NASA Daily News Summary
For Release:  May 16, 2000
Media Advisory m00-97


SUMMARY


NEWS RELEASES


  None today



VIDEO

  ***ALL TIMES EASTERN***

  VIDEO FILE FOR MAY 16, 2000
     ITEM 1 - OLYMPIC TORCH TRAVELS TO SPACE WITH STS-101
              - (REPLAY) JSC
     ITEM 2 - STS-101 CREW TRAINING AND ANIMATION -(REPLAY)


  UPCOMING LIVE TELEVISION EVENTS


  LIVE SATELLITE INTERVIEW OPPORTUNITIES:

     * HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS TAKE THE LEASH AND DRIVE FIDO ROVER

     * ALL ABOUT STS-101, SPACE SHUTTLE MISSION
       TO THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION



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NEWS RELEASES


None today

For full text, see:
ftp://ftp.hq.nasa.gov/pub/pao/pressrel/2000/00-XXX.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 COMING UP THIS WEEK

May 16, Tuesday
- 9:00 am - STS-101 L-2 Countdown Status Briefing - KSC
- 1:00 pm - Administrator Goldin's Commencement Speech to the
  University of Alabama-Huntsville (recorded on 5/14/00) - HQ
- 2:00 pm - A Lecture on the Importance of NASA Records to an
  Historian, by Andrew Chaikin - JSC
- 4:00 pm - Administrator Goldin's Commencement Speech to the
  University of Alabama-Huntsville (recorded on 5/14/00) - HQ
- 5:00 - 9:00 pm - FIDO Planetary Rover Live News Interviews - JPL
- 10:00 pm - Administrator Goldin's Commencement Speech to the
  University of Alabama-Huntsville (recorded on 5/14/00) - HQ

May 17, Wednesday
- 6:30 - 8:30 am - Marshall Open House Live News Interviews - MSFC
- 9:00 am - STS-101 L-1 Countdown Status Briefing - KSC
- 10:00 am - Noon - The Future of Aviation Hearing Before the
  House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Subcommittee
  on Aviation (recorded 5/17/00) - HQ
- 1:00 - 3:00 pm - Noon - The Future of Aviation Hearing Before
  the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee,
  Subcommittee on Aviation (recorded 5/17/00) - HQ
- 4:00 - 9:00 pm - STS-101 Launch Pad Shot - KSC
- 10:00 pm - Midnight - The Future of Aviation Hearing Before the
  House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Subcommittee
  on Aviation (recorded 5/17/00) - HQ

May 18, Thursday
- 1:00 am - STS-101 Launch Coverage and Commentary Begins - KSC
- 6:38 am - STS-101 Launch - KSC



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



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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.



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


LIVE SATELLITE INTERVIEW OPPORTUNITY:
   ALL ABOUT STS-101, SPACE SHUTTLE MISSION
   TO THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION

TO:  MORNING PRODUCERS/SCIENCE REPORTERS
     STS-101 LIVE SHOTS AVAILABLE MAY 17 FROM 5 TO 9 P.M. EDT

The development of the International Space Station (ISS) continues
during STS-101, the 98th flight in program history.  Shuttle
Atlantis is scheduled to lift-off at 6:38 a.m. EDT. on Thursday,
May 18, as the most updated Space Shuttle ever.

GLASS COCKPIT
Atlantis is the first shuttle to fly with the new Multifunction
Electronic Display Subsystem, or glass cockpit.  It replaces
obsolete instruments and three monochrome computer screens with 11
full-color graphical displays.

6 1/2 HOUR SPACE WALK
Mission Specialists James Voss and Jeffrey Williams will perform a
planned space walk during the second logistics mission to the
International Space Station.

On flight day 4, Voss and Williams will leave Atlantis to complete
the assembly of a Russian crane, test the integrity of a U.S.
crane, replace a faulty communications antenna, install handrails
and set up a camera cable.

ASTRONAUT INTERVIEW
NASA Astronaut  Steven W. Lindsey (Lt. Col., USAF), who flew as
pilot on STS-87 in 1997 and STS-95 in 1998, and has logged over
589 hours in space, will be available for live satellite
interviews from 5-9 p.m. EDT Wednesday, May 17.

Lindsey became an astronaut in May 1996 and qualified for flight
assignment as a pilot. He also served as the Astronaut Office
representative working on the glass cockpit Space Shuttle upgrade
program, as well as a number of other advanced upgrade projects.

ASK LT. COL. LINDSEY about the space walk and other work that will
be done on the International Space Station.

- About the space walk and other work that will be done on the
  International Space Station.
- What are the advantages of the new cockpit over the previous
  model?
- How will the glass cockpit benefit commercial aviation?
- What role did he play in the testing of the glass cockpit?

Live satellite interviews will be available Wednesday, May 17, from
5 – 9 p.m. EDT. on Telstar 5 (97 degrees west) Transponder 25
vertical downlink frequency 12146.0 MHZ.

To schedule an interview call Fred Brown at 321/867-2537 or
321/867-7765, or pager 800/759-8888  pin #1239840 (Please leave a
numeric page).



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


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