SOYUZ EXPEDITION 30 LIFTOFF

Expedition 30 Lifts Off
The Soyuz TMA-03M rocket launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2011, carrying Expedition 30 Soyuz Commander Oleg Kononenko of Russia, NASA Flight Engineer Don Pettit and European Space Agency astronaut and Flight Engineer Andre Kuipers to the International Space Station.
Image Credit: NASA/Carla Cioffi

MORE AIRCRAFT SENT TO FIGHT WILDFIRES

FROM:  AMERICAN FORCES PRESS SERVICE
A Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System-equipped C-130 aircraft from the California Air National Guard's 146th Airlift Wing based at Channel Islands, arrives at Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado Springs, Colo., June 30, 2012. The 146th's C-130 is one of four MAFFS-equipped aircraft joining four other military aircraft already operating out of Peterson to conduct wildfire suppression missions in Colorado and other western states. The eight aircraft constitute the entire U.S. military MAFFS-equipped fleet. U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Thomas J. Doscher  

More Aircraft Arrive to Combat Western Wildfires
WASHINGTON, July 1, 2012 - Eight Department of Defense C-130 aircraft equipped with U.S. Forest Service Modular Airborne Fire Fighting Systems now are assisting in multi-agency efforts to control wildfires in Colorado and other western states, according to a U.S. Northern Command news release update issued today.

Four of these MAFFS-equipped aircraft arrived yesterday at Peterson Air Force Base, Colo., joining four other aircraft there that have been flying wildfire suppression missions in the Rocky Mountain region, the Northcom release said.

The National Interagency Fire Center based in Boise, Idaho, requested the aircraft support from the Defense Department, according to the release.

The eight aircraft are under Northcom command and control and all, at present, are being based at Peterson, which is in Colorado Springs, according to the release.
Northcom, based at Peterson, partners with other agencies to conduct homeland defense, civil support and security cooperation to defend and secure the United States and its interests.

Military units now supporting C-130 aircraft wildfire suppression missions flown from Peterson are: the Air Force Reserve's 302nd Airlift Wing, based at Peterson; the Wyoming Air National Guard's 153rd Airlift Wing, from Cheyenne; the North Carolina Air National Guard's 145th Airlift Wing, from Charlotte; and the California Air National Guard's 146th Airlift Wing, from Channel Islands.

As of early today, DOD aircraft have conducted 73 air drops and discharged more than 190,000 gallons of flame retardant during wildfire suppression missions in Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, and South Dakota, the Northcom release said.

ESA - ESA - Cassini discovers that Titan harbors an ocean beneath its surface

ESA - ESA - Cassini discovers that Titan harbors an ocean beneath its surface

NASA OBSERVES ERUPTION OF SUN AND EVAPORATION OF PLANETS ATMOSPHERE

 FROM:  NASA
This artist's rendering illustrates the evaporation of HD 189733b's atmosphere in response to a powerful eruption from its host star. NASA's Hubble Space Telescope detected the escaping gases and NASA's Swift satellite caught the stellar flare. (Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center) 


HUBBLE, SWIFT DETECT FIRST-EVER CHANGES IN AN EXOPLANET ATMOSPHERE
WASHINGTON -- An international team of astronomers using data from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has made an unparalleled observation, detecting significant changes in the atmosphere of a planet located 
beyond our solar system. 

The scientists conclude the atmospheric variations occurred in response to a powerful eruption on the planet's host star, an event observed by NASA's Swift satellite. "The multiwavelength coverage by Hubble and Swift has given us an unprecedented view of the interaction between a flare on an active star and the atmosphere of a giant planet," said lead researcher Alain Lecavelier des Etangs at the Paris Institute of Astrophysics (IAP), part of the French National Scientific Research Center located at Pierre and Marie Curie University in Paris. 

The exoplanet is HD 189733b, a gas giant similar to Jupiter, but about 14 percent larger and more massive. The planet circles its star at a distance of only 3 million miles, or about 30 times closer than Earth's distance from the sun, and completes an orbit every 2.2 days. Its star, named HD 189733A, is about 80 percent the size and mass of our sun. 

Astronomers classify the planet as a "hot Jupiter." Previous Hubble observations show that the planet's deep atmosphere reaches a temperature of about 1,900 degrees Fahrenheit (1,030 C). HD 189733b periodically passes across, or transits, its parent star, and these events give astronomers an opportunity to probe its atmosphere and environment. In a previous study, a group led by Lecavelier des Etangs used Hubble to show that hydrogen gas was 

escaping from the planet's upper atmosphere. The finding made HD 189733b only the second-known "evaporating" exoplanet at the time.  The system is just 63 light-years away, so close that its star can be seen with binoculars near the famous Dumbbell Nebula. This makes HD 

189733b an ideal target for studying the processes that drive atmospheric escape. 

"Astronomers have been debating the details of atmospheric evaporation for years, and studying HD 189733b is our best opportunity for understanding the process," said Vincent Bourrier, a doctoral student at IAP and a team member on the new study. 

When HD 189733b transits its star, some of the star's light passes through the planet's atmosphere. This interaction imprints information on the composition and motion of the planet's atmosphere into the star's light. 

In April 2010, the researchers observed a single transit using Hubble's Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS), but they detected no trace of the planet's atmosphere. Follow-up STIS observations in September 2011 showed a surprising reversal, with 

striking evidence that a plume of gas was streaming away from the 

exoplanet. 

The researchers determined that at least 1,000 tons of gas was leaving the planet's atmosphere every second. The hydrogen atoms were racing away at speeds greater than 300,000 mph. The findings will appear in an upcoming issue of the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics. Because X-rays and extreme ultraviolet starlight heat the planet's 

atmosphere and likely drive its escape, the team also monitored the star with Swift's X-ray Telescope (XRT). On Sept. 7, 2011, just eight hours before Hubble was scheduled to observe the transit, Swift was monitoring the star when it unleashed a powerful flare. It brightened 

by 3.6 times in X-rays, a spike occurring atop emission levels that already were greater than the sun's. 

"The planet's close proximity to the star means it was struck by a blast of X-rays tens of thousands of times stronger than the Earth suffers even during an X-class solar flare, the strongest category," said co-author Peter Wheatley, a physicist at the University of 

Warwick in England. 

After accounting for the planet's enormous size, the team notes that HD 189733b encountered about 3 million times as many X-rays as Earth receives from a solar flare at the threshold of the X class. Hubble is a project of international cooperation between NASA and the European Space Agency. Swift is operated in collaboration with several U.S. institutions and partners in the United Kingdom, Italy, Germany and Japan. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., manages both missions. 

ARMY PSYCHIATRIST ACCUSED OF IN KILLING RAMPAGE SET FOR TRIAL AUGUST 20, 2012

FROM:  AMERICAN FORCES PRESS SERVICE

Hasan Trial Set for Aug. 20 as Judge Denies Continuance

From a Fort Hood News Release

FORT HOOD, Texas, June 29, 2012 - The trial of an Army psychiatrist accused of killing 12 soldiers and a civilian employee here in a Nov. 5, 2009, shooting rampage that left 30 others injured will start as scheduled Aug. 20, a military judge ruled today.

Army Col. Gregory Gross denied Maj. Nidal M. Hasan's request for a further continuance until December.

Gross also submitted to questioning from Hasan's defense counsel concerning whether he was biased against the accused and ruled that he was not and that no implied bias existed. After announcement of that ruling, defense counsel stated their intention to appeal the military judge's refusal to recuse himself to the Army Court of Criminal Appeals.

In another matter pertaining to the case, the judge ruled that the commanding general of 3rd Corps and Fort Hood and his staff judge advocate must make themselves available for a joint interview by defense counsel concerning the referral of the case for trial by court-martial.

Hasan was not present in court today and viewed the proceedings via a closed-circuit feed in a trailer next to the courthouse. The judge announced that Hasan still was not clean-shaven as required by Army regulations, that the Army had declined to grant him a religious accommodation for the beard, and that the Army Court of Criminal Appeals refused to hear his appeal of the judge's decision last week to remove him from the courtroom because of the beard.

The judge is expected to rule on other pending motions and take up any new motions at a hearing scheduled for July 6.

U.S. RELATIONS WITH MOLDOVA

Map Credit:  U.S. Department Of State.
FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs
Fact Sheet
June 14, 2012
U.S.-Moldova Relations
Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the United States recognized the independence of Moldova on December 25, 1991 and opened an Embassy in its capital, Chisinau, in March 1992. The United States supports the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Moldova and on that basis supports the 5+2 negotiations to find a comprehensive settlement that will provide a special status for the separatist region of Transnistria within Moldova. The United States co-chairs the Community of Democracies’ Task Force for Moldova which provides international support to priority areas in Moldova's transition to democracy.

U.S. Assistance to Moldova
U.S. government assistance aims to help Moldova strengthen its democratic institutions, increase prosperity, secure its internationally recognized borders, and integrate with Europe and the Euro-Atlantic community. In 2010, the United States and Moldova signed a $262 million, 5-year Millennium Challenge Corporation compact for economic development and investment projects in irrigation infrastructure, high-value agricultural production, and road rehabilitation.

Bilateral Economic Relations
As a country with a small market, Moldova benefits from liberalized trade and investment and wants to promote the export of its goods and services. A U.S.-Moldovan trade agreement providing reciprocal most-favored-nation tariff treatment took effect in 1992. The same year, an Overseas Private Investment Corporation agreement was signed, encouraging U.S. private investment in Moldova through direct loans and loan guarantees. A bilateral investment treaty was signed in 1993. The United States granted Moldova generalized system of preferences status in 1995, and some Eximbank coverage became available the same year.

Moldova's Membership in International Organizations
Moldova is a member of the United Nations, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the North Atlantic Cooperation Council, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the World Trade Organization, the GUAM Organization for Democracy and Economic Development, and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's Partnership for Peace program. The current Government of Moldova seeks closer integration with Europe and is currently negotiating an Association Agreement, a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area, and a visa liberalization plan with the European Union.

FIREFIGHT IN AFGHANISTAN'S GHANZNI PROVINCE, JUNE 15,2012

FROM:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
U.S. paratroopers fire at insurgent forces during a firefight on the outskirts of Spedar village in southern Afghanistan's Ghazni province, June 15, 2012. This was the first of several firefights U.S. and Afghan soldiers encountered during their daylong partnered patrol. The soldiers are assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division's Company D, 1st Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Michael J. MacLeod

NEW HEALTH CARE LAW IMPLEMENTATION MOVES FORWARD

Photo:  President Obama Signs Affordable Care Act Into Law.  Credit: White House. 
FROM:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICE
The Administration makes resources available to help states implement Affordable Insurance Exchanges.
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced today a new funding opportunity to help states continue their work to implement the health care law -- the Affordable Care Act.  When the law is fully implemented in 2014, the affordable insurance exchanges will provide people and small businesses with one-stop shops to find, compare and purchase affordable, high-quality health insurance.  Today’s announcement makes more funding available to build all models of affordable insurance exchanges available to states. HHS also issued further guidance today to help states understand the full scope of activities that can be funded under the available grant funding as they work to build exchanges.

“The federal government and our state partners are moving forward to implement the health care law,” Secretary Sebelius said.  “This new funding opportunity will give states the resources they need to establish affordable insurance exchanges and ensure Americans are no longer on their own when shopping for insurance.”

The funding opportunity announced today will provide states with 10 additional opportunities to apply for funding to establish a state-based exchange, state partnership exchange, or to prepare state systems for a federally facilitated exchange.  To date, 34 states and the District of Columbia have received approximately $850 million in Exchange Establishment Level One and Level Two cooperative agreements to fund their progress toward building exchanges.

Under the new announcement, states can apply for exchange establishment cooperative agreements through the end of 2014. These funds are available for states to use beyond 2014 as they continue to work on their exchanges. This ensures that states have the support and time necessary to build the best exchange for their residents.

The guidance HHS issued today provides information on the exchange-building activities that states can fund with establishment cooperative agreements.
.
HHS will conduct regional implementation forums in coming months to assist states and stakeholders on the work to be done in building exchanges, and to address their questions.  HHS will also engage with tribes, tribal governments, and tribal organizations on how exchanges can serve their populations.

For more information on exchanges, including fact sheets, visithttp://www.healthcare.gov/news/factsheets/2011/05/exchanges05232011a.html

SEC. OF STATE CLINTON CONGRATULATES SOMALIANS ON SOMALIA NATIONAL DAY

FROM:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Somalia's National Day
Press StatementHillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of StateWashington, DC
June 30, 2012
On behalf of President Obama and the people of the United States, I am delighted to send best wishes to the people of Somalia as you celebrate your 52nd independence day this July 1.  


Over the past year, progress has been made toward stability in Somalia.  The Transitional Federal Government and Somalia’s regional governments helped mitigate the effects of drought and famine, improve security and access to assistance for Somalis displaced by the drought and al Shabaab’s violence, and made real political progress to conclude the transitional process.  Thanks to the ongoing efforts by the Somali National Security Forces and the African Union Mission in Somalia, Mogadishu and its surrounding areas are largely free from al-Shabaab, and its influence in southern and central Somalia is waning.


As you celebrate your Independence Day, know that you have a dedicated partner in the people of the United States.  Our support for Somalia and the Somali people will continue beyond the end of the transition.  We stand with the people of Somalia on your path toward peace, stability, prosperity. 

DEFENSE BRIEFING ON THE MIDDLE EAST

FROM:  AMERICAN FORCES PRESS SERVICE

Defense Leaders Provide Middle East Update

By Cheryl Pellerin

WASHINGTON, June 29, 2012 - Steady progress is being made in dealing with challenges in the Middle East, Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta and Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told Pentagon reporters in a briefing here today.

Topics included the situation between U.S. ally Turkey and the internally embattled Syria, a rescheduled U.S.-Israeli military exercise, an upcoming DOD visit to Iraq, and continuing discussions with military leaders in Pakistan.

"We continue to be concerned about developments in Syria," Panetta said, referring to ongoing violence between the brutal authoritarian regime of Bashar Assad and determined opposition groups, and the movement of Turkish military assets to the Syrian border after the June 22 shootdown by Syrian forces of a Turkish Phantom F-4 fighter and its two-member aircrew.

The secretary said Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is engaged in discussions with U.S. allies in the region, including Turkey.

"Turkey is one of our allies in that region," Panetta said. "We continue to be in close discussions with them with regard to how we best approach the situation in Syria."

Dempsey said he had a recent conversation with his Turkish counterpart, Chief of the General Staff Gen. Necdet Ozel, adding, "He's taking a very measured approach to the incident. ... He and I are staying in contact."

Also in the region, the chairman said the United States and Israel have rescheduled a joint military exercise called Austere Challenge.

Dempsey said a final decision on the exercise date will be determined during a current visit to Israel by Undersecretary of Defense for Policy James N. Miller.

In Iraq, where the level of violence increased this month, Panetta said discussions continue with the Iraqis on the threat from al-Qaida terrorists.

"We've seen increased violence [and] ... we share the concern of the Iraqis with regard to that increased violence," the secretary said, adding, "We're going to continue to work with them to ... improve their ability to be able to deal with those kinds of threats."

Before leaving Iraq, he added, U.S. forces worked in great cooperation on this problem.

"We've continued to work with their security forces but we think it's really important now that we try to bring that cooperation even closer together to make sure that these kinds of threats are dealt with directly," Panetta said.

Dempsey said Marine Corps Gen. James N. Mattis, commander of U.S. Central Command, had high-level consultative talks with the Iraqis earlier this year and Panetta hosted a May 23 meeting at the Pentagon with Iraqi Acting Minister of Defense Saadoun al-Dulaymi.

"What we're doing is charting a way ahead, actually, on the potential for exercises, the things we talked about at the closing ceremony" in December 2011, the chairman said, adding that he plans a visit to Iraq later this year.

Discussions also continue between American and Pakistani officials over the reopening of Pakistan supply routes -- called ground lines of communication, or GLOCs -- into Afghanistan, and the breakup of Pakistan safe havens for militant groups like the Haqqani network, Panetta said.

"We continue to have a line of communication with the Pakistanis to try to see if we can take steps to reopen the GLOCs," Panetta said, adding, "The good news is that there continue to be those discussions."

Tough issues still need to be settled, the secretary said.

"I think the important thing right now is that both sides, in good faith, keep working to see if we can resolve this," he said.

Marine Corps Gen. John R. Allen, commander of the International Security Assistance Force and U.S. Forces-Afghanistan, met recently with Pakistani Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, the secretary said.

"I think [Allen] made clear that both the United States and Pakistan have to work together to deal with the threat from the Haqqanis," Panetta said, adding that Kayani seemed receptive to U.S. concerns.

"After all," the secretary said, "they, too, have been victims of terrorism. They lost 17 Pakistanis on a patrol to the [Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan] ... so we have a common enemy. It would make sense if we could work together to confront that common enemy."

PRESIDENT OBAMA DECLARES OHIO DISASTER

Photo Credit:  White House. 

FROM:  FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency announced that federal emergency aid has been made available to the state of Ohio to supplement state and local response efforts due to the emergency conditions resulting from severe storms beginning on June 29, 2012, and continuing.

The President's action authorizes the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to coordinate all disaster relief efforts which have the purpose of alleviating the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency on the local population, and to provide appropriate assistance for required emergency measures, authorized under Title V of the Stafford Act, to save lives and to protect property and public health and safety, and to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe in all 88 counties in the State of Ohio.

Specifically, FEMA is authorized to identify, mobilize, and provide at its discretion, equipment and resources necessary to alleviate the impacts of the emergency.  Emergency protective measures limited to direct federal assistance, will be provided at 75 percent federal funding.

W. Michael Moore has been named as the Federal Coordinating Officer for federal recovery operations in the affected area. 

MINNESOTA, NEVADA RECEIVE MILLIONS TO TURN AROUND LOWEST-PERFORMING SCHOOLS

Photo Credit:  Wikimedia.
FROM:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Minnesota to Receive Nearly $6 Million to Turn Around Lowest-Performing Schools
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan today announced that Minnesota will receive $5.9 million to turn around its persistently lowest-achieving schools through the Education Department's School Improvement Grants (SIG) program.

The funds are part of $535 million provided through the fiscal year 2011 budget and made available to states under the program. To date, Minnesota has received $44.9 million since the SIG program was redesigned in 2009.

Nevada to Receive $3.5 Million to Turn Around Lowest-Performing Schools
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan today announced that Nevada will receive $3.5 million to turn around its persistently lowest-achieving schools through the Education Department's School Improvement Grants (SIG) program.

The funds are part of $535 million provided through the fiscal year 2011 budget and made available to states under the program. To date, Nevada has received $30.4 million since the SIG program was redesigned in 2009.

"We've stood on the sidelines for too long as our lowest-performing schools failed our children year after year," said Duncan. "The School Improvement Grants program is providing courageous school leaders and teacher teams in more than 1,300 schools nationwide with the means to accomplish the very difficult work of turning around some of our hardest to serve schools."

When a school system applies to a state for SIG funding, it must indicate that it will implement one of four intervention models in each of its persistently lowest-achieving schools, based on school needs:
Turnaround Model: Replace the principal, screen existing school staff, and rehire no more than half the teachers; adopt a new governance structure; and improve the school through curriculum reform, professional development, extending learning time, and other strategies.
Restart Model: Convert a school or close it and re-open it as a charter school or under an education management organization.

School Closure: Close the school and send the students to higher-achieving schools in the district.
Transformation Model: Replace the principal and improve the school through comprehensive curriculum reform, professional development, extended learning time, and other strategies.