NASA Daily News Summary
For Release: Nov. 10, 1999
Media Advisory m99-234

SUMMARY:

MARS CLIMATE ORBITER FAILURE BOARD RELEASES REPORT,
NUMEROUS NASA ACTIONS UNDERWAY IN RESPONSE

Video File for Nov. 10, 1999

ITEM 1 - PRECISION FARMING 
ITEM 2 - MARS CLIMATE ORBITER ANIMATION - HQ (replay)
ITEM 3 - STS-103 - THIRD HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE
                   SERVICING MISSION (replay) 
ITEM 4 - HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE IMAGE OF THE TRIFID (replay)
ITEM 5 - HAWAIIAN-STYLE VOLCANIC FEATURES ON JOVIAN MOON, IO 
         (replay)

LIVE TELEVISION EVENTS THIS WEEK:

NOVEMBER 10, WEDNESDAY
6:00 - 10:00 am - Precision Farming Live News Interviews - MSFC
2:00 - 3:00 pm - Mars Climate Orbiter Failure Investigation Board 
                 Briefing - HQ

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

MARS CLIMATE ORBITER FAILURE BOARD RELEASES REPORT,
NUMEROUS NASA ACTIONS UNDERWAY IN RESPONSE

     Wide-ranging managerial and technical actions are underway at 
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, in response to the 
loss of the Mars Climate Orbiter and the initial findings of the 
mission failure investigation board, whose first report was 
released today.

     Focused on the upcoming landing of NASA's Mars Polar Lander, 
these actions include:  a newly assigned senior management leader, 
freshly reviewed and augmented work plans, detailed fault tree 
analyses for pending mission events, daily telecons to evaluate 
technical progress and plan work yet to be done, increased 
availability of the Deep Space Network for communications with the 
spacecraft, and independent peer review of all operational and 
contingency procedures.

     The board recognizes that mistakes occur on spacecraft 
projects, the report said.  However, sufficient processes are 
usually in place on projects to catch these mistakes before they 
become critical to mission success.  Unfortunately for MCO, the 
root cause was not caught by the processes in place in the MCO 
project.

Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC:  Doug Isbell/Don 
Savage (Phone 202/358-1547).

     The Board's report is available on-line at:
ftp://ftp.hq.nasa.gov/pub/pao/reports/1999/MCO_report.pdf

     Charts used in the briefing today are available on-line at:
ftp://ftp.hq.nasa.gov/pub/pao/reports/1999/MCO_charts.pdf

For full text, see:
ftp://ftp.hq.nasa.gov/pub/pao/pressrel/1999/99-134.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

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

Video File for Nov. 10, 1999

ITEM 1 - PRECISION FARMING 

Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC:  David E. Steitz 
(Phone 202/358-1730).
Contact at Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL:  Steve 
Roy (Phone 205/544-0034).

ITEM 1a - NASA HELPS NEW APPROACH TO FARMING---------------TRT :18

NASAs remote sensing technology may help farmers improve crop 
management and improve their harvest. The end result could cut 
costs and improve productivity. 

ITEM 1b- B-ROLL-------------------------------------------TRT 3:23

Footage shows a NASA airplane taking off and landing. It shows 
precision farming technology at use in the field.  A farmer shows 
us the databox in his tractor.  We also see soybeans transferred 
from the combine into a truck and a close-up of a soybean.  Other 
footage includes the farmers office showing his farming software.

ITEM 1c - INTERVIEW EXCERPTS------------------------------TRT 1:18

Doug Rickman, Lead Researcher, Global Hydrology and Climate 
Center, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL

Item 1d - Interview excerpts-------------------------------TRT :58

Don Glenn, Farmer, Glenn Acres Farm, Decatur, AL

ITEM 2 - MARS CLIMATE ORBITER ANIMATION (replay)----------TRT 3:23

Animation shows launch, rocket separation, establishment of orbit, 
and mapping of mars.

Contact at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA:  Diane 
Ainsworth (Phone 818/354-5011).
Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC:  Doug Isbell (Phone 
202/358-1753).

ITEM 3 - STS-103 - THIRD HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE
                   SERVICING MISSION (replay) 

NASA officials decided to move up part of the servicing mission 
that had been scheduled for June 2000 after three of the 
telescope's six gyroscopes failed.  Having fewer than three 
working gyroscopes would preclude science observations, although 
the telescope would remain safely in orbit until a servicing crew 
arrived.  In addition to replacing all six gyroscopes on the 
November flight, the crew will replace a guidance sensor and the 
spacecraft's computer.  The new computer will reduce the burden of 
flight software maintenance and significantly lower costs.  A 
voltage/temperature kit will be installed to protect spacecraft 
batteries from overcharging and overheating when the spacecraft 
goes into safe mode.  A new transmitter will replace a failed 
spare currently aboard the spacecraft, and a spare missions will 
replace telescope insulation that has degraded.  The insulation is 
necessary to control the internal temperature on spacecraft. 

Contact at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD:  Nancy 
Neal (Phone 301/286-0039).
Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC:  Donald Savage 
(Phone 202/358-1547).

ITEM 3a - HIGHLIGHTS OF THE FIRST TWO HUBBLE SPACE--------TRT 2:07
          TELESCOPE SERVICING MISSIONS, STS-61 AND STS-82

HST First Servicing Mission Highlights - In June, 1990 scientists 
and engineers discovered that the HST's primary mirror was flawed.    
Images of starlight were spread out in a fuzzy halo rather than 
being focused into a sharp point.  This defect was caused by a 
manufacturing error in the polishing of the primary mirror which 
rendered it too flat.  The HST was designed to allow new 
instruments to be easily installed as old ones become obsolete.  
This was demonstrated during the first servicing mission in 
December 1993, when, during an 11-day mission that included a 
record five EVAs, astronauts successfully installed a new camera 
called the Wide Field/Planetary Camera II (WF/PC-II) which had its 
corrective optics built right in, and a special instrument, called 
the COSTAR (Corrective Optics Space Telescope Axial Replacement) 
that would properly refocus light from the flawed main mirror to 
the other instruments. 

HST Second Servicing Mission Highlights - Every few years, the 
telescope is visited by a Space Shuttle to allow astronauts to 
switch old instruments for new.  During HST's second servicing 
mission, in February 1997, the seven-member crew conducted 
spacewalks to remove two older instruments and install two new 
astronomy instruments, as well as other servicing tasks.  The two 
older instruments that were replaced were the Goddard High 
Resolution Spectrometer and the Faint Object Spectrograph.  
Replacing these instruments were the Space Telescope Imaging 
Spectrograph (STIS) and the Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object 
Spectrometer (NICMOS). 

ITEM 3b - ANIMATION OF STS-103, THIRD HST SERVICING-------TRT 8:48
          MISISON

Sequences show how description of spacecraft components, arrival 
and departure of Space Shuttle, and how astronauts will accomplish 
servicing work during several EVAs (extravehicular activity). 

ITEM 3c - GYROSCOPE ANIMATION-----------------------------TRT 1:01

Astronauts will replace all six of the Telescope's gyroscopes 
during STS-103.  Currently three of Hubble's six gyros are not 
working, leaving only the minimum number needed to continue its 
mission.  The gyroscopes are needed for pointing the telescope. 
The pointing system is comprised of reaction wheels that actually 
move the telescope, gyros that report its position, star trackers 
that provide reference points, and the onboard computer that 
controls the pointing process.  Based on nearly one and a half 
years of intensive chemical, mechanical and electrical 
investigations, the HST team believes that the thin wires are 
being corroded by the fluid in which they are immersed and 
ultimately this corrosion causes them to break.

ITEM 3d - THERMAL BLANKET LAYER ANIMATION------------------TRT :33

During the mission astronauts will cover Hubble's electronic bay 
doors with seven permanent coated-stainless steel foil sheets 
called the New Outer Blanket Layer (NOBL).  The crew will also 
carry seven rolls of special fabric, called the Shell/Shield 
Replacement Fabric (SSRF) which will be installed on Hubble's 
forward shell and light shield if time is available.  The NOBL 
covers and SSRF pieces are designed to protect Hubble's external 
blankets and prevent its insulation from further degradation.  
Animation shows how these "thermal blankets" are replaced.  
Blankets are attached with "bottle-stopper" fasteners and then are 
unrolled like "wallpaper".  This multi-layer insulation protects 
the Telescope from the severe and rapid temperature changes as it 
moves through its 90-minute orbit from very hot sun to very cold 
night.

ITEM 3e - TECHNICIANS "QUILT" SSRF B-ROLL------------------TRT :56

B-roll of technicians at the Goddard Space Flight Center 
"quilting" the Shell/Shield Replacement Fabric (SSRF).  The fabric 
pieces are stored in rolls for their trip to orbit.  The fabric is 
composed of flexible, aluminized Teflon with rip-stop material 
bonded to the back side.  Seven pieces up to 22 feet (7 meters) 
long will cover 80 percent of the sun-side light shield and 
forward shell.  This special fabric was designed and tested to 
ensure that it can withstand exposure to charged particles, X-
rays, ultraviolet radiation, and thermal cycling for at least ten 
years.

ITEM 3f - STS-103 CLEANROOM B-ROLL------------------------TRT 2:12

Astronauts training for the Hubble Space Telescope Third Servicing 
Mission in the cleanroom at the Goddard Space Flight Center.  
Footage includes astronauts working with gyroscopes and applying 
thermal blankets to a full-sized mock-up of the Hubble Space 
Telescope.  The seven-member crew will rendezvous with the 
Telescope, capture it with the Space Shuttle Discovery's robotic 
arm and dock it in the Shuttle bay.  Working in teams of two, four 
astronauts will outfit the Hubble with new equipment, including 
six gyroscopes, a Fine Guidance Sensor, Solid State Recorder, new 
Main Computer, New Outer Blanket Layers (NOBL), and a transmitter.  
The astronauts will take more than 150 crew aids and tools on this 
service call.

ITEM 3g - ACTIVITY IN STOCC---------------------------------TRT:26

Activity in Space Telescope Operations Control Center (STOCC) at 
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, during the 
mission.  Working 24 hours a day, ground controllers command and 
control the Hubble Space Telescope.  Commands are sent to the 
Telescope to direct the observation of astronomical targets all 
across the sky.  Hubble operators monitor the Telescope's health 
and safety while they control flight operations and science 
activities.

ITEM 3h - HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE ANIMATION------------------TRT:22
           (5 glamour shot sequences)  

ITEM 3i - THE ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM (animation)----------TRT:15

Animations of the electromagnetic spectrum, the communication 
path, and the Hubble Telescope.  

ITEM 3j - HUBBLE TRACKING/SATELLITE RELAY ANIMATIONS

Cut 1:  Animation of HST Communication----------------------TRT 17

Communications through the Tracking & Data Relay Satellite System 
(TDRSS), White Sands, NM, and DOMSAT, to the Goddard Space Flight 
Center (GSFC).

Cut 2:  TDRSS Animation-------------------------------------TRT:22

Animation of the Tracking & Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS) 
Communications Satellite depicting the data flow from TDRSS to 
Earth, equivalent to a set of encyclopedias every second.  

ITEM 3k - INTERVIEW EXCERPTS------------------------------TRT 2:02

Dr. David Leckrone, Sr. Project Sicentst Hubble Space Telescope

ITEM 3l - INTERVIEW EXCERPTS------------------------------TRT 3:38

Dr. John Campbell, Associate Director, Hubble Space Telescope

ITEM 4 - HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE IMAGE-(replay)-------------TRT :23
         OF STAR FORMATION IN THE TRIFID NEBULA

This NASA Hubble Telescope image of the Trifid Nebula reveals a 
stellar nursery being torn apart by radiation from a nearby, 
massive star.  It also provides a peek at embryonic stars forming 
within an ill-fated cloud of dust and gas.  Sequence opens on 
ground-based image of the Trifid Nebula and then zooms in to the 
remarkable images captured by Hubble..

Images and other information available at 
http://hubble.gsfc.nasa.gov/

Credits: NASA and Jeff Hester (Arizona State University), Paul 
Scowen (Arizona State University), Karl Stapelfeldt (Jet 
Propulsion Laboratory), John Krist (STScI) and the HST WFPC2 
Investigation Definition Team

Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC:  Donald Savage 
(Phone 202/358-1547).
Contact at Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD:  Ray 
Villard (Phone 410/338-4707).

ITEM 5 - HAWAIIAN-STYLE VOLCANIC FEATURES ON JOVIAN MOON, IO 
         (replay)

For digital images and more information see: 
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo/

Contact at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA:  Jane 
Platt (Phone 818/354-0880).
Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC:  Doug Isbell (Phone 
202/358-1753)

ITEM 5a - TWO HOT SPOTS AND A CALDERA                      TRT :39

New images of the Prometheus volcano on Jupiter's moon, Io, reveal 
two hot spots and a volcanic caldera, or crater, seven times 
larger than Hawaii's Kilauea caldera.  Scientists previously 
believed Prometheus was a single lava flow, but the caldera 
discovery makes them rethink the volcano's history.  The visible 
light and infrared images were taken during a close flyby of Io on 
October 10 by NASA's Galileo spacecraft.

ITEM 5b - ACTIVE VOLCANO                                   TRT :10

The active volcano Prometheus on Jupiter's moon Io was imaged by 
the near-infrared mapping spectrometer instrument onboard NASA's 
Galileo spacecraft during the close flyby of Io on Oct. 10, 1999.  
The images were taken at a distance of about 9,400 miles (15,000 
km).

----------

Unless otherwise noted, ALL TIMES ARE EASTERN.

ANY CHANGES TO THE LINE-UP WILL APPEAR ON THE NASA VIDEO FILE 
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WE UPDATE THE ADVISORY THROUGHOUT THE DAY.

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end of daily news summary