Media Advisory: 00-117



 For Release: April 3, 2000



        Attention: Early Morning

                       Producer

               Thursday, April 6

                   6-10 a.m. EDT



        10 Minute Windows--With B-Roll

   Giant space sail could take spacecraft to

                          the stars

     Humankind’s first venture beyond the

           solar system may begin soon



      A future NASA mission could take a spacecraft out of the solar

      system.

      The interstellar probe would be the biggest, fastest spacecraft

      ever.

      Using thin reflective sails made of composite materials, it would

      span 440 yards -- twice the diameter of the Louisiana

      Superdome.

      The spacecraft would use sunlight for propulsion and later

      missions might use microwave beams or laser beams.

      It would move fast -- 58 miles per second, more than 10 times

      faster than the Space Shuttle’s orbit speed of 5 miles per second,

      or New York to Los Angeles in 43 seconds.

      The challenging, unprecedented 15-year journey could begin as

      early as 2010.

      Team members from the Marshall Space Flight Center and

      NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. are

      working to make space sails a reality.



 Who:

                                Les Johnson,

                                Project Manager

                                Interstellar Propulsion Research

                                Marshall Space Flight Center

 Satellite Windows:

                                10 minutes

 Satellite Coordinates:

                                GE-2, Transponder 9C,

                                85 degrees west longitude,

                                Frequency: 3880 MHz, audio: 6.8

                                MHz.

 Satellite Interview Information:

 Lindsey Rawl, Producer

 (256) 544-2228

 Beeper (256) 544-1183 PIN 0025