NASA Daily News Summary For Release: April 28, 1999 Media Advisory m99-085 Summary: -- Upcoming Media Opportunity: Winning Students Take the Prize in Washington -- Video File for April 28, 1999 -- Upcoming Live Event: Magnetic Crust on Mars a Window to the Past, April 29 -- Live Interview Opportunity: "Rocket Girls" Building Highways to Space in Huntsville, AL, April 29 -- Upcoming Live Event: STS-96 Preflight Briefings, May 4 ***** UPCOMING MEDIA OPPORTUNITY: WINNING STUDENTS TAKE THE PRIZE IN WASHINGTON Forty high school students and their teachers from around the country have earned all-expense-paid trips to Washington, DC, this week for winning the NASA Student Involvement Program's academic competition. The students will present their winning projects on Saturday, May 1, at the Hotel Washington, 515 15th St. NW, Washington, DC. All events will be open to the press. From 10:15 a.m. to noon EDT and 1 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. EDT, seven regional high school winners in each of the three categories -- "Designing a Mission to Mars," "Watching Earth Change" and "Aeronautics and Space Science Journalism" -- will present their proposals. Immediately afterward, there will be an informal poster session, allowing the press to have one-on-one discussions with the students. Contact at NASA Headquarters: Beth Schmid, 202/358-1760. Full text of the release: ftp://ftp.hq.nasa.gov/pub/pao/note2edt/1999/n99-025.txt If NASA issues any news releases later today, we will e-mail summaries and Internet URLs to this list. Index of 1999 NASA News Releases: http://www.nasa.gov/releases/1999/index.html ***** Video File for April 28, 1999 ITEM 1 STS-96 CREW AT THE CAPE ITEM 2 GOES-L: FORECASTING SEVERE WEATHER AND ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE (REPLAY) (TRT 00:11:05) ITEM 2A GOES ANIMATION ITEM 2B "LAUNCH AND PARK" SPACECRAFT ANIMATION ITEM 2C GOES HURRICANE VIEWS ITEM 2D GOES SEES ECLIPSE ITEM 1E GOES 7 IN CLEANROOM AT KSC ITEM 1F B-ROLL NOAA GOES OPERATIONS AREA ITEM 1G INTERVIEW: GERALD J. DITTBERNER, PROGRAM MANAGER FOR NOAA'S GOES PROGRAM ITEM 3 ROBOTIC COMPETITION (REPLAY) (TRT 00:05:03) ***** ITEM 1 STS-96 CREW AT THE CAPE The crew of Space Shuttle mission STS-96 arrived at Kennedy Space Center, FL, this week for the Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test. The Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test is held at Kennedy prior to each Space Shuttle flight, providing the crew of each mission an opportunity to participate in simulated countdown activities. Contact at NASA Kennedy: Joel Wells, 407/867-2468. ITEM 2 GOES-L: FORECASTING SEVERE WEATHER AND ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE (REPLAY) The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) program is a cooperative effort between NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). GOES- L is one of a series of advanced U.S. meteorological satellites, which will monitor hurricanes, tornadoes, flash floods and other severe weather. GOES-L, scheduled for launch May 15, 1999, will be renamed NOAA GOES-11 once reaching geostationary orbit. ITEM 2A GOES ANIMATION Once in orbit the GOES satellite will be put in standby mode to provide continuous service when it is needed to replace either the GOES-8 or GOES-10 satellites. Animation shows relative positions of GOES-8 and GOES-10, as well as current ground-based radar and satellite weather coverage of the United States. Courtesy NASA/NOAA ITEM 2B "LAUNCH AND PARK" SPACECRAFT ANIMATION Animation depicts the launch and parking orbit of the GOES-L spacecraft and its relative position to the current GOES-8 and GOES-10 spacecraft. Courtesy NASA/NOAA ITEM 2C GOES HURRICANE VIEWS Video shows Hurricane Mitch as it approached the Mexican coastline. GOES-8 took the images Oct. 26-27, 1998. Second cut shows Hurricane Georges as it moved through the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico. GOES-8 collected the images Sept. 21- 29, 1998. NASA Goddard's Laboratory for Atmospheres enhanced and rendered the images. Courtesy: NASA/NOAA ITEM 2D GOES SEES ECLIPSE GOES-10 imagery animation from the Feb 26, 1998, reveals solar eclipse showing moon's shadow as it crosses the Earth. Courtesy: NASA/NOAA ITEM 2E GOES 7 IN CLEANROOM AT KSC Footage shows GOES-7 being processed and prepared for launch in the cleanroom at the Kennedy Space Center, FL. Courtesy: NASA ITEM 2F B-ROLL NOAA GOES OPERATIONS AREA B-roll of researchers at computers working with GOES data at the GOES Operations Center in Silver Spring, MD. Courtesy: NASA ITEM 2G INTERVIEW: GERALD J. DITTBERNER, PROGRAM MANAGER FOR NOAA'S GOES PROGRAM Contact at NASA Goddard: Cynthia O'Carroll, 301/614-5563 ITEM 3 1999 ROBOTICS COMPETITION (REPLAY) Footage shows 1999 First Robotics Competition National Championship held at Epcot Center, Walt Disney World, FL, April 22 to April 24, 1999. NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin attended the event and received the Founders' Award. Contact at NASA Kennedy: Bill Johnson, 407/867-7819. ***** UPCOMING LIVE EVENT: MAGNETIC CRUST ON MARS A WINDOW TO THE PAST, APRIL 29 Surprising magnetic features on the Martian surface that suggest striking similarities between Earth and ancient Mars will be presented at NASA's next "Space Science Update" on Thursday, April 29. The program will be held at 2 p.m. EDT in the James E. Webb Auditorium at NASA Headquarters, 300 E St. SW, Washington, DC. News coverage of this story is embargoed until 3 p.m. on April 29. The briefing will be carried live on NASA Television with two-way question and answer capability available for news media at NASA centers. Contact at NASA Headquarters: Douglas Isbell, 202/358-1547; Contact at NASA Goddard: Bill Steigerwald, 301/286-5017; Contact at NASA Jet Propulsion Lab: Mary Hardin, 818/354-5011. ***** LIVE INTERVIEW OPPORTUNITY: "Rocket Girls" Building Highways to Space in Huntsville, AL, April 29 Topic: By now we've all heard of the "Rocket Boys," thanks to Homer Hickam, who chose that title for his best-selling autobiography, and "October Sky," the movie based on Hickam's book. Things are different now. Itıs not just boys who build highways to space. Today at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center "rocket girls" lead the work on the next generation of space transportation. Now, you have the opportunity to talk with one or two "rocket girls" and learn about their exciting work. Talent: Sherry Buschmann, Advanced Space Transportation Program; Leslie Curtis, Space Transportation Technologies; Susan Turner, X-37 Project Manager. Time: April 29, 6 a.m.-9 a.m. EDT To schedule an interview, call contact: Connie James, Marshall Space Flight Center, 256/544-2188 or pager 256/544- 1183 (PIN 0224). ***** UPCOMING LIVE EVENT: STS-96 PREFLIGHT BRIEFINGS , May 4 NASA will brief reporters next week on upcoming Space Shuttle mission STS-96, which will bring visitors and supplies to the International Space Station. The briefings will begin at 9 a.m. EDT on Tuesday, May 4, at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, and will be carried live on NASA TV. Contact at NASA Headquarters: Dwayne Brown, 202/358-1726; Contact at NASA Johnson: Eileen Hawley, 281/483-5111; *********************************************************** The NASA Video File airs at noon, 3 p.m., 6 p.m., 9 p.m. and midnight Eastern Time. NASA Television is available on GE-2, transponder 9C at 85 degrees West longitude, with vertical polarization. Frequency is on 3880.0 megahertz, with audio on 6.8 megahertz. Refer general questions about the video file to NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC: Ray Castillo, 202/358-4555, or Pam Poe, 202/358-0373. During Space Shuttle missions, the full NASA TV schedule will continue to be posted at: http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/nasatv/schedule.html For general information about NASA TV see: http://www.nasa.gov/ntv/ ***** Contract Awards Contract awards are posted to the NASA Acquisition Information Service Web site: http://procurement.nasa.gov/EPS/award.html ***** The NASA Daily News Summary is issued each business day at approximately 2 p.m. Eastern time. Members of the media who wish to subscribe or unsubscribe from this list, please send e-mail message to: Brian.Dunbar@hq.nasa.gov ***** end of daily news summary