NASA Daily News Summary
For Release:  June 13, 2000
Media Advisory m00-116


SUMMARY


NEWS RELEASES

  NEW ROCKET TECHNOLOGY COULD CUT MARS TRAVEL TIME

  BACK TO THE GARDEN:  NASA GOES FROM PLANTS TO PLANETS



VIDEO

  ***ALL TIMES EASTERN***


  VIDEO FILE FOR JUNE 13, 2000

    ITEM 1 - PLASMA POWER SPEEDS UP SOLAR SYSTEM EXPLORATION - JSC
    ITEM 2 - SENSOR WEBS MAY MONITOR BIOLOGICAL ACTIVITY ON
             PLANETS - JPL

  UPCOMING TELEVISION EVENTS



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NEWS RELEASES


NEW ROCKET TECHNOLOGY COULD CUT MARS TRAVEL TIME

     An agreement to collaborate on development of an advanced
rocket technology that could cut in half the time required to
reach Mars, opening the solar system to human exploration in the
next decade, has been signed by NASA's Johnson Space Center,
Houston, TX, and MSE Technology Applications Inc., Butte, MT.
The technology could reduce astronauts' total exposure to space
radiation and lessen time spent in weightlessness, perhaps
minimizing bone and muscle mass loss and circulatory changes.

Full text: ftp://ftp.hq.nasa.gov/pub/pao/pressrel/2000/00-091.txt

Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC:  Michael Braukus
(Phone: 202/358-1979).
Contact at NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX:  John Ira Petty
(Phone: 281/483-5111).
Contact at MSE Technology Applications, Inc., Butte, MT:  Dave
Micheletti (Phone: 406/494-7289).

RELEASE: 00-91



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BACK TO THE GARDEN:  NASA GOES FROM PLANTS TO PLANETS

     NASA scientists have gone back to the garden, "planting"
wireless webs of small sensors in gardens here on Earth in
preparation for missions to help monitor biological activity on
planets.  Sensor webs like those being tested will help make
possible a key NASA goal to establish a virtual presence for
exploration throughout the solar system.  NASA's Jet Propulsion
Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, CA, and the Huntington Library, Art
Collections, and Botanical Gardens, San Marino, CA, have joined
forces to study micro-climates, placing webs in the various
specialized gardens at the Huntington.  Like satellites and
   telescopes remotely "measuring" planets across the vast reaches of
space, the webs allow large areas to be monitored.  Unlike remote
operations, sensor webs are placed inside the environment -- thus
making them capable of on-site  detection not possible from afar.

Full text: ftp://ftp.hq.nasa.gov/pub/pao/pressrel/2000/00-092.txt

Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC:  Michael Braukus
(Phone:  202/358-1979).
Contact at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA:  Nancy
Lovato (Phone:  818/354-6278).



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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


UPCOMING TELEVISION EVENTS


June 13, Tuesday
- 12:45 - 1:15 p.m. - Astronaut Jeff Williams Live News Interview
  with WTMJ - JSC

June 14, Wednesday
- *1:00 - 2:15 p.m. - Urban Heat Island Live News Interview - MSFC
- 5:00 - 7:00 p.m. - Plasma Rocket Live News Interviews - JSC

June 15, Thursday
- 6:00 - 10:00 a.m. - Urban Heat Islands Live News Interviews -
  MSFC
- 1:30 - 3:30 p.m. - Agency Honor Awards - HQ
- 4:30 - 9:00 p.m. - Planetary Sensor Web Live News Interview -
  JPL

June 17, Saturday
- 9:00 - 10:00 a.m. - That NASA Show:  "Space Clothes" and
  "Tortillas in Space" - HQ
- 10:00 - 11:00 a.m. - That NASA Show:  "Space Clothes" and
  "Tortillas in Space" - HQ
- 11:00 a.m. - Noon - That NASA Show:  "Space Clothes" and
  "Tortillas in Space" - HQ

June 18, Sunday
- 9:00 - 10:00 a.m. - That NASA Show:  "Space Clothes" and
  "Tortillas in Space" - HQ
- 10:00 - 11:00 a.m. - That NASA Show:  "Space Clothes" and
  "Tortillas in Space" - HQ
- 11:00 a.m. -  Noon - That NASA Show:  "Space Clothes" and
  "Tortillas in Space" - HQ


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



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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