NASA Daily News Summary
For Release:  April 13, 2000
Media Advisory m00-73


SUMMARY


NEWS RELEASES:

NASA TECHNOLOGY SAFELY STRIPS SHIPS OF LOOSE CHIPS



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VIDEO


VIDEO FILE:

ITEM 1 - NASA AND NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE JOIN TO DEVELOP
         NANO-EXPLORERS FOR THE HUMAN BODY
ITEM 2 - IO COLOR IMAGES - JPL
ITEM 3 - ROBOTIC PAINT STRIPPER - JPL
REPLAYS
ITEM 4 - ULTRASONIC DRILL UNDERGOES TESTING - JPL
ITEM 5 - HYPERGOLS SCRUBBER - KSC


LIVE TELEVISION EVENTS THIS WEEK



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NEWS RELEASES


NASA TECHNOLOGY SAFELY STRIPS SHIPS OF LOOSE CHIPS

    A new robotic device that safely strips paint from the hulls
of ships without polluting the environment is based on NASA
robotics technology.  The system, which has received kudos from
environmentalist and undersea explorer Jean-Michel Cousteau, could
revolutionize paint removal in the shipping industry.  Current
sandblasting methods potentially can contaminate waters
surrounding harbors.  The robot was developed by NASA's Jet
Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA; the Robotics Engineering
Consortium at Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA; and
UltraStrip Systems, Inc., Stuart, FL., and consists of an
automated robotic device that is magnetized to the ship, a set of
high-pressure jet streams, and a controller that helps the robot
navigate along the surface of the ship.  The water is filtered and
then reused, while the paint residue is collected in a container
and can then be disposed of safely.  Using this method, no toxic
dust or paint flakes are generated to pollute nearby areas or to
be inhaled by system operators.

Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC:  Donald Savage
(Phone:  202/358-1727).
Contact at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA:  Nancy
Lovato (Phone 818/354-0474).

For full text, see:
ftp://ftp.hq.nasa.gov/pub/pao/pressrel/2000/00-061.txt



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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 2000 NASA News Releases:
http://www.nasa.gov/releases/2000/index.html

Index of 1999 NASA News Releases:
http://www.nasa.gov/releases/1999/index.html



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VIDEO


LIVE TELEVISION EVENTS THIS WEEK:


April 13, Thursday
- *6:00 - 8:30 am - NASA and National Cancer Institute Nano-
  Explorer Live News Interviews - HQ

April 14, Friday
- 9:30 am - Noon - FY 2001 Budget Posture Hearing before the
  Senate Subcommittee on VA-HUD-Independent Agencies;
  Appropriations Committee (recorded 4/13/00) - HQ
- TBD - FY 2001 Budget Posture Hearing before the Senate
  Subcommittee on VA-HUD-Independent Agencies; Appropriations
  Committee (recorded 4/13/00) - HQ
- 5:30 - 10:00 pm - New Sonic Drill for Space Research Live News
  Interviews - JPL

April 15, Saturday
- TBD - FY 2001 Budget Posture Hearing before the Senate
  Subcommittee on VA-HUD-Independent Agencies; Appropriations
  Committee (recorded 4/13/00) - HQ

April 16, Sunday
- TBD - FY 2001 Budget Posture Hearing before the Senate
  Subcommittee on VA-HUD-Independent Agencies; Appropriations
  Committee (recorded 4/13/00) - HQ


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Unless otherwise noted, ALL TIMES ARE EASTERN.

ANY CHANGES TO THE VIDEO 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 Fred Brown,
202/358-0713, fred.brown@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/



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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