Astronauts to Fly Amelia Earhart Watch, Scarf

Along with the obvious thrill of launching into space, astronaut Shannon Walker's flight to the space station next year will hold a sentimental and historical significance. Flying alongside Walker will be the watch of Amelia Earhart, the legendary aviator who was the first woman to fly as a passenger across the Atlantic Ocean . Earhart later became the first woman to pilot a plane across that same ocean in a solo flight.

Earhart was one of the first female pilots best known for her two trans Atlantic flights. She was also a charter member and the first president of The Ninety-Nines, an international organization of licensed women pilots from 35 countries that has more than 5,500 members worldwide. While there are other female pilot organizations in various states and countries, nearly all women of achievement in aviation are past or current members of The Ninety-Nines. Walker is among those women.

Earhart wore the watch during her two trans Atlantic flights, “one as a passenger and one as a solo flight,” said Joan Kerwin, director of The Ninety-Nines and member for 39 years. When asked how she feels about the watch flying into space, Kerwin described it as “kind of scary in a way and Amelia is such an icon with women in aviation and now with women in space. We are thrilled that Shannon is a Ninety-Nine and will be taking Amelia into space with her.”

Kerwin presented the watch to Walker at Ellington Field in Houston on Oct. 22. H. Gordon Selfridge, Jr. gave Earhart a watch in one of his shops in America . In return, she gave him the watch she wore on her two trans Atlantic flights.

“Shortly after Amelia disappeared the watch was given (by H. Gordon Selfridge, Jr.) to Fay Gillis Wells, a charter member of The Ninety-Nines, and she kept it in her Washington, D.C., apartment until she founded the Forest of Friendship to honor other individuals in aviation. She needed funds for the Forest of Friendship in Amelia's hometown of Atchison , Kan. , so the watch was auctioned off,” said Kerwin, who bought the watch at the auction.

“She is a fascinating lady,” Walker said in regard to Earhart. A licensed pilot since 1995, Walker learned to fly in a Cessna 150. Her grandmother served as an air traffic controller at William P. Hobby airport in Houston and had a private pilot's license. Walker 's mother was also a pilot.

Nasa Space News : Ares I-X at the Launch Pad

News From Nasa Space Station : NASA's Ares I-X rocket is seen on Launch Pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral , Fla. , Monday, Oct. 26, 2009 . The flight test of Ares I-X, scheduled for today, Oct. 27, 2009 , will provide NASA with an early opportunity to test and prove flight characteristics, hardware, facilities and ground operations associated with the Ares

Astronomers Find Organic Molecules Around Gas Planet

Peering far beyond our solar system, NASA researchers have detected the basic chemistry for life in a second hot gas planet, advancing astronomers toward the goal of being able to characterize planets where life could exist. The planet is not habitable but it has the same chemistry that, if found around a rocky planet in the future, could indicate the presence of life.

"It's the second planet outside our solar system in which water, methane and carbon dioxide have been found, which are potentially important for biological processes in habitable planets," said researcher Mark Swain of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. "Detecting organic compounds in two exoplanets now raises the possibility that it will become commonplace to find planets with molecules that may be tied to life."

Swain and his co-investigators used data from two of NASA's orbiting Great Observatories, the Hubble Space Telescope and Spitzer Space Telescope, to study HD 209458b, a hot, gaseous giant planet bigger than Jupiter that orbits a sun-like star about 150 light years away in the constellation Pegasus. The new finding follows their breakthrough discovery in December 2008 of carbon dioxide around another hot, Jupiter-size planet, HD 189733b. Earlier Hubble and Spitzer observations of that planet had also revealed water vapor and methane.

The detections were made through spectroscopy, which splits light into its components to reveal the distinctive spectral signatures of different chemicals. Data from Hubble's near-infrared camera and multi-object spectrometer revealed the presence of the molecules, and data from Spitzer's photometer and infrared spectrometer measured their amounts.

"This demonstrates that we can detect the molecules that matter for life processes," said Swain. Astronomers can now begin comparing the two planetary atmospheres for differences and similarities. For example, the relative amounts of water and carbon dioxide in the two planets is similar, but HD 209458b shows a greater abundance of methane than HD 189733b. "The high methane abundance is telling us something," said Swain. "It could mean there was something special about the formation of this planet."

Other large, hot Jupiter-type planets can be characterized and compared using existing instruments, Swain said. This work will lay the groundwork for the type of analysis astronomers eventually will need to perform in shortlisting any promising rocky Earth-like planets where the signatures of organic chemicals might indicate the presence of life.

Rocky worlds are expected to be found by NASA's Kepler mission, who launched earlier this year, but astronomers believe we are a decade or so away from being able to detect any chemical signs of life on such a body.

Nasa Space News : Shuttle Preps Continue

At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida , technicians at Launch Pad 39A are progressing with hypergolic loading of various systems in space shuttle Atlantis. They finished filling storage tanks in the orbital maneuvering system, which are the steering jets on the shuttle and the reaction control system. Today, loading of the auxiliary power units will take place.

During the weekend, pad techs will perform hypergolic load cleaning before starting final checks of Atlantis' aft, or back, section planned for next week.

Today, the six STS-129 crew members will review spacewalking procedures and timelines at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.

The agency's Flight Readiness Review, or FRR, for the STS-129 mission is set for Oct. 29 at Kennedy. Afterward, NASA will announce an official launch date and broadcast a post-meeting briefing on NASA TV.

Space Station News : Astronauts to Fly Amelia Earhart Watch, Scarf

Along with the obvious thrill of launching into space, astronaut Shannon Walker's flight to the space station next year will hold a sentimental and historical significance. Flying alongside Walker will be the watch of Amelia Earhart, the legendary aviator who was the first woman to fly as a passenger across the Atlantic Ocean . Earhart later became the first woman to pilot a plane across that same ocean in a solo flight.

Earhart was one of the first female pilots best known for her two trans Atlantic flights. She was also a charter member and the first president of The Ninety-Nines, an international organization of licensed women pilots from 35 countries that has more than 5,500 members worldwide. While there are other female pilot organizations in various states and countries, nearly all women of achievement in aviation are past or current members of The Ninety-Nines. Walker is among those women.

Earhart wore the watch during her two trans Atlantic flights, “one as a passenger and one as a solo flight,” said Joan Kerwin, director of The Ninety-Nines and member for 39 years.

When asked how she feels about the watch flying into space, Kerwin described it as “kind of scary in a way and Amelia is such an icon with women in aviation and now with women in space. We are thrilled that Shannon is a Ninety-Nine and will be taking Amelia into space with her.”

Kerwin presented the watch to Walker at Ellington Field in Houston on Oct. 22. H. Gordon Selfridge, Jr. gave Earhart a watch in one of his shops in America . In return, she gave him the watch she wore on her two trans Atlantic flights.

“Shortly after Amelia disappeared the watch was given (by H. Gordon Selfridge, Jr.) to Fay Gillis Wells, a charter member of The Ninety-Nines, and she kept it in her Washington, D.C., apartment until she founded the Forest of Friendship to honor other individuals in aviation. She needed funds for the Forest of Friendship in Amelia's hometown of Atchison , Kan. , so the watch was auctioned off,” said Kerwin, who bought the watch at the auction.

NASA App now Available from App Store

A NASA App for the iPhone and iPod touch is available free of charge at the App Store from Apple. The NASA application will deliver a wealth of information, videos, images and news updates about NASA missions to people's fingertips.

"Making NASA more accessible to the public is a high priority for the agency," said Gale Allen, director of Strategic Integration and Management for NASA's Exploration Systems Mission Directorate in Washington . "Tools like this allow us to provide users easy access to NASA information and progress at a fast pace."

The NASA App collects, customizes and delivers an extensive selection of dynamically updated information, images and videos from various online NASA sources. Users can access NASA countdown clocks, the NASA Image of the Day, Astronomy Image of the Day, online videos, NASA's many Twitter feeds and other information in a convenient mobile package. It delivers NASA content in a clear and intuitive way by making full use of the iPhone and iPod touch features, including the Multi-Touch user interface. The New Media Team at NASA's Ames Research Center at Moffett Field , Calif. , developed the application.

The NASA App also allows users to track the current positions of the International Space Station and other spacecraft currently orbiting Earth in three views: a map with borders and labels, visible satellite imagery, or satellite overlaid with country borders and labels.

"We're excited to deliver a wide range of up-to-the-minute NASA content to iPhone and iPod touch users," said Gary Martin, director of the New Ventures and Communications Directorate at Ames . "The NASA App provides an easy and interesting way for the public to experience space exploration."

Space News : Spirit's Robotic Stretch

News From Nasa Space : NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit recorded this forward view of its arm and surroundings during the rover's 2,052nd Martian day, or sol, on Oct. 11, 2009 .

Bright soil in the left half of the image is loose, fluffy material churned by the rover's left-front wheel as Spirit, driving backwards, approached its current position in April 2009 and the wheel broke through a darker, crusty surface.

Spirit used its front hazard-avoidance camera to take this image. The turret of tools at the end of the rover's robotic arm is positioned with the Moessbauer spectrometer up and the rock abrasion tool extending toward the right. Spirit's right-front wheel, visible in this image, has not worked since 2006. It is the least-embedded of the rover's six wheels at the current location, called " Troy ."

Spirit and its twin, Opportunity , have been working on Mars for more than 58 months in what were originally planned as 3-month missions on Mars.

Liberty Star Doing Well Despite Challenging Weather

Liberty Star is on course and proceeding with the mission to tow Pegasus and ET-134 to the Kennedy Space Center. Pegasus reports all activities onboard have gone well today despite the challenging weather, which strengthened mid-day.

Today's rougher weather continues with easterly winds gusting to 30 knots, or about 34 miles per hour and seas swelling up to 10-12 feet, higher than forecast. When towing the barge, the generally more challenging weather slows forward progress by a few knots, perhaps one-and-a-half to two, but it starts to add up over time.

Tomorrow's weather forecast is for more of the same.

Today the Liberty Star noted passage of the halfway point of the voyage just north of the Dry Tortugas; leaving 448 miles to cover before arriving back to Kennedy Space Center.

Tonight we expect to pass the Dry Tortugas at approximately 9:30 p.m. Eastern Time, and make our easterly turn to port toward the Florida Straits.

Ship and crew are performing well; mission continues.

2012 Mission to Mars

Engineers Excited by EuTEF's Return on Discovery

When Fabio Tominetti and Marco Grilli last saw the EuTEF research platform in early 2008, it was carefully packed inside the payload bay of space shuttle Atlantis. It had been built and handled with the utmost care, and its white and thermal insulation and golden reflective sheets and experiments were pristine.

EuTEF didn’t look much different as it hung upside down in a work stand a few days after coming back to Earth aboard Discovery following about a year and a half attached to the orbiting International Space Station.

"It’s almost brand new," said Tominetti, the EuTEF program manager for the Milan-based Carlo Gavazzi Space. "It could probably fly again tomorrow. I expected to see something to tell you that it had been exposed to 18 months in space."

EuTEF is short for European Technology Exposure Facility, a remote-controlled base complete with power and communications networks built to host nine experiments from Europe’s scientific community, including prestigious universities and foundations. The research largely focused on the effects of space on materials, including window materials that could be used on future spacecraft.

Tominetti and Grilli, a systems engineer with Carlo Gavazzi, recently traveled to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida to pack the research platform and its experiments for their return to Europe.

The EuTEF went into space with the European Space Agency’s Columbus laboratory module as part of the STS-122 mission in February 2008. After Columbus was connected to the space station, spacewalking astronauts attached EuTEF to one of its platforms on the outside.

From there, the experiments would be exposed to the harshness of a constant vacuum, a round-the-clock dose of radiation, and heat and cold extremes that vary 200 degrees during each 90-minute orbit of the planet.

Atlantis and Launch Pad Ready

At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians are going through final preps for space shuttle Atlantis' move, or rollout, from the Vehicle Assembly Building to Launch Pad 39A on Wednesday. First motion now is targeted for 6 a.m. EDT . No major issues are being worked, but teams needed additional time to prepare for the move.

The 3.4-mile trek to the pad with Atlantis perched on top of the crawler-transporter is expected to take about six hours.

The launch pad team says it's ready for Atlantis' arrival tomorrow with four liquid hydrogen tanker trucks scheduled to help load the pad's Liquid Hydrogen-2 storage tank today.

After the three-day holiday weekend, the STS-129 astronauts will resume their training at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston . Today, Commander Charles O. Hobaugh and Pilot Barry E. Wilmore take to the skies in their T-38 training jets, while ‪Mission Specialists Mike Foreman and Robert L. Satcher Jr. practice techniques for the mission's first of three spacewalks in Johnson's neutral buoyancy lab swimming pool.

Atlantis is targeted to launch to the International Space Station at 4:04 p.m. EST Nov. 12 on an 11-day mission.

Final Rollout Preps in Store for Atlantis

Technicians are conducting tests and working on final preparations for space shuttle Atlantis' move, or rollout, to Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida . First motion out of the Vehicle Assembly Building is scheduled for 12:01 a.m. EDT Wednesday.

At NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston , the six STS-129 mission astronauts have the Columbus Day holiday off and will resume training on Tuesday morning.

The crew is scheduled to fly to Kennedy on Oct. 19 to participate in the three-day Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test, or TCDT. Typically held prior to launch, TCDT gives the crew an opportunity to check the fit of their spacesuits, practice emergency evacuation procedures at the launch pad, review firefighting methods, and participate in briefings on security and range safety.

Atlantis is targeted to launch to the International Space Station at 4:04 p.m. EST Nov. 12 on an 11-day mission.

Preparations for STS-129 Mission in Full Swing

The STS-129 mission will be commanded by Charles O. Hobaugh and piloted by Barry E. Wilmore. Mission Specialists are Robert L. Satcher Jr., Mike Foreman, Randy Bresnik and Leland Melvin. Wilmore, Satcher and Bresnik will be making their first trips to space.

Atlantis and its crew will deliver two control moment gyroscopes, equipment and EXPRESS Logistics Carrier 1 and 2 to the International Space Station. The mission will feature three spacewalks.

Atlantis also will return station crew member Nicole Stott to Earth and is slated to be the final space shuttle crew rotation flight. Launch of Atlantis on the STS-129 mission is targeted for 4:04 p.m. EST Nov. 12.

Herschel's Multi-Hued View of the Sky

A new image from the Herschel Observatory shows off the observatory's talents for seeing multiple wavelengths of light. The infrared observatory, a European Space Agency mission with important participation from NASA, can use two science instruments simultaneously to see five different "colors" of infrared, which is light that we can't see with our eyes.

The new composite picture features a dark and cool region of our Milky Way galaxy, where material is just beginning to be stirred together into new batches of stars. Much of this region would appear dark in visible-light views, but Herschel can see the very dim infrared glow of cold dust that is only slightly warmer than the coldest temperature theoretically attainable. Herschel's view reveals that this star-forming region is even richer in cold and turbulent material than previously believed.

"Herschel's infrared vision lets us sense the feeble heat from some of the coldest objects in the cosmos," said Paul Goldsmith, the NASA project scientist for the mission at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

Herschel is still in what is called the performance verification phase, in which its instruments are being fine-tuned and checked out. Some routine science observations have begun.

Buzz, Astronauts Shine as Stars of Disney Parade

Buzz Lightyear didn't quite make it to infinity, but he went well beyond the realm of other action figures.

The icon of Disney's "Toy Story" films spent 15 months on the International Space Station and got a ticker-tape parade alongside real-life moonwalker Buzz Aldrin and Expedition 18 Commander and NASA astronaut Mike Finke to welcome him home to Disney World in Orlando, Fla., on Oct. 2.

"Buzz was the perfect crewmate," Finke said. "He lifted our spirits, he didn't talk much and he didn't eat much, so he left us his extra portions."

While Buzz Lightyear is a space ranger, Finke said the character's best work has been in serving as a bridge between the fun, fanciful side of spaceflight and the technical and scientific skills NASA uses to make spaceflight happen in real life.

"Buzz is internationally known, and Buzz is a space ranger, so by sharing some of Buzz's adventures with what we do at NASA, it really highlights a lot of good things for NASA and shows what we really do, what astronauts do," Finke said.

The toy’s popularity gives NASA a head start in getting children's attention in a world in which focus is short-lived, said Joyce Winterton, NASA's associate administrator for Education.

"It's something that students and children can relate to," Winterton said. "So when they see him going up in space on the shuttle or the station it becomes a touch point for them. Sometimes I think they see an astronaut as something they can achieve, but when they see a toy, they somehow think, 'Hey, I can do that, too.'"

NASA plans to attack on Moon in quest of water

NASA launched a space mission from Cape Canaveral carrying two lunar satellites and a missile that will fire a deep hole in the surface of the Moon. The satellites lifted off together on top of an Atlas V rocket. The aim is to see whether any traces of water will be revealed by the disruption caused to the planet's surface.

A satellite will fly through the 30 to 40 mile high dust plume looking for evidence of water ice left by comets that slammed into the moon billion years ago. The crash vehicle, an impactor and observational instruments will be added to NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. The unmanned Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite mission (LCROSS) will fire a Centaur rocket into the surface at twice the speed of a bullet.

Scientists expect that the impact will result in blasting out a huge cloud of dust, gas and vaporized water ice at least six miles high. If successful, it can provide essential supplies for a moon base.

The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter will spend a year creating a highly detailed map of the moon's surface. This is the first American spacecraft to make a lunar trip since 1999. In the past few years, at least two American spacecraft reported the presence of water around both the north and south lunar poles.

NASA Refines Asteroid Apophis' Path Toward Earth

Using updated information, NASA scientists have recalculated the path of a large asteroid. The refined path indicates a significantly reduced likelihood of a hazardous encounter with Earth in 2036.

The Apophis asteroid is approximately the size of two-and-a-half football fields. The new data were documented by near-Earth object scientists Steve Chesley and Paul Chodas at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena , Calif. They will present their updated findings at a meeting of the American Astronomical Society's Division for Planetary Sciences in Puerto Rico on Oct. 8.

"Apophis has been one of those celestial bodies that has captured the public's interest since it was discovered in 2004," said Chesley. "Updated computational techniques and newly available data indicate the probability of an Earth encounter on April 13, 2036 , for Apophis has dropped from one-in-45,000 to about four-in-a million."

A majority of the data that enabled the updated orbit of Apophis came from observations Dave Tholen and collaborators at the University of Hawaii 's Institute for Astronomy in Manoa made. Tholen pored over hundreds of previously unreleased images of the night sky made with the University of Hawaii 's 2.2-meter (88-inch) telescope, located near the summit of Mauna Kea .

Tholen made improved measurements of the asteroid's position in the images, enabling him to provide Chesley and Chodas with new data sets more precise than previous measures for Apophis. Measurements from the Steward Observatory's 2.3 meter (90-inch) Bok telescope on Kitt Peak in Arizona and the Arecibo Observatory on the island of Puerto Rico also were used in Chesley's calculations.

The information provided a more accurate glimpse of Apophis' orbit well into the latter part of this century. Among the findings is another close encounter by the asteroid with Earth in 2068 with chance of impact currently at approximately three-in-a-million. As with earlier orbital estimates where Earth impacts in 2029 and 2036 could not initially be ruled out due to the need for additional data, it is expected that the 2068 encounter will diminish in probability as more information about Apophis is acquired.

Space Radar Reveals Topography of Tsunami Site

Two color-coded perspective views of the Independent State of Samoa (left) and American Samoa (right), generated with digital elevation data from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission, illustrate the varying topography of the islands.

A tsunami generated by a major undersea earthquake on Sept. 29, 2009, inundated the more heavily populated southern coast of Tutuila, the largest of the islands of American Samoa, with an ocean surge more than 3 meters (10 feet) deep, causing scores of casualties.

The tsunami also inundated villages on the southern coast of the Independent State of Samoa with an ocean surge perhaps more than 3 meters (10 feet) deep, and also impacted the more heavily populated northern coasts with a surge measured at nearly 1.5 meters (4 feet) at the capital city of Apia.

Digital topographic data such as those produced by SRTM can be used to aid researchers and planners in predicting which coastal regions are at the most risk from such waves, as well as from the more common storm surges caused by tropical storms and even sea level rise.

NASA's Pathfinder Aircraft Tracks Weather for Ferry Flight

Space shuttle Discovery returned to NASA's Kennedy Space Center on Sept. 21 perched on top of a modified Boeing 747 jumbo jet. But it wasn't an ordinary cross-country piggyback journey. In fact, the two-day ferry flight from California proved to be one of the greatest tests ever for the NASA C-9 "pathfinder" aircraft that scouts safe routes ahead of the shuttle. "This shuttle return is the biggest challenge I have ever faced," said C-9 aircraft pilot Charles Justiz. "Had the weather been any more finicky, we likely would have landed somewhere else." The pathfinder does just what its name implies, finds a path free of rain that could damage heat tiles and colder temperatures that might freeze propellants.

The team made three pit stops along the way: Rick Husband International Airport in Amarillo , Texas , for fuel, another re-fuel at Ft. Worth Naval Air Station in Texas , and an overnight stay at Barksdale Air Force Base in Shreveport , La.

Although the caravan faced several walls of storms on its 2,500 mile journey to Florida , weather was not much of an issue until the C-9 flew into the sunshine state's airspace. "All the holes in the storms we thought were there ... weren't," Justiz said. "Today was quite an experience ... our entire team was busy today."

After taking off from Louisiana the morning of Sept. 21, the C-9 aircraft started running into a string of storms. Workers at Kennedy were unsure where Discovery would land, until minutes beforehand. MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa and Orlando International Airport were options if Kennedy's weather proved to be too dynamic.

"Once we left Barksdale, we didn't know what kind of weather we were going to get," said Don McCormack, ferry flight manager. "(NASA has) the best weather forecasters you can possibly have."

After five attempts, the C-9 aircraft finally found a hole and approached Kennedy's Shuttle Landing Facility from the north. Workers on the ground saw something much different, and directed the 747 with Discovery atop to land from the south on Runway 33. Touchdown occurred at 12:05 p.m. , about 10 minutes after the pathfinder.

Discovery now is being prepared for its next mission: STS-131 targeted to launch to the International Space Station in March 2010.

NASA Ice Campaign Takes Flight in Antarctica

Early in the 20th century, a succession of adventurers and scientists pioneered the exploration of Antarctica . A century later, they're still at it, albeit with a different set of tools. This fall, a team of modern explorers will fly over Earth's southern ice-covered regions to study changes to its sea ice, ice sheets, and glaciers as part of NASA's Operation Ice Bridge .

Starting next month, NASA will fly its DC-8, a 157-foot-long airborne laboratory that can accommodate many instruments. The fall 2009 campaign is one of few excursions to the remote continent made by the DC-8, the largest aircraft in NASA's airborne science fleet.

The plane is scheduled to leave NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center in Edwards, Calif. , on October 12 and fly to Punta Arenas , Chile , where the plane, crew and researchers will be based for through mid-November. For six weeks, the Ice Bridge team will traverse the Southern Ocean for up to 17 flights over West Antarctica , the Antarctic Peninsula , and coastal areas where sea ice is prevalent. Each round-trip flight lasts about 11 hours, two-thirds of that time devoted to getting to and from Antarctica .

Operation Ice Bridge is a six-year campaign of annual flights to each of Earth's polar regions. The first flights in March and April carried researchers over Greenland and the Arctic Ocean . This fall's Antarctic campaign, led by principal investigator Seelye Martin of the University of Washington , will begin the first sustained airborne research effort of its kind over the continent. Data collected by researchers will help scientists bridge the gap between NASA's Ice, Cloud and Land Elevation Satellite (ICESat) -- which is operating the last of its three lasers -- and ICESat-II, scheduled to launch in 2014.

NASA Exploration Exhibit to Visit Twin Falls

America 's plans for opening the space frontier, including new human exploration of Earth's moon and future voyages into the solar system, are featured in an interactive exhibit scheduled to visit Twin Falls Sept. 30 – Oct. 3, 2009 .

"We hope the multimedia experience helps people better understand how the country plans to explore the moon and travel beyond in the next decade or so," said outreach coordinator Sarah (Keyke) Reed from NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville , Ala.

Hosted by the Herrett Center for Arts and Science Museum , the Exploration Experience Exhibit will be featured at the Arts and Science Museum on the main campus of the College of Southern Idaho Sept. 30 – Oct. 3, 2009 . It will be open to the public Sept. 30 from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. MDT ; Oct. 1 and 3 from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. MDT ; and Oct. 2 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. MDT .

"Interactive control panels and activity station, immersive 3D imagery and audio effects will transport visitors into a not-too-distant future on the moon," Reed added. "They'll discover what it will be like to live and work on the surfaces of other worlds – and how it will benefit life back home on Earth."

The tour will continue at Kenneth J. Carberry Intermediate School , a NASA Explorer School , in Emmett from Oct. 12-14, 2009 .

NASA staffers will be available at each tour stop to answer questions and discuss some of the thousands of technologies used on Earth as a result of years of space-based research and development by the agency and its partners.

"Exhibit visitors can learn how our quality of life improves when America's space exploration activities refine existing technologies and develop new breakthroughs in areas such as power generation, computer technology, communications, networking and robotics," said Reed. Visitors also can learn how other advanced technologies are increasing the safety and reliability of space transportation systems, while also reducing costs.

Touring the NASA Exploration Experience exhibit takes approximately 10 minutes. The exhibit is free and wheelchair-accessible. Exhibit visitors also can see what they would look like on the moon by having their photo taken in a space suit in front of a lunar landscape.

NASA's Aerospace Education Services Project, a NASA resource that delivers education programs in all 50 states and U.S. territories, will support the exhibit. The Marshall Space Flight Center manages the traveling exhibit for the agency's Exploration Systems Mission Directorate in Washington , D.C. In addition to the traveling exhibit, "Robots on the Road," a hands-on robotics experience, will be on site Sept. 30 to Oct. 3, 2009 .

What's about the size of a large refrigerator, weighs a ton and may help pave the way for new and improved metals or glasses here on Earth? It's the Materials Science Research Rack -- a new laboratory on board the International Space Station.

This facility will allow researchers to study a variety of materials -- including metals, alloys, semiconductors, ceramics, and glasses to see how the materials form, and learn how to control their properties. The results from experiments conducted in the facility could lead to the development of materials with improved properties on Earth.

Materials science research is a multidisciplinary endeavor studying the relationships between the processing conditions and properties of materials. The research rack -- measuring 6 feet high, 3.5 feet wide and 40 inches deep -- will provide a powerful, multi-user materials science laboratory in a microgravity, or near weightless, environment. Researchers can benefit from studying materials in space because they can isolate the fundamental heat and mass transfer processes involved that are frequently masked by gravity on the ground.

The research rack will provide hardware to control the thermal, environmental and vacuum conditions of experiments; monitor experiments with video; and supply power and data handling for specific experiment instrumentation.

"Materials science is an integral part of our everyday life," said Sandor Lehoczky, project scientist for the rack at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. "The goal of materials processing in space is to develop a better understanding of how processing affects materials properties without the complication of gravity causing density effects on the processes. With this knowledge, reliable predictions can be made about the conditions required on Earth to achieve improved materials."