NASA Daily News Summary For Release: Oct. 4, 1999 Media Advisory m99-204 Summary: No news releases today. Video File for Oct. 4, 1999 ITEM 1 - MARS METEORITE OR MARS ROCK? ITEM 2 - HIGH-RESOLUTION IMAGES SHOW NO EVIDENCE OF ANCIENT OCEANS ON MARS (replay) ITEM 3 - SPACE SHUTTLE WIRING (replay) ******** If NASA issues additional 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 Oct. 4, 1999 ITEM 1 - MARS METEORITE OR MARS ROCK? TRT 3:47 Martian meteorite carbonates--3.9 billion years old. A new study of the carbonite minerals found in a meteorite from Mars shows they were formed about 3.9 billion years ago. Scientists believe the planet had flowing surface water and warmer temperatures then, making it more Earth-like. The carbonates themselves are tiny deposits--reddish globules, some with purplish centers and many surrounded by white borders. Researchers at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX, and the University of Texas at Austin did the study using different techniques. Contact at NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX: John Ira Petty 281/483-5111. ITEM 2 - HIGH-RESOLUTION IMAGES SHOW NO EVIDENCE OF TRT :15 ANCIENT OCEANS ON MARS Scientists studying high-resolution images from NASA's Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft have concluded there is no evidence of shorelines that might have surrounded proposed ancient oceans on Mars, as suggested by some images from the Viking missions of the 1970s. This Mars Orbiter Camera image of one proposed shoreline, between the rough Lycus Sulci uplands (lower half) and the flat Amazonis plains (upper half) shows that the contact zone between the two is clearly not a wave-cut cliff, and that there are no features that can be unambiguously identified as coastal landforms. Credit: NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC: Doug Isbell 202/358-1753. Contact at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA: Mary Hardin 818/354-5011. ITEM 3 - SPACE SHUTTLE WIRING A short during liftoff of Space Shuttle Columbia in July was traced to a wire in the payload bay with damaged insulation. As a result of that problem, NASA decided to inspect much of the wiring in all four of the space shuttles and make repairs as required. Technicians at the Kennedy Space Center, FL, are currently inspecting Space Shuttles Discovery, Endeavour and Atlantis. Columbia will be inspected at Palmdale, CA, where it is undergoing its previously scheduled Orbiter Maintenance Down Period. Technicians are visually examining the wires and using their hands to check for damaged insulation. As a preventative measure, they also are installing flexible plastic tubing over some wiring, smoothing and coating rough edges in the proximity of wiring, and installing other protective shielding where needed. The next Shuttle mission, the STS-103, Hubble Space Telescope Servicing Mission, is currently scheduled for no earlier than Nov. 19, 1999. Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC: Kirsten Williams 202/358-0243. ITEM 3a - B-ROLL TRT 3:42 Shows technicians inside the Shuttle Bay inspecting wiring, including using magnifying glasses. ITEM 3b - INTERVIEW TRT 1:28 William F. Readdy, Deputy Associate Administrator for Space Flight, NASA Headquarters ********** Unless otherwise noted, ALL TIMES ARE EASTERN. ANY CHANGES TO THE LINE-UP WILL APPEAR ON THE NASA VIDEO FILE ADVISORY ON THE WEB AT ftp://ftp.hq.nasa.gov/pub/pao/tv-advisory/nasa-tv.txt WE UPDATE THE ADVISORY THROUGHOUT THE DAY. The NASA Video File normally 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 Elvia Thompson, 202/358-1696, elvia.thompson@hq.nasa.gov 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