NASA Daily News Summary
For Release:  March. 30, 2000
Media Advisory m00-63


SUMMARY


NEWS RELEASES:

LEADING CANCER INSTITUTE TESTS NOVEL MONITORING TECHNIQUE

SUN'S HEARTBEAT MAY HELP UNRAVEL MYSTERY OF SOLAR CYCLE


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VIDEO FILE:
X-38 Drop Test - Live coverage from Dryden begins at 12:00pm EST
Video file will follow

Item 1 - Bioscan System May Aid Cancer Detection - JPL
Item 2 - Solar Cycles - GSFC
Item 3 - Planet Hunters - JPL
Item 4 - X-38 Drop Test - JSC/DFRC (replay)
Item 5 - World's Smaller than Saturn (replay)

At 3:00pm:
Item A - Replay of X-38 Drop Test from Dryden
Video file to follow immediately


LIVE TELEVISION EVENTS THIS WEEK:


SPECIAL NOTE TO ASSIGNMENT EDITORS & PRODUCERS:
     ARE WE ALONE IN THE UNIVERSE?



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NEWS RELEASES


LEADING CANCER INSTITUTE TESTS NOVEL MONITORING TECHNIQUE

     A cancer detection technique that uses an advanced sensor developed at
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, is being tested by the
prestigious Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, for use in monitoring the
effectiveness of cancer treatment The sensor is part of a device called the
BioScan System (tm), developed by OmniCorder Technologies, Inc., Stony Brook,
NY.  OmniCorder has been developing and testing the system for three years and
received Food and Drug Administration clearance to market it in December 1999.

Full text: ftp://ftp.hq.nasa.gov/pub/pao/pressrel/2000/00-049.txt

Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC:  Michael Braukus
(Phone:  202/358-1979).

Contact at Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA: Nancy Lovato (Phone:
818/354-0474)

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SUN'S HEARTBEAT MAY HELP UNRAVEL MYSTERY OF SOLAR CYCLE

     Like blood pulsing in an artery, newly discovered currents of gas beat deep
inside the Sun, speeding and slackening every 16 months.  The solar "heartbeat"
throbs in the same region of the Sun suspected of driving the 11-year cycle of
solar eruptions, during which the Sun goes from stormy to quiet and back again.
Scientists are hopeful that this pulse can help them unravel the origin and
operation of the solar cycle.


Full text: ftp://ftp.hq.nasa.gov/pub/pao/pressrel/2000/00-050.txt

Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC: Dolores Beasley
(Phone: 202/358-1753)

Contact at Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD: Susan Hendrix (Phone:
301/286-7745)

RELEASE:  00-50

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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 File for Mar. 30, 2000
10:24 am

ALL TIMES EASTERN


VIDEO FILE:
X-38 Drop Test - Live coverage from Dryden begins at 12:00pm EST
Video file will follow

Item 1 - Bioscan System May Aid Cancer Detection - JPL
Item 2 - Solar Cycles - GSFC
Item 3 - Planet Hunters - JPL
Item 4 - X-38 Drop Test - JSC/DFRC (replay)
Item 5 - World's Smaller than Saturn (replay)

At 3:00pm:
Item A - Replay of X-38 Drop Test from Dryden
Video file to follow immediately

VIDEO

LIVE TELEVISION EVENTS THIS WEEK:

March 30, Thursday
9:00 - 11:00 - Computer Security Hearing before the House
Subcommittee on Government Management, Information and Technology;
Government Reform Committee (recorded on 3/29/00) - HQ
12:30 pm - X-38 Drop Test - DFRC (Note:  test time subject to
change depending on weather conditions)

March 31, Friday
9:00 am - Noon - FY 2001 Budget Posture Hearing before the House
Subcommittee on VA-HUD-Independent Agencies; Appropriations
Committee (recorded 3/30/00) - HQ
1:00 - 3:00 pm - FY 2001 Budget Posture Hearing before the House
Subcommittee on VA-HUD-Independent Agencies; Appropriations
Committee (recorded 3/30/00 continued) - HQ
5:30 - 10:00 pm - "Planet Hunting Mission" Live News Interviews -
JPL

April 1, Saturday
11:00 am - 9:00 pm - Ames Research Center Western Regional First
Robotics Competition - San Jose State University Event Center, San
Jose, CA (direct uplink to NTV)


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SPECIAL NOTE TO ASSIGNMENT EDITORS & PRODUCERS

FROM:  Jack Dawson, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, (818) 354-0040
       Michelle Viotti, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory,
       (818) 354-8774

ARE WE ALONE IN THE UNIVERSE?

     Have you ever looked up at the night sky and wondered which
stars might have planets around them?  Is life out there in the
Universe, abundant on some distant world?  What is that planet
like, and could we recognize life there if we found it?
Creative sparks are flying as the Jet Propulsion Laboratory awards
contracts to four industry-academic teams, which will take the
first steps toward answering these far-reaching questions.  Over
the next eighteen months, the teams will set out to create the
most innovative designs for Terrestrial Planet Finder, an
ambitious mission in NASA's Origins Program that will look for
life-sustaining Earth -like planets around other stars.

     Astronomers have already found far more planets outside of
our solar system than within it, but so far we've only been able
to detect really large, gaseous bodies that wouldn't likely
support life.  We're on the verge of having the technology that
will enable us to look for much tinier, Earth-like planets that
orbit closer to their parent stars. Terrestrial Planet Finder will
have the potential to give us the first "family portraits" of
planetary systems like our own--and it might even find another
planet where life can thrive.

     Live satellite interview opportunities are available with
JPL1s Dr. Firouz Naderi from 6 to 10 p.m. EST on Friday, March 31.
Animation, 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. Firouz Naderi is the Program Manager for Origins and the
Project Manager for the Terrestrial Planet Finder. With JPL for
the past 20 years, Dr. Naderi has also served as Program Manager
for the Space Science Flight Experiments Program and Project
Manager for the NASA Scatterometer and SeaWinds missions, among
others.  He received his B.S. from Iowa State in 1969 and a
Masters and Ph.D. from USC in 1972 and 1976, all in electrical
engineering.

POSSIBLE QUESTIONS:

- How likely is it that life exists elsewhere in the Universe?
- How will Terrestrial Planet Finder look for Earth-like planets?
- How hard is it to detect life-bearing planets around other
  stars?
- Would a planet have to be like Earth to support life?
- What is the lasting value of Terrestrial Planet Finder to our
  civilization?


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

For more information on this subject, see:
http://tpf.jpl.nasa.gov/



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


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