[NASA Press Release - 10.07.2009]
NASA's Innovative Partnerships Program, working with the Office of the Chief Engineer at NASA Headquarters, has selected 20 projects for the 2009 NASA Innovation Fund. The fund was established to advance work from NASA innovators on novel technologies and concepts that have the potential to revolutionize the way NASA performs its missions such as enabling new capabilities in space flight, science, aeronautics or exploration. Projects that also offer potential solutions to other national and global challenges are of particular interest.

[NASA Science Article - 09.07.2009]
On June 29th, neighbors of Paul Mortfield in Ontario, Canada, heard "cheers of excitement" coming from the astronomer's house. What caused the commotion?

"I had just observed NASA's LCROSS spacecraft," explains Mortfield. Using no more than a backyard telescope, he caught it zipping past spiral galaxy IC3808.

LCROSS is the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite. It left Earth June 18th atop an Atlas V rocket on a mission to crash into the Moon. On Oct. 9th, NASA plans to plunge LCROSS headfirst into a deep crater near the Moon's south pole. Researchers hope the debris it kicks up will reveal water and other minerals of use to future lunar explorers.

[NASA Press Release - 09.07.2009]
NASA and the Canadian Space Agency invite journalists and the public on Tuesday, July 14, to observe the international, multidisciplinary Pavilion Lake Research Project team as it studies the origin of rare freshwater carbonate rock structures that thrive in Pavilion Lake, British Columbia, Canada.

Reporters will have an opportunity to interview Pavilion Lake Research Project scientists from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. PDT on July 14 as they study and explore the unique underwater formations and conduct research about life in extreme environments. Journalists interested in attending must register before July 13 at:

[NASA Press Release - 02.07.2009]
NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, has transmitted its first images since reaching lunar orbit June 23. The spacecraft has two cameras -- a low resolution Wide Angle Camera and a high resolution Narrow Angle Camera. Collectively known as the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera, or LROC, they were activated June 30. The cameras are working well and have returned images of a region a few kilometers east of Hell E crater in the lunar highlands south of Mare Nubium.

[NAIC Press Release - 02.07.2009]
A high-resolution S-band (12.6 cm wavelength) radar view of the lunar south pole, obtained using the NAIC Arecibo Observatory and the NRAO Green Bank Telescope (GBT), is now available for download. These data were acquired in 2005 and have a single-look spatial resolution of 20 m per pixel. The WEB site where the images can be obtained is http://arecibo.tc.cornell.edu/lunarimages/default.aspx

[NASA Press Release - 29.06.2009]
After reviewing more than 3,500 applications, NASA has selected nine people for the 2009 astronaut candidate class. They will begin training at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston this August.

"This is a very talented and diverse group we've selected," said Bill Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for Space Operations at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "They will join our current astronauts and play very important roles for NASA in the future. In addition to flying in space, astronauts participate in every aspect of human spaceflight, sharing their expertise with engineers and managers across the country. We look forward to working with them as we transcend from the shuttle to our future exploration of space, and continue the important engineering and scientific discoveries aboard the International Space Station."

[NASA Press Release - 26.06.2009]
NASA has announced a schedule of events to commemorate the achievements of the Apollo program and the 40th anniversary of the first lunar landing. Among the activities is a news conference with astronauts from several Apollo missions scheduled for 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. EDT, July 20, in the James Webb Auditorium at NASA Headquarters in Washington. NASA Headquarters is located at 300 E St., S.W.

[NASA Press Release - 25.06.2009]
NASA will offer reporters an unprecedented chance to conduct interviews with scientists inside the lab that stores moon rocks Apollo astronauts collected during their six missions. The July
2 interview opportunities from the Apollo Lunar Sample Processing Lab and Storage Vaults at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston will take place nearly 40 years after humans first walked on the moon.

[NASA Press Release - 25.06.2009]
NASA today announced that it has signed an agreement with the California Space Authority, Inc., (CSA) to collaborate on participatory science and public outreach using a simulated lunar surface environment.

Under the terms of a Space Act Agreement, CSA will establish an office at NASA's Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif., in NASA Research Park. This fall, NASA Ames and CSA, along with its sister organization, the California Space Education and Workforce Institute, will host the Regolith Excavation Challenge, a prize competition focused on developing improved lunar regolith handling technologies.

[X Prize Press Release - 24.06.2009]
Today, Team Part-Time-Scientists announced its official entry into the Google Lunar X PRIZE competition, marking Germany’s debut in this new race to the Moon. The team joins the $30 million contest that challenges space professionals and engineers from across the globe to build and launch a privately funded spacecraft to the Moon. The spacecraft must complete a series of exploration and transmission tasks as outlined in the competition’s official rules. Team Part-Time-Scientists, headquartered in Berlin, Germany has seven team members and is among 19 teams from 42 countries that are competing for their share of the multi-million dollar prize purse.