NASA Daily News Summary
For Release:  May 15, 2000
Media Advisory m00-96


SUMMARY


NEWS RELEASES


  None today



VIDEO

  ***ALL TIMES EASTERN***

  VIDEO FILE FOR MAY 15, 2000
     ITEM 1 - OLYMPIC TORCH TRAVELS TO SPACE WITH STS-101 - JSC
     ITEM 2 - PLANET ALIGNMENT UPDATE:  SOHO IMAGES - GSFC
     ITEM 3 - STS-101 CREW TRAINING AND ANIMATION TRT -(REPLAY)

  UPCOMING LIVE TELEVISION EVENTS


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



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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 15, Monday
- 1:00 pm - Administrator Goldin's Address to the American
  Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) (recorded on
  5/11/00) - HQ
- 4:00 pm - Administrator Goldin's Address to the American
  Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) (recorded on
  5/11/00) - HQ
- 7:00 pm - Administrator Goldin's Address to the American
  Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) (recorded on
  5/11/00) - HQ
- 10:00 pm - Administrator Goldin's Address to the American
  Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) (recorded on
  5/11/00) - HQ

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



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


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/



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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