NASA Daily News Summary
For Release: Jan. 24, 2000
Media Advisory m00-015


SUMMARY

NEWS RELEASES:
HUBBLE REOPENS EYE ON THE UNIVERSE
SCIENTISTS, ASTRONAUTS TO DISCUSS STS-95 SCIENCE RESULTS



VIDEO:
ALL TIMES EASTERN
NOTE: VIDEO FILE TODAY WILL RUN ONLY AT NOON,
      due to testing of the NASA TV satellite system for space
      station operations.

Video File for Jan. 24, 2000

ITEM 1 - HUBBLE REOPENS EYE ON THE UNIVERSE

ITEM 2 - CHOKING POLLUTION OVER ITALY SEEN FROM SPACE



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HUBBLE REOPENS EYE ON THE UNIVERSE

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope is back in business, as made
dramatically evident in stunning new celestial pictures of remote
galaxies and a colorful dying star released today.  The images
were taken Jan. 10 - 13, 2000, as part of the activities to
recommission the earth-orbiting telescope.  The pictures are a
culmination of the successful Space Shuttle servicing mission
(STS-103) last December, which restored NASA's premier optical
space observatory to full capability beefed-up with new
electronics and critically needed replacement gyroscopes.  Hubble
has now resumed probing the Universe's many mysteries with a
crystal-clear view.

Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC:  Donald Savage
(Phone 202/358-1547).
Contact at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD:
Nancy Neal (Phone 301/286-0039).
Contact at Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD:
Ray Villard (Phone 410/338-4707).

For full text, see:
ftp://ftp.hq.nasa.gov/pub/pao/pressrel/2000/00-016.txt



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SCIENTISTS, ASTRONAUTS TO DISCUSS STS-95 SCIENCE RESULTS

More than 30 researchers will present the latest findings from the
1998 STS-95 Space Shuttle mission at a symposium on January 27 and
28, sponsored by NASA and the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
The nine-day mission focused on more than 80 experiments ranging
from understanding the Sun to human adaptation to space.  The
symposium will begin at 9:45 a.m. EST and end at 4:00 p.m. on
January 27, in the James E. Webb Auditorium at NASA Headquarters,
300 E Street SW, Washington, DC.  NASA, industry and university
researchers will participate in scientific discussions on over 40
investigations encompassing experiments in the fields of materials
sciences, life and biological sciences, and commercial research.
On January 28, the symposium will be held at the National
Institutes of Health, 10 Center Drive, Bethesda, MD, in the Masur
Auditorium, Building 10, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.  STS-95
investigations were carried out during the October 1998 mission
aboard Space Shuttle Discovery.

Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC:  Renee Juhans (Phone
202/358-1712).
Contact at NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX:  John Ira Petty
(Phone 281/483-5111).

For full text, see:
ftp://ftp.hq.nasa.gov/pub/pao/note2edt/2000/n00-002.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



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Video File for Jan. 24, 2000

ITEM 1 - HUBBLE REOPENS EYE ON THE UNIVERSE

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope is back in business, as made
dramatically evident in stunning new celestial pictures of
remote galaxies and a colorful dying star released today. The
images were taken Jan. 10 - 13, 2000, as part of the activities
to recommission the earth-orbiting telescope after the latest
servicing mission in December 1999.

ITEM 1a - ESKIMO NEBULA-----------------------------------TRT  :15

In a first glimpse of the heavens following the December 1999
Hubble servicing mission, the Hubble Space Telescope has captured
a majestic view of a planetary nebula, nicknamed the Eskimo Nebula
for its resemblance to a face surrounded by a fur parka. This
image began forming when the central dying star began flinging
material into space.


ITEM 1b - CAPTURING A COSMIC MAGNIFYING GLASS-------------TRT  :15

Following the successful servicing mission in December, the Hubble
Space Telescope has imaged a giant, cosmic magnifying glass, a
massive cluster of galaxies called Abell 2218. The gravitational
lensing magnifies and distorts the images, but also allows viewing
of more distant images.

Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC:  Donald Savage
(Phone 202/358-1547).
Contact at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD:
Nancy Neal (Phone 301/286-0039).
Contact at Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD:
Ray Villard (Phone 410/338-4707).



ITEM 2 - CHOKING POLLUTION OVER ITALY SEEN FROM SPACE

Thick clouds of record-breaking pollution blanketed much of
Northern Italy recently, prompting city officials in Milan to
prohibit car and motorcycle traffic from the center of town on
January 16. As seen by NASA's Sea-Viewing Wide Field-of-View
satellite (SeaWiFS), the choking haze appears as a gray stain
spreading across a green and blue canvas. SeaWiFS "sees" colors
by analyzing light in eight different wavebands. As heavy levels
of pollution form aerosols in the atmosphere, the red, green,
and blue parts of visible light are scattered, thus yielding the
smoky stain floating over the colors of earth and water below.
This visualization combines sequential data sets acquired over a
three-week period earlier this month. Following more than 11
days of unprecedented high pollution, Milanese city officials
decided to curtail personal vehicles from driving through the
city. More than 30 Italian cities have agreed to enforce a ban
on automobile traffic one Sunday every month in an effort to
reduce air pollution.

Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC:  David E. Steitz
(Phone 202/358-1730).
Contact at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD:
Wade Sisler (Phone 301/286-6256).

http://seawifs.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEAWIFS/IMAGES/NEW/Europe



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

Unless otherwise noted, ALL TIMES ARE EASTERN.

ANY CHANGES TO THE 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 Elvia Thompson,
202/358-1696, elvia.thompson@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



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


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


Add to NASA Daily News Summary
For Release: Jan. 24, 2000
Media Advisory m00-015a


Summary:

CALIFORNIA FIRM SELECTED TO DEVELOP AIRCRAFT TECHNOLOGIES


**********


CALIFORNIA FIRM SELECTED TO DEVELOP AIRCRAFT TECHNOLOGIES

     In an effort to increase the research capabilities of high-
altitude Earth science missions, NASA's Dryden Flight Research
Center, Edwards, CA, has selected General Atomics Aeronautical
Systems, Inc., (GA-ASI) San Diego, CA, to begin negotiations to
demonstrate technologies expanding the capabilities of uninhabited
aerial vehicles.

     The task under NASA's Environmental Research Aircraft and
Sensor Technology (ERAST) program jointly sponsored research
agreement is to expand technical performance to meet the
scientific requirements and to demonstrate operational
capabilities required by the emerging uninhabited aerial vehicle
(UAV) industry.  GA-ASI will develop the new Predator B series of
UAV, including an enlarged and upgraded version, to meet these
requirements.  As joint partners in the project, GA-ASI will
contribute $8 million and NASA's Office of Aero-Space Technology
will invest more than $10 million.

Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC:  Michael Braukus
(Phone 202/358-1979).
Contact at NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, CA:  Alan
Brown (Phone 805/258-2665).

For full text, see:
ftp://ftp.hq.nasa.gov/pub/pao/pressrel/2000/00-011.txt



----------

If NASA issues additional 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

**********

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 add to daily news summary