NASA Daily News Summary

For Release: Nov. 29, 1999

Media Advisory m99-245

SUMMARY:

ASTRONOMERS DISCOVER SIX NEW PLANETS ORBITING NEARBY STARS

VIDEO FILE FOR NOV. 29, 1999

ITEM 1 - LOOKING BACK AT THE 1999 HURRICANE SEASON - GSFC

ITEM 2 - NASA'S Y2K PLANS - GSFC/HQ

ITEM 3 - GALILEO/IO RESOURCE REEL (file footage)

special request feed

ITEM 4 - MARS MISSIONS CLIP REEL (file footage)

LIVE TELEVISION EVENTS THIS WEEK:

November 30, Tuesday

1:00 - 2:00 pm - "Mars the Planet" Background Briefing - JPL
3:00 - 4:00 pm - Mars Polar Lander Mission Overview Briefing
- JPL

December 1, Wednesday
1:00 - 2:00 pm - Mars Polar Lander Science Overview Briefing
- JPL
3:00 - 4:00 pm - "The Search for Water, the Search for Life"
Background Briefing - JPL

Note: For complete schedule of NASA Television coverage of

upcoming launch of Space Shuttle Mission STS-103, Mars Polar
Lander mission and Terra mission, see:
http://www.nasa.gov/ntv/breaking.html

SPECIAL NOTE TO ASSIGNMENT EDITORS AND MORNING AND EVENING

PRODUCERS

MARS POLAR LANDER AND DEEP SPACE 2 ARRIVE AT MARS - LIVE SATELLITE
INTERVIEW OPPORTUNITIES

NASA's Mars Polar Lander is due to set down under rocket power on
layered, icy terrain near the south pole of Mars on Friday, Dec.
3. The first opportunity to receive a signal on Earth that
confirms the landing is expected at 12:37 p.m. PST (3:37 p.m.
EST). The two Deep Space 2 microprobes that are piggybacking on
the lander will impact the planet's surface at about the same
time.
Our talent will have up-to-the-minute information on the progress
of both missions. We will also feed B-roll animation of both
programs prior to each live cast via NASA TV.

To book an interview please call Ivelisse Gilman, at 757/864-5036

(through Nov. 30) and 757/880-2470 (from Dec.1 through Dec. 6) or
Jack Dawson at 818/354-0040. Or e-mail us at
i.gilman@larc.nasa.gov
or
Jack.B.Dawson@jpl.nasa.gov.

**Live Satellite Interviews from NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab**

Thursday, Dec. 2
1:30-6:30 p.m. PST (4:30-9:30 p.m. EST)
Broadcast on GE3-K19
Talk to David Paige, Principal Investigator for the instruments on
the Mars Polar Lander, and Rich Zurek, Mars Polar Lander Project
Scientist, about what NASA expects to find and why we go to Mars.

Friday, Dec. 3
2:00 - 7:00 am PST (5:00 - 10:00 am EST)
Broadcast on GE3-K17
On the morning of landing, share in the excitement with Carl
Pilcher, Science Director for all of NASA�s missions to explore
the Solar System, and Rich Zurek, Mars Polar Lander Project
Scientist.

Friday, Dec. 3
3:00 - 6:00 p.m. PST (6:00 - 9:00 p.m. EST)
Broadcast on GE3-K14
Find out the results of landing from NASA Administrator Dan Goldin
or Ed Weiler, NASA's Associate Administrator for Space Science.

Monday, Dec. 6
3:00 - 7:30 am PST (6:00 - 10:30 am EST)
Broadcast on GE3-K17
Hear the latest results from the weekend on Mars from Rick Zurek
and Ed Stone, Director of the Jet Propulsion Lab.

Producer�s line: 626/798-3385, backup 626/798-3950

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ASTRONOMERS DISCOVER SIX NEW PLANETS ORBITING NEARBY STARS

A team of astronomers searching the galaxy with powerful

telescopic instruments has found six new planets orbiting nearby
stars. This increases the number of planets astronomers have
discovered outside our solar system by more than 25 percent, to a
total of 28, all of which have been found within the last five
years. The six planets orbit stars that are similar in size, age,
and brightness to the sun and are at distances ranging from 65 to
192 light years from earth.
The astronomers, from the University of California, Santa Cruz and
Berkeley; Carnegie Instittuion, and Universitiy of Sussex,
England, made the discoveries using the Keck I telescope in
Hawaii, outfitted with the "HIRES" spectrometer, as part of a
long-term project supported by the National Science Foundation and
NASA to survey 500 nearby stars for orbiting planets. They will
report their findings in the Astrophysical Journal.

For more information on the planet search, see

http://cannon.sfsu.edu/~gmarcy/planetsearch/planetsearch.html

For full text, see:

ftp://ftp.hq.nasa.gov/pub/pao/pressrel/1999/99-140.txt

Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC: Donald Savage

(Phone 202/358-1547).
Contact at National Science Foundation, Arlington, VA; Amber
Jones (Phone: 703/306-1070).
Contact at University of California, Santa Cruz, CA: Tim Stephens
(Phone: 831/459-4352).

-----------------------------

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 NOV. 29, 1999

ITEM 1 - LOOKING BACK AT THE 1999 HURRICANE SEASON-------TRT 11:30

SYNOPSIS: Each year, a number of atmospheric disturbances gather

enough strength to develop into hurricanes. This year some storms
delivering more memorable punches than others. Scientists who
study hurricanes say that the number of storms this year was not
unusual, despite the trails of destruction carved by Hurricanes
Floyd, Irene, and Lenny. The following is a collection of 1999
hurricane images generated at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center,
Greenbelt, MD.

Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC: David E. Steitz

(Phone 202/358-1730).
Contact at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD: Wade
Sisler (Phone 301/286-6256).

ITEM 1a - HURRICANES BRET AND DENNIS - GOES-8 IMAGE-------TRT :59

These images of Hurricanes Bret and Dennis show the storms

churning off the coast of the southern United States between
August 20 and August 30, 1999.

Courtesy: NASA/NOAA

ITEM 1b - HURRICANE DENNIS - SeaWiFS IMAGE----------------TRT :10

This image of Hurricane Dennis shows the storm pounding the

eastern United States on Sept. 1, 1999.

Courtesy: NASA

ITEM 1c - HURRICANE DENNIS - TRMM IMAGE-------------------TRT :19

This animation shows the position of Hurricane Dennis. Red

sections of the image highlight rain rates in excess of 2 inches
per hour. The image was recorded August 27, 1999.

Courtesy: NASA/NASDA

ITEM 1d - TROPICAL STORMS EMILY & CINDY IN 3D ------------TRT :27

TRMM IMAGE

This 3D image shows the precipitation rates and the height of the
rain column in Tropical Storms Emily & Cindy. Parts of the image
colored red indicate rain rates in excess of 2 inches per hour.
Tropical Storm Cindy appears farther from shore and Tropical Storm
Emily appears closer. Images of both were captured on August 25,
1999.

Courtesy: NASA/NASDA

ITEM 1e - HURRICANE FLOYD IN 3D - GOES IMAGE--------------TRT :35

This animation shows the path of Hurricane Floyd from

Sept. 12-15, 1999.

Courtesy: NASA/NOAA

ITEM 1f - HURRICANE FLOYD - SeaWiFS IMAGE-----------------TRT :10

This image of Hurricane Floyd was captured at 12:40 p.m. on Sept.

14, 1999.

Courtesy: NASA

ITEM 1g - HURRICANE FLOYD IN 3D TRMM IMAGE----------------TRT :39

This 3D animation shows the precipitation rates and the height of

the rain column in Hurricane Floyd. Red color indicates rain
rates in excess of 2 inches per hour. TRMM collected the data for
this animation at 5:40 a.m. on Sept. 13, 1999.
Courtesy: NASA/NASDA

ITEM 1h - MID-SEPTEMBER ATLANTIC STORMS GOES-8 IMAGE------TRT :14

Full Earth view shows Hurricanes Floyd and Gert as well as a third
tropical depression in the Atlantic heading towards Bermuda.

Courtesy: NASA/NOAA

ITEM 1i - "CAT SCAN" OF HURRICANE GERT - TRMM IMAGE-------TRT :30

This 3D animation shows the precipitation rates and the height of

the rain column in Hurricane Gert. TRMM collected the data for
this animation at 4:00 a.m. on Sept. 15, 1999.

Courtesy: NASA/NASDA

ITEM 1j - HURRICANE LENNY - SeaWiFS IMAGE-----------------TRT :37

These images of Hurricane Lenny were captured with SeaWiFS on Nov.

14, 1999.

Courtesy: NASA

ITEM 1k - FIVE DAYS OF HURRICANE LENNY--------------------TRT :27

Time-lapse sequence shows the unusual west to east ziz-zag course

of Hurricane Lenny as it pounded the Caribbean with winds up to
150 mph. The images cover a period from Nov. 15-18 and were
captured by the NOAA/National Weather Service's Geostationary
Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES)-8. The video was
enhanced and rendered at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center,
Laboratory for Atmospheres.

Courtesy: NASA/NOAA

ITEM 1l - GOES SPACECRAFT ANIMATION-----------------------TRT :09

The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) is

one of a constellation of instruments positioned in fixed orbits
over North America. The GOES satellites monitor large scale
weather systems, as well as other aspects of the changing planet
beneath.

Courtesy: NASA/NOAA

ITEM 1m - SEAWIFS ANIMATION-------------------------------TRT :16

SeaWiFS is just one component of the SeaStar satellite. SeaStar

blasted into space on August 1, 1997, lifted by an extended
Pegasus rocket. SeaWiFS is considered a low cost mission, many
orders of magnitude less expensive than earlier Earth observing
instruments. One of its great assets is its full time dedication
to a single aspect of study, in this case ocean color.

Courtesy: NASA

ITEM 1n - TRMM SPACECRAFT ANIMATION-----------------------TRT :20

The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) is the first Earth

Science mission dedicated to studying tropical and subtropical
rainfall. Tropical rainfall, that which falls within 35 degrees
north and 35 degrees south of the equator, comprises more than
two-thirds of global rainfall.

Courtesy: NASA/NASDA

ITEM 2 - NASA'S Y2K PLANS - GSFC/HQ-----------------------TRT 3:01

Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC: Brian Dunbar (Phone

202/358-1600).

Item 2a - READINESS DRILL

NASA conducted an agency-wide Y2K readiness drill on Tuesday, Nov.

9, inthe NASA Y2K Communications Center at Goddard Space Flight
Center, Greenbelt, MD. The drill tested agency emergency
communications following simulated failures of NASA mission
systems and non-NASA telecommunications and power systems.
Emergency teams will be on-site at all NASA centers during the Y2K
transition.

Item 2b - INTERVIEW EXCERPTS------------------------------TRT 2:14

Lee Holcomb, Chief Information Officer, NASA

ITEM 3 - GALILEO/IO RESOURCE REEL (file footage)

ITEM 3a - FLY-BY-----------------------------------------TRT :55

NASA�s Galileo spacecraft will fly by Jupiter�s moon, Io, the most
volcanic body in our solar system, at 1:06 am EDT on Oct. 11,
1999. Galileo will swoop down to within 380 miles above Io�s
fiery surface snapping the closest-ever pictures of this body.
This animation shows the spacecraft as it flies by Io, with
Jupiter and its other moons nearby.

ITEM 3b - GALILEO CLOSE-UP ANIMATION----------------------TRT :53

This animation shows the spacecraft as it makes the pass by Io.

ITEM 3c - FLY OVER OF IO----------------------------------TRT :23

This composite image of Io was created from data collected by
Galileo on a previous orbit of Jupiter on July 2, 1999.

ITEM 3d - SIMULATED VOLCANIC ERUPTION---------------------TRT :11

The following animation shows a simulation of the eruption of

volcano Pele, one of Io�s many active volcanos. The upcoming
flyby of Io will aid NASA scientists in their study of the
volcano.

ITEM 3e - MASUBI PLUME ON IO------------------------------TRT :10

A plume of gas and particles ejected some 60 miles (100km) above

the surface of Jupiter�s volcanic moon, Io, is captured in this
image recently taken by NASA�s Galileo spacecraft.

ITEM 3f - AMIRANI-MAUI: LONGEST KNOWN ACTIVE LAVA FLOW----TRT :10

IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM

This pair of volcanic features on Jupiter�s moon, Io, represents

the longest active lava flow known to exist in our solar system.
This image was obtained by NASA�s Galileo spacecraft on July 3,
1999.

ITEM 3g - CLOSE-UP OF PROMETHEUS--------------------------TRT :10

The volcano called Prometheus, found on Io, could be called the

"Old Faithful" of the outer solar system because its volcanic
plume has been visible every time it has been observed since 1979.
This image was obtained by Galileo�s approach on July 3, 1999.

ITEM 3h - PIA 01298 - FILE IMAGE OF CALLISTO--------------TRT :10

The pock-marked moon, Callisto, is the oldest of Jupiter�s four

largest moons. This image was taken in November 1997 by the
Galileo spacecraft.

ITEM 3i - PIA 01657 - FILE IMAGE OF TINDR-----------------TRT :10

The crater Tindr, on the surface of Jupiter�s moon Callisto, was

most likely caused by an asteroid impact. This image was taken in
September 1997 by the Galileo spacecraft.

ITEM 3j - FILE IMAGES FROM THE GALILEO MISSION-----------TRT 4:47

* Animation of the atmosphere of Jupiter

* Internal structure of Ganymede
* Zoom into Ganymede
* Zoom and pan into Europa
* Simulated fight into ice rafts on Europa
ITEM 4 - MARS MISSIONS CLIP REEL (file footage)--approx. TRT 35:00

Mars missions resource reel (file footage) features various

missions, images from Hubble Space Telescope, 3-D mapping, etc.

-----------------------------

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

*****************************

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*****************************
end of daily news summary