Space Station Crew Members to Visit NASA Goddard Sept. 17

Recently returned to Earth space station astronauts Rick Mastracchio and Koicha Wakata will tour NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, at 10 a.m. EDT on Wednesday, Sept. 17. Reporters are welcome to join the tour and meet the astronauts.

While at Goddard, Mastracchio and Wakata will see the new Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) control room and other satellite control centers. The GPM Core Observatory was launched into orbit while the two astronauts were aboard the space station. Mastracchio, Wakata and the media will learn about GPM's collection of rain, snowfall and other types of precipitation data. As of today, Sept. 4, 2014, those data were available to the general public.

News media representatives will have an opportunity to follow the astronauts as they tour Goddard. There will also be a brief Q-and-A opportunity with the astronauts. The tour and media interview opportunity is expected to begin at 10 a.m. and conclude no later than 11:30 a.m. 

The visit is part of several days the two men will be spending in the Washington, D.C., area for events and activities to highlight their participation as Expedition 38/39 crewmembers during 188 days in orbit.

U.S. reporters and green card-holding foreign media representatives desiring to participate will need to contact Ed Campion in Goddard's Office of Communications via e-mail at edward.s.campion@nasa.gov or by phone at301-286-0697 by close of business on Tuesday, Sept. 16. Please Note:  Non-green card holding foreign media representatives need to supply passport/visa information by 4 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 8, to allow time for processing and approval for access to the Goddard facility.

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NASA-UCI Study Indicates Loss of West Antarctic Glaciers Appears Unstoppable

Glaciers in West Antarctica's Amundsen Sea Embayment have "passed the point of no return" according to new research based on three different lines of evidence.

Image Credit: 

NASA/Eric Rignot

A new study by researchers at NASA and the University of California, Irvine, finds a rapidly melting section of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet appears to be in an irreversible state of decline, with nothing to stop the glaciers in this area from melting into the sea.

The study presents multiple lines of evidence, incorporating 40 years of observations that indicate the glaciers in the Amundsen Sea sector of West Antarctica "have passed the point of no return," according to glaciologist and lead author Eric Rignot, of UC Irvine and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California. The new study has been accepted for publication in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

These glaciers already contribute significantly to sea level rise, releasing almost as much ice into the ocean annually as the entire Greenland Ice Sheet. They contain enough ice to raise global sea level by 4 feet (1.2 meters) and are melting faster than most scientists had expected. Rignot said these findings will require an upward revision to current predictions of sea level rise.

"This sector will be a major contributor to sea level rise in the decades and centuries to come," Rignot said. "A conservative estimate is it could take several centuries for all of the ice to flow into the sea."

Three major lines of evidence point to the glaciers' eventual demise: the changes in their flow speeds, how much of each glacier floats on seawater, and the slope of the terrain they are flowing over and its depth below sea level. In a paper in April, Rignot's research group discussed the steadily increasing flow speeds of these glaciers over the past 40 years. This new study examines the other two lines of evidence.

The glaciers flow out from land to the ocean, with their leading edges afloat on the seawater. The point on a glacier where it first loses contact with land is called the grounding line. Nearly all glacier melt occurs on the underside of the glacier beyond the grounding line, on the section floating on seawater.

Just as a grounded boat can float again on shallow water if it is made lighter, a glacier can float over an area where it used to be grounded if it becomes lighter, which it does by melting or by the thinning effects of the glacier stretching out. The Antarctic glaciers studied by Rignot's group have thinned so much they are now floating above places where they used to sit solidly on land, which means their grounding lines are retreating inland.

"The grounding line is buried under a thousand or more meters of ice, so it is incredibly challenging for a human observer on the ice sheet surface to figure out exactly where the transition is," Rignot said. "This analysis is best done using satellite techniques."

The team used radar observations captured between 1992 and 2011 by the European Earth Remote Sensing (ERS-1 and -2) satellites to map the grounding lines' retreat inland. The satellites use a technique called radar interferometry, which enables scientists to measure very precisely -- within less than a quarter of an inch -- how much Earth's surface is moving. Glaciers move horizontally as they flow downstream, but their floating portions also rise and fall vertically with changes in the tides. Rignot and his team mapped how far inland these vertical motions extend to locate the grounding lines.

The accelerating flow speeds and retreating grounding lines reinforce each other. As glaciers flow faster, they stretch out and thin, which reduces their weight and lifts them farther off the bedrock. As the grounding line retreats and more of the glacier becomes waterborne, there's less resistance underneath, so the flow accelerates.

Slowing or stopping these changes requires pinning points -- bumps or hills rising from the glacier bed that snag the ice from underneath. To locate these points, researchers produced a more accurate map of bed elevation that combines ice velocity data from ERS-1 and -2 and ice thickness data from NASA's Operation IceBridge mission and other airborne campaigns. The results confirm no pinning points are present upstream of the present grounding lines in five of the six glaciers. Only Haynes Glacier has major bedrock obstructions upstream, but it drains a small sector and is retreating as rapidly as the other glaciers.

The bedrock topography is another key to the fate of the ice in this basin. All the glacier beds slope deeper below sea level as they extend farther inland. As the glaciers retreat, they cannot escape the reach of the ocean, and the warm water will keep melting them even more rapidly.

The accelerating flow rates, lack of pinning points and sloping bedrock all point to one conclusion, Rignot said.

"The collapse of this sector of West Antarctica appears to be unstoppable," he said. "The fact that the retreat is happening simultaneously over a large sector suggests it was triggered by a common cause, such as an increase in the amount of ocean heat beneath the floating sections of the glaciers. At this point, the end of this sector appears to be inevitable."

Because of the importance of this part of West Antarctica, NASA's Operation IceBridge will continue to monitor its evolution closely during this year's Antarctica deployment, which begins in October. IceBridge uses a specialized fleet of research aircraft and the most sophisticated suite of science instruments ever assembled to characterize changes in thickness of glaciers, ice sheets and sea ice.

For additional images and video related to this new finding, visit:

http://go.nasa.gov/1m6YZSf

For additional information on the West Antarctic Ice Sheet and its potential contribution to sea level rise, visit:

http://go.nasa.gov/1oIfSlO

For more information on Operation IceBridge, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/icebridge

The California Institute of Technology in Pasadena manages JPL for NASA.

NASA monitors Earth's vital signs from land, air and space with a fleet of satellites and ambitious airborne and ground-based observation campaigns. NASA develops new ways to observe and study Earth's interconnected natural systems with long-term data records and computer analysis tools to better see how our planet is changing. The agency shares this unique knowledge with the global community and works with institutions in the United States and around the world that contribute to understanding and protecting our home planet.

 

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NASA to Investigate Climate Impacts of Arctic Sea Ice Loss

Image Credit: 

NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/J. Beck

Download this video in HD formats from NASA Goddard's Scientific Visualization Studio

A new NASA field campaign will begin flights over the Arctic this summer to study the effect of sea ice retreat on Arctic climate. The Arctic Radiation IceBridge Sea and Ice Experiment (ARISE) will conduct research flights Aug. 28 through Oct. 1, covering the peak of summer sea ice melt.

ARISE is NASA's first Arctic airborne campaign designed to take simultaneous measurements of ice, clouds and the levels of incoming and outgoing radiation, the balance of which determines the degree of climate warming. The campaign team will fly aboard NASA's C-130 aircraft from Thule Air Base in northern Greenland the first week and from Eielson Air Force Base near Fairbanks, Alaska, through the remainder of the campaign.

In recent years the Arctic has experienced increased summer sea ice loss. Scientists expect the exposure of more open water to sunlight could enhance warming in the region and cause the release of more moisture to the atmosphere. Additional moisture could affect cloud formation and the exchange of heat from Earth's surface to space. Researchers are grappling with how these changes in the Arctic affect global climate.

NASA's C-130 aircraft will carry scientists over the Arctic starting this month from northern Greenland and Fairbanks, Alaska.

Image Credit: 

NASA

"A wild card in what's happening in the Arctic is clouds and how changes in clouds, due to changing sea-ice conditions, enhance or offset warming," said Bill Smith, ARISE principal investigator at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia.

ARISE was planned over the last year to take advantage of NASA's existing capabilities for gathering data about ongoing changes in the Arctic. Satellites provided some information about clouds and the energy balance in the Arctic, but the multiple instruments flown during ARISE should provide further insight.

"The clouds and surface conditions over the Arctic as we observe them from satellites are very complex," Smith said. "We need more information to understand how to better interpret the satellite measurements, and an aircraft can help with that."

The array of instruments on ARISE should help scientists better observe how sea ice loss is affecting Arctic cloud formation and therefore the balance of incoming and outgoing radiation. Low-level clouds typically reflect more sunlight and offset warming, while higher clouds are typically less reflective and act to trap more heat in the atmosphere.

"It's a complex business, but it depends on a lot of things we can, in fact, measure," said Hal Maring, program manager for radiation sciences in the Earth Science Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

ARISE researchers will fly survey missions that target different cloud types and surface conditions, such as open water, land ice and sea ice. The missions will be timed to fly under the orbit paths of key satellite instruments, such as the Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy Systems (CERES) instruments on multiple NASA satellites. Each morning, mission planners will look at satellite timings and weather forecasts to design flight plans that meet the most objectives of the campaign.

The NASA C-130, based at the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, will carry instruments that measure solar (incoming) and infrared (outgoing) radiation, ice surface elevation and cloud properties such as cloud particle size. This will be the first time that many of these instruments, including the mission's laser altimeter, have flown together.

The ARISE campaign is a joint effort of the Radiation Sciences, Cryospheric Sciences and Airborne Sciences programs of the Earth Science Division in NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington.

NASA monitors Earth's vital signs from land, air and space with a fleet of satellites and ambitious airborne and ground-based observation campaigns. NASA develops new ways to observe and study Earth's interconnected natural systems with long-term data records and computer analysis tools to better see how our planet is changing. The agency shares this unique knowledge with the global community and works with institutions in the United States and around the world that contribute to understanding and protecting our home planet.

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International Global Precipitation Measurement Mission Data Goes Public

Image Credit: 

NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

Download this video in HD formats from NASA Goddard's Scientific Visualization Studio

The most accurate and comprehensive collection of rain, snowfall and other types of precipitation data ever assembled now is available to the public. This new resource for climate studies, weather forecasting, and other applications is based on observations by the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Core Observatory, a joint mission of NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), with contributions from a constellation of international partner satellites.

The GPM Core Observatory, launched from Japan on Feb. 27, carries two advanced instruments to measure rainfall, snowfall, ice and other precipitation. The advanced and precise data from the GPM Core Observatory are used to unify and standardize precipitation observations from other constellation satellites to produce the GPM mission data. These data are freely available through NASA's Precipitation Processing System at Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

"We are very pleased to make all these data available to scientists and other users within six months of launch," said Ramesh Kakar, GPM program scientist in the Earth Science Division at NASA Headquarters, Washington.

One of the first storms observed by the NASA/JAXA GPM Core Observatory on March 17, 2014, in the eastern United States revealed a full range of precipitation, from rain to snow.

Image Credit: 

NASA/JAXA

In addition to NASA and JAXA, the GPM mission includes satellites from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Defense's Defense Meteorological Satellite Program, European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites, Indian Space Research Organisation, and France's Centre National d'Études Spatiales.

Instruments on the GPM Core Observatory and partner satellites measure energy naturally emitted by liquid and frozen precipitation. Scientists use computer programs to convert these data into estimates of rain and snowfall. The individual instruments on the partner satellites collect similar data, but the absolute numbers for precipitation observed over the same location may not be exactly the same. The GPM Core Observatory's data are used as a reference standard to smooth out the individual differences, like a principal violinist tuning the individual instruments in an orchestra. The result is data that are consistent with each other and can be meaningfully compared.
With the higher sensitivity to different types of precipitation made possible by the GPM Core Observatory's Microwave Imager (GMI) and Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR), scientists can for the first time accurately measure the full range of precipitation from heavy rain to light rain and snow. The instruments are designed not only to detect rain and snow in the clouds, but to measure the size and distribution of the rain particles and snowflakes. This information gives scientists a better estimate of water content and a new perspective on winter storms, especially near the poles where the majority of precipitation is snowfall.

"With this GPM mission data, we can now see snow in a way we could not before," said Gail Skofronick-Jackson, GPM project scientist at Goddard Space Flight Center.  "Cloud tops high in the atmosphere have ice in them. If the Earth's surface is above freezing, it melts into rain as it falls. But in some parts of the world, it's cold enough that the ice and snow falls all the way to the ground."

One of the first storms observed by the GPM Core Observatory on March 17 in the eastern United States showed that full range of precipitation. Heavy rains fell over the North and South Carolina coasts. As the storm moved northward, West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland and Washington were covered with snow. The GMI observed an 547 mile- (880 kilometer) wide track of precipitation on the surface, while the DPR imaged every 820 feet (250 meters) vertically to get the three-dimensional structure of the rain and snowfall layer by layer inside the clouds.

"What's really clear in these images is the melting layer, the place in the atmosphere where ice turns into rain," said Skofronick-Jackson. "The melting layer is one part of the precipitation process that scientists don't know well because it is in such a narrow part of the cloud and changes quickly. Understanding the small scale details within the melting layer helps us better understand the precipitation process."

The combined snowfall and rainfall measurements from GPM will fill in the picture of where and how water moves throughout the global water cycle.

"Scientists and modelers can use the new GPM data for weather forecasts, estimating snowpack accumulation for freshwater resources, flood and landslide prediction, or tracking hurricanes," Skofronick-Jackson said. "This revolutionary information also gives us a better grasp of how storms and precipitating systems form and evolve around the planet, providing climate modelers insight into how precipitation might change in a changing climate."

GPM data are freely available to registered users from Goddard's Precipitation Processing System (PPS) website. The data sets are currently available in strips called swaths that correspond to the satellites' overpasses. Daily and monthly, global maps are also available from all the sensors. In the coming months, the PPS will merge this instrument data from all partner satellites and the Core Observatory into a seamless map that shows global rain and snow data at a 6-mile (10-kilometer) resolution every 30 minutes.

The GPM Core Observatory was the first of five scheduled NASA Earth science missions launching within a year. NASA monitors Earth's vital signs from land, air and space with a fleet of satellites and ambitious airborne and ground-based observation campaigns. NASA also develops new ways to observe and study Earth's interconnected natural systems with long-term data records and computer analysis tools to better see how our planet is changing. The agency freely shares this unique knowledge with the global community and works with institutions in the United States and around the world that contribute to understanding and protecting our home planet.

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LIFE'S TOO SHORT

by Michael Douglas Carlin

I probably know more people who are no longer living than people who are alive, which makes one of two things true: I need to meet more people, or I am getting old. Probably both. The fact is that life is precious. It is a gift. Life is also too short. Fifty years has gone by in a blink. Before I know it, I will be at the end.

I was partnered with studio executive Brendan Cahill. We traveled Europe together, chased women, and worked on film and television projects. He admonished me to hang out only with performers–people who consistently delivered. He claimed that life was too short to waste time with people who buckled under pressure or disappeared when heavy lifting was needed.

He kept a list of people who had let him down, which he called his "Life's Too Short List." I sat there a few times when he told someone whose name he was putting on this list. He would say: "I will have a cup of coffee with you anytime, and I have no problems buying you a meal, but I will no longer work with you." From that moment on, he would not take their calls, because life is too short. Brendan has been dead for a number of years, which proves the point that life…is too short.

Inspired by Brendan, I have my own "Life's Too Short List." When my phone rings, I see the "Life's Too Short" appear on the screen. Although I never know which of the wankers is calling, I know that life is truly too short to concern myself with whatever it is the caller has to say.

There is always a sense of urgency, and time is always of the essence, because all of our lives will be over before we know it.

© 2014 Michael Douglas Carlin. All Rights Reserved.

WALES WELCOME

09/04/2014 06:23 PM CDT

U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel meets with Ukrainian Defense Minister Col. Gen. Valeriy Heletey during the NATO summit in Wales, Sept. 4, 2014.

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NATO SUMMIT

09/04/2014 06:36 PM CDT

U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, left of center, meets with other NATO defense secretaries during the NATO summit in Wales, Sept. 4, 2014.

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Lawyers’ Committee Applauds Launch of Critical Civil Rights Investigation of Ferguson Police Department

WASHINGTON, D.C., September 4, 2014 -- The Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law (Lawyers' Committee) applauds today's announcement by Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. to launch a civil rights investigation of the Ferguson, Missouri, Police Department following the August 9^th fatal shooting of Michael Brown, an unarmed African American teenager.  The federal investigation by the Department of Justice's (DOJ) Civil Rights Division, represents a bold and necessary step by Attorney General Holder and the Obama Administration since a white Ferguson police officer shot Brown at least six times, resulting in weeks of protesting, unrest and further police-related incidents in the area. 

"As the covers are rolled back during this investigation revealing the actual practices by the police department, including patterns of racially disproportionate policing, the Lawyers' Committee remains hopeful that the application of the rule of law will yield a just and fair result not only for Michael Brown and his family, but also regarding former and pending Ferguson police lawsuits and internal investigations" said Lawyers' Committee President and Executive Director Barbara Arnwine.  "It is certainly encouraging that Attorney General Holder stressed the need for diversity across police departments and mentioned proactive steps to engage the St. Louis County Police Department during his remarks.  This probe is a great start and we applaud the ongoing investigations across the country.  Furthermore, we encourage t the DOJ, the FBI and police departments across the country to comprehensively  address the ongoing killing of unarmed African American and Hispanic youth and adults by police and civilians alike that may have had underlying racial motivations."

Ms. Arnwine, who, along with Lawyers' Committee Public Policy Director Tanya Clay House, originally convened 14 national civil and human rights organizations and leaders to issue a Unified Statement of Action to Promote Reform and Stop Police Abuse on August 18^th, noted that two of the groups' recommendations have come to fruition:  Ferguson police officers are now equipped with body-worn cameras, which the groups are pushing nationally, and an independent and comprehensive federal investigation by the DOJ of the fatal shooting of Michael Brown.  Four additional groups and nearly 330 independent signatories have joined the open letter which was sent to the White House and the DOJ.

"The Lawyers' Committee supports continued engagement by the White House and the DOJ's Community Relations Service with the community and law enforcement," said Mrs. Clay House.  "Additionally, the Lawyers' Committee and our partners will continue to work on long-term systemic reform, including the holding of Congressional hearings on the use of excessive and deadly force by police, release of the racial profiling guidance, better community policing and the oversight and distribution of federal weaponry,"

About the Lawyers' Committee
The Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law (Lawyers' Committee), a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, was formed in 1963 at the request of President John F. Kennedy to involve the private bar in providing legal services to address racial discrimination. We celebrated our 50^thanniversary in 2013 and continue our quest of "Moving America Toward Justice." The principal mission of the Lawyers' Committee is to secure, through the rule of law, equal justice under law, particularly in the areas of fair housing and community development; employment; voting; education; criminal justice and environmental justice.  For more information about the Lawyers' Committee, visitwww.lawyerscommittee.org.
                                                 

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Hon. Barry Russell Installs Spiegel and Other BHBA Officers; NBC4 Southern California Chief Political Reporter Conan Nolan Is Guest Speaker

Linda E. Spiegel, of the Law Offices of Linda Spiegel in Beverly Hills, is being installed as President of the Board of Governors of the Beverly Hills Bar Association (BHBA) at the organization's annual Installation and AwardsDinner on Tuesday, September 30, 2014, 5:30 P.M., at the Four Seasons Hotel in Los Angeles.  The Honorable Barry Russell, Bankruptcy Judge in the Central District of California, is administering the oath of office to Spiegel and her board as well as the officers of the BHBA Barristers, the newer lawyers' section of the Bar Association, and the Beverly Hills Bar Foundation, the charitable affiliate of the BHBA.  In addition, several BHBA awards are being presented to members for their outstanding service.  

The guest speaker is Conan Nolan, chief political reporter for NBC4 Southern California and anchor of the station's "News Conference," the longest running political/public affairs program in Southern California television.

Spiegel's practice focuses on leasing, management and related landlord tenant matters for both commercial and residential property.  She has represented various California real estate licensees and developers in connection with the creation of homeowners associations, issuance of sub-division public reports and the sale of master planned residential subdivisions.  Spiegel, Certified Mediator-Attorney at Law, has been published in the Los Angeles County Bar Association Real Property Review, the Beverly Hills Bar Association Bar Brief and the Bar Wire.  She joined the BHBA immediately following her admission to the California State Bar and becomes the sixth past Barristers President to be installed as BHBA President, and the tenth woman President to lead the bar association.  She received the BHBA President's Award for outstanding service to the Association and also garnered the Lawrence J. Blake Award for service to the Barristers.  Spiegel has successfully moved the Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court 10 times for the admission of BHBA members to practice before the Court in Washington, D.C.  She earned a Bachelor of Arts at UCLA and a Juris Doctorate from Whittier College School of Law.

In addition to Spiegel, other Board of Governors officers being sworn in are President-Elect Howard S Fredman; First Vice-President Howard S. Fisher; Second Vice-President Richard Kaplan; Secretary/Treasurer LaVonne Lawson; and Immediate Past President Diane Karpman.

The BHBA Barristers cabinet members to be installed are President Doron Eghbali; President Elect William Wenzel; Treasurer Yan Goldshteyn; Secretary Nadira Imam; and Immediate Past President Autumn Ronda.

Beverly Hills Bar Foundation leaders to be invested include President Gillian N. Brown; President-Elect Stephen P. Webb; Vice President Development Steve Young; Vice Chair Scholarships Daren Schlecter; Vice-President Grants Jill Levin; Treasurer Jim Jahant; Secretary Marc A. Lieberman; and Immediate Past President Bonita Moore.

Outstanding service awards to be bestowed include the President's Award to Hon. Lawrence W. Crispo (Ret.); the Board of Governors' Award to Robert K. Wrede; the Chief Executive Officer's Award to Suzanne E. Schwartz; the Barristers' Lawrence J. Blake Award to Megan R. Peitzke; The Louis B. Fox Award to Marc R. Staenberg, BHBA President & CEO.

Proceeds from the Installation and Awards Dinner support the educational and community outreach programs of the BHBA.

The Beverly Hills Bar Association, serving the Los Angeles region since 1931, is the fifth largest bar association in California with nearly 6,000 members.  Its mission is to serve its members, to lead the legal profession and to advocate for justice in the community.

The Installation Dinner is sponsored by Matloff Life, Health and Disability Insurance and the law firm Pachulski Stang Ziehl & Jones.  Tickets to the dinner are $250 per person until September 17 and $275 thereafter.  The Four Seasons Hotel is located at 300 South Doheny Drive in Los Angeles.  For tickets or information call (310) 601-2422 or visitwww.bhba.org.

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NASA Instrument aboard European Spacecraft Returns First Science Results

Artist's impression of the Rosetta orbiter at comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The image is not to scale.

Image Credit: 

ESA/ATG Medialab

A NASA instrument aboard the European Space Agency's (ESA's) Rosetta orbiter has successfully made its first delivery of science data from comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

The instrument, named Alice, began mapping the comet's surface last month, recording the first far-ultraviolet light spectra of the comet's surface. From the data, the Alice team discovered the comet is unusually dark -- darker than charcoal-black -- when viewed in ultraviolet wavelengths.  Alice also detected both hydrogen and oxygen in the comet's coma, or atmosphere.

Rosetta scientists also discovered the comet's surface so far shows no large water-ice patches. The team expected to see ice patches on the comet's surface because it is too far away for the sun's warmth to turn its water into vapor.

"We're a bit surprised at just how unreflective the comet's surface is and how little evidence of exposed water-ice it shows," said Alan Stern, Alice principal investigator at the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado.

Alice is probing the origin, composition and workings of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, to gather sensitive, high-resolution insights that cannot be obtained by either ground-based or Earth-orbiting observation. It has more than 1,000 times the data-gathering capability of instruments flown a generation ago, yet it weighs less than nine pounds (four kilograms) and draws just four watts of power. The instrument is one of two full instruments on board Rosetta that are funded by NASA.  The agency also provided portions of two other instrument suites.

Other U.S. contributions aboard the spacecraft are the Microwave Instrument for Rosetta Orbiter (MIRO), the Ion and Electron Sensor (IES), part of the Rosetta Plasma Consortium Suite, and the Double Focusing Mass Spectrometer (DFMS) electronics package for the Rosetta Orbiter Spectrometer for Ion Neutral Analysis (ROSINA). They are part of a suite of 11 total science instruments aboard Rosetta.

MIRO is designed to provide data on how gas and dust leave the surface of the nucleus to form the coma and tail that gives comets their intrinsic beauty. IES is part of a suite of five instruments to analyze the plasma environment of the comet, particularly the coma.

To obtain the orbital velocity necessary to reach its comet target, the Rosetta spacecraft took advantage of four gravity assists (three from Earth, one from Mars) and an almost three-year period of deep space hibernation, waking up in January 2014 in time to prepare for its rendezvous with 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

Rosetta also carries a lander, Philae, which will drop to the comet's surface in November 2014.

The comet observations will help scientists learn more about the origin and evolution of our solar system and the role comets may have played in providing Earth with water, and perhaps even life.
 

Rosetta is an ESA mission with contributions from its member states and NASA. Rosetta's Philae lander is provided by a consortium led by the German Aerospace Center in Cologne; Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research in Göttingen; French National Space Agency in Paris; and the Italian Space Agency in Rome.
 

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, manages the U.S. contribution to the Rosetta mission for the agency's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. JPL also built the MIRO instrument and hosts its principal investigator, Samuel Gulkis. The Southwest Research Institute, located in San Antonio and Boulder, developed Rosetta's IES and Alice instruments and hosts their principal investigators, James Burch (IES) and Alan Stern (Alice).

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JCS Chairman Hosts 3rd Facebook Town Hall

By Jim Garamone

DoD News, Defense Media Activity

WASHINGTON, Sept. 4, 2014 - The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff discussed many issues during his third Facebook Town Hall today.

Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, communicates with service members as he hosts a Facebook town hall meeting from his office at the Pentagon, Sept. 4, 2014. DoD photo by Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Daniel Hinton  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available.

Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey logged onto his account from his E-Ring office in the Pentagon and answered questions from a wide spectrum of Americans and discussed several topics, including Russia, Iraq, Syria, the Asia-Pacific region, and why Americans should serve in the military.

Dempsey said he enjoys the opportunity to speak directly to people via Facebook.

Helpful interaction on Facebook

"It's always helpful to me to gauge what Americans are concerned about and to get a sense of what they feel is important," the general said during a pause in the action.

Afghanistan led off the Town Hall. The chairman returned from one of his periodic visits to the country last month and said there is progress in Afghanistan, especially with the Afghan national security forces.

"During each visit, I see growing confidence among the ANSF, our coalition, and an incredible willingness to sustain gains and mature institutions," he said.

Resilient and capable Afghan forces

Afghan forces have proven to be resilient and capable, the chairman said.

Yet, "while Afghanistan is headed in the right direction toward a fully-functioning inclusive government, the path is neither a straight line nor is it short," Dempsey said.

U.S. objectives in Afghanistan, he said, include disrupting al-Qaida, supporting Afghan forces, and giving the Afghan people the opportunity to succeed on their own.

Radical, brutal ISIL terrorists

Many people asked the chairman about the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. The terror group's avowed goal is to recreate the ancient kingdom of Sham, which once ruled the land that now makes up Lebanon, Israel, Syria, Jordan, Iraq and Kuwait.

"ISIL is radical in its ideology, brutal in its tactics, and closed to all but those who adhere to their narrow and exclusive world view," Dempsey said. "Freedom is antithetical to ISIL and that's what makes them dangerous. The U.S. military considers ISIL an immediate threat initially to the region, our partners, and to the United States of America in the longer term."

The U.S. military has developed a strategy with a series of options on how to initially contain, continue to disrupt, and ultimately defeat ISIL, the chairman said.

"While the military will certainly be part of this fight, there is no military-only solution, and it cannot be accomplished unilaterally," he said. "ISIL will be defeated when the populations on which they have imposed themselves reject them. Our actions are intended to move in that direction."

Russian actions in Ukraine

There was much interest about Russia's actions in Ukraine, and many questioners wanted to know if Dempsey regards Russia as a partner or an adversary.

"Russia is competing with the NATO alliance for influence in Europe, and they have chosen to compete with force," Dempsey said. "They are on a dangerous and provocative path. We have many areas where we should partner with Russia -- for the good of our two countries and the good of the world. The months ahead will reveal the answer to your question."

Dempsey also fielded questions on concerns about an erroneous report on service members on food stamps.

"I very much understand that some American families, both civilian and military, continue to face financial hardships," he said. "That said, our service members are not the new face of poverty, and the recently reported estimates of military households served by food assistance programs are inaccurate."

Troops are most-valued asset

Service members are the department's most-valued asset, the chairman said.

"I remain committed to caring for them and ensuring they are adequately compensated for their jobs and sacrifices," Dempsey said. "In addition to our broad pay and compensation package, quality of life programs and services and non-pay benefits, we have numerous programs in place to assist those whose family situation places them in extraordinary need."

Dempsey placed a website for one of these programs -- the Family Subsistence Supplemental Allowance Program -- into his answer. Military families can find additional information athttps://www.dmdc.osd.mil/fssa/home.do .

Recommends military service

A questioner asked Dempsey if he believes military service is a good career option for young Americans.

"I've actually commissioned all three of my children into the Army, so your question resonates with me," Dempsey said.

Military service means "a sense of belonging, meaning, and variety," the chairman said.

Dempsey added, "Military friendships are lifetime friendships, and the experiences are lifetime experiences."

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