NASA Daily News Summary
For Release:  May 12, 2000
Media Advisory m00-95


SUMMARY


NEWS RELEASES


  NATIVE AMERICAN STUDENTS TO USE MARS "SOIL" TO GROW
  SPUDS IN SPACE



VIDEO

  ***ALL TIMES EASTERN***

  VIDEO FILE FOR MAY 12, 2000
     ITEM 1 - PICTURES OF THE NEW MEXICO FIRES (REPLAY) - GSFC
     ITEM 2 - CHANDRA VIEWS A YOUNG SUPERNOVA BLAST WAVE (REPLAY)
     ITEM 3 - HUBBLE HERITAGE IMAGE (REPLAY) - STSCI
     ITEM 4 - POLLUTANT INDICATED IN EARTH'S CLIMATE CHANGE
              (REPLAY) - AMES

  UPCOMING LIVE TELEVISION EVENTS


  LIVE SATELLITE INTERVIEW OPPORTUNITY:
     HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS TAKE THE LEASH AND DRIVE FIDO ROVER



*****************************


NEWS RELEASES


NATIVE AMERICAN STUDENTS TO USE MARS "SOIL" TO GROW SPUDS IN SPACE

A 21st century, space-age simulated Mars soil and one of the
world's oldest food sources--the potato--have been joined in an
experiment that will fly aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis when the
STS-101 mission is launched later this month.  The experiment,
designed by Native American science students, will test how well
the soil supports plant growth.  Students from Shoshone-Bannock
High School on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation in southeastern
Idaho will compare the plants grown in the synthetic dirt on Earth
with those that fly in space.  The coarse powdery soil, known as
JSC Mars-1--about the color of cinnamon--is similar to what
scientists know about the color, density, grain size, porosity,
chemical composition, mineralogy and magnetic properties of
Martian soil.  Known as "Spuds in Space," the experiment will be
the first test of the soil simulant as a medium for growing plants
in space.  It also marks the second time Native American students
have flown an experiment on the Shuttle.  The potato experiment
will be one of ten experiments flying as part of the Space
Experiment Module (SEM) program, an educational initiative to
increase access to space for students from kindergarten through
college.

Information about SEM program experiments flying on STS-101 is
available at http://www.shuttlepresskit.com/STS-101/payload66.htm

Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC:  Sonja Alexander
(Phone 202/358-1761).
Contact at NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX:  Ann Hutchison
(Phone:  281/483-5111).
Contact at NASA Wallops Flight Facility, Wallops Island, VA:
Keith Koehler (Phone:  757/824-1579).

For full text, see:
ftp://ftp.hq.nasa.gov/pub/pao/pressrel/2000/00-079.txt



----------------------------


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



*****************************


VIDEO


LIVE TELEVISION COMING UP THIS WEEK

May 12, Friday
- 1:00 - 5:00 p.m. - Satellite Adjustment and Maintenance at all
  NASA uplink sites - All Centers

May 13, Saturday
- 2:00 - 4:00 p.m. - Earth Sciences FY 2001 Budget  Hearing Before
  the House Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics (recorded on
  5/10/00) - HQ
- 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. - Earth Sciences FY 2001 Budget  Hearing Before
  the House Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics (recorded on
  5/10/00) - HQ
- 10:00 p.m. - Midnight - Earth Sciences FY 2001 Budget  Hearing
  Before the House Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics (recorded
  on 5/10/00) - HQ

May 14, Sunday
- 2:00 - 4:00 p.m. - Earth Sciences FY 2001 Budget  Hearing Before
  the House Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics (recorded on
  5/10/00) - HQ
- 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. - Earth Sciences FY 2001 Budget  Hearing Before
  the House Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics (recorded on
  5/10/00) - HQ
- *11:30 p.m. - STS-101 Crew Arrival - KSC



For a complete list of upcoming live television events, see
http://www.nasa.gov/ntv/breaking.html



-----------------------------


LIVE SATELLITE INTERVIEW OPPORTUNITY:
   HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS TAKE THE LEASH AND DRIVE FIDO ROVER

   (Local angles:  Birmingham, AL; Flagstaff, AZ, Pasadena, CA;
   Tujunga, CA; South Bend, IN; Houghton, MI; St. Louis, MO; Fort
   Plain, NY; Ithaca, NY; Cincinnati, OH; Copenhagen, Denmark.)

NASA1s next generation planetary rover has been undergoing a field
test in the Nevada desert this month.  As part of the experiment,
two days have been set aside for several groups of high school
students to take control of the rover from their schools.  The
students have a real role in the tests and will help the
engineering teams drive the rover back to a simulated lander.  The
test is set up as if the rover were actually on another planet.
The site is being kept secret from the teams and they will only
see the site through the eyes of the rover.

Live satellite interview opportunities are available with Dr. Eric
Baumgartner of JPL from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. EDT on Tuesday, May 16.

B-roll and interviews will be carried 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.  Emergency
telephone numbers are 818-354-0246 and 818-354-2113.

Dr. Eric Baumgartner, JPL1s system engineer for the FIDO rover
field tests, has been at JPL for four years.  Before that, he was
an Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Michigan
Technological University in Houghton, MI.  He received a B.S. in
Aerospace Engineering from the University of Notre Dame in 1988,
an M.S. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Cincinnati
in 1990, and a Ph.D. from the University of Notre Dame in 1993.
Dr. Baumgartner graduated from Fort Plain High School in Fort
Plain, NY, in 1984. He currently resides in Tujunga, CA.

The student groups will be controlling the rover from their
schools around the country in Ithaca, NY; Birmingham, AL; St.
Louis, MO; and Flagstaff, AZ.  In addition, a group of students
from Copenhagen, Denmark, will be participating, working in the
JPL mission control room.

SUGGESTED QUESTIONS:

- Why did NASA choose to involve students in these important
  experiments?
- What are the students learning?
- Why are you conducting these rover tests?
- How do these field trials help you plan for future missions?
- Why did you decide to keep the test site "secret"?

To book time for this interview, call Jack Dawson at 818/354-0040
or email Jack at jack.b.dawson@jpl.nasa.gov  .

If you can't reach Jack, call Mary Hardin,  NASA/Jet Propulsion
Laboratory, 818/354-0344.



-----------------------------


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/



*****************************


Contract Awards

Contract awards are posted to the NASA Acquisition information
Service Web site: http://procurement.nasa.gov/EPS/award.html



*****************************


The NASA Daily News Summary is issued each business day at
approximately 2 p.m. Eastern time. Members of the media who wish
to subscribe or unsubscribe from this list, please send e-mail
message to:

Brian.Dunbar@hq.nasa.gov



*****************************


end of daily news summary