David E. Steitz
Headquarters, Washington, DC                    February 8, 1999
(Phone:  202/358-1730)

Allen Kenitzer
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD
(Phone:  301/286-2806)

Harvey Leifert
American Geophysical Union, Washington, DC
(Phone:  202/939-3212)

RELEASE:  99-16

STUDENT NAMES NASA EARTH OBSERVING 
SATELLITE; NASA SETS LAUNCH DATE

     In a student contest to name the first in its series of Earth 
Observing System satellites, NASA chose 'Terra' -- in honor of our 
planet's mythical Mother Earth -- as the winning name.  The Terra 
spacecraft will enable scientists to study, with unprecedented 
clarity, global climatic and environmental changes going into the 
new millennium.

     In setting a launch date of July 15, 1999, for the spacecraft 
formerly known as 
"EOS AM-1," NASA's Associate Administrator for Earth Sciences, Dr. 
Ghassem Asrar, announced the new name after reviewing the top ten 
finalist essays from a contest jointly sponsored by NASA and the 
American Geophysical Union (AGU).  

     "The concept of 'Terra' uniquely conveys the themes and 
objectives of this important Earth science mission," Asrar said.  
"I congratulate Ms. Sasha Jones, a student in St. Louis, MO, for 
submitting the winning name and essay."  Sasha's school will 
receive a computer and software that will enable students and 
teachers there to access Terra satellite imagery on the World Wide 
Web.

     Informed that she had won the grand prize, Sasha, 17, said, 
"That's cool; I never won anything in my life."  A senior at 
Brentwood High School in St. Louis, she plans to attend Western 
University and major in English.  Her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Barry 
Jones, will accompany Sasha to Terra's launch, and she hopes her 
brother Brandon, 15, and sister Kristine, 12, can make the trip 
too.

     In all, the international contest drew more than 1,100 
entries from all 50 states and more than a dozen other countries.  
Members of the selection committee included top NASA and AGU 
officials, as well as Earth scientists and science teachers.

     Terra is the flagship of NASA's Earth Observing System, a 
series of satellites designed to observe the Earth from the unique 
vantage point of space.  Focused on key measurements identified by 
a consensus of U.S. and international scientists, Terra will 
enable new research into the ways that our planet's lands, oceans, 
air, ice and life interact as a whole climate system.  

     Terra is managed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, 
Greenbelt, MD, for NASA's Office of Earth Science enterprise, 
Washington, DC.  The AGU is an international organization of more 
than 35,000 scientists dedicated to advancing the understanding of 
Earth and its environment in space, and making the results of 
their research available to the public.

                          - end -

EDITORS NOTE:  Further information, images and background 
materials, as well as the winning contest essay and those of the 
other top ten finalists, may be found on NASA's Terra Web site, at 
URL:    http://terra.nasa.gov

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