Donald Savage
Headquarters, Washington, DC                 February 20, 2001
(Phone: 202/358-1547)

NOTE TO EDITORS: N01-10

NEXT SPACE SCIENCE UPDATE:
TRIGGER FOUND FOR LARGEST MASS EXTINCTION

     What triggered Earth's most severe mass extinction? It was 
an event more devastating than the one that wiped out the 
dinosaurs 65 million years ago.

At a Space Science Update, now scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 22, 
scientists will present new findings that provide evidence for 
the Permian-Triassic extinction event, in which 90 percent of 
the life on Earth was wiped out 250 million years ago.

The update will be held at 2:00 p.m. EST in the James E. Webb 
Auditorium at NASA Headquarters, 300 E St. SW, Washington, DC.

The Space Science Update will be moderated by Dr. Michael 
Meyer, Astrobiology Discipline Scientist, NASA Headquarters. 
Other panelists include:
* Dr. Luann Becker, Department of Earth and Space Sciences, 
University of Washington, Seattle
* Dr. Richard Bambach, Professor Emeritus of Paleontology, 
Virginia Polytechnic Institute, Blacksburg
* Dr. Christopher Chyba, Carl Sagan Chair for the Study of Life 
in the Universe, SETI Institute, Mountain View, CA
* Dr. Robert Poreda, Associate Professor, Earth and 
Environmental Sciences, University Of Rochester, NY

The Space Science Update will be carried live on NASA 
Television with two-way question-and-answer capability for 
reporters covering the briefing from participating NASA 
centers. 

NASA TV is broadcast on satellite GE-2, transponder 9C, at 85 
degrees West longitude, vertical polarization, frequency 3880 
MHz, audio of 6.8 MHz. 

The briefing also will available on the Internet at: 
http://www.nasa.gov/ntv/ntvweb.html

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