NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Intergalactic Weather Map

Composite image shows an intergalactic weather map around the elliptical galaxy NGC 5813. Credits: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO/S. Randall et al., Optical: SDSS This composite image shows an intergalactic "weather map" around the elliptical galaxy NGC 5813, the dominant central galaxy in a galaxy group located about 105 million light years away from Earth. Just like a weather map for a local forecast on Earth, the colored circle depicts variations in temperature across a region. This particular maps presents the range of temperature in a region of space as observed by NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, with the hotter temperatures shown in red and decreasingly cooler temperatures shown in orange, yellow, green, and blue. The Marshall Center manages the Chandra program.

› Photo

NASA Ejects Nanosatellite From Microsatellite in Space

NanoSail-D satellite during deployment testing. (NASA/MSFC) On Dec. 6 at 12:31 a.m. CST, NASA for the first time successfully ejected a nanosatellite from a free-flying microsatellite. NanoSail-D ejected from the Fast, Affordable, Science and Technology Satellite, or FASTSAT, demonstrating the capability to deploy a small cubesat payload from an autonomous microsatellite in space. The successful ejection of NanoSail-D demonstrates the operational capability of FASTSAT as a cost-effective independent means of placing cubesat payloads into orbit safely.

› Feature

Space Shuttle Discovery’s Launch Set for No Earlier Than Feb. 3

NASA managers are targeting space shuttle Discovery's launch for no earlier than Feb. 3 at 1:34 a.m. EST. Shuttle managers determined more tests and analysis are needed before proceeding with the launch of the STS-133 mission to the International Space Station.

› News Release
› Shuttle Web site

Geminids Meteor Shower: 'Up All Night' With NASA!

False-color composite view of 2008 Geminid meteor shower. Credit: NASA/MSFC/B. Cooke, NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office Baby, it's cold outside -- but you can still enjoy the best meteor shower of the year. The 2010 Geminid meteor shower promises to be lively, with realistic viewing rates of 50-80 meteors per hour and potential peaks reaching 120 meteors per hour. Anytime between Dec. 12-16 is a valid window for Geminid-watching, but the night of Dec. 13-14 is the anticipated peak. On Dec. 13, join Marshall Center experts for live Web chat about the Geminids.

› Live Web Chat Details

'S' is for Space Station

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Soichi Noguchi, Expedition 23 flight engineer, floats into the Unity node of the International Space Station. Credit: NASA Astronauts aboard the International Space Station are helping children learn their ABC's and vocabulary through educational demonstrations of how they live and work in space. NASA collaborated with Sesame Workshop, including the popular children’s television programs, "Sesame Street" and "The Electric Company," to create science, technology, engineering and math-related education resources, or STEM, for children ages 2-5.

› Feature

Students Reach For New Heights in Annual NASA Rocketry Challenge

Participants watch a rocket fly at the NASA Student Launch Projects launchfest in April 2010. Credit: NASA/MSFC/Emmett Given In spring 2011, the annual NASA Student Launch Projects rocketry challenge will send aloft more rockets than any time in its 11-year history. More than 500 student rocketeers will take part, representing 19 middle schools and high schools and 33 colleges and universities nationwide. And this year, for the first time, some of their rockets will splash down in the Atlantic Ocean instead of dropping into a North Alabama cornfield.

› News Release

NASA Awards Shuttle Rocket Motor Contract Modification

NASA has signed a $42.1 million contract modification to space shuttle reusable solid rocket motor manufacturer ATK Launch Systems Inc. of Brigham City, Utah, to provide continued prelaunch through postlaunch support from Oct. 1, 2010, through Dec. 31, 2011.

› News Release
› Shuttle Web site

Marlon Walker Has 'Done It All' During 50-year Career at Marshall Center

Marlon Walker. (NASA/MSFC) On Nov. 28, 1960, 20-year-old Marlon Walker started his first day on the job at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. Getting to work early every morning, Walker, then a contractor shop attendant, maintained and repaired Marshall's vehicles, and made a good living to help support his mother and five young brothers and sisters. It has turned into a golden career for Walker, who will celebrate 50 years of service at Marshall next week -- and he says he has no plans of slowing down.

› Feature

NASA's Newest Microsatellite FASTSAT Launches Successfully

FASTSAT launches from Kodiak, Alaska. (Credit: Steven Young/Spaceflight Now) NASA's Fast, Affordable, Science and Technology Satellite, or FASTSAT, launched on Nov. 19 aboard a Minotaur IV rocket from Kodiak Launch Complex on Kodiak Island, Alaska. FASTSAT is a unique platform that can carry multiple small payloads to low-Earth orbit creating opportunities for researchers to conduct low-cost scientific and technology research on an autonomous satellite in space.

› Feature With Photos