NASA has awarded a sole-source interim contract for electrical systems engineering services to MEI Technologies in Houston.

NASA mission controllers have not heard from the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit since March 22, and the rover is facing its toughest challenge yet - trying to survive the harsh Martian winter.

Lockheed Martin today applauded the recent actions taken by House and Senate NASA oversight committees as Congress moves forward on a bi-partisan spending plan for NASA. This important legislation provides an achievable path forward for a robust human space flight program that continues the Orion crew exploration vehicle to help achieve that goal and includes funding for advancements in technology that will ensure U.S. leadership in space.

The President of the South African National Research Foundation, Dr Albert van Jaarsveld and the General Secretary of the IAU, Dr. Ian Corbett, signed a landmark agreement in Pretoria today with the International Astronomical Union (IAU) which will foster and promote astronomy in the developing world.

A remote Canadian island is being used to simulate isolated space flight conditions for a NASA-funded medical research study that could produce important information to assist astronauts in potential long duration flights to Mars or an asteroid.

DataDirect Networks (DDN), the leading data infrastructure provider for the world's most scalable, content-intensive enterprises, today announced the ten-year anniversary of its first-ever product shipment to its first customer, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

Worldwide, wireless, wireline, and satellite networks developed significantly in the last twenty years, setting the stage for machine-to-machine (M2M) applications and equipment to utilize these existing networks. Used for logistical tracking, telemetry, remote monitoring, geo fencing, security, and scientific monitoring, M2M communications provide benefits for industries ranging from agriculture to retail, driving the satellite M2M industry over the next five to seven years.

A spectacular new image from ESO’s Wide Field Imager at the La Silla Observatory in Chile shows the brilliant and unusual star WR 22 and its colourful surroundings. WR 22 is a very hot and bright star that is shedding its atmosphere into space at a rate many millions of times faster than the Sun. It lies in the outer part of the dramatic Carina Nebula from which it formed.

Is it possible that there are salt solutions on Mars that remain liquid despite the extremely low temperatures  - a class of fluids known as cryobrines? Research findings at the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum fuer Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) have shown that this is a theoretical possibility. Experiments and modelling have indicated that the required conditions exist, especially during the Martian northern summer at higher latitudes. Prof. Diedrich Moehlmann of the DLR Institute of Planetary Research presented these initial findings on Friday 23 July and Saturday 24 July 2010 at the international COSPAR (Committee on Space Research) 2010 conference in Bremen.

NASA selected Orbital Sciences Corp.'s, Technical Services Division in Greenbelt, Md., for the agency's Sounding Rockets Operations contract. The total value of this indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity cost-plus incentive fee contract is $310 million. The period of performance is five years.

Harris Corporation, an international communications and information technology company, has been awarded a contract for NASA's Crew, Robotics, Avionics, and Vehicle Equipment (CRAVE) program as part of the Oceaneering Space Systems, Inc. team. The Oceaneering team is one of three industry teams and two universities selected to participate in the five-year Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract, which has a ceiling value of $70 million.

Looking for an out-of-this world activity? The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) invites you to visit Cosmomania, an exhibit on the last 50 years of space exploration.

The Space Data Association (SDA) today launched initial operations of the Space Data Center, an automated space situational awareness system expected to improve the safety and efficiency of satellite operations through the sharing of operator-owned orbital data. Developing and operating the system for the SDA is commercial software provider Analytical Graphics, Inc. (AGI) of Exton, Pa.

NASA is inviting the public to choose an area in northern Arizona where explorers will conduct part of the annual Desert Research and Technology Studies, known as Desert RATS.

TopCoder®, Inc., the leader in online software innovation and product development platforms, today announced the success of a pilot competition that tasked its global community of software programmers with helping to develop the next generation of capabilities NASA will need for its crews to live and work in space. Conducted by Harvard Business School and London Business School/MLab, the NASA-TopCoder Challenge asked TopCoder members to create improved mathematical algorithms to determine the optimal contents of medical kits for future human exploration missions. The experiment delivered a cost effective set of improvements to a critical NASA Space Life Science Directorate application, which will be used to reduce the risk associated with manned space flight.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) performed an attitude control experiment (*1) of the solar sail of the Small Solar Power Sail Demonstrator "IKAROS," after its deployment, using an attitude control device, or the liquid crystal device, on July 13, 2010 (Japan Standard Time, the following dates and time are JST, unless otherwise noted. ) We have since confirmed that the attitude control performance was successfully accomplished as planned through post-experiment data verification and analysis. The IKAROS was launched from the Tanegahima Space Center on May 21, 2010. The liquid crystal device is a thin-film instrument to change the surface reflection characteristics of sunlight by turning on and off the power of the device. It is an engineering test device to control attitude using only sunlight pressure without any additional propellant.

NASA's Wallops Flight Facility, Wallops Island, Va., has been awarded the highest environmental recognition within the Commonwealth of Virginia for programs protecting the area's natural resources.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) agreed to cooperate in promoting the application of satellite technology to disaster management, climate change mitigation and adaptation, forest monitoring, and water resource management. On July 21, 2010, ADB President Haruhiko Kuroda and JAXA President Keiji Tachikawa signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) at  a signing ceremony held at ADB Headquarters (Manila).

NASA personnel are among a group of international researchers who are in the Canadian Arctic assessing concepts for future planetary exploration as part of the Haughton-Mars Project, or HMP-2010.

The South Florida Manufacturers Association (SFMA) named Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne in West Palm Beach the 2009 "Manufacturer of the Year" in the large company category at its annual Recognition of Excellence Awards Banquet. Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne is a unit of United Technologies Corp.

Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company and NASA conducted a successful technology demonstration of an inventive navigation system that will make docking operations safer and easier for spacecraft flying to the International Space Station (ISS). The demonstration that took place at the Ball facility in Boulder, Colo., showcased the dynamic nature of the sensors by simulating crewed and uncrewed docking operations.

Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) today announced it has been awarded a subcontract by Primus Solutions, Inc., a subsidiary of ASRC Federal Holding Company, to support the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) with information technology (IT) services. The five-year subcontract is valued at more than $80 million. Work will be performed at the GSFC in Greenbelt, Md.

Student rocketeers from France, the United Kingdom and the United States competed today in the Third Annual Transatlantic Rocketry Challenge.

A camera aboard NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft has helped develop the most accurate global Martian map ever. Researchers and the public can access the map via several websites and explore and survey the entire surface of the Red Planet.

AVIATION WEEK, the largest multimedia information and services provider to the global aviation, aerospace and defense (A&D) industries, today released preliminary results from its 2010 Workforce and Young Professional/Student Study, which show that 40% of young professionals in A&D are looking for a new job, either inside or outside their current employers. The results were announced during the Farnborough Airshow's Futures Day, a special program designed to motivate young people to pursue a career path in the A&D industry.

NASA is offering undergraduate students an opportunity to test an experiment in weightless science as part of the agency's Reduced Gravity Education Flight Program. Proposals are due by Oct. 27.

Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. has completed integration and performance testing of the Cross-track Infrared Sounder (CrIS) that will fly aboard NASA's National Preparatory Project (NPP) weather satellite.

The last of five instruments slated to fly on the upcoming NPOESS Preparatory Project (NPP) climate and weather satellite have been successfully integrated, according to NASA officials. The polar-orbiting satellite is scheduled to launch in late 2011.

Iridium Communications Inc. announced that it has entered into two comprehensive, long-term agreements with The Boeing Company that redefine the relationship between the companies for maintenance, operations and support of Iridium's satellite network.

AIA is extremely pleased that the Senate Commerce Committee and the House Science and Technology Committee have completed work on their respective versions of the NASA authorization bill. These bills are a critical first step towards ensuring that we maintain a robust human spaceflight program.

Astronomers using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope have discovered carbon molecules, known as "buckyballs," in space for the first time. Buckyballs are soccer-ball-shaped molecules that were first observed in a laboratory 25 years ago.

On 22 July 2010, researchers at the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum fuer Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) facility in Oberpfaffenhofen published the first 3D images from the TanDEM-X satellite mission. Just one month after the launch of TanDEM-X (TerrraSAR-X add-on for Digital Elevation Measurement), which took place on 21 June 2010, DLR researchers have created the first digital elevation model -- almost a week ahead of schedule. A group of Russian islands in the Arctic Ocean was selected for the first test.

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has detected a hypervelocity star - a rare phenomenon moving three times faster than our sun.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) would like to announce that the GAmma-ray burst Polarized light detector (GAP) (*1,) which is aboard the Small Solar Power Sail Demonstrator "IKAROS," observed its first gamma-ray burst (*2) on July 7, 2010 (Japan Standard Time, the following dates and times are all JST.) The successful observation was confirmed through detailed analysis. The GAP is part of the scientificmissions, aside from the navigation mission, of the IKAROS, which was launched from the Tanegashima Space Center on May 21, 2010. We will further aim to perform polarized light observations of gamma-ray bursts.

NASA's Langley Research Center has selected three universities to provide the agency with support for a climate science mission called CLARREO, short for Climate Absolute Radiance and Refractivity Observatory Mission.

Pioneering observations made by researchers from Academia Sinica in Taiwan, Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Toronto with the National Science Foundation's giant Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope (GBT) have validated a new tool for mapping large cosmic structures. Observations made using the method, called intensity mapping, promise to provide valuable clues about the nature of the mysterious "dark energy" believed to constitute nearly three-fourths of the mass and energy of the universe. The findings will be published in the July 22 issue of Nature.

Using a combination of instruments on ESO’s Very Large Telescope, astronomers have discovered the most massive stars to date, one weighing at birth more than 300 times the mass of the Sun, or twice as much as the currently accepted limit of 150 solar masses. The existence of these monsters — millions of times more luminous than the Sun, losing weight through very powerful winds — may provide an answer to the question “how massive can stars be?”

The recently-released third edition of Futron’s Space Competitiveness Index: A Comparative Analysis of How Countries Invest in and Benefit from Space Industry is a tool that can help policymakers, executives, analysts, and others compare the strengths and weaknesses of major space-participant nations.

Detecting tsunamis is a vital task in order to be able to issue urgent warnings to the coastal population to evacuate. At present the only method used is the DART method, which has a success rate of only 25%. Many evacuation orders are issued without a tsunami’s actual occurring.

NASA has awarded the Multi-Disciplinary Engineering and Technology Services II contract to ASRC Management Services of Greenbelt, Md.

Scientists have produced a first-of-its kind map of the height of the world's forests by combining data from three NASA satellites. The map will help scientists build an inventory of how much carbon the world's forests store and how fast that carbon cycles through ecosystems and back into the atmosphere.

Eutelsat Communications (Euronext Paris: ETL) today announced the appointment of David Bair as Chief Technical Officer. David joins Eutelsat from EchoStar Satellite Services where he was Senior Vice President of Space Programmes and Operations. During his tenure, EchoStar instituted a new flight operations group to fly its own satellites, and the EchoStar fleet grew from five to 14 spacecraft.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) started to open the  sample container(*1) of the HAYABUSA at the Curation Center(*2) at the Sagamihara Campus on June 24, 2010 (Japan Standard Time,) and has been preparing for particles collection from the container. We would like  to announce that we began particles collection and recorded management of particles collection operations on July 6 (JST.)

Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne signed a NASA Mentor-Protege Agreement on July 7 with Avans Machine & Tool, a flight-approved supplier and certified Historically Under-Utilized Business (HUB) Zone small business located in Skyline, Ala. It is the first such agreement between a NASA prime contractor and a certified HUBZone small business. Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne is a United Technologies Corp. company.

On June 2, 2010, China successfully launched the 4th BeiDou navigation satellite into the pre-designated orbit, symbolizing that China has made another important step forward in building the BeiDou (COMPASS) Navigation Satellite System. As is known to all, satellite navigation and positioning systems are the key strategic infrastructure for information, and have influenced the process of social civilization and changed people's ideas about life, time and space. The construction of satellite-based navigation, positioning and timing systems will be an inevitable trend in the future. As the largest developing country in the information era, China is doing its utmost to construct its own BeiDou satellite navigation system so as to improve self-owned navigation, positioning, and timing systems. With the ongoing Expo 2010 Shanghai, China, the Chinese government has announced plans to complete the deployment of the BeiDou system by 2020.

NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, will complete its first survey of the entire sky on July 17. The mission has generated more than one million images so far, of everything from asteroids to distant galaxies.

Select teachers will spend part of their summer learning about virtual technology in an effort to get their students excited about science, technology, engineering and math.

NASA has awarded a Crew Robotics Avionics and Vehicle Equipment (CRAVE) contract to Wyle for engineering services at Johnson Space Center.

The first spacecraft designed by NASA to orbit Mercury is giving scientists a new perspective on the planet's atmosphere and evolution.

On Monday, July 19, NASA Television will launch a full-time High Definition (HD) channel that media, cable and satellite service providers can access for news content and coverage of agency missions and programs.