NASA Daily News Summary
For Release: May 17, 1999
Media Advisory m99-098

Summary:

-- Video File for May 17, 1999
-- Upcoming Live Interview Opportunity: Star Wars...It's Not Just 
     Science Fiction, May 18
-- Upcoming Live Event: NASA Names New Astrobiology Institute Director,   
     May 18
-- Upcoming Live Interview Opportunity: Astrobiology, May 18

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No news releases have been issued today.

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 May 17, 1999

ITEM 1 TERRIERS STUDENT SATELLITE LAUNCH
      The TERRIERS satellite, built by students at Boston University and 
scheduled for launch on May 18, could provide a much better 
understanding of how changes in the ionosphere -- the electrically 
charged region of the upper atmosphere -- affect global communication 
systems, satellites, cell phones and pagers. The Tomographic Experiment 
using Radiative Recombinative Ionospheric Extreme ultraviolet and Radio 
Sources, TERRIERS, named for the University's mascot, the Boston 
Terrier, will launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base, CA, at 1:10 a.m. 
EDT on May 18.

ITEM 1A  TERRIERS SPACECRAFT ANIMATION
     TERRIERS will investigate the complex Sun-upper atmosphere 
relationship.  Its primary goal is to understand the complex ionospheric 
structure and how solar eruptions, called Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs), 
and geomagnetic storms affect it.  The ionosphere is important  because 
it is home to virtually all satellites that make up our communication 
network - including cell phones, beepers and global positioning systems.  
Space weather also can have an adverse effect on other orbiting 
spacecraft.  Courtesy:  NASA

ITEM 1B  EXAMPLES OF TERRIERS SCIENCE OBJECTIVES
     a)  Shuttle Earth view showing the Earth's atmosphere.  This image, 
taken during STS-80, shows the thin blue line of gaseous layers that 
encompasses the Earth and makes up its atmosphere.  The ionosphere is an 
electrically charged set of layers in the atmosphere extending from 
altitudes of approximately 50 to 400 km. Courtesy:  NASA 
     b)  Coronal Mass Ejections. The Solar Heliospheric Observatory 
(SOHO), a solar-observing satellite stationed between the Earth and the 
Sun, took these images of the near-solar environment.  An occulting 
mask, seen centered in these images, blocks the sun, but allows the 
faint atmosphere surrounding the sun to be seen.  It is clear from these 
images that the solar atmosphere is highly dynamic.  Occasionally, huge 
surface eruptions (CMEs) expel large clouds of gas into the solar 
system.  Courtesy:  NASA/ESA
     c)  Halo CME Event. Occasionally, CME events are ejected toward the 
Earth.  Here, the CME, which is approaching the SOHO spacecraft, looks 
like a growing halo.  Eventually this blast of the solar atmosphere will 
pass the SOHO spacecraft and interact with the earth.  Courtesy:  
NASA/ESA
     d)  POLAR images of the Aurora Borealis. For the most part, the 
Earth's atmosphere and magnetic field shield us from the effects of 
these CMEs.  However, spacecraft located above our atmosphere can suffer 
damages from energetic particles contained within the CME events. These 
charged particles can cause a significant increase in the aurora.  Shown 
here is a view of the Aurora Borealis, which encircles the northern 
magnetic pole, as viewed from space using the POLAR satellite. Visible 
Auroral emissions are known to occur at altitudes ranging from 80 km up 
to several hundred kilometers. TERRIERS will study the Aurora and the 
effects of CME events on the Aurora by flying directly through the 
region where this light is created.  TERRIERS will have the unique 
capability of looking at all light -- from above, below, in front and 
behind the satellite -- as it travels through these regions, giving 
scientists a new tool to study auroral processes.  Courtesy:  NASA

ITEM 2C  TERRIERS PROCESSING B-ROLL
     B-roll of students and faculty from Boston University assembling 
and processing the TERRIERS spacecraft. Courtesy: Boston University

ITEM 2D  BOSTON UNIVERSITY B-ROLL 
     More than 60 Boston University undergraduate and graduate students 
have been involved in the science, theory, design, instrument 
development and testing of the TERRIERS satellite. Courtesy:  Boston 
University

ITEM 2E  EXAMPLE OF A PEGASUS LAUNCH.
     TERRIERS will launch from a Pegasus rocket. This launch footage is 
from the SeaStar satellite launched August 1, 1998.   Courtesy:  NASA

ITEM 2F INTERVIEW EXCERPTS WITH DANIEL COTTON, TERRIERS PRINCIPAL 
INVESTIGATOR, BOSTON UNIVERSITY
Courtesy:  Boston University

ITEM 2G  INTERVIEW EXCERPTS WITH ANDREW STEPHAN, TERRIERS MISSION 
SPECIALIST, BOSTON UNIVERSITY
Courtesy:  Boston University

Contact at NASA Headquarters: Don Savage, 202/358-1727;
Contact at NASA Goddard: Susan Hendrix, 301/286-7745;
Contact at Boston University: Shauna LaFauci, 617/353-2399.
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UPCOMING LIVE INTERVIEW OPPORTUNITY: STAR WARS...IT'S NOT JUST SCIENCE 
FICTION, May 18

TOPIC: The excitement around Star Wars is not limited to movie fans. 
Warp drives and intergalactic travel are science fiction in the movies, 
but they're coming closer to reality at the Marshall Space Flight Center 
in Huntsville, AL. Right now, engineers and scientists at the Marshall 
Center -- where the future is now -- are developing space transportation 
systems that could take us to galaxies far, far away. 

TALENT: Garry Lyles and George Schmidt, Advanced Space Transportation 
managers

TIME: May 18, 6 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. EDT

To book an interview, contact Connie James, 256/544-2188 or pager 
256/544-1183 (PIN 0224).

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UPCOMING LIVE EVENT: NASA NAMES NEW ASTROBIOLOGY DIRECTOR, May 18

     NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin and Ames Center Director Dr. 
Henry McDonald will introduce the new director of NASA's Astrobiology 
Institute during a live news conference on Tuesday, May 18, 1999.   
NASA's Astrobiology Institute is a virtual research institution 
comprised of eleven member institutions from across the country.  
Astrobiology is an emerging interdisciplinary field that deals with 
exciting questions about life in the universe:  its origin, evolution, 
distribution and destiny.  The press conference announcing the new 
Director will be carried live on NASA TV from 2-3:00 p.m. EDT (11:00-
12:00 PDT).  More information about Astrobiology is on the web at: 
http://astrobiology.arc.nasa.gov.

Contact at NASA Headquarters: Don Savage, 202/358-1727;
Contact at NASA Ames:  David Morse, 650/604-4724.

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UPCOMING LIVE INTERVIEW OPPORTUNITY: ASTROBIOLOGY, May 18

TOPIC: May 18 NASA will name a new director of its Astrobiology 
Institute. Astrobiology is an emerging interdisciplinary field that 
deals with exciting questions about life in the universe:  its origin, 
evolution, distribution and destiny.

TALENT: New director of NASA's Astrobiology Institute or Mr. Scott 
Hubbard, interim director of the Institute

TIME: 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. EDT (new director) or 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. EDT 
(Hubbard)

To book an interview call Laura Lewis at Ames Research Center 650/604-
2162, pager 650/317-0551, or Kathleen Burton at 650/604-1731.

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end of daily news summary