The FINANCIAL -- NASA-selected student teams will test their science experiments in the 2.2-second drop tower at NASA's Glenn Research Center in Cleveland from March 15-20.

The FINANCIAL -- On Feb. 29, NASA successfully conducted another drop test of the Orion crew vehicle's entry, descent and landing parachutes high above the Arizona desert in preparation for the vehicle's orbital flight test in 2014.

The FINANCIAL -- Drastic reductions in Arctic sea ice in the last decade may be intensifying the chemical release of bromine into the atmosphere, resulting in ground-level ozone depletion and the deposit of toxic mercury in the Arctic, according to a new NASA-led study.

The FINANCIAL -- The heads of the International Space Station agencies from Canada, Europe, Japan, Russia and the United States met in Quebec City, Canada, on March 1, 2012, to review the scientific, technological, and social benefits being produced through their collaboration, and to discuss plans for further broadening these benefits by continuing to advance the human exploration of space.

The FINANCIAL -- Syrian government forces have cut off communications to a rebel-held district in Homs, activists have said, jamming satellite phone signals as they mass for an apparent ground assault.