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<div>Good morning all,</div>
<div> I hope you had a great weekend and will look forward to the week ahead....mine was a little different as I developed a very bad tooth ache (never have problems with my teeth) and along with that a sever swelling in my gums below the tooth....well, it
“popped” during the night, I am trying to see a dentist today....hopefully nothing that will drag on...as I “have things to do”. The visit to Garner and Lake Alfred Elementary schools was awesome....had so much fun with the kids, was even able to spend some
time in classrooms at Garner where they showed me their science projects and taught me about our solar system... at Lake Alfred, with two presentations, K-2 & 3-5, where the kids packed into the room it was great, even the younger ones seemed to enjoy it and
managed to stay focused....tons of questions afterwards... can’t thank Mandy and Josie enough for all their help in setting everything up...I know it takes allot of planning so I always appreciate the support...make sure you check out the link on the space
X heavy launch of the future....wishing you all a wonderful day....we have to remember to always do our best, enjoy everything we do, make each day special, live in the present, be thankful for the good in our lives, smile & have fun! Gabe</div>
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<div><font size="2"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><a href="http://spaceflightnow.com/2015/01/28/spacex-releases-new-animation-of-mighty-falcon-heavy/"><font size="4" color="blue"><span style="font-size:14pt;"><u>http://spaceflightnow.com/2015/01/28/spacex-releases-new-animation-of-mighty-falcon-heavy/</u></span></font></a></span></font></div>
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<div><font size="2"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><b>NASA Launches Groundbreaking Soil Moisture Mapping Satellite </b></span></font></div>
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<div>NASA's Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) observatory, on a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket, launches at 6:22 a.m. PST (9:22 a.m. EST) Saturday from Space Launch Complex 2, Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. SMAP is NASA’s first Earth-observing
satellite designed to collect global observations of surface soil moisture and its freeze/thaw state.</div>
<div><b><i>Image Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls</i></b></div>
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<div><font size="2"><span style="font-size:11pt;">NASA successfully launched its first Earth satellite designed to collect global observations of the vital soil moisture hidden just beneath our feet.</span></font></div>
<div><font size="2"><span style="font-size:11pt;">The Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) observatory, a mission with broad applications for science and society, lifted off at 6:22 a.m. PST (9:22 a.m. EST) Saturday from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California,
on a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket. </span></font></div>
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<div>NASA's Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) observatory, on a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket, is seen after the mobile service tower was rolled back Friday, Jan. 30 at Space Launch Complex 2, Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. </div>
<div><b><i>Image Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls</i></b></div>
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<div><font size="2"><span style="font-size:11pt;">About 57 minutes after liftoff, SMAP separated from the rocket's second stage into an initial 411- by 425-mile (661- by 685-kilometer) orbit. After a series of activation procedures, the spacecraft established
communications with ground controllers and deployed its solar array. Initial telemetry shows the spacecraft is in excellent health.</span></font></div>
<div><font size="2"><span style="font-size:11pt;">SMAP now begins a three-year mission that will figuratively scratch below Earth's surface to expand our understanding of a key component of the Earth system that links the water, energy and carbon cycles driving
our living planet. SMAP’s combined radar and radiometer instruments will peer into the top 2 inches (5 centimeters) of soil, through clouds and moderate vegetation cover, day and night, to produce the highest-resolution, most accurate soil moisture maps ever
obtained from space.</span></font></div>
<div><font size="2"><span style="font-size:11pt;">The mission will help improve climate and weather forecasts and allow scientists to monitor droughts and better predict flooding caused by severe rainfall or snowmelt -- information that can save lives and property.
In addition, since plant growth depends on the amount of water in the soil, SMAP data will allow nations to better forecast crop yields and assist in global famine early-warning systems.</span></font></div>
<div><font size="2"><span style="font-size:11pt;">"The launch of SMAP completes an ambitious 11-month period for NASA that has seen the launch of five new Earth-observing space missions to help us better understand our changing planet," said NASA Administrator
Charles Bolden. "Scientists and policymakers will use SMAP data to track water movement around our planet and make more informed decisions in critical areas like agriculture and water resources."</span></font></div>
<div><font size="2"><span style="font-size:11pt;">SMAP also will detect whether the ground is frozen or thawed. Detecting variations in the timing of spring thaw and changes in the length of the growing season will help scientists more accurately account for
how much carbon plants are removing from Earth's atmosphere each year.</span></font></div>
<div><font size="2"><span style="font-size:11pt;">"The next few years will be especially exciting for Earth science thanks to measurements from SMAP and our other new missions," said Michael Freilich, director of the Earth Science Division of NASA’s Science
Mission Directorate in Washington. "Each mission measures key variables that affect Earth’s environment. SMAP will provide new insights into the global water, energy, and carbon cycles. Combining data from all our orbiting missions will give us a much better
understanding of how the Earth system works."</span></font></div>
<div><font size="2"><span style="font-size:11pt;">SMAP will orbit Earth from pole to pole every 98.5 minutes, repeating the same ground track every eight days. Its 620-mile (1,000-kilometer) measurement swath allows SMAP to cover Earth’s entire equatorial regions
every three days and higher latitudes every two days. The mission will map global soil moisture with about 5.6-mile (9-kilometer) resolution.</span></font></div>
<div><font size="2"><span style="font-size:11pt;">"SMAP will improve the daily lives of people around the world,” said Simon Yueh, SMAP project scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California. "Soil moisture data from SMAP has the
potential to significantly improve the accuracy of short-term weather forecasts and reduce the uncertainty of long-term projections of how climate change will impact Earth's water cycle.”</span></font></div>
<div><font size="2"><span style="font-size:11pt;">The SMAP team is engaged with many organizations and individuals that see immediate uses for the satellite’s data. Through workshops and tutorials, the SMAP Applications Working Group is collaborating with 45
“early adopters” to test and integrate the mission's data products into many different applications. Early adopters include weather forecasters from several nations, as well as researchers and planners from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Geological
Survey, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the United Nations World Food Programme.</span></font></div>
<div><font size="2"><span style="font-size:11pt;">During the next 90 days, SMAP and its ground system will be commissioned to ensure they are fully functional and are ready to begin routine science data collection. A key milestone will be the deployment of
the spacecraft’s instrument boom and 20-foot- (6-meter)-diameter reflector antenna. The observatory will be maneuvered to its final 426-mile (685-kilometer), near-polar operational orbit, and the antenna will spin up to 14.6 revolutions per minute.</span></font></div>
<div><font size="2"><span style="font-size:11pt;">SMAP science operations will then begin, and SMAP data will be calibrated and validated. The first release of SMAP soil moisture data products is expected within nine months. Fully validated science data are
expected to be released within 15 months.</span></font></div>
<div><font size="2"><span style="font-size:11pt;">SMAP is managed for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington by JPL, with instrument hardware and science contributions made by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. JPL built the
spacecraft and is responsible for project management, system engineering, radar instrumentation, mission operations and the ground data system. Goddard is responsible for the radiometer instrument and science data products. Both centers collaborate on science
data processing and delivery to the Alaska Satellite Facility, in Fairbanks, and the National Snow and Ice Data Center at the University of Colorado in Boulder. NASA's Launch Services Program at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida was responsible for
launch management. JPL is managed for NASA by the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.</span></font></div>
<div><font size="2"><span style="font-size:11pt;">For more information about SMAP, visit:</span></font></div>
<div><font size="2"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/smap"><font color="#0563C1"><b><u>http://www.nasa.gov/smap</u></b></font></a></span></font></div>
<div><font size="2"><span style="font-size:11pt;">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.</span></font></div>
<div><font size="2"><span style="font-size:11pt;">For more information about NASA's Earth science activities, visit:</span></font></div>
<div><font size="2"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/earthrightnow"><font color="#0563C1"><b><u>http://www.nasa.gov/earthrightnow</u></b></font></a></span></font></div>
<div><font size="2"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Follow SMAP on Twitter at:</span></font></div>
<div><font size="2"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/NASASMAP"><font color="#0563C1"><b><u>https://twitter.com/NASASMAP</u></b></font></a></span></font></div>
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<div><font size="2"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><b>NASA TV Coverage Set for NOAA DSCOVR Launch Feb. 8 </b></span></font></div>
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<div><font size="2"><span style="font-size:11pt;">The Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) is scheduled to launch at 6:10 p.m. EST Sunday, Feb. 8 from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. A backup
launch opportunity is available at 6:07 p.m. on Feb. 9, if needed.</span></font></div>
<div><font size="2"><span style="font-size:11pt;">NASA Television coverage of the launch will begin at 3:30 p.m. In addition to launch coverage, NASA TV also will air a prelaunch news conference at 1 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 7.</span></font></div>
<div><font size="2"><span style="font-size:11pt;">DSCOVR is a partnership between NOAA, NASA and the U.S. Air Force and will maintain the nation’s solar wind observations capability. These observations are critical to the accuracy and lead time of NOAA’s space
weather alerts, forecasts, warnings and space weather events like geomagnetic storms caused by changes in solar wind. Such events can affect public infrastructure systems including power grids, telecommunications systems and avionics aboard aircraft.</span></font></div>
<div><font size="2"><span style="font-size:11pt;">DSCOVR succeeds NASA’s Advanced Composition Explorer in supporting solar observations and will provide 15 to 60 minute warning time to improve predictions of geomagnetic storm impact locations.</span></font></div>
<div><font size="2"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Media who wish to attend the prelaunch events, including the launch pad photo opportunity, prelaunch news conference and launch, may request accreditation online at:</span></font></div>
<div><font size="2"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><a href="https://media.ksc.nasa.gov"><font color="#0563C1"><b><u>https://media.ksc.nasa.gov</u></b></font></a></span></font></div>
<div><font size="2"><span style="font-size:11pt;">The deadline for U.S. media to apply for accreditation is Tuesday, Feb. 3. The deadline for foreign nationals has passed. For further information about media accreditation, contact Jennifer Horner at 321-867-6598.</span></font></div>
<div><font size="2"><span style="font-size:11pt;">For a full and updated schedule of prelaunch briefings, events and NASA TV coverage, visit:</span></font></div>
<div><font size="2"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><a href="http://go.nasa.gov/1CUBl40"><font color="#0563C1"><b><u>http://go.nasa.gov/1CUBl40</u></b></font></a></span></font></div>
<div><font size="2"><span style="font-size:11pt;">For in-depth prelaunch, countdown and launch day coverage of the liftoff of DSCOVR aboard the Falcon 9, visit:</span></font></div>
<div><font size="2"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><a href="http://blogs.nasa.gov/DSCOVR"><font color="#0563C1"><b><u>http://blogs.nasa.gov/DSCOVR</u></b></font></a></span></font></div>
<div><font size="2"><span style="font-size:11pt;">For NASA TV schedules and video streaming information, visit:</span></font></div>
<div><font size="2"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/nasatv"><font color="#0563C1"><b><u>http://www.nasa.gov/nasatv</u></b></font></a></span></font></div>
<div><font size="2"><span style="font-size:11pt;">For more information about the DSCOVR mission, visit:</span></font></div>
<div><font size="2"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><a href="http://www.nesdis.noaa.gov/DSCOVR"><font color="#0563C1"><b><u>http://www.nesdis.noaa.gov/DSCOVR</u></b></font></a></span></font></div>
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<div><font size="2"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><b>View the Latest Edition of "This Week@NASA" (Published Jan. 30, 2015)</b></span></font></div>
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<div><font size="2"><span style="font-size:11pt;">View the latest "This Week@NASA” produced by NASA Television for features on agency news and activities. Stories in this program include:</span></font></div>
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<li>The Plan to Launch America</li><li>Soil Moisture Mission</li><li>ISAAC Robot Unveiled</li><li>Close Asteroid Flyby</li><li>Best Images Yet of Ceres</li><li>Day of Remembrance</li></span></font>
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<div><font size="2"><span style="font-size:11pt;">To watch this edition of "This Week@NASA" dated Jan. 30, 2015, click on the image below:</span></font></div>
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<div><font size="2"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fp40jVjYNsI"><img src="cid:1534839DF0DFB448B62E471C3594EE06@mail.nasa.gov"> </a></span></font></div>
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<div><font size="2"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><b>Watch the Video</b></span></font></div>
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<div><font size="2"><span style="font-size:11pt;">You also may access this edition of “This Week@NASA” at:<b> </b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fp40jVjYNsI"><font color="#0563C1"><u>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fp40jVjYNsI</u></font></a></span></font></div>
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<div><font size="2"><span style="font-size:11pt;">This Week@NASA” and other NASA features are available at <a href="http://www.nasa.gov"><font color="#0563C1"><u>http://www.nasa.gov</u></font></a> under NASA Multimedia, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/nasatelevision"><font color="#0563C1"><u>http://www.youtube.com/nasatelevision</u></font></a>
and iTunes.</span></font></div>
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