NASA Daily News Summary

For Release: March 29, 1999

Media Advisory m99-061

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Summary

-- News Release: Huge Spring Storms Rouse Uranus from Winter

Hibernation
-- News Release: Deployed Antenna Sending Streams of New
Mars Images
-- Video File for March 29
-- Upcoming Media Event: Landsat 7 Briefing

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HUGE SPRING STORMS ROUSE URANUS FROM WINTER HIBERNATION

If springtime on Earth were anything like it will be on

Uranus, we would be experiencing waves of massive storms,
each one covering the country from Kansas to New York, with
temperatures of 300 degrees below zero. A dramatic new time-
lapse movie by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope shows for the
first time seasonal changes on the planet. No one has ever
seen this view in the modern era of astronomy because of
the long year of Uranus -- more than 84 Earth years. Uranus
is now revealed as a dynamic world with the brightest clouds
in the outer Solar System and a fragile ring system that
wobbles like an unbalanced wagon wheel.

Contact at Headquarters: Donald Savage, 202/358-1727;

Contact at Goddard Space Flight Center: Nancy Neal, 301/286-
0039;
Contact at Space Telescope Science Institute: Ray Villard,
410/338-4514.

Full text of the release:

ftp://ftp.hq.nasa.gov/pub/pao/pressrel/1999/99-047.txt

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DEPLOYED ANTENNA SENDING STREAMS OF NEW MARS IMAGES

A steady stream of new data from Mars, including high-

resolution images, will begin arriving next week at Earth
receiving stations following yesterday's deployment of the
Mars Global Surveyor's high-power communications antenna.
Before the antenna was fully deployed, the spacecraft had to
stop collecting data periodically to transmit the information
back to Earth. Now that the high-gain antenna is deployed,
the spacecraft can simultaneously study Mars and communicate
with Earth. The antenna was deployed at about midnight EST,
Sunday, March 28.

Contact at Headquarters: Douglas Isbell, 202/358-1547;

Contact at Jet Propulsion Laboratory: Mary Hardin, 818/354-
0344.

Full text of the release:

ftp://ftp.hq.nasa.gov/pub/pao/pressrel/1999/99-048.txt

If NASA issues any 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

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VIDEO FILE FOR MARCH 29, 1999

ITEM 1 MARS GLOBAL SURVEYOR ANTENNA

ITEM 2 OXYGEN FOR MARS (replay)
ITEM 3 PROPULSION BY WIRE (replay)
ITEM 4 SPRINGTIME ON URANUS (replay)

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ITEM 1 Mars Global Surveyor Antenna
A steady stream of new data from Mars, including high-
resolution images, will begin arriving next week at Earth
receiving stations following yesterday's deployment of the
Mars Global Surveyor's high-power communications antenna.
Before the antenna was fully deployed, the spacecraft had to
stop collecting data periodically to transmit the information
back to Earth. Now that the high-gain antenna is deployed,
the spacecraft can simultaneously study Mars and communicate
with Earth. Video shows 1) animation of antenna deployment;
2) three recent images of Mars.
Contact at Headquarters: Douglas Isbell, 202/358-1547;
Contact at Jet Propulsion Laboratory: Mary Hardin, 818/354-
0344.

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ITEM 2 Oxygen for Mars (replay)
NASA engineers have laid the groundwork for 'living off
the land' on Mars by extracting oxygen from a simulated
Martian atmosphere. Producing oxygen using materials readily
available on Mars could reduce the amount of materials that
would need to accompany a human mission to the Red Planet.
The synthesized oxygen could be used for breathing air or as
propellant to send samples and astronauts back to Earth. This
week's experiment is an initial test of technology that will
be aboard the Mars Surveyor 2001 Lander, scheduled to launch
April 10, 2001.

Contact at NASA Headquarters: Jennifer McCarter, 202/358-

1639;
Contact at Johnson Space Center: Kelly Humphries, 281/483-
5111;
Contact at Jet Propulsion Laboratory: Mary Hardin, 818/354-
0344.

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ITEM 3 Propulsion by Wire (replay)
Imagine driving your car and never having to stop for
gas. That's what a tether, a long, thin wire, can do for a
spacecraft. In Earth orbit, a moving tether creates an electrical
current that could be used to power space vehicles. This type of
power would be completely reusable and environmentally clean, as
well as low cost compared to vehicles that must carry their own
fuel. In August 2000, NASA will sponsor the first flight
demonstration of tether propulsion as part of the Future-X
program.

Contact at Marshall Space Flight Center: June Malone,

256/544-7061.

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ITEM 4 Springtime on Uranus (replay)
If springtime on Earth were anything like it is now on
Uranus, we would have numerous massive storm systems, each
one covering the country from Kansas to New York and
temperatures plunging to 300 degrees below zero. A dramatic
new time-lapse movie by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope shows
for the first time seasonal changes on the planet. No one has
ever seen this view in the modern era of astronomy because of
the long year of Uranus -- more than 84 Earth years. Uranus
is now revealed as a dynamic world with the brightest clouds
in the outer Solar System and a fragile ring system that
wobbles like an unbalanced wagon wheel.

Contact at Headquarters: Donald Savage, 202/358-1727;

Contact at Goddard Space Flight Center: Nancy Neal, 301/286-
0039;
Contact at Space Telescope Science Institute: Ray Villard,
410/338-4514.

The NASA Video File airs at noon, 3, 6, 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
at 6.8 megahertz. The full text of the most recent NASA
Video File Advisory can be found at:

ftp://ftp.hq.nasa.gov/pub/pao/tv-advisory/nasa-tv.txt

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Upcoming Media Event: Landsat 7 Briefing

Reviewing 27 years of environmental discovery and

previewing new ways of looking at our world, NASA and the
U.S. Geological Survey will brief reporters March 31 on the
April launch of Landsat 7. Landsat 7 will gather data from
Earth's land surface and surrounding coastal regions.
Analysis of the data will provide scientists with new
information on deforestation, receding glaciers and crop
monitoring. The spacecraft is scheduled for launch on
April 15 from Vandenberg Air Force Base, CA. The briefing
will be held at 1 p.m. EST March 31 in the James E. Webb
Memorial Auditorium at NASA Headquarters, 300 E St., SW,
Washington, DC. The briefing will be carried live on NASA TV
with two-way question-and-answer capability for reporters at
NASA centers.

Contact at Headquarters: David E. Steitz, 202/358-1730;

Contact at Goddard Space Flight Center: Lynn Chandler,
301/614-5562;
Contact at U.S. Geological Survey: Catherine Watson, 703/648-
4732.

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Contract Awards

Contract awards are posted to the NASA Acquisition

Information Service Web site.:

http://procurement.nasa.gov/EPS/award.html

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end of daily news summary