Donald Savage

Headquarters, Washington, DC

(Phone: 202/358-1727)

Mary Hardin

Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA

(Phone: 818/354-0344)

NOTE TO EDITORS: N00-26

NASA will hold a press conference tomorrow, Thursday, June
22, at 11 a.m. EDT, to discuss the recent discovery of evidence of
liquid water on Mars using NASA’s Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft,
with a paper to be published in the June 30 issue of Science
magazine. Because some press reports over the past two days on
the subject have been incorrect in significant areas, NASA has
arranged to hold the press conference earlier than originally
planned so that the Principal Investigators, Drs. Michael Malin
and Ken Edgett, can discuss their findings in person. Also,
Science Magazine will release the paper at 10 a.m. EDT tomorrow in
advance of the press conference. The briefing will be held at the
James E. Webb Auditorium at NASA Headquarters, 300 E St., SW,
Washington, DC.

Panelists will be:

* Dr. Ed Weiler, Associate Administrator, Office of Space
Science, NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC
* Dr. Michael Malin, principal investigator for the Mars
Orbiter Camera on the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft, Malin Space Science Systems (MSSS), San Diego, CA
* Dr. Ken Edgett, staff scientist at MSSS and co-author of the
paper in Science
* Dr. Mike Carr, Planetary Geologist, U.S. Geological Survey,
Menlo Park, CA
* Dr. Bruce Jakosky, Director, Center for Astrobiology,
University of Colorado, Boulder
* Dr. Jim Garvin, Mars Program Scientist, NASA Headquarters,
Washington, DC

NASA Television is broadcast on GE-2, transponder 9C located
at 85 degrees West longitude, with vertical polarization.
Frequency is on 3880.0 MHz, with audio on 6.8 MHz.

Reporters also can listen to the press conference by calling:
321/867-1220, 321/867-1240, 321/867-1260, 321/867-7135,
321/867-4920, 321/867-4003.

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