-By VOA News -Spacewalker Dave Wolf works outside the International Space Station during the second spacewalk of the STS-127 mission, 20 Jul 2009
Astronauts at the International Space Station have completed the second spacewalk of five, during the shuttle Endeavour's 11-day mission at the station.

Astronauts Dave Wolf and Tom Marshburn undertook a 6-hour, 53-minute spacewalk Monday to conduct maintenance work at the station. The walk coincided with the 40th anniversary of man's landing on the moon.

Wolf and astronaut Tim Kopra completed the

WASHINGTON -- A small NASA aircraft completed its first successful science flight Thursday as part of an expedition to study the receding Arctic sea ice and improve understanding of its life cycle and the long-term stability of the Arctic ice cover. The mission continues through July 24.

NASA's Characterization of Arctic Sea Ice Experiment, known as CASIE, began a series of unmanned aircraft system flights in coordination with satellites. Working with the University of Colorado and its research partners, NASA is using the remotely-piloted aircraft to image thick, old slabs of ice as they drift from the Arctic Ocean south through Fram Strait -- which lies between Greenland and Svalbard, Norway -- into the North Atlantic Ocean.

NASA's Science Instrumentation Evaluation Remote Research Aircraft, or SIERRA, will weave a pattern over open ocean and sea ice to map and measure ice conditions below cloud cover to as

President Barack Obama chats with Apollo 11 astronauts, from left, Buzz Aldrin, Michael Collins and Neil Armstrong, Monday, July 20, 2009, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, on the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing.

Image Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls
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By Paula Wolfson
White House

U.S. President Barack Obama is reaffirming his commitment to space exploration as America marks the 40th anniversary of the first moon landing.

Barack Obama was only seven years old when Neil Armstrong became the first man to set foot on the moon.

But he still has memories of those days. He recalls standing on his grandfather's shoulders in his native state of Hawaii, waiting for the Apollo 11 space capsule to be plucked from the Pacific Ocean and brought to shore.

"And I remember waving flags and my grandfather telling me that the Apollo mission was an example of how Americans can do anything they put their minds to," said President Obama.


President Barack Obama (right) greets Apollo 11 astronauts (from left) Buzz Aldrin, Michael Collins, and Neil Armstrong in the White House on the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing, 20 July 2009
Forty years later, President Obama welcomed the Apollo 11 crew to the White House and spoke of their heroic flight that inspired generations of Americans.

He called Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and

(inan.info)-NASA-EDWARDS, Calif. -- Space shuttle Atlantis and its crew landed at 8:39
a.m. PDT Sunday at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., completing the
final servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope. Atlantis'
astronauts conducted five successful spacewalks during their STS-125
flight to enhance and extend the life of the orbiting observatory.

"This mission highlights what the challenges of

By Kate Woodsome
Washington


The STS-125 crew participates in interviews aboard the Earth-orbiting Space Shuttle Atlantis, 21 May 2009
The seven-member crew of the U.S. space shuttle Atlantis has made history. They have become the first astronauts in orbit to testify before a U.S. Senate committee. The astronauts lobbied for greater support for space exploration.

The Atlantis shuttle crew carried out one last task Thursday before wrapping up their mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope. They beamed in via satellite to a Senate subcommittee considering the budget of the U.S. space agency, NASA.

"This is space shuttle Atlantis. We have you loud and

(inan.info)-WASHINGTON -- NASA and the Newseum will celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 10 mission during a program at 12:30 p.m. EDT on Monday, May 18, in Washington.

Astronauts Tom Stafford and Gene Cernan will participate in the program moderated by journalist-in-residence Nick Clooney. The event is open to reporters and visitors to the Newseum, which is located at 555 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W. in Washington. The event will be carried live on NASA Television and streamed on the agency's Web site.

On May 18, 1969, Apollo 10 was launched on a mission to orbit the moon. The flight was a test run, a crucial dress rehearsal leading up to the historic Apollo 11 mission that two months later carried the first people to walk on the moon. Apollo 10 was the fourth manned mission in the Apollo program and

(inan.info)-HOUSTON -- NASA astronaut Mark Polansky, commander of the next space shuttle mission to the International Space Station in June, is sharing updates about his training and flight on Twitter. He invites followers to submit video questions via YouTube that he will answer from orbit.

Polansky, a New Jersey native and former Air Force test pilot, will command the space shuttle Endeavour on mission STS-127, a flight targeted for launch June 13 to deliver the final portions of the space station's Japanese laboratory. While posting tweets about his crew's training, Polansky also will select video questions submitted by followers. The videos will be transmitted to orbit during the mission and answered live during a special event that will be broadcast on NASA Television and

(inan.info)-NASA-WASHINGTON -- NASA, Lockheed Martin and learners of all ages around the world are celebrating Space Day 2009 beginning Friday, May 1.

Space Day is an education and public outreach initiative that takes place annually on the first Friday of May. This year's theme is "Celebrating Human Space Flight: Past, Present and Future." In formal and informal learning settings around the world, students, teachers, friends and families will celebrate the accomplishments of space exploration by engaging in math and science educational activities. Lockheed Martin sponsors Space Day.

Since Space Day's inception in 1997, people around the world have been introduced to space-related science, technology, engineering and mathematics. A Space Day toolkit of

(inan.info)-CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Space shuttle Discovery and its seven-member
crew lifted off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center at 7:43 p.m. EDT
Sunday to deliver the final set of power-generating solar array wings
and a new crew member to the International Space Station.

Discovery's STS-119 flight is carrying the space station's fourth and
final set of solar array wings, completing the station's truss, or
backbone. The arrays will provide the electricity to fully power
science experiments and support the station's expanded crew of six in
May. The 13-day mission will feature three spacewalks to help install
the S6 truss segment to the starboard, or right, side of the station
and deploy its solar arrays. The flight also will replace a failed
unit for a system that converts urine to potable water.

Shortly before launch, Commander Lee Archambault thanked the teams
that helped make the

(inan.info)-voanews-By Art Chimes
Washington, D.C.
On March 5, the U.S. space agency NASA is set to launch its newest space telescope. The Kepler mission has one goal - to find Earth-like planets elsewhere in our galaxy.

Kepler's telescope will stay pointed at an area of the sky with a concentration of some 100,000 stars that are considered likely candidates to have planets like Earth.


Kepler satellite in orbit (artist's illustration)
At Kepler's heart is an array of 42 CCD sensors, like you might have in your digital camera, only bigger and better. Your camera might have 10 megapixels; Kepler has 95 in a sensor covering about 700 square centimeters.

Scientists won't be able to see the any planets directly. Instead, says Kepler Project Manager Jim Fanson, they'll look for a slight dimming of stars as planets pass in front of them.

"We have to be able to measure the brightness change of stars down at the 20 part per million level," Fanson told reporters at NASA headquarters. "It's akin to measuring a flea as it