Beth Schmid
Headquarters, Washington, DC            April 1, 1997
(Phone:  202/358-1760)

Donna Drelick
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD
(Phone:  301/286-7995)

Sally Harrington
Lewis Research Center, Cleveland, OH
(Phone:  216/433-2037)

John Watson
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA
(Phone:  818/354-0474)

RELEASE:  97-61


NASA TECHNOLOGY TO BE INDUCTED INTO 
THE SPACE TECHNOLOGY HALL OF FAME


     The U.S. Space Foundation, Colorado Springs, CO, 
has selected two NASA technologies to be inducted into 
its Space Technology Hall of Fame in a ceremony to 
take place there on April 3 as part of the 
Foundation's 1997 National Space Symposium.

     NASA's Lewis Research Center, Cleveland, OH, 
along with NASA Headquarters and a number of 
contractors, conceived and produced the Advanced 
Communication Technology Satellite (ACTS), which is 
being recognized for its contributions in both space 
technology and spinoff developments.  Lewis has 
implemented a partnership program with industry, 
government and academia, in which ACTS technologies 
have demonstrated numerous applications in 
telemedicine and long-distance education, and in 
commercial fields such as the banking and petroleum 
industries.  

     In addition, ACTS' onboard switching and other 
technologies have been incorporated into the systems 
of several major telecommunications firms.  The Jet 
Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, is a significant 
partner in ACTS, having responsibility for pioneering 
its mobile uses and for studying and publishing the 
propagation effects at Ka band (30GHz/20GHz) 
frequencies.

      The Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, 
and a contractor, Scientific Imaging Technologies, 
Inc., developed new charge coupled devices (silicon 
chips that convert light directly into electronic or 
digital images) for the stringent requirements of the 
Hubble Space Telescope.  It was determined that this 
technology also would be ideal for breast cancer 
detection because of the common requirements between 
space and medical imaging:  high resolution to see 
fine details, wide dynamic range, and low light 
sensitivity to shorten exposure time.

     Commercialization of this NASA technology 
resulted in the development of the StereoGuide Breast 
Biopsy System, manufactured by the LORAD subsidiary of 
Trex Medical Corp.  Radiologists using this system 
predict it will reduce national health care costs by 
approximately one billion dollars annually.  It is a 
minimally invasive procedure that exposes the patient 
to about half the radiation of conventional X-rays.  
It saves women time, reduces pain, and eliminates 
scarring.

     NASA's Lewis Research Center and Goddard Space 
Flight Center, NASA Headquarters and the Jet 
Propulsion Laboratory and many of their employees are 
being recognized by the Space Technology Hall of Fame 
for their part in these two winning technologies.

                        -end-