as kristin fisher reports, one of the most important instruments on curiosity was designed at nasa's goddardceflight center in greenbelt. >> reporter: hundreds of scientists and spectators gathered at nasa goddard to watch curiosity live up to its name. >> it's really just getting our curiosity as human beings as we look at the universe and look around us. what else is out there? >> reporter: melissa treanor is just one of the goddard scientists that spent years developing the instrument at the core of curiosity's mission. >> sam is sample analysis at mars and it is basically the chemical laboratory that is on the curiosity rover. >> reporter: now the sam instrument built here at nasa goddard is one of the a man reasons curiosity is to different -- main reasons curiosity is so different from previous mars rover. spirit and opportunity could only look at the soil, but curiosity can actually dig in and take real soil samples. >> those rovers were really geologists and now curiosity is much more of a geochemist. it has the ability to scoop up the rocks, take them in and really break them down.

as kristin fisher reports, one of the most important instruments on curiosity was designed at nasa's goddardceflight center in greenbelt. >> reporter: hundreds of scientists and spectators gathered at nasa goddard to watch curiosity live up to its name. >> it's really just getting our curiosity as human beings, as we look at the universe and look around us, what else is out there? >> reporter: melissa treanor is just one of the goddard scientists that spent years developing the instrument at the core of curiosity's mission. >> sam is sample analysis at mars and if is basically the chemical -- it is basically the chemical laboratory that is on the curiosity rover. >> reporter: the sam instrument built here at nasa goddard is one of the main reasons that curiosity is so different from previous mars rovers. spirit and opportunity could only look at the soil, but curiosity can actually dig in and take real soil samples. >> spirit and opportunity, those rovers were really geologists. so now what curiosity is is much more of a geochemist. it has the ability to scoop up the robs, take them and real

we're going to go live to nasa goddard in greenbelt, maryland. lauer are is a planetary scientist. she joins us. one thing i want to ask you, the uniqueness of the landing, this has never been tried before. they had one shot to do it and it worked like a charm. tell us about that landing. >> wow, it was really spectacular. as you said the landing -- the mars science laboratory, it'sing in that's never been tried before. when we sent rovers to mars previously, they were much smaller landers so they had similar landing systems with air bags but the mars science laboratory is almost a metric ton. it's huge, like a small suv, a jiendz lander so -- giant lander so we never had to land anything that large. we had a sky crane that lowered the lander right down on to the surface. it was spectacular and worked like a charm. >> how long a mission is it planned for? >> that's a great question. i think nominally the mission is scheduled for six months or a year, two years i think nominally. it will over that time period start to climb up the central mountain peak that is in the center of the c

nasa goddard space flight center prehistoric artifacts on campus. it is more historical than first thought. the u.s. geological survey says actually two dinosaur footprints have been found. the first footprint was and includescently smaller print inside of it. it's likely that another dinosaur was leading its child, creating the overlapping prints. it's around 111 million years old. >> that is cool. you never know what you find digging. apparently the dinosaurs walked like humans do in the snow. with all the tracks that your makes in front of you. weekend we have the chance of showers. light rain tomorrow. downpours on sunday. not a total washout. [ male annououncer ] since 1996 welfare recipients were required to work. this bipartisan reform successfully reduced wellfare rolls on july 12t2th president obaa quietly ended the work requirement..... gutting welfare reform. one of the most respected wspapers in america called it, "nuts!" saying, "if you want to get more people to work, "you don't loosen the requirements -- you tighten them." mitt romney

. >>> folks at nasa goddard space station usually find curious things in the skies, not in their backyard. they recently stumbled on two dinosaur tracks on the goddard campus in green belt, maryland. geologists believe the creatures that left the footprint were large plant eater that weighed as much as a small elephant. they roamed the earth some 112 million years ago. hard to wrap your head around that. experts say one track belongs to an adult and the second track seems to be a smaller version of the same creature, possibly a young dino following its mother. isn't that just incredible what scientists can figure out. >> is that just me or did it look a little fresh? >> because there are elephants in the backyard of the goddard space center? >> 112 million years ago. >>> this years ears incoming freshman class at virginia tech includes a first for the school. a set of quadruplets. four siblings from richmond are settling in there. no campus suite for them. the three brothers and one sister will live apart for the first time in their own dorm rooms. despite the distance from home the famil

. >>> coming up at 5:45, howard will discuss the curiosity landing with researchers at nasa's goddard space flight center. we're all very curious about that and we'll be looking forward to that interview. >> very excited about this. very cool. they said maybe not till the 2020s or 2030s will be the earliest we can get man on mars. >>> good morning. thank you for watching 9news now at 5:00 a.m. i'm andrea roane. >>> we're glad you're here this morning. i'm mike hydeck. beverly farmer is in for monika. she'll have traffic. howard bernstein has the weather. >>> good morning. we have showers in spots. not too heavy. you may

john gonzalez and joins us from goddess' a center in greenbelt with details -- nasa goddard space center. >> from pasadena california to greenbelt, maryland, nasa centers are celebrating this morning after what appears to be a successful mission. this rover named curiosity landed safely this morning on mars at around 1:30 eastern time our time in maryland. after eight years and 352 million miles it has become a reality. we're getting some very cool first pictures from the red planet. it is being described as a flawless landing for the rover that weighs about a metric ton. new technology used to land this, a rocket powered backpack. this was a risky $0.5 billion mission. 7000 employees are breathing and easy. -- a risky $2.5 billion mission. >> it is a complicated mission. for everything to go off like clockwork and planned perfectly. ? >> what is the next steps nasa will now expect rover to make sure it is all working correctly. then this curiosity will spend about two years probing around the planet especially the crater which may have held water at some time. it will be checking to see

nasa's... goddard space flight center...//. dinosaur... tracker ...ray stanford ...has...ootprint... to... prove it.../. he... says... nodo--saurs... were among the most common dinosaurs in maryland. .../ eating... plants.../ and... big... as an elephant's...//. ssanford... found ...a few... of their fossils before, .../ but... never... in a location.. like this. i found it at goddard space flight center, and i love the paradox. here is space scientists, and they walk walkinggexactly where this big bungling, heavy, armored dinosaur walked, maybe a hundred and ten, a hundred and twelve million years ago. 3 nasa believes ...the footprint is real,.../ but... they're bringing in... their own expert ...to confrim it..../ in ... the future, ... they plan ...to preserve ...the priit... and make it part of... their informational tour 3 3 welcome to the late edition, i'm jeff barnd. barnd. and i'm jennifer gilbert. two young women are dead.. victims after cars from a c-s-x train jump the tracks in ellicott city. city. tonight, ... federal investigators... focus... on... a... key pi

. >> reporter: hundreds of scientists and spectators gathered at nasa goddard to watch curiosity live up to its name. >> it's really just getting our curiosity as human beings, as we look at the universe and look around us, what else is out there. >> reporter: melissa is just one of the goddard scientists that spent years developing the instrument at the core of curiosity's mission. >> sam is analysis at mars. it's basically the chemical laboratory that is on the curiosity rover. >> reporter: the sam instrument is one of the main reasons that curiosity is so different from previous mars rovers. spirit and opportunity could only look at the soil, but curiosity can actually dig in and take real soil samples. >> spirit and opportunity, those rovers were geologists. so now what curiosity is, it's much more of a geochemist. it has the ability to scoop up the rocks, take them in and break them down. >> reporter: breaking down the individual elements in the soil. to do it it takes serious sensors developed by atk, which is headquartered in arlington. >> atk was responsible for helping to dev

the director of nasa's goddard institute says there is no other feasible explanation for this kind ofden and drastic shift in overall temperatures. dr. james hansen warns about this back in 1988. now he says he was too optimistic. in a new study he reports what he called a stunning increase of the frequency of extremely hot summers. dr. hansen will appear on the show tomorrow night to give us details. but for now let's lay off the denials and start looking at this problem like grown ups. this is not a theory, not a projection not a drill. climate change is now a daily problem for more than half the country: clap >>the rich, you're going to destroy our economy." not true! if you have an opinion, you better back it up. >>eliot spitzer takes on politics. >>science and republicans do not mix. >>now it's your turn at the only online forum with a direct line to eliot spitzer. >>join the debate now. >> eliot: every four years the eyes of the nation turn to the eyes of the president. while that race captures the majority of the headlines in donations the outcome of the legislative races could

. >> reporter: i'm kristin fisher outside the nasa goddard space life center where scientists are celebratinge landing of the curiosity rover on mars. find out how some local scientists helped make it happen. >> but first helping the homeless help themselves, a local program that is helping them earn some money next in hero central. ♪ ♪ i'm thinking sweet ♪ and i'm thinking new ♪ i'm thinking all these brilliant colors ♪ ♪ shining through ♪ i'm thinking sunshine ♪ i'm thinking sunshine ♪ i'm thinking [ whistles ] ♪ i'm thinking [ whistles ] [ female announcer ] 40 delicious flavors that feel as good as they taste. yoplait, it is so good! >>> tonight in hero central giving the homeless a way to earn money, jc hayward takes us to street sense and shows us how the nonprofit is training men and women to work as newspaper verns. >> homelessness doesn't discriminate -- vendors. >> homelessness doesn't discriminate. >> reporter: nine years ago james davis was homeless and depressed after a job loss and divorce. while staying in a homeless shelter he was approached by founders of street sense and the

. >>> the folks at nasa goddard space station usually find curious things in the skies, not in their backyard. they recently stumbled on two dinosaur tracks on the goddard campus in greenbelt, maryland. geologists believe the creatures that left the footprint were large plant eaters that weighed as much as a small elephant. they roamed the earth some 112 million years ago. experts say one track belongs to an adult and the second track seems to be a smaller version of the same creature, possibly a young dino following its mother. >>> for the first time in 18 years a richmond home will be a lot quieter this fall. a set of quad drup lets are off to virginia tech. four siblinging just moved in their separate dorm room independence is the first time the school will have a quadruplet set. it's also the first time the three brothers and sister will live apart. sister kate is still hoping for weekly family time. >> we're a big catholic family, so going to church every family and maybe getting breakfast afterward is like a weekly thing, is really fun for all of us. >> they leave behind a 16-y

from one of the first scientists to call attention to the phenomenon: james hansen, head of the nasa-goddardtitute for spe sties. hansen is also a professor of earth and environmental studies at columbia university. he spoke earlier with hari sreenivasan. dr. hansen thank you for joining us. >> sure. help us in a nutshell understand your findings. >> what we show is that there is a connection to the extreme weather events that we've been seeing. the probability of these unusually hot, hot spells, fore fir and extreme droughts has increased substantially over the last few decades. we had shown in -- i had shown dice in the 1980s when i testified to congress about global warming. and i said that the frequency of unusually warm seasons was going to increase. i used one dice for typical or average climate that existed 50 years ago. there were equal chances of average climate which was represented by a whiteside of a dice or unusually warm season which was red or cool which was blue. you had equal chances of those. but what we said is by the end of the century would would have loaded dice so that

jim garvin, chief scientist, nasa goddard space center. we're excited to have you.o go. >> he has reignited my excitement about this thing. i was disappointed we didn't see green martians. >> they're going to be there for one mars year which is over 600 days, collecting data and sending it back hopefully to earth. >> it'll be exciting to work. >> that little delay, is he in area 51 in mexico? this is new york state. we built the first railway, the first trade route to the west, the greatest empires. then, some said, we lost our edge. well today, there's a new new york state. one that's working to attract businesses and create jobs. a place where innovation meets determination... and businesses lead the world. the new new york works for business. find out how it can work for yours at thenewny.com. the blissful pause just before that rich sweetness touches your lips. the delightful discovery, the mid-sweetening realization that you have the house all to yourself. well, almost. the sweet reward, making a delicious choice that's also a smart choice. splenda no-calorie s

que se ha descubierto una huella de dinosaurios en el medio del campus del centro espacial goddard de la nasatos, la huella pertenece al tipo llamado "nodo-saurio" y es muy raro encontrarlo.. usualmente huellas de este tipo se han hallando al oeste del pais y en canada, pero no en esta area...cientificos estan analizando la

being a retired scientist at nasa's goddard space center -- ph.d. scientists retired. host: here are some comments on facebook -- you can join the conversation by looking for c-span on facebook. west virginia. janet, republican caller. how are you doing? caller: i am fine, thank you. i just bring it is a drop in the bucket, the money wasted. trillions of dollars, we don't know where it went. i think it should have some itemized something to show us where all of the money went. and i think that taking away from the service, our armies and navies and what have you, breaking down and our army, we are just been brought to our knees by this administration. someone needs to check them out and see where all of this money has gone. more than all the presidents have spent. then i just think it is terrible what is going on. host: it sounds like you do like spending money on this project. caller: i think that is like a drop in the bucket with what has been lost what solyndra and all of these things and sending money overseas to drill for oil in one as well. why aren't we drilling

nasa engineers say the robotic rover landed on a nice, flat spot. one of the instruments used was built here at the goddardm joined by laurie, a planetary scientist. good morning. >> good morning. >> so this seems to be a big deal for us but why is this such a big deal to nasa and everybody else? >> this mission, the curiosity lander is a great exciting time for nasa because this lander is going to be looking for the early signs or the early markers of the precursors to life that may exist or may have been preserved on the surface of mars. >> what exactly is goddard doing on this? i know the jet propulsion laboratory in pasadena is sort of the lead agency here. goddard has done something, some of the instruments on board? >> you're absolutely right. jet propulsion laboratory built most of the rover and was responsible for the landing and management of the mission but goddard space flight center provided the sample analysis of the mars instrument package which is one of the key components of the science laboratory lander. the instrument package is one of the key ways we're going to be looking for, the early

. >> an amazing discovery at the goddard that will have the kids freaking out their toy dinosaurs and asking you to look for dinosaur tracks. >> nasa is all abuzz over its latest discovery in maryland. what was found has nothing to do with what is out there now but what was their millions of years ago. jennifer franciotti explains. >> i think it is the first dinosaur footprint for nasa in all its locations. >> they're still in wonder over the most recent discovery on the goddard space flight center's 2,400 acre campus. the right back footprint of a large armored dinosaur. >> i would call them a tank on four legs. there were very slow moving normally. they were plant-eaters. >> covered with nodes like these. this gives us a good idea of what the one ton 20 foot-long dinosaur look like. he has discovered hundreds of tracks and fossils. this footprint was found in plain sight. >> if you knew what you were looking for it was possibly a few feet from the sidewalk. >> the footprint is 9 inches long. that is because it appears he was running as fast as one of these heavy things could run. >> while the footprint is a nodesaur, this area wa

tells us how some of maryland's top scientists played a key role in nasa's successful early morning landing on mar's. 3 at the goddardlt... (noah petro-research scientist.)"yeah.. mars is a tricky place to land" euphoria is the best way to describe the astronomical mood at the visitors center. (noah petro-research scientist.)"they got through a huge hurdle."the mars science laboratory... called curiosity rover... landed on mars. "its neat to see. thats why we dropped in today"visitor murray royce remembers the landing on the moon.... but says the mars mission... is staggering. (murray royce) "to be able to see last night the landing on the mars.. was pretty amazing and i think there was a lot of people holding their breath..." scientists call it seven minutes of terror, from the time it entered mars athmosphere.. until it landed. (murray royce)"if there were 72 rockets that had to go off in order.. how many times did they practice that???" it launched last november... aad traveled nine million miles. (cool shot)"the camera is facing back to the module.. and it can watch it lift off the surface."these are the first ph

nasa's successful early morning landing on mar's. kathleen cairns joins us now space flight center plays in - this mission. kathleen... scientists at goddardelped develope the technology and equipment for the mission.. o the mood at the space flight center today is estatic. at the goddard visitors center in greenbelt... curious guests were eager to talk to researchers about this scientific milestone. researchers helped develop the science lab called the 'curiosity rover'. some scientists consider it the greatest space accomplishment since the landing on the moon. 3&(noah petro-research scientist.)"it will give us the best insight into the past history.. the climate.. the environment was like on mars.. this is our best opportunity to understand if at any point in the past..if there was a chance of life living. existing on the surface of mars" the rover has 17 cameras, and a laser that can analyze soil samples.researchers hope if will help them determine if there is, ......r ever was.. life on mars. kc fox 45 news at five thirty. stuck at the airport... the security snafu that delayed these passengers for three hours... coming up. 3 some of

nasa's delight!it's sending back pictures already. maryland scientists are playing a key role in the mars mission. at the goddard space center in greenbelt... researchers helped develop the 'curiosity rover'. scientists here are estatic about the successful landing. (noah petro-research scientist)"that was built here.. thats backyard science thats now on the surface of mars so its a great thing for maryland and all the people who work here.. to have some infinity and connection too!" too!" the mission is costing two-point-five-billion dollars. it took eight months for the rover to reach its destination on mars. "kraft" releases a special oreo... in honor of monday's successful rover landing on the red planet.the open-faced cookie is complete with red-dyed cream... and tire tracks.but unfortunately... the special oreo won't be hitting the snack aisle anytime soon.it was only featured as a part of oreo's "daily twist campaign." a surprise proposal... goes viral.and the couple involved... had no idea. idea.the pair from texas áthoughtá they were sharing a private moment... but little did they know... a man named pa

> joining us now to talk more about the mission is goddard spaceflight center planetary geologist dr. noah pecho. what does this mission mean four nasa and everyone else? >> it's a big step in the exploration of has. we're sending this 2,000-pound rover to the surface of the planet that's going to spend two years roving around the surface making detailed measurements about the compounds and it's going to really be the first detailed insights into what may have happened billions of years ago here, just a huge step forward for nasa in its exploration of mars and potentially future exploration of other places. >> let's talk about this so- called seven minutes of terror. describe what will be happening and why it's such a nail biting proposition. >> the spacecraft now as it approaches mars is going about 13,000 miles per hour. when it enters mars' atmosphere it has seven minutes to go to 0 miles per hour to land on the surface. that's the equivalent of slowing a car going 65 miles per hour and stopping in 2.1 seconds, so it's a really tight time. a lot of things have to happen precisely at the right time for it to work perfectly. >> so w

labory at nasa in padena, lifornia.e a crateralready sending back me of itsirt imageor t next two years,t wi lionrs is ssible. maryland scntists are planga key le the mars mission. at the goddard pace cent in grel.. researchs ped develope the 'curiosity rover'. scientists here are estac aut the successful early (noah petro-research scientist)hat was built here.. s backyard science thats w on t surface of so its grat thing for maryland and all the people wh work here.. to ha som infiny and concton too!" the mission icosting point-five-bon dollars. it took eighmonthr e ero reach s destat onmars. bad day for the driv of th b-m-w, which llrom a parking dk insan diego. poli sayhedriv hit gas instead of the bak. the cara tough the guard il, plummeting from he trd lel of a mall paingare. bmw hit t pked cars thy dn, forlandin its roof both the driver and passengeredway with minor injuries. d a good day for a ora teen who s surpsed by her father she earned her b be ikarate.14-aald gina evans walks out to receive her first dege blk belt.little does she know. herad..who h bn hiding inhe bathroom...s walking about 20 steps behd her.e bowsrns, and there his. r dad ha rvinin afhanian for e

nasa architect alan benstocky is in wonder over the most recent discovery at the goddard space campusosaur footprint of a large armored dinosaur called a notosaur. >> they were very heavy, probably slow moving and plant eaters, grazers. >> and covered with nodes like these, amateur dinosaur tracker ray stafford found the footprint. his toy gives us a good idea of what the dina saur would have looked like. over the years, he's discovered thousands of dino tracks and hundreds of fossils. >> amazing came up a lot this week. if you knew what you were looking for, it was a few feet from the sidewalk. >> the footprint is nine inches long because it appears he was running. >> while the footprint that ray found is a notosaur, he says at one point this area of crawling with dinosaurs. >> this was a hatching ground for numerous dinosaurs. >> nasa is convinced of ray's findings and they're bringing in a paleontologist to talk about the next step in preserving this find. >> it's endless fun. >> you could tell he was having fun with it. >> you can't go wrong with that, i mean, dina saurs. 72 degre

nasa's delight!it's sending back pictures already. maryland scientists are playing a key role in the mars mission. at the goddardin greenbelt... researchers helped develop the 'curiosity rover'. scientists here are estatic about the successful landing. (noah petro-research scientist)"that was built here.. thats backyard science thats now on the surface of mars so its a great thing for maryland and all the people who work here.. to have some infinity and connection too!" too!" the mission is costing two-point-five-billion dollars. it took eight months for the rover to reach its destination on mars. "kraft" releases a special oreo... in honor of monday's successful rover landing on the red planet. planet.the open-faced cookie is complete with red-dyed cream... and tire tracks.but unfortunately... the special oreo won't be hitting the snack aisle anytime soon.it was only featured as a part of oreo's "daily twist campaign." distracted driving... especially texting, continues to be blamed for thousands of deaths each year. but it's hard to get that point across to confident teens that can't believe the next tragedy c

. >>> nasa space scientists in maryland may have a clue to the prehistoric past right at their feet. a dinosaur tracker says he believes he found a footprint on the goddard space flight center campus. the plant eater roamed suburben washington, d.c. about 110 million years ago. >> over the 110 million years you think they'd see the footprint? hey, look, it's here. >> you've got to always know what you're looking for. >>> 18 minutes after the hour. coming up, the drought could affect food prices much worse than we thought. and your steak wk , it may be t next victim. you're watching "early start." plaque quickly starts to grow back. but new crest pro-health clinical plaque control toothpaste can help. it not only reduces plaque... it's also clinically proven... to help keep plaque from coming back. plus, it works in these other areas dentists check most. ♪ new crest pro-health clinical plaque control toothpaste. life opens up when you do. for extra plaque protection try new crest pro-health clinical rinse. the blissful pause just before that rich sweetness touches your lips. the delightful discovery, the mid-sweetening realization that you have the house