NASA's recently launched Solar Dynamics Observatory, or SDO, is returning early images that confirm an unprecedented new capability for scientists to better understand our sun's dynamic processes. These solar activities affect everything on Earth.

Some of the images from the spacecraft show never-before-seen detail of material streaming outward and away from sunspots. Others show extreme close-ups of activity on the sun's surface. The spacecraft also has made the first high-resolution measurements of solar flares in a broad range of extreme ultraviolet wavelengths.

"These initial images show a dynamic sun that I had never seen in more than 40 years of solar research," said Richard Fisher, director of the Heliophysics Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "SDO will change our understanding of the sun and its processes, which affect our lives and society. This mission will have a huge impact on science, similar to the impact of the Hubble Space Telescope on modern astrophysics."

As the Hubble Space Telescope achieves the major milestone of two decades on orbit, NASA and the Space Telescope Science Institute, or STScI, in Baltimore are celebrating Hubble's journey of exploration with a stunning new picture and several online educational activities. There are also opportunities for people to explore galaxies as armchair scientists and send personal greetings to Hubble for posterity.

NASA is releasing a new Hubble photo of a small portion of one of the largest known star-birth regions in the galaxy, the Carina Nebula. Three light-year-tall towers of cool hydrogen laced with dust rise from the wall of the nebula. The scene is reminiscent of Hubble's classic "Pillars of Creation" photo from 1995, but even more striking.

The heads of the International Space Station (ISS) agencies from Canada, Europe, Japan, Russia, and the United States met in Tokyo, Japan, on March 11, 2010, to review ISS cooperation.

With the assembly of the ISS nearing completion and the capability to support a full-time crew of six established, they noted the outstanding opportunities now offered by the ISS for on-orbit research and for discovery including the operation and management of the world's largest international space complex. In particular, they noted the unprecedented opportunities that enhanced use of this unique facility provides to drive advanced science and technology. This research will deliver benefits to humanity on Earth while preparing the way for future exploration activities beyond low-Earth orbit. The ISS will also allow the partnership to experiment with more integrated international operations and research, paving the way for enhanced collaboration on future international missions.

NASA today unveiled an interactive computer simulation that allows virtual explorers of all ages to dock the space shuttle at the International Space Station, experience a virtual trip to Mars or a lunar impact, and explore images of star formations taken by the Hubble Space Telescope.

In an effort to excite young people about space and NASA's missions, the agency has launched the online Space Communication and Navigation (SCaN) simulation, designed to entertain and educate. The interactive simulation offers a virtual 3-D experience to visualize how data travels along various space communications paths.

The K4T DXpedition will have two full satellite stations and one portable satellite station ready for operation from the Dry Tortugas Islands in the Gulf of Mexico (grid EL84). Plans include working phone and some CW on the linear birds, since some members of the team are CW aficionados. To help people find them, K4T will probably work CW around the target frequency listed in the table, rather than at the bottom of the transponder pass bands. FM phone is planned on the satellites listed in the table. The second repeater on AO-51 will be configured in V/U FM mode for K4T operations.

Target Frequencies for K4T Satellite Operations Satellite Downlink Uplink Mode

Like the knees of many other middle-aged workers, the joints of the enormous Mars Antenna need replacing. The giant radio dish is a crucial element of NASA's Deep Space Network, and has worked tirelessly at its location in Goldstone, Calif., for over 40 years.

This historic antenna, which measures 230 feet in diameter (70 meters) and communicates with deep space missions, once received Neil Armstrong's famous Apollo 11 message: "That's one small step for man; one giant leap for mankind."

Now, this laborer needs replacement of a portion of its hydrostatic bearing assembly, the system that enables the antenna to rotate horizontally. The repair will be no mean feat: It involves lifting 9 million lbs (4 million kg) of delicate scientific equipment 0.2 inches (5 mm), in order to allow the replacement of the steel runner, walls and supporting grout, which has never been done before.

Arlington, Virginia, March 3, 2010 - The National Aeronautic Association (NAA) announced at their Annual Spring Awards Luncheon that the International Space Station has been selected as the recipient of the 2009 Robert J. Collier Trophy, "For the design, development, and assembly of the of the world's largest spacecraft, an orbiting laboratory that promises new discoveries for mankind and sets new standards for international cooperation in space."

The Collier Trophy will be formally presented at the Annual Collier Dinner to be held on Thursday, May 13, at the Crystal Gateway Marriott in Arlington, Virginia.

Spaceflight pioneer Aaron Cohen, a former director of NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, died Thursday, Feb. 25, after a lengthy illness. He was 79.

Cohen had a 33-year career with NASA. He was a steady hand at the helm of Johnson as NASA recovered from the shuttle Challenger tragedy and returned the space shuttle to flight. Cohen left the agency in 1993 to accept an appointment as a professor at his alma mater, Texas A&M University. At the time, he was serving as acting deputy administrator at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

"Aaron Cohen was one of my early mentors here in NASA and he was instrumental in the success of numerous pivotal achievements in human space flight." said NASA Administrator Charles F. Bolden from Headquarters in Washington. "His engineering expertise and rigor were tremendous assets to our nation and NASA. Aaron provided the critical and calm guidance needed at the Johnson Space Center to successfully recover from the Challenger accident and return the space shuttle to flight. We will miss him as a colleague, mentor, and a friend. Our hearts go out to his wife, Ruth, and the rest of his family."

NASA will shed light on plant investigations aboard the International Space Station in a briefing at noon EST, Friday, Feb. 5. The briefing from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida will be broadcast live on NASA Television.

The upcoming shuttle mission, planned to launch Feb. 7, will continue assembling the space station so it can be used for continuous scientific research as a national and multinational laboratory.

Microgravity plant growth experiments conducted aboard the station will help prepare for long-duration spaceflights of the future. The use of miniaturized green fluorescent proteins, that glow in the dark, and associated compact imaging systems, may be used to help monitor crop conditions on Earth.

NASA will launch small research satellites for several universities as part of the agency's Educational Launch of Nanosatellite, or ELaNA, mission. The satellites are manifested as an auxiliary payload on the Taurus XL launch vehicle for NASA's Glory mission, planned for liftoff in late November.

The satellites, called CubeSats because of their shape, come from Montana State University, the University of Colorado and Kentucky Space, a consortium of state universities. The University of Florida was selected as an alternate in case one of the three primary spacecraft cannot fly.

CubeSats are in a class of small research spacecraft called picosatellites. They have a size of approximately four inches, a volume of about one quart and weigh no more than 2.2 pounds.