NASA Mars Rover Team Hears From President Obama

Steve Cole

Headquarters, Washington  

202-358-0918

stephen.e.cole@nasa.gov

 

Guy Webster / D.C. Agle

Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

818-354-5011

guy.webster@jpl.nasa.gov / agle@jpl.nasa.gov

PASADENA, Calif. -- President Barack Obama this morning told the flight control team for NASA's Curiosity Mars rover, "You made us all proud."

Obama telephoned the mission control room at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, Calif., to congratulate JPL Director Charles Elachi and the Mars Science Laboratory team operating the rover, which landed on Mars a week ago.

"What you've accomplished embodies the American spirit," the president said. "Our expectation is that Curiosity is going to be telling us things we did not know before and laying the groundwork for an even more audacious undertaking in the future, and that's a human mission to Mars."

Obama said Curiosity's landing advances his goals of improving education in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. "This is the kind of thing that inspires kids across the country," he said. "They're telling their moms and dads they want to be part of a Mars mission, maybe even the first person to walk on Mars."

Elachi thanked Obama for the call and added, "Hopefully we inspire some of the millions of young people who were watching the landing."

Obama noted, "You guys should be remarkably proud. Really what makes us best as a species is this curiosity we have -- this yearning to discover and know more and push the boundaries of knowledge."

The rover team has completed three of the four days of activities needed for transitioning Curiosity's two main computers to a version of software suited for the rover's work on the surface of Mars. The surface work will include driving and using tools on a robotic arm. During landing, and the first few days after landing, the spacecraft's computers used a version of flight software loaded with landing-day capabilities that no longer are needed.

"After the software transition, we go back to preparing the rover to be fully functional for surface operations," Curiosity mission manager Art Thompson said. "We are looking forward to a first drive in about a week." The first short drive will be part of a few weeks of initial checkouts and observations to assess equipment on the rover and characteristics of the landing site.

Curiosity carries 10 science instruments with a total mass 15 times as large as the science payloads on NASA's Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity. Some of the tools are the first of their kind on Mars, such as a laser-firing instrument for checking rocks' elemental composition from a distance. Curiosity will use a drill and scoop located at the end of its robotic arm to gather soil and powdered samples of rock interiors, then sieve and parcel out these samples into the rover's analytical laboratory instruments.

To handle this science toolkit, Curiosity is twice as long and five times as heavy as Spirit or Opportunity. The Gale Crater landing site at 4.59 degrees south, 137.44 degrees east, places the rover within driving distance of layers of the crater's interior mountain. Observations from orbit have identified clay and sulfate minerals in the lower layers, indicating a wet history.

For more about NASA's Curiosity mission, visit http://www.nasa.gov/mars and http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/msl.

Follow the mission on Facebook and Twitter at http://www.facebook.com/marscuriosity and http://www.twitter.com/marscuriosity.

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President Obama Phones Mars Rover Team

President Barack Obama talks on the phone with NASA's Curiosity Mars rover team aboard Air Force One during a flight to Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska, Aug. 13, 2012.

(Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

ONR-Funded Young Innovators Recognized by President

By Katherine H. Crawford, Office of Naval Research

ARLINGTON, Va. (NNS) -- Six researchers funded by the Office of Naval Research (ONR) were honored with Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), the nation's highest honor for young scientists and engineers, officials announced Aug. 10.

The White House's selection of these six individuals underscores ONR's fundamental objective, which is to bring about new capabilities for warfighters by leveraging the ideas of the best and brightest minds the nation has to offer.

"ONR has always had an excellent ability to identify and foster young talent by keeping current with the most innovative research being done in various fields," said Dr. Michael Kassner, ONR director of research. "Working with top scientists and engineers ensures that we get the most advanced capabilities to our Sailors and Marines."

Honorees funded by ONR include: David M. Blei, Princeton University; Alejandro L. Briseno, University of Massachusetts Amherst; Lee R. Cambrea, Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division Research and Intelligence Department; Chiara Daraio, California Institute of Technology; Keith Edward Knipling, Naval Research Laboratory; and Ao Tang, Cornell University received the PECASE for outstanding contributions to their respective fields.

"I am absolutely humbled to be able to represent polymer science at UMass in this award," Briseno said. "I hope my receiving this accolade can inspire other young scientists and engineers to continue pursuing their scientific ideas, just as it inspired me. I would also like to thank my program manager, Paul Armistead, at ONR for supporting my research to push the fundamental limits of organic and polymer electronics."

Briseno, Blei and Daraio also are past winners of ONR's Young Investigator Program (YIP), a prestigious grant awarded to scientists and engineers with exceptional promise for producing creative and cutting-edge research. Each YIP recipient receives approximately $170,000 annually over three years for research efforts that appear likely to advance naval technology. ONR's YIP is one of the oldest such programs in the nation.

ONR has a proud tradition of funding rising researchers and scientists who are making important contributions to the Department of the Navy. In 2011, five ONR-funded researchers were recognized with the presidential honor.

This year, a total of 96 researchers earned PECASE awards through their work for various government agencies, including the Department of Defense, Department of Energy, NASA and National Science Foundation. Agencies annually nominate the best and brightest scientists and engineers whose early achievements appear beneficial to keeping the nation on the leading edge of scientific discovery.

The PECASE were established in 1996 and are managed by the Executive Office of the President's Office of Science and Technology Policy. According to the White House website, recipients are chosen based on their pursuit of innovative, state-of-the-art research as well as their commitment to community service, whether through scientific leadership, public education or community outreach.

ONR provides the science and technology necessary to maintain the Navy and Marine Corps' technological advantage. Through its affiliates, ONR is a leader in science and technology with engagement in 50 states, 30 countries, 1,035 institutions of higher learning and more than 900 industry partners. ONR employs approximately 1,065 people, comprising uniformed, civilian and contract personnel, with additional employees at the Naval Research Lab in Washington, D.C.

New Coral Reef Crustacean Described and Named After Late Reggae Performer Bob Marley

Study of new parasitic coral reef species advances understanding of factors influencing disease transmission in oceans

President Barack Obama has one. Comedian Stephen Colbert has one. Elvis Presley has one. Even computer software magnate Bill Gates has one. And now, Bob Marley--the late popular Jamaican singer and guitarist--also has one. So what is it that each of these luminaries has? The answer: they each have a biological species that has been named after them.

Paul Sikkel, an assistant professor of marine ecology and a field marine biologist at Arkansas State University, discovered and just named after Marley a "gnathiid isopod"--a small parasitic crustacean blood feeder that infests certain fish that inhabit the coral reefs of the shallow eastern Caribbean. Sikkel named the species Gnathia marleyi.

All of the life stages of Gnathia marleyi are described by Sikkel and his research team in the June 6th issue of Zootaxia. This research was partly funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF).

Sikkel said, "I named this species, which is truly a natural wonder, after Marley because of my respect and admiration for Marley's music. Plus, this species is as uniquely Caribbean as was Marley."

Gnathia marleyi is a new species within the gnathiid family, and the first new species to be described in the Caribbean in more than two decades.

By concealing themselves within coral rubble, sea sponge or algae, juvenile Gnathia marleyi are able to launch surprise attacks on fish and then infest them. Sikkel explained that adult gnathiids do not feed at all. "We believe that adults subsist for two to three weeks on the last feedings they had as juveniles and then die, hopefully after they have reproduced."

There have been increasing numbers of reports that the health of Caribbean coral reef communities is declining due to diseases. "We are currently researching the relationships between the health of coral reef communities and gnathiid populations," said Sikkel.

"Gnathiids, in general, are the most common external parasites found on coral reefs and are ecologically similar to land-based blood-sucking ticks or disease-carrying mosquitoes," Sikkel said. "Gnathiids live on the ocean floor from pole to pole, and from shallow reefs to the abyss--and everywhere between. They are also the most important food item for cleaner fishes and thus key to understanding marine cleaning symbioses."

Sikkel explained that his research group is interested in the combined ecological effects of fishing pressure and reef degradation. "We suspect that coral degradation leads to more available habitat for external parasites to ‘launch attacks' on host fishes," he said. "And as the number of potential host fish decreases, each remaining host will become more heavily parasitized."

"Our current work is focused on how changes in coral reef environments, such as coral bleaching, influences interactions between hosts and parasites," said Sikkel. "We're including in our studies any effects on cleaning organisms that remove parasites from hosts."

About 80 percent of all organisms found on coral reefs are parasites. The gnathiid isopods are among the most ecologically important of them, according to biologists, because many diseases afflicting desirable fish are either caused by, or are transmitted by gnathiids. In addition, the immune system of fish also depends on the overall health of coral reefs, which are known as the "rainforests of the sea" because of their vast biodiversity.

At the end of the day, it comes down to simple oceanic economics: the more parasites there are, the fewer fish there are--at least until the parasites run out of hosts to infect. And fewer fish in the sea can cause significant losses to the populations that depend on them.

Studying the effects of changes in sea-bottom communities associated with coral and sponge diseases and their interactions among other species will advance knowledge of blood-borne pathogens. Sikkel suspects that Gnathia marleyi may be a vector in transmission of these diseases.

Sikkel says his team's current funding through NSF's Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Diseases (EEID) initiative and Biological Oceanography is enabling the team to study precisely which species of Caribbean reef fish harbor these blood parasites. "We are determining the role of Gnathia marleyi, which will help us understand the impacts of changes in coral reef habitat on the transmission of a fish disease called haemogregarines--a type of fish malaria that may weaken their immune systems through a reduction in certain blood cells."

"Disease ecology is a rapidly maturing field in marine science," said Michael Lesser, a program director in NSF's Biological Oceanography Program. "To advance this field, scientists must identify which organisms are the main players in disease transmission in oceans."

Lesser continued: "With so much marine diversity yet to be described, parasitic species don't always get the attention they deserve. But Sikkell and his team have taken an important step by helping to analyze the ecological effects of a parasite on Caribbean coral reef fish populations by describing this previously unknown species."

Sikkel initially discovered Gnathia marleyi about 10 years ago in the U.S. Virgin Islands where it is relatively common--so common, in fact, that Sikkel had assumed for years that the species had previously been described. Nevertheless, compelled by a hunch, Sikkel ultimately sent a specimen of the species to Nico J. Smit of North-West University in South Africa, a member of Sikkel's research team, who confirmed that the species had, in fact, previously been overlooked by taxonomists. With the help of Whitney Sears, one of Sikkel's students, the research team raised the isopod from its juvenile stage through adulthood, a laborious task that was necessary because most taxonomy descriptions of gnathiids are based on adult males, which usually differ in appearance and other ways from juvenile gnathiids.

Specimens of Gnathia marleyi will be housed indefinitely at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. "We are currently discussing with AMNH the possibility of creating an exhibit featuring this species that could be viewed by the public," said Sikkel.

Sikkel's research team includes Charon Farquharson of the University of Johannesburg in South Africa and Smit.

And by the way, if you are wondering, President Obama has a lichen named after him; Colbert has a beetle; Gates has a flower fly, and Elvis has a wasp.

 -NSF-

President Obama Honors Outstanding Math and Science Teachers

97 mathematics and science teachers receive prestigious presidential award

President Obama today named 97 mathematics and science teachers as recipients of the prestigious Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching. The educators will receive their awards in Washington, D.C., later this month.

The Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching is awarded annually to outstanding K-12 science and mathematics teachers from across the country. The winners are selected by a panel of distinguished scientists, mathematicians, and educators following an initial selection process done at the state level. Each year the award alternates between teachers teaching kindergarten through 6th grade and those teaching 7th through 12th grades. The 2011 awardees named today teach 7th through 12th grades.

Winners of this Presidential honor receive a $10,000 award from the National Science Foundation to be used at their discretion. They also are invited to Washington, D.C., for an awards ceremony and several days of educational and celebratory events, including visits with members of Congress and the administration.

President Obama has committed to strengthen science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education and prepare 100,000 effective science and mathematics teachers over the next decade. These commitments build on the President's "Educate to Innovate" campaign, which has attracted more than $700 million in donations and in-kind support from corporations, philanthropies, service organizations, and others to help bolster science and technology education in the classroom.

"America's success in the 21st century depends on our ability to educate our children, give our workers the skills they need, and embrace technological change. That starts with the men and women in front of our classrooms. These teachers are the best of the best, and they stand as excellent examples of the kind of leadership we need in order to train the next generation of innovators and help this country get ahead," said President Obama.

The recipients of the 2011 Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching are:

Alabama

Suzanne Culbreth, Birmingham (Math)

Chanda Davis, Huntsville (Science)

Alaska

Stephanie Cronin, Seward (Math)

Joanna Hubbard, Anchorage (Science)

Arizona

Michael Frank, Tucson (Science)

Arkansas

Stephanie Muckelberg, Bald Knob (Math)

Vickie Logan, Little Rock (Science)

California

Kentaro Iwasaki, San Francisco (Math)

Dean Baird, Sacramento (Science)

Colorado

Andrea Wiseman, Denver (Math)

Amy Hanson, Denver (Science)

Connecticut

Karen Thomas, Westport (Math)

Tyler Hoxley, East Hartford (Science)

Delaware

Mary Pinkston, Wilmington (Math)

Michael Kaufmann, Wilmington (Science)

Department of Defense Education Activity

Spencer Bean, Baumholder, Germany (Math)

District of Columbia

Sarah Bax (Math)

William Wallace (Science)

Florida

Kathleen Jones, Panama City Beach (Math)

Stephen Fannin, Tallahassee (Science)

Georgia

Carol Taylor, Fayetteville (Math)

Kelly Stewart, Atlanta (Science)

Hawaii

Charles Souza, Jr., Honolulu (Math)

Julia Segawa, Honolulu (Science)

Idaho

Katie Pemberton, Coeur d'Alene (Math)

James Jordan, Boise (Science)

Illinois

Peter DeCraene, Evanston (Math)

David Bonner, Darien (Science)

Indiana

Natalie Schneider, Indianapolis (Math)

Stacy McCormack, Mishawaka (Science)

Iowa

Karla Digmann, Dubuque (Math)

Jody Stone, Cedar Falls (Science)

Kansas

Angela Miller, Manhattan (Math)

Dennis Burkett, Jr., Olathe (Science)

Kentucky

Andrea Higdon, Crestwood (Math)

Joshua Underwood, Mt. Olivet (Science)

Louisiana

Alison Drake, New Orleans (Math)

Anna Cole, Raceland (Science)

Maine

Kenneth Vencile, Rockport (Science)

Maryland

Barry Hopkins, Severna Park (Science)

Massachusetts

Kathleen Erickson, Great Barrington (Math)

Naomi Volain, Springfield (Science)

Michigan

Donald Pata, Grosse Pointe Woods (Science)

Minnesota

Donna Forbes, Mahtomedi (Math)

Jamin McKenzie, St. Paul (Science)

Mississippi

Jennifer Wilson, Flowood (Math)

Lucy McKone, Brookhaven (Science)

Missouri

Jennifer Baker, Hazelwood (Math)

Robert Becker, Kirkwood (Science)

Montana

Tammy Johnson, Stevensville (Math)

Carol Pleninger, Havre (Science)

Nebraska

David Hartman, Lincoln (Math)

Joan Christen, Beatrice (Science)

Nevada

Gary Mayers, Las Vegas (Math)

New Hampshire

Gina Bergskaug, Hollis (Science)

New Jersey

John McAllen III, Point Pleasant (Math)

Rebecca McLelland-Crawley, Perth Amboy (Science)

New York

Elisabeth Jaffe, New York (Math)

Francesco Neal-Noschese, Cross River (Science)

North Carolina

Nancy Trollinger, Marion (Math)

Eric Grunden, Raleigh (Science)

North Dakota

Ila LaChapelle, Walhalla (Science)

Ohio

Carole Morbitzer, Columbus (Math)

Tami Fitzgerald, Zanesville (Science)

Oklahoma

Ashley Moody, McLoud (Math)

Rebecca Morales, Broken Arrow (Science)

Oregon

Mary Koike, Newport (Science)

Pennsylvania

Katherine Schwang, Carlisle (Math)

Richard Schmidt, Fort Washington (Science)

Puerto Rico

Jaime Abreu Ramos, San Juan (Math)

Judith Martínez, Caguas (Science)

Rhode Island

Brian Nelson, Wakefield (Math)

David Mather, Warwick (Science)

South Carolina

Matthew Owens, Columbia (Math)

Holly Sullivan, Lugoff (Science)

South Dakota

Deborah Snook, Philip (Math)

Paul Kuhlman, Avon (Science)

Tennessee

Phyllis Hillis, Oak Ridge (Math)

Gail Schulte, Smyrna (Science)

Texas

Dixie Ross, Pflugerville (Math)

Joy Killough, Austin (Science)

US Territories

Beatriz Camacho, Guam (Math)

Katherine Baker, Virgin Islands (Science)

Utah

Vivian Shell, Salt Lake City (Math)

James Larson, Salt Lake City (Science)

Vermont

Cathy Estes, Thetford (Math)

Elizabeth Mirra, Windsor (Science)

Virginia

Kimberly Riddle, Fredericksburg (Math)

Jacqueline Curley, Sterling (Science)

Washington

Nathan Shields, Vancouver (Math)

Robert Ettinger, Seattle (Science)

West Virginia

Neil Reger, Buckhannon (Math)

Angela McDaniel, Moatsville (Science)

Wisconsin

Michael Tamblyn, Whitewater (Math)

Kara Pezzi, Appleton (Science)

Wyoming

Jayne Wingate, Cheyenne (Math)

 -NSF-

John Glenn Given Medal of Freedom

President Barack Obama presents former United States Marine Corps pilot, astronaut and United States Senator John Glenn with a Medal of Freedom, Tuesday, May 29, 2012, during a ceremony at the White House in Washington.

Image Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls