Elvia Thompson
Headquarters, Washington           Nov. 8, 2002
(Phone: 202/358-1696)

Lynn Chandler
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
(Phone: 301/286-2806)

Colleen Sharkey
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
(Phone: 818/354-0372)

RELEASE : 02-217

NASA CAPTURES THREE "BEST OF WHAT'S NEW AWARDS" FROM POPULAR 
SCIENCE MAGAZINE

     NASA's unprecedented work in Space Science and Earth 
Science captured three of Popular Science's "Best of What's 
New Awards" for 2002. 

The Mars Odyssey mission, the Gravity Recovery and Climate 
Experiment (GRACE) and the Aqua spacecraft mission were 
chosen in the Aviation/Space category. Popular Science will 
feature the 100 winners, chosen in 10 categories, in its 
December 2002 issue. Popular Science annually reviews 
thousands of new products and innovations. To win, a product 
or technology must represent a significant step forward in 
its category. 

Mars Odyssey, part of NASA's Mars Exploration Program, has 
been in orbit around the red planet for just over one year. 
In May, data from the mission astounded the scientific 
world, when it pointed to the existence of enormous 
quantities of water ice just under the surface of Mars. 
Odyssey is also measuring the radiation environment in low 
Mars orbit to determine the radiation-related risk to any 
future human explorers who may visit the planet. 

"The Mars Odyssey project is pleased to be recognized by 
Popular Science," said Roger Gibbs, Mars Odyssey project 
manager. "It's an exciting time, as multiple missions are 
venturing out to unravel the mysteries of the red planet."

GRACE is eight months into its mission to precisely measure 
Earth's shifting water masses and map their affects on 
Earth's gravity field. A gravity field map, which was 
created from only 14 days of data, is proving to be 
substantially more accurate than the combined results of 
more than three decades of satellite and surface instrument 
gravity measurements collected before GRACE.

"We're very excited by the recognition of Grace as a novel 
technology for studying Earth system science," said GRACE 
Project Scientist Dr. Michael Watkins. "What makes it unique 
is the use of gravity as a new remote sensing tool. We'll 
basically be using these gravity measurements to see changes 
in the weight of the water in the ocean and the polar ice 
sheets, which has never been done before."

Aqua is the latest in a series of spacecraft dedicated to 
advancing our understanding of global climate and global 
change. A central role of Aqua, as the name implies, is to 
gather information about water in the Earth's system. Aqua 
is also gathering information about other Earth variables as 
well. This information will help scientists all over the 
world to better understand the global water cycle and better 
understand the interactions within the climate system.

"Aqua and its six Earth-observing instruments are doing 
spectacularly well, and it's a terrific extra bonus to have 
a magazine like Popular Science recognize this and award 
Aqua one of its 'Best of What's New awards,''' said Dr. 
Claire Parkinson, Aqua Project Scientist. 

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, Calif., 
manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of 
Space Science. Investigators at Arizona State University in 
Tempe, the University of Arizona in Tucson and NASA's 
Johnson Space Center, Houston, operate the science 
instruments. Additional science partners are located at the 
Russian Aviation and Space Agency and at Los Alamos National 
Laboratories, N.M. 

GRACE is a joint partnership between NASA and the German 
Aerospace Center. The University of Texas' Center for Space 
Research has overall mission responsibility. 
GeoForschungsZentrum Potsdam, Germany is responsible for the 
German mission elements. JPL manages the U.S. portion of the 
project for NASA's Office of Earth Science. Science data 
processing, distribution, archiving and product verification 
are managed under a cooperative arrangement between JPL, the 
University of Texas' Center for Space Research and the Geo-
Research Center in Germany.

Aqua is a joint project among the United States, Japan and 
Brazil. Overall management of the Aqua mission is located at 
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. 

For more information on Mars Odyssey, see:
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/odyssey/
For more information on GRACE see:
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/grace/
For more information on Aqua, see:
http://aqua.nasa.gov
For more information on the awards see:
http://www.popsci.com

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