5.7

This full-resolution self-portrait shows the deck of NASA's Curiosity rover from the rover's Navigation camera. The back of the rover can be seen at the top left of the image, and two of the rover's right side wheels can be seen on the left. The undulating rim of Gale Crater forms the lighter color strip in the background. Bits of gravel, about 0.4 inches (1 centimeter) in size, are visible on the deck of the rover.

Message from the Director: A Strategy for Knowledge

August 24, 2012 // by APPEL News Staff

August 30, 2012 Vol. 5, Issue 8 Knowledge is all around us at NASA. So why do we need a knowledge strategy?

Saturn's largest moon, Titan, is in the background of the image, and the moon's north polar hood is clearly visible. See PIA08137 to learn more about that feature on Titan (3,200 miles, or 5,150 kilometers across). Next, the wispy terrain on the trailing hemisphere of Dione (698 miles, or 1,123 kilometers across) can be seen on that moon which appears just above the rings at the center of the image. See PIA10560 and PIA06163 to learn more about Dione's wisps. Saturn's small moon Pandora (50 miles, or 81 kilometers across) orbits beyond the rings on the right of the image. Finally, Pan (17 miles, or 28 kilometers across) can be seen in the Encke Gap of the A ring on the left of the image. The image was taken in visible blue light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Sept. 17, 2011.

Message from the Director: ‘Casino Mission’ Royale

July 30, 2012 // by APPEL News Staff

July 31, 2012 Vol. 5, Issue 7 The year was 1993—and something wasn’t right.

Julio Aprea, Project Controller at the European Space Agency (ESA), standing on the balcony of the Operations Support Building II (OSB II) at Kennedy Space Center for APPEL’s eighth International Project Management course. Photo Credit: Image courtesy of Julio Aprea.

Academy Brief: Perspective on International Project Management

July 30, 2012 // by APPEL News Staff

July 31, 2012 Vol. 5, Issue 7 ESA young professional Julio Aprea learns that when it comes to managing international projects, theres rarely one right answer.

This hemispheric view of Venus, as revealed by more than a decade of radar investigations culminating in the 1990-1994 Magellan mission, is centered at 90 degrees east longitude. The Magellan spacecraft imaged more than 98 percent of Venus at a resolution of about 100 meters; the effective resolution of this image is about 3 kilometers. Credit: NASA/JPL-CalTech

Venus: An Engineering Problem

July 30, 2012 // by APPEL News Staff

July 31, 2012 Vol. 5, Issue 7 Hot, toxic, and murky, Venus serves as an extraordinary engineering challenge, according to Jim Garvin.

Josephine Santiago-Bond and her husband Chris stand next to the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) propulsion structure at Ames Research Center.

Young Professional Brief: Josephine Santiago-Bond

July 30, 2012 // by APPEL News Staff

July 31, 2012 Vol. 5, Issue 7 Josephine Santiago-Bond left her comfort zone when she moved from one coast to another, going from ground systems at Kennedy to working on a lunar mission at Ames.

NPP Satellite at the Ball Aerospace facility.

Government Brief: GAO Assesses Earth-Observing Satellites

July 30, 2012 // by APPEL News Staff

July 31, 2012 Vol. 5, Issue 7 The next generation of environmental and weather satellites requires robust risk management, according to the Government Accountability Office (GAO).

Billows of smoke and the water near Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida capture the brilliant light of space shuttle Discovery's lift-off on the STS-119 mission.

Academy Bookshelf: Judgment Calls

July 30, 2012 // by APPEL News Staff

July 31, 2012 Vol. 5, Issue 7 Organizations make good decisions in a variety of ways, according to Tom Davenport and Brook Manville.

Dr. William H. Pickering (left), Director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, presents Mariner spacecraft photos to President Lyndon Baines Johnson in 1964.

History Brief: The Politics of Mars

July 30, 2012 // by APPEL News Staff

July 31, 2012 Vol. 5, Issue 7 “Scientists may tell us where to go, but politics will tell us how fast we’re going to get there,” said Dr. Harry Lambright about the politics of Mars.

Launched last month, NASA's Landsat 7 spacecraft now orbits planet Earth. Looking down from an altitude of 700 km, Landsat 7 can map the planet's surface in visible and infrared bands and resolve features 30 meters across or smaller. Credit: NASA

This Month in NASA History: Landsat Turns 40

July 30, 2012 // by APPEL News Staff

July 31, 2012 Vol. 5, Issue 7 NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) celebrated 40 years of Landsat at the Newseum.

INSIGHT

Subscribe to INSIGHT