Beth Schmid
Headquarters, Washington, DC                December 8, 1997
(Phone:  202/358-1600)

RELEASE:  97-281

NASA FILLED THE CALENDAR IN 1997

     From the surface of Mars to a possible newly discovered 
ocean beneath the ices of Europa, NASA activities were in the 
news in 1997.  Background information and still images are 
available to news media to illustrate the top 10 NASA stories 
of the year, with supporting material also available via the 
Internet and the World Wide Web at the URLs listed.  The video 
to accompany these stories will be available on NASA TV in mid-
December; a video advisory will be issued at that time.

Mars Pathfinder 
     One of the most watched events of the year occurred 141 
million miles from Earth, as hundreds of millions of people 
followed the July 4 landing of NASA's Pathfinder spacecraft on 
Mars, the first landing on the Red Planet since the Viking 
missions in 1976 and the first ever to use air bags to cushion 
impact on the surface.  Shortly after Pathfinder's landing, the 
Sojourner rover began its own exploration of nearby rocks and 
other features. The images from both craft were posted to the 
Internet, where more than 500 million "hits" were recorded by 
the end of July.  

http://mpfwww.jpl.nasa.gov/default.html 


Hubble Servicing Mission -- "New" Telescope for the New 
Millennium 
     During five days of spacewalks, astronauts flawlessly 
performed major maintenance and upgrades to the orbiting Hubble 
Space Telescope, replacing older hardware with two dramatically 
improved instruments that are helping astronomers probe the 
universe in greater detail than ever before.  Also this year, 
Hubble uncovered over 1,000 bright, young star clusters 
bursting to life in a brief, intense, brilliant "fireworks 
show" at the heart of a nearby pair of colliding galaxies. The 
Hubble image of the galactic collision was printed on the front 
pages of newspapers around the world as well as on the cover of 
Newsweek magazine.  

http://oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/PR.html 

and

http://oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/sm97/


Shuttle-Mir Goes Forward
     In 1997, three U.S. astronauts -- Jerry Linenger, Michael 
Foale and now, David Wolf -- added to NASA's long duration 
record aboard Mir and to the Agency's ability to gain 
experience and knowledge unavailable elsewhere.  Despite 
problems on the Mir, NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin 
concluded that Shuttle-Mir has a thorough review process which 
warrants continued American participation in the program.  

http://shuttle-mir.nasa.gov/mir24/status/week7/goldin.html


NASA Satellites Provide Best View Yet of El Nino Weather 
Phenomena 
     Pacific Ocean sea-surface height measurements and 
atmospheric water vapor information taken from independent 
Earth-orbiting satellites, the Upper Atmosphere Research 
Satellite, the NASA Scatterometer, TOPEX/POSEIDON, and SeaWiFS 
have convinced scientists of what they had earlier postulated -
- a full-blown El Ni–o condition is established in the Pacific.  

http://nsipp.gsfc.nasa.gov/enso/


Cassini Launches to Saturn
     The international Cassini mission left Earth bound for 
Saturn on Oct. 15 atop an Air Force Titan IV-B/Centaur rocket 
in a picture-perfect launch above Cape Canaveral, FL.  With the 
European Space Agency's Huygens probe and a high-gain antenna 
provided by the Italian Space Agency, Cassini will arrive at 
Saturn July 1, 2004. 

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/cassini/


X-33 and X-34 Flight Technology Demonstrators Achieve Major 
Milestones
     In 1997, the AgencyÕs quest to reduce launch costs and 
increase access to space through its Reusable Launch Vehicle 
Program took a major leap forward.  The X-33 technology 
demonstrator, scheduled to begin flights in mid-1999, 
successfully passed its critical design review, and the X-34, 
the smaller and earlier flight demonstrator being developed in 
parallel with the X-33, successfully passed a design freeze in 
mid-year.  

http://stp.msfc.nasa.gov/


Galileo Discovers Icebergs on Europa
     Images captured during Galileo's closest flyby of Europa 
on Feb. 20 showed features of the Jovian moon, lending credence 
to the possibility of hidden, subsurface oceans. The findings 
generated new questions about the possibility of life on 
Europa. 

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo/


Uplifting Year for Aeronautics
     To ensure that NASA's work in science and technology 
sustains U.S. leadership in civil aeronautics and space and 
improves air transportation system safety, the Agency 
established technology goals, called the Three Pillars, that 
will stretch the boundaries of the knowledge and capabilities 
needed to keep the United States as the global leader in 
aeronautics and space.  

http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/aero/


SOHO Sheds New Light on Active Sun
     Scientists using the joint European Space Agency/NASA 
Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) spacecraft have 
discovered "jet streams" or "rivers" of hot, electrically 
charged plasma flowing beneath the surface of the Sun.  These 
new findings will help scientists understand the famous 11-year 
sunspot cycle and associated increases in solar activity that 
can disrupt the Earth's power and communications systems. 

http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/ 


     For the latest news and information about NASA, please 
visit TODAY@NASA at URL:

http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/NewsRoom/today.html

                              -end-