NASA Daily News Summary
For Release: Dec. 21, 1999
Media Advisory m99-262


SUMMARY:

No News Releases Today.

Video:

NOTE: DUE TO STS-103 MISSION COVERAGE, THE VIDEO FILE TODAY WILL
RUN AT NOON ONLY.


ALL TIMES EASTERN

Video File for Dec. 21, 1999


ITEM 1 - ACRIMSAT LAUNCH - HQ

ITEM 2 - LA NINA CONDITIONS UPDATE - GSFC

ITEM 3 - DAZZLING LAVA FOUNTAIN ON IO SEEN BY GALILEO - JPL
         (replay)

ITEM 4 - FUTURE FLIGHT CENTRAL - ARC (replay)


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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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ITEM 1 - ACRIMSAT LAUNCH - HQ

ACRIMSAT, the latest in a series of long-term solar monitoring
missions, was launched into a Sun-synchronous orbit (altitude of
approximately 429 miles) aboard a Taurus rocket from Vandenberg
Air Force Base, CA, on Dec. 20 at 11:30 p.m., Pacific Time.  It
will measure Total Solar Irradiance (TSI) during its five-year
mission life.  The instrument, third in a series of long-term
solar-monitoring tools built for NASA by the Jet Propulsion
Laboratory, will continue to extend the database first created by
ACRIM I, which was launched in 1980 on the Solar Maximum Mission
(SMM) spacecraft.  ACRIM II followed on the Upper Atmosphere
Research Satellite (UARS) in 1991.  The Active Cavity Radiometer
Irradiance Monitor (ACRIM) I instrument was the first to clearly
demonstrate that the total radiant energy from the sun was not a
constant.



ITEM 2 - LA NINA CONDITIONS UPDATE - GSFC

La Nina Conditions Persist: 18 Months and Counting

Contact at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD:
Deanna Corridon (Phone 301/286-0041).
Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC:  David E. Steitz
(Phone 202/358-1730).

http://nsipp.gsfc.nasa.gov/enso/nina/


Synopsis:  New satellite images and ocean buoy measurements show
that the colder-than-normal ocean temperatures associated with La
Nina have intensified.  The current La Nina spans most of the
equatorial Pacific with the coolest surface temperatures about 4
degrees Fahrenheit colder than the climatological average.
Researchers are just beginning to understand how La Nina can
influence world weather patterns.


ITEM 2a - LA NINA CONDITIONS AS SEEN BY TOPEX

This data sequence traces the evolution and demise of warm El Nino
conditions in 1997 and early 1998.  The cooler waters associated
with La Nina began to emerge in the spring of 1998, peaked in the
winter of 1998, and became much less organized in the spring of
1999.  During the past four months, the cool La Nina waters have
resurfaced and intensified.   Sea height data is from NASA's
TOPEX/Poseidon radar altimeter.  Blue colors indicate lower-than-
normal sea heights (and temperatures). Red indicates higher-than-
normal sea heights (and temperatures).


ITEM 2b - SEA SURFACE TEMPERATURES

This data sequence traces the evolution and demise of warm El Nino
conditions in 1997 and early 1998.  The cooler waters associated
with La Nina began to emerge in the spring of 1998, peaked in the
winter of 1998, and became much less organized in the spring of
1999.  During the past four months, the cool La Nina waters have
resurfaced and intensified.  Sea temperature data is from NOAA's
Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR).  Blue colors
indicate lower-than-normal sea temperatures and red indicates
warmer-than-normal sea temperatures.


ITEM 2c - A 3-D LA NINA

Scientists combine sea height data from NASA's TOPEX/Poseidon with
sea surface temperature data from NOAA's AVHRR to better
understand the correlation between sea height and temperature.
The cool waters of La Nina (shown in blue) can be seen as a
depressed region along the equatorial Pacific.  La Nina replaced
warm El Nino waters in June of 1998 that have persisted through
1999.


ITEM 2d - 3-D LA NINA - ADD THE WINDS

Scientists add wind data (black arrows) to the sea surface
temperatures and sea surface height to understand the complex
interaction between the ocean and atmosphere.  The arrows indicate
stronger-than-normal wind patterns.  Note that winds tend to
converge on the equatorial Pacific during El Nino while diverging
from the equator during La Nina.


ITEM 2e - THE WINDS OF LA NINA

Stronger-than-normal low-level equatorial winds have helped bring
the cooler-than-normal waters to the ocean surface.


ITEM 2f - LA NINA RESURFACES - SATELLITE / BUOY COMPOSITE

By combining data from satellites and ocean buoys, scientists can
better understand what is happening beneath the surface of the
ocean.  This data sequence traces the evolution and demise of El
Nino in 1997 and early 1998.  La Nina conditions began to emerge
in the spring of 1998 and have intensified during the winters of
1998 and 1999.  Red indicates warmer-than-normal temperatures, and
blue indicates cooler-than-normal temperatures.  Sea height data
is from NASA TOPEX/Poseidon.  Subsurface temperature data is from
NOAA's TOGA TAO.  Sea surface temperature data is from NOAA's
AVHRR.


ITEM 2g - THE HURRICANE CONNECTION

Animation compares the effects of La Nina and El Nino on the
formation of Atlantic Hurricanes.  El Nino tends to suppress the
formation of hurricanes by steering the subtropical jet stream
into the hurricanes' path.   During La Nina, the jet stream moves
north, and tends to allow the hurricanes to more easily move up
the U.S. coast.


ITEM 2h - WORLDWIDE CLIMATE CHANGES

Animation illustrates how El Nino and La Nina drive global climate
changes.  As warm water in the tropical pacific shifts its
location one-third of the way around the globe, this major heat
source to the atmosphere changes the position of atmospheric high
and low pressure centers.  This causes changes in the position of
the jet streams hitting North America and associated temperature
and rainfall patterns.  The jet stream location is critical for
steering storms into the continental United States.  During El
Nino, the subtropical jet is displaced southward and storms are
steered by the subtropical jet into southern California. During La
Nina, the subtropical and polar jet streams combine to steer
storms toward the northwest United States.


ITEM 2i - INTERVIEW EXCERPTS

David Adamec, Research Oceanographer, NASA Goddard Space Flight
Center, Greenbelt, MD.



ITEM 3 - DAZZLING LAVA FOUNTAIN ON IO SEEN BY GALILEO - JPL
         (replay)

A fiery lava fountain shooting more than a mile above the surface
of Jupiter's volcanic moon Io has been captured by the camera
onboard NASA's Galileo spacecraft during a recent close flyby.
The images, showing a curtain of lava erupting within a giant
volcanic crater, will be unveiled today during the American
Geophysical Union's fall meeting in San Francisco.  Galileo took
the pictures on Thanksgiving night, November 25.

The new Io images are available at:
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/pictures/io

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



ITEM 4 - FUTURE FLIGHT CENTRAL - ARC (replay)

Contact at NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA:  Michael
Mewhinney (Phone 650/604-3937).
Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC:  Michael Braukus
(Phone 202/358-1979).

ITEM 4a - FUTUREFLIGHT CENTRAL - ANIMATION----------------TRT  :29

NASA1s FutureFlight Facility, opening Dec. 13, 1999, is the
world1s first full-scale virtual airport control tower. Located at
NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, the facility will
provide the airline industry with robust test and research
capabilities within a safe, real-time, simulated environment.


ITEM 4b - FUTUREFLIGHT CENTRAL - ANIMATION----------------TRT 1:38

Simulations from the control tower of NASA1s new FutureFlight
Facility, depicting San Fransisco International airport and its
virtual air traffic.


ITEM 4c - FUTUREFLIGHT CENTRAL B-ROLL---------------------TRT 2:33

Testing of the systems in the new FutureFlight Central facility,
showing both the control tower and the downstairs pseudo-pilot
areas.


ITEM 4d - AIRPLANE B-ROLL---------------------------------TRT 1:34

Montage of commercial aircraft at various U.S. airports engaging
in ground transportation maneuvers as well as footage inside an
air traffic control tower.


ITEM 4e - INTERVIEW EXCERPTS------------------------------TRT 1:52

Paul Kutler, Deputy Director, Information Sciences & Technology
Directorate, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA.


ITEM 4f - INTERVIEW EXCERPTS------------------------------TRT 1:37

Nancy Dorighi, Facility Manager, FutureFlight Central, NASA Ames
Research Center, Moffett Field, CA.


ITEM 4g - INTERVIEW EXCERPTS-----------------------------TRT  1:24

Jim McClenahen, Air Traffic Control Analyst, FutureFlight Central,
NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA.



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end of daily news summary