NASA?s Quick Scatterometer (QuickScat) satellite arrived at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California in preparation for its May 29 launch. QuickScat will measure the speed an direction of winds near the surface of the world?s oceans using its specialized SeaWinds microwave radar instrument during its two-year primary mission.

The North Pole will be the site for a unique technology demonstration showing how NASA-developed technology and the Internet have made it possible for scientists to work in very remote locations and share the results with students and the public around the world. The expedition will take measurements of ozone levels, ice thickness, and snow depth.

Finding urban "hot spots" in America?s cities that can alter the local climate is one benefit to be reaped by scientists at Marshall Space Flight Center from the recent Landsat 7 launch. Another advantage is the improved monitoring of the effects from deforestation in the Central American rainforest.

Researchers have found that the variations in the energy given off from the sun effect the Earth’s wind patterns and thus the climate of the planet, according to a study published in the journal Science. The Goddard Institute for Space Studies model results agree with previous studies that an increase in solar radiation does not have the ability to cause large global temperature increases.