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HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — NASA Administrator Charles Bolden was in Huntsville on Wednesday to take part in meetings and to visit four schools. Bolden was visiting Lincoln Elementary School, Columbia High School and Huntsville Center for Technology, and Horizon Elementary School in Madison. He also planned to sit in on meetings at Marshall Space Flight Center. Marshall spokeswoman June Malone says the meetings will focus on Ares, the rocket program slated to replace the space shuttle. Bolden, a former Marine Corps major general, will take part in the Wernher von Braun Symposium and dinner held at the Von Braun Center.

The world is coming to an end. In, like, 4 billion or 5 billion years. The sun will get old and cranky and eventually immolate the entire planet. The world, however, is not coming to an end on Dec. 21, 2012, contrary to the viral Internet rumor propounded by pseudo-scientists, hoaxers and Hollywood movie promoters. The notion that 2012 heralds the End of Time has something to do with a mysterious Planet X that will supposedly hurtle into, or perhaps merely perturb, Earth. Also, there might be geomagnetic storms, a Pole Reversal and a newfound unsteadiness in the planet's crustal plates. All of that, or variations thereof, can be studied in depth in scores of books now jostling for eschatological primacy with such titles as "Apocalypse 2012," "The World Cataclysm in 2012" and "How to Survive 2012." This is no joke to David Morrison, senior scientist for NASA's Astrobiology Institute. He's counted 200 different books for sale about 2012. As the a...

NEW DELHI, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) Wednesday asserted that the United States space scientist, who was arrested by the FBI for allegedly spying for Israel, was not "a reason for concern" even though he had played a key role in India's maiden moon mission. "Senior American space scientist Daivd Nozette visited Bangalore and interacted with scientists there but had no access to critical ISRO establishments during the visits and there was no concern about loss of data," ISRO chief spokesperson S Satish told the media in the southern city of Bangalore. "Not a matter of concern as all security protocols had been followed," he added. The 52-year-old scientist, Nozette, was arrested by the FBI and charged with espionage for attempting to deliver classified defense document to an Israeli intelligence officer, the U.S. authorities said.

European aerospace and defence group, EADS, owner of Airbus, has appointed Sean O'Keefe, a former head of NASA, as chief executive of its North American business. O'Keefe, 53, replaces Ralph Crosby, 62, who becomes chairman of the North American board and will continue to "oversee" the US Air Force tanker contest. EADS, in partnership with US defence giant Northrop Grumman, is competing against Boeing for a contract to replace the US Air Force's ageing fleet of air-refuelling tankers. The contract is potentially worth up to $40 billion. Crosby will continue with EADS North America in order to ensure a smooth transition, EADS said. O'Keefe was the NASA administrator from 2001 to 2005 and also served as Navy Secretary and Pentagon comptroller during the first Bush administration. EADS chief executive Louis Gallois said at a press conference in Washington that O'Keefe will be charged with expanding business with the Pentagon and Homeland Security Department, ...

European aerospace and defence group, EADS, owner of Airbus, has appointed Sean O'Keefe, a former head of NASA, as chief executive of its North American business. O'Keefe, 53, replaces Ralph Crosby, 62, who becomes chairman of the North American board and will continue to "oversee" the US Air Force tanker contest. EADS, in partnership with US defence giant Northrop Grumman, is competing against Boeing for a contract to replace the US Air Force's ageing fleet of air-refuelling tankers. The contract is potentially worth up to $40 billion. Crosby will continue with EADS North America in order to ensure a smooth transition, EADS said. O'Keefe was the NASA administrator from 2001 to 2005 and also served as Navy Secretary and Pentagon comptroller during the first Bush administration. EADS chief executive Louis Gallois said at a press conference in Washington that O'Keefe will be charged with expanding business with the Pentagon and Homeland Security Department, ...

Organic molecules essential for life have been detected in one more hot gas planet outside the solar system, within a year by NASA scientists. News Now - Nair set to retire; bemoans poor quality higher education - Heaviest flood in more than 100 years - India's moon mission quite economical - Kalam advises Isro, Nasa on Chandrayaan-II - India mulling deeper exploration of water on moon - Chandrayaan-1 was 110% success, says ISRO chief Also Read Related Stories News Now - Sensex slips after brief recovery - Congress-NCP combine leading in Maharashtra - Big names in Maharashtra polls - Cong to retain power in Maha, Haryana and Arunachal - BJP-Shiv Sena concede defeat in Maharashtra More Scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California detected water, methane and carbon dioxide — the basic chemistry for life — in the planet named HD 209458b, NASA said. The data from Hubble Space Telescope and Spitzer Space Telescope — NASA's two orbiting ob...

After two days of prelaunch mission practice at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the six STS-129 mission astronauts returned to NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. There, they will continue their training and perform customary housekeeping projects for Atlantis' upcoming flight to the International Space Station. The crew members are scheduled to return to Kennedy to complete the Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test, or TCDT, on Nov. 2 and 3. At that time, they will participate in a full launch countdown exercise, safety briefings and payload bay walkdown. Meanwhile at Kennedy's Launch Pad 39A, technicians continue to check systems to verify there was no damage to the space shuttle from a lightning strike at the pad last week. So far no damage has been found. Also at the pad today, workers are testing the solid rocket booster hydraulic system and completing the shuttle interface test -- which means confirming the various components and connections are "...

The Best Places to Work in the Federal Government – 2009 Rankings Based on responses from more than 212,000 Federal employees last year, NASA's workforce continues to score well and moved up to 3rd best place to work among large Federal agencies. The rankings also reveal that NASA ranked 2nd among all large Federal agencies in Effective Leadership, Teamwork, Strategic Management, and Support for Diversity as well as other areas. You may view a complete listing of the Best Places to Work, including each NASA Center and 278 other federal organizations at: http://bestplacestowork.org/BPTW/rankings/ Today's Job Spotlight "I work in the Spacecraft and Sensors Branch of the Space Systems and Concepts Division. I’ve been involved in developing virtual reality demonstrations to show on screens how commands affect Space Station systems. I’ve been helping to develop the immersive environment that lets an engineer look at all data at the same time using several of the senses rath...

"THE MOON"with the history of the early solar system etched on it beckons mankind from time immemorial to admire its marvels and discover its secrets. Understanding the moon provides a pathway to unravel the early evolution of the solar system and that of the planet earth. Through the ages, the Moon, our closest celestial body has aroused curiosity in our mind much more than any other objects in the sky. This led to scientific study of the Moon, driven by human desire and quest for knowledge. This is also reflected in the ancient verse. Exploration of the moon got a boost with the advent of the space age and the decades of sixties and seventies saw a myriad of successful unmanned and manned missions to moon. This was followed by a hiatus of about one and a half-decade. During this period we refined our knowledge about the origin and evolution of the moon and its place as a link to understand the early history of the Solar System and of the earth. However, new questions abo...

BANGALORE: Indian Space Research Organisation may have stolen the thunder of discovering water on the Moon. The Moon Impact Probe on Chandrayaan-I appears to have sensed water earlier than Nasa's Moon Minerolgy Mapper (M3) but protocol did not allow ISRO to declare the discovery. While MIP detected water molecules on November 14, 2008, just 22 days after Chandrayaan-1's launch, M3 did so in March 2009. J S Goswami, principal investigator for Chandrayaan-1, told TOI: ``We had indications of water on November 14, the day MIP crash-landed on the Moon. It sensed some sort of water molecules. We were absolutely delighted but it had to be corroborated. Without international examination and cross-examination and confirmation of the evidence, it would not have been right on our part to go public about it.'' Mylswami Annadurai, project director, Chandrayaan-1 and 2, explained why India did not go public with the discovery. ``International protocol requires us to discuss the evid...

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and US space agency NASA should deploy surface robotic penetrator in 'Chandrayaan-II' mission to study more about the presence of water molecules on moon, former President APJ Abdul Kalam has suggested. "I suggested to both ISRO and NASA to work on future mission of Chandrayaan-II using moon surface robotic penetrator during my recent visit to California Institute of Technology in US, where NASA scientists presented the findings of Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) to Indian scientists," Kalam told students during an interaction on Saturday. The missile man was in Mumbai to inaugurate the national science seminar on 'Chandrayaan: Promises and Concerns' for school students, organised by the National Council of Science Museum. He said more validations are being carried out by the scientists on India's Moon Impact Probe (MIP) about the presence of water on lunar surface.

Engineers opened the hatch of the Mars 500 space capsule this week and six "cosmonauts" emerged from a simulated three-month interplanetary flight. Next year, the Russian and European space agencies will send another crew on a longer simulated mission to Mars and back, lasting a year and a half. The cosmonauts - four from Russia and two from western Europe - live in isolation in a mock spacecraft outside Moscow, experiencing conditions as close as possible to a real flight. There is, for instance, a communication delay of up to 20 minutes each way, to reflect the time taken for radio signals to travel between Mars and Earth. But the very fact that the two agencies are spending millions to assess the psychological and medical effects of interplanetary travel is a statement of long-term intent. dreaming of mars dreaming of mars "I hope that the scientific data we have provided over the last two months will help to make a mission to Mars possible," said Oliver Kni...

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The amino acid glycine, a fundamental building block of proteins, has been found in a comet for the first time, bolstering the theory that raw ingredients of life arrived on Earth from outer space, scientists said on Monday. Microscopic traces of glycine were discovered in a sample of particles retrieved from the tail of comet Wild 2 by the NASA spacecraft Stardust deep in the solar system some 242 million miles (390 million km) from Earth, in January 2004. Samples of gas and dust collected on a small dish lined with a super-fluffy material called aerogel were returned to Earth two years later in a canister that detached from the spacecraft and landed by parachute in the Utah desert. Comets like Wild 2, named for astronomer Paul Wild (pronounced Vild), are believed to contain well-preserved grains of material dating from the dawn of the solar system billions of years ago, and thus clues to the formation of the sun and planets. The initial detection of glycine, t...

A NASA study has found that data have found that groundwater levels in northern India have been declining at an alarming rate, by as much as one foot per year over the last decade. Beneath northern India’s irrigated fields of wheat, rice, and barley ... beneath its densely populated cities of Jaiphur and New Delhi, the groundwater has been disappearing, said the US space agency in a statement. Where is northern India’s underground water supply going? According to Matt Rodell and colleagues, it is being pumped and consumed by human activities -- principally to irrigate cropland -- faster than the aquifers can be replenished by natural processes. They based their conclusions -- published in the August 20 issue of Nature -- on observations from NASA’s Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE). The GRACE is a satellite system launched in 2002 by NASA and the German Aerospace Center and allows scientists to estimate changes in groundwater storage by measuring tiny variations in the Ea...

Staff Reporter BANGALORE: Groundwater levels in Punjab, Rajasthan, Haryana and Delhi are falling dramatically — by one foot a year — a trend that could lead to “extensive socio-economic stresses” for the region’s 114 million residents, says a scientific paper based on the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s satellite imagery. A staggering 109 cubic km of groundwater has been lost in just six years (2002-08) — a figure twice the capacity of India’s largest surface reservoir Upper Wainganga and “much more” than the government’s estimation, says the paper published in the latest issue of international journal Nature. The depletion is caused entirely by human activity such as irrigation, and not natural climatic variability, concludes the study co-authored by Matthew Rodell, a hydrologist with NASA. Groundwater is being pumped out faster than it is being replenished. The finding is based on images from NASA’s Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE), a pair of satel...