NASA Daily News Summary
For Release:  April 12, 2000
Media Advisory m00-72


SUMMARY


NEWS RELEASES:

NASA DEVELOPS A DRILL FOR THE FUTURE



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VIDEO


VIDEO FILE:

ITEM 1 - HYPERGOLS SCRUBBER - KSC
ITEM 2 - ULTRASONIC DRILL UNDERGOES TESTING - JPL
ITEM 3 - MGS IMAGES THE SOUTH POLE OF MARS - JPL (REPLAY)
ITEM 4 - HUBBLE'S LEGACY: 10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY (REPLAY)


LIVE TELEVISION EVENTS THIS WEEK



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NEWS RELEASES


NASA DEVELOPS A DRILL FOR THE FUTURE

     It's an invention that may eventually end up in the hands of
every craftsman and orthopedic surgeon.  Scientists at NASA's Jet
Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, together with engineers from
Cybersonics, Inc., Erie, PA, have developed an ultrasonic device
that can drill and core very hard rocks and also has medical
applications.  Potential medical uses include extracting pacemaker
leads and the drilling necessary during surgical or diagnostic
procedures involving the human skeletal structure.  Future space
missions could include drilling for samples using lightweight
landers with robotic arms and small rovers that roam the surface
of an asteroid or planet.

Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC:  Michael Braukus
(Phone 202/358-1979).
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/2000/00-060.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 12, Wednesday
- 10:00 - Noon - Aero-Space Technology FY 2001 Budget Hearing
  before the House Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics (recorded
  on 4/11/00) - HQ
- 1:00 - 3:00 pm - Aero-Space Technology FY 2001 Budget Hearing
  before the House Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics (recorded
  on 4/11/00) - HQ
- 4:00 - 6:00 pm - Aero-Space Technology FY 2001 Budget Hearing
  before the House Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics (recorded
  on 4/11/00) - HQ
- 7:00 - 9:00 pm - Aero-Space Technology FY 2001 Budget Hearing
  before the House Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics (recorded
  on 4/11/00) - HQ
- 10:00 - Midnight - Aero-Space Technology FY 2001 Budget Hearing
  before the House Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics (recorded
  on 4/11/00) - HQ

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