force Base.

The May 17 liftoff site was from a 250-acre field events center and steeplechase course 45 miles from Washington, D.C., at Great Meadow in The Plains, Virginia. This is home ground for the national Sixth Annual Team America Rocketry Challenge (TARC), sponsored by the Aerospace Industries Association and the National Association of Rocketry.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) issued today images taken by its Kaguya lunar orbiter of the Apollo 15 landing site.  Clearly seen in the space snapshots is evidence of thrusted gas that mussed up the lunar surface as the fourth mission to land humans on the Moon made touchdown.

Apollo 15's Falcon lunar lander was commanded by David Scott, with James Irwin serving as Lunar Module Pilot. The landing took place on July 30, 1971.

JAXA's Kaguya orbiter has also allowed creation of stereoscopic imagery of the Apollo 15 landing site, showing the Hadley Rille on the southeast edge of Mare Imbrium.

Identified in the just-released images by red lines are remnants of a halo, the exposed surface, after being disturbed by the lunar lander's thrusting gas during Falcon's touchdown.

Also shown in the JAXA update are before and after images taken of the landing locale, showing the stirred up lunar landscape caused by the touchdown.

Take a look back in time at the Apollo 15 lunar landing by jumping to the new 21st century images taken by the Kaguya lunar orbiter. The site is in Japanese, but you should find it easy to navigate your way to view the images.

Go to:

http://www.jaxa.jp/press/2008/05/20080520_kaguya_j.html

-- Leonard David

 

 

May 15: Former fighter pilot Yves Rossy, Switzerland's 'Rocket Man,' completes his first public flight with jet-powered wings strapped to his back. TODAY’s Ann Curry reports.

Researchers with the National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI) in Houston, Texas are deep in dust…lunar dust that is.

NSBRI scientists are looking into housekeeping and health issues for future astronauts who visit the Moon. A key question: What health risks are associated with lunar dust deposits in the lungs in the reduced gravity of the Moon?

Kim Prisk is a NSBRI Human Factors and Performance Team researcher. She observes that there are major questions that need to be answered, such as: How much goes into the lung? Where does it go? How long does it stay? And just how nasty is the stuff in the first place?

This year’s NASA Means Business competition has come to a close, with the team from University of Wisconsin - Madison taking home grand prize honors after the final judging event at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Also participating in the final round of competition were teams from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University Worldwide of Eglin Air Force Base, Fla.; Bentley College of Waltham, Mass.; and Miami International University of Art & Design – Miami, Fla.

These students demonstrated an amazing depth of knowledge in digital media and the internet, and they brought their perspective into their projects – incorporating new aspects of the online world into promoting the space program.

Dr. Charles Marston, Professor Emeritus of Villanova University came in today to talk to my students about how airplanes fly. We had worked with Dr. Marston earlier in the school year when we were studying the Wright Brothers and were looking forward to a second visit with him. After a slide presentation, which included much explanation along with questions and comments from the students, the real fun began. Dr. Marston showed the class two paper airplanes, and gave a brief discussion about balance, wing formation and center of gravity. Then the children began to work.

BY EUN KYUNG KIM
FLORIDA TODAY

For legendary astronaut and former U.S. Sen. John Glenn, the video clips brought back memories of old friends. For the rest of the nation, they provided a glimpse of NASA's glory days. The clips were among 100 hours of historic space footage, newly restored in high- definition, released publicly Tuesday at a Capitol Hill ceremony to help mark the 50th anniversary of NASA.

The Microsoft Corporation in Redmond, Washington is pioneering public access to space imagery from the best ground- and space-based observatories around the Earth...and off-planet.

Called the WorldWide Telescope, the powerful software tool opens wide the Universe at large for all to see.

The application itself -- in beta test form -- is a blend of software and web service created with the Microsoft high-performance Visual Experience Engine. WorldWide Telescope permits seamless panning and zooming around the heavens and stitches together terabytes of high-resolution images of celestial bodies and displays them in a way that relates to their actual position in the sky.

Users can freely browse through the solar system, galaxy and beyond, or take advantage of a growing number of guided tours of the sky hosted by astronomers and educators at major universities and planetariums.

Microsoft Research is releasing WorldWide Telescope as a service -- free of charge -- with the hope that it will "inspire and empower kids of all ages to explore and understand the universe in an unprecedented way," according to a Microsoft press statement.

WorldWide Telescope is now available at:

http://www.worldwidetelescope.org

-- Leonard David

NASA’s Ares I and Ares V boosters will both depend on the J-2X upper stage engine – key hardware for NASA’s Constellation Program.

On May 8, the space agency announced that nine tests of heritage J-2 engine components have successfully been completed. Those tests were performed from December to May at the NASA Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi.

May 12, 2008
Monday
8-9 a.m.

Space Place Live! Donya Douglas, Program 5 (3-6)
Destination Tomorrow™ Sixteen (9-Adult)
Introduction to High-Altitude Ballooning (9-Adult)

4-6 p.m. and 8-10 p.m.

Space Place Live! Donya Douglas, Program 5 (3-6)
Destination Tomorrow™ Sixteen (9-Adult)
Introduction to High-Altitude Ballooning (9-Adult)
NASA CONNECT™: Rocket to the Stars (6-8)
A Lightning Field Trip (5-8)

As students from California and New York asked questions on May 12th of astronaut Garrett Reisman, they could see him floating in front of the camera as his home away from home, the International Space Station (ISS), orbited Earth. Garrett was impressed with the elementary school students' questions, but with teachers like Pam Leestma and Neme Alperstein, two very dedicated and enthusiastic space educators, it shouldn't be a surprise.

Their students already know the answers to space basics, like "How do you go to the bathroom in space?" They had built their own space station models, and used a simulated glove box in classroom activities. They knew that one of the science experiments Garrett was working on involved using a glove box, and they wanted to know more. Garrett explained that they were experimenting with the mixure of liquids and solids in microgravity.

The students had done their homework. They knew that Garrett had been involved in living under water. In 2003, he was a crew member on NEEMO - NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations - and lived on the bottom of the sea in the Aquarius habitat for two weeks. They wanted to know how living on NEEMO was different from living on the ISS.

Students also asked what Garrett's most extroordinary experience was in space. The answer: Spacewalking!

We will soon have photos of this event to post here too.

 

On Monday, May 12th at 9:20 AM (Pacific Daylight Time) - you can watch NASA's first coast-to-coast downlink live from the International Space Station (ISS) as students from elementary schools in California and New York link up and ask questions of astronaut Garrett Reisman. If it replays on NASA TV will soik 

More than 350 students at the two locations will participate in live videoconferencing before and after the 20-minute downlink session. Twelve second and sixth grade students will ask  the ISS astronaut questions with topics ranging from the effects of microgravity while living and working in the ISS, to eating and sleeping in space, science experiments on the ISS and the 50th anniversary of space exploration.

To watch the downlink, via the Internet - go to www.nasa.gov and click on Multimedia at the top of the page, then select NASA TV in the drop-down menu.

You may have seen this posted at other space web sites but we wanted to make sure you didn't miss it so here you go... Nine minutes of capturing the fun and excitement of human spaceflight. Makes me wonder what it would have been like if Colbert had interviewed a Moonwalker back in the day.

Jim Banke

 

 

William sent in a question to the Coalition for Space Exploration asking about NASA's plans to deal with large spare parts for the International Space Station once the Space Shuttle is retired in 2010. He was particulary concerned about the Station's gyroscopes, or CMGs, and if future problems with the devices could send the ISS back to Earth like Skylab.

I talked with NASA spokesman Rob Navias from the Johnson Space Center and learned the agency's intention is that two spare gyros will be brought up to the station and stored at the outpost in case they are needed.

Extra batteries, a Ku-band antenna, an S-band antenna, ammonia tank assemblies a robot arm component, and a pair of high-pressure gas tanks are some of the other bulky spare items intended to be packed on the station before the Space Shuttle's retirement in 2010.

After then it will be several years before NASA can send bigger replacement parts up to the station so the idea is to plan ahead and load up the ISS with supplies. Most of that cargo will be launched on the final two shuttle missions planned by NASA .

William's question specifically referred to the CMGs. Four CMGs are installed outside the station, each spinning 6,600 times per minute. At least two need to be working to do their job, which is to keep the space station pointed in a specific direction as it orbits the Earth.

If the station loses its pointing ability a number of unwanted things could happen to the station, but it won't just suddenly tumble out of orbit and crash to Earth, which was the ultimate fate of SkyLab and the Russian space station Mir.

Fortunately there is a second way to control the station's attitude and that is by using the outpost's thrusters, or steering jets on visiting docked spacecraft. This method is often employed when the CMGs need maintenance, or "desaturation."

The CMGs have been troublesome in the past and two have required replacement by spacewalking astronauts.

Jim Banke
Cape Canaveral, Fla.

Wow!

Take a view of just-released High-definition movies taken by Japan's Kaguya lunar orbiter. The movies are the full Earth-rise and Earth-set taken from the orbiter as it circles the Moon.

NHK, the Japan broadcasting company started public release of the movies today.

These movies can be viewed by going to:

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/kaguya/archive/index.html

This site is in Japanese, but you can easily figure out how to turn on the movies.

Sit back and relax and take a longing, long-distance look back at Mother Earth from the Moon. And no need for a space helmet!

-- Leonard David

 

Space icon Eugene F. Kranz testified this morning on behalf of the Coalition for Space Exploration at the NASA Reauthorization Hearing of the Senate Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics, which examined the reauthorization of the U.S. Space Exploration Program.

Kranz addressed specific issues regarding retirement of the space shuttle fleet, the transition to the next phase of space exploration known as the Constellation Program, and issues regarding NASA’s budget.

Kranz is a former flight director for NASA through the Apollo program (including Apollo 11 and 13), as well as the Gemini and Skylab programs; former director of Mission Operations at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. He is a member of the Coalition’s Board of Advisors.

Click for Complete Testimony

Coalition for Space Exploration, Advisory Board Member, Eugene F. Kranz meets with Senator Bill Nelson of Florida, Chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Space, Aeronautics and Related Sciences, prior to his appearance as a hearing witness, May 8, 2008. The hearing was about NASA's Reauthorization Bill.

By Leonard David

Todd sent the Coalition a message regarding a moving object in the sky, wondering what he and a co-worker might have seen.

Satellite, UFO...or ?

Hard to say what they saw...but a little detective work might help find an answer.

Since a lot of our readers are sky and space watchers, here's my recommendation to help bracket what  Todd and his colleague might/might not have eyed. And if you've also seen something cruise by, here are some websites that may prove helpful.

A good step is checking out this site:

http://www.heavens-above.com/

This can help you determine if you might have seen a spacecraft passing overhead.

On the other hand, if you still think you've spotted something that's really out of this world, contact the Mutual UFO Network, or MUFON for short at:

http://www.mufon.com/

What kind of close encounter you have - do keep looking up!

 

 

 

Carlos-Luis...thanks for your question regarding NASA and its meteorological work.

Daily weather prediction is key to NASA operations, be it looking at weather patterns for an upcoming rocket launch...or forecasting what the weather will be like when a space shuttle orbiter is ready to head back home from orbit and make a landing.

But there's a lot more to weather watching than meets the meteorological eye!

Making use of Earth-orbiting spacecraft, NASA scientists study weather patterns around the entire world - all to help glue together an accurate picture about Earth's climate. Meteorologists draw conclusions and make predictions about how our climate will translate into local weather every day. They also create computer models that predict how climate and weather may vary in the future as a result of human activity.

Also, there's an even bigger picture to weather - space weather! Given Earth's dynamic Sun, our neighboring star tosses out huge amounts of energy that impacts this planet's environment. More and more attention is being paid to space weather, to help unravel what role space weather has on planet Earth, as well as its impact on satellites and human spacecraft orbiting the Earth or heading out to the Moon, Mars and beyond.

Lastly, don't forget about the weather on other planets.

To investigate what meteorological jobs at NASA are available, check out:

http://nasajobs.nasa.gov/

Also, go to http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/amu/

You'll be tapping into the Applied Meteorology Unit (AMU), a tri-agency cooperative effort for transitioning new techniques from the research arena to improve operational weather forecasting and analysis in support of the space shuttle and the national space program.

Other web sites you might find useful - and to give you an idea of the rich variety of weather and Earth-watching research activities, try out:

http://nasascience.nasa.gov/earth-science

http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/Education/ed_sites.html

I hope you find all of this useful...

-- Leonard David

 

 

My third graders and I had a wonderful Space Day last week.  We had built model rockets at school and took them out to Exton, PA. to celebrate Space Day with Analytic Graphics, Inc, (AGI).  Upon arrival around 10 a.m., we were greeted by the folks at AGI and enjoyed a slide show about spacecrafts, missions and landers.  There was some focus on the Phoenix mission because we are all looking forward to its arrival to Mars on May 25th.  The students were then given the task of creating a lander using various materials including bubble-wrap, styrofoam packing material, twine, tape, balloons and plastic bags – all of which were to secure a safe landing for their payload: a raw egg!  The children worked in small groups, and a few worked on their own, devising the best structure they could to be sure the egg would not break when dropped from a four-story high building.  There was much excitement and discussion among the groups as they created many interesting and

May 5, 2008
Monday
8-9 a.m.

Space Place Live! Deb Vane, Program 3 (3-6)
Milestones of Flight (4-10)
Destination Tomorrow™ Eighteen (9-Adult)

4-6 p.m. and 8-10 p.m.

Space Place Live! Deb Vane, Program 3 (3-6)
Milestones of Flight (4-10)
Destination Tomorrow™ Eighteen (9-Adult)
Passport to Knowledge: Following the Water (6-8)

Send your name to the Moon...that's "write" thanks to NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) set to be launched late this year.

LRO's objectives are to find safe landing sites, locate potential resources, chart the radiation environment at the Moon, and demonstrate new technology. The LRO mission is the first step in the NASA plan to replant footprints on the Moon by 2020. And now you can join in on the lunar venture by putting your name into lunar orbit.

Here is how you take part: Participants first submit their information at: http://lro.jhuapl.edu/NameToMoon/index.php

Once at that site, you can then print a certificate showing that your name has been entered into a database - a special database that will be placed on a microchip carried moonward by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.

It's safe, simple...and definitely extraterrestrial! Better hurry! The deadline for submitting names is June 27, 2008.

Send Your Name to the Moon is a collaborative effort among NASA, the Planetary Society in Pasadena, California, and the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland.

-- Leonard David

NASA's Mars Phoenix lander is nearing the red planet, ready to make a multi-legged landing within the planet's arctic region on May 25 - just 21 days away!

One technology carried by the Mars probe that's not talked about much - a hearing aid!

When Phoenix enters the crucial entry, descent and landing phase, an onboard Mars microphone may be active. That mini-device could hear thruster firings as the spacecraft gets set for touchdown. That's what Peter Smith told me as the Phoenix principal investigator at the University of Arizona's Lunar and Planetary Lab in Tucson.

After landing, if the microphone is utilized, one wonders what sounds it might pick up: Perhaps martian wind or even the motions of the Phoenix lander's robot arm as it scoops up samples of icy terrain?

Get your eyes and ears ready for a new phase of Mars exploration - and more insight regarding whether the red planet might have been -- or could be now -- an extraterrestrial abode for life.

-- Leonard David