Jun 28 2010
From The Space Library
RELEASE: 10-138
NASA AND DLR SIGN AGREEMENT TO CONTINUE GRACE MISSION THROUGH 2015
WASHINGTON -- NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver and German Aerospace Center (DLR) Executive Board Chairman Johann-Dietrich Worner signed an agreement Thursday during a bilateral meeting in Berlin to extend the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) mission through the end of its on-orbit life, which is expected in 2015 Launched in March 2002, GRACE tracks changes in Earth's gravity field by noting minute changes in gravitational pull from local changes in Earth's mass. It does this by measuring changes in the distance between its two identical spacecraft to one-hundredth the width of a human hair. These spacecraft are in the same orbit approximately 137 miles apart. "The extension of this successful cooperative mission demonstrates the strength of the NASA-DLR partnership and our commitment to continue working together in this very important area of Earth science, Garver said. NASA and DLR signed the original agreement in 1998. The two agencies jointly developed the GRACE mission and have cooperated on its operational phase since its launch. For the twin satellite mission, NASA provided the instruments and selected satellite components, plus data validation and archiving. DLR provided the primary satellite components, launch services and operations. GRACE maps gravity-field variations from month to month, recording changes caused by the seasons, weather patterns and short-term climate change. "The extension of this successful mission will deliver more valuable data to help us understand how Earth's mass and gravity varies over time, Worner said. This is an important component necessary to study changes in global sea level, polar ice mass, deep ocean currents, and depletion and recharge of continental aquifers. We appreciate the strong cooperation with our partner NASA. GRACE's monthly maps are up to 100 times more accurate than existing maps, substantially improving the accuracy of techniques used by oceanographers, hydrologists, glaciologists, geologists and climate scientists. Data from the GRACE mission have been used to measure the amount of water lost in recent years from the aquifers for California's primary agricultural region in the state's Central Valley. An international study recently used GRACE data to show that ice losses from Greenland's ice sheet now are rapidly spreading up its northwest coast.
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RELEASE: 10-262
NASA WANTS STUDENT INNOVATORS FOR 2011 GREAT MOONBUGGY RACE
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. -- Four decades after the first NASA lunar rover rolled across the surface of the moon, innovative students are preparing to design and build a new generation of wheeled wonders. Registration is open for the 18th annual NASA Great Moonbuggy Race, set for April 1-2, 2011, in Huntsville, Ala. Participating schools and institutions may register one or two vehicles and teams. Registration closes Feb. 1. For complete rules, vehicle design parameters and registration for the race, visit: http://moonbuggy.msfc.nasa.gov NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center organizes the races held at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center, both in Huntsville. The event challenges high school and college students to design, build and race lightweight, human-powered moonbuggies. The first rover was developed, built and tested at Marshall in just 17 months. The rover's inaugural trip across the moon's surface took place on July 31, 1971. It was driven by Apollo 15 astronauts David Scott and James Irwin. Two more rovers followed, enabling expanded scientific exploration during the Apollo 16 and 17 missions in 1972. NASA Great Moonbuggy Race teams carry on the tradition of engineering ingenuity. The teams attempt to post the fastest vehicle assembly and race times in their divisions, while incurring the fewest penalties on a challenging course simulating the rocky, unforgiving surface of the moon. Prizes are awarded to the three teams in each division that finish with the fastest race times. NASA and industry sponsors present additional awards for team spirit, best newcomer, most memorable buggy wipeout and other achievements. In 2010, for the first time, the victors in the high school and college divisions were both from outside the continental United States. The International Space Education Institute of Leipzig, Germany, raced to a winning time of just 3 minutes, 37 seconds in the high school category. The University of Puerto Rico in Humacao, the only school to enter a moonbuggy every year since the races began in 1994, won the college division with a time of 4 minutes, 18 seconds. Participation in the race has increased from just eight college teams in 1994 to more than 70 high school and college national and international teams in 2010. The high school division was added in 1996 More than 32,000 people watched live, streaming coverage of the 2010 race on UStream, an interactive, real-time webcasting platform. For archived footage of the competition, visit: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/the-great-moonbuggy-race-2010 For images and additional information about previous races, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/topics/moonmars/moonbuggy.html
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