The launch of NASA’s Microwave Anisotropy Probe (MAP) is scheduled
for Saturday, June 30. The launch window is 3:46 – 3:56 p.m. EDT. Liftoff
will occur aboard a Boeing Delta II launch vehicle from Pad B at Space
Launch Complex 17, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Should launch be
delayed by 24 hours, the launch window is 3:40 – 3:52 p.m. EDT.

Using a scanning method, MAP will make an accurate, precise, full-sky
picture of cosmic microwave background radiation — the afterglow of the Big
Bang. MAP seeks to answer fundamental questions about the formation and
fate of the universe. Among the questions MAP will attempt to answer are:
How old is the universe? How and when did the first galaxies form? Will
the universe expand forever or will it collapse? How rapidly is the
universe expanding?

PRELAUNCH NEWS CONFERENCE AND MISSION SCIENCE BRIEFING

A prelaunch news conference is scheduled for Friday, June 29, at 1
p.m. EDT in the NASA-KSC News Center auditorium and will be carried live on
NASA Television. Participating in the briefing will be:

Chuck Dovale, NASA Launch Manager

NASA Kennedy Space Center, Fla.

Joy Bryant, Delta II Mission Director

The Boeing Company

Elizabeth Citrin, MAP Project Manager

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.

Joel Tumbiolo, Launch Weather Officer

Department of the Air Force

Immediately following the prelaunch news conference, a MAP Mission Science
Briefing will be held. Participating will be:

Dr. Alan Bunner, Director, Structure and Evolution of the Universe Theme

NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C.

Dr. Charles Bennett, MAP Principal Investigator

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.

Dr. David Spergel, MAP Science Team

Princeton University, Princeton, N.J.

ACCREDITATION

Media who wish to cover the launch of MAP including the prelaunch
news conference and mission science briefing should send a letter of request
to the NASA-KSC News Center on news organization letterhead. It should
include name, date of birth, and Social Security number or passport number.
By close of business Thursday, June 28, letters should be faxed to
321/867-2692 or addressed to:

MAP Launch Accreditation

NASA XA-E1

Kennedy Space Center, FL 32899

MAP mission badges may be obtained at the NASA-KSC News Center beginning on
Wednesday, June 27, between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. On launch day, Saturday,
June 30, MAP mission badges will be available starting at 2:15 p.m. and will
be issued at the Pass & Identification Building on SR 401 outside Gate 1 of
Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

Departure on launch day from the Gate 1 Pass & Identification
Building for Press Site 1 will be at 2:30 p.m. A NASA MAP mission badge is
required for all media covering the launch at Press Site 1. Annual KSC
badges or other Space Shuttle launch credentials will not be honored on MAP
launch day. After launch, media may leave unescorted for the return to Gate
1. At all other times, an escort is required for all other areas of Cape
Canaveral Air Force Station. For further information on 2001 MAP launch
accreditation, contact Patti Beck at the NASA-KSC News Center at
321/867-2468.

REMOTE CAMERAS

Media wishing to establish remote cameras at the launch pad should
meet at the NASA-KSC News Center at 2:30 p.m. on Friday, June 29, to be
escorted to Space Launch Complex 17.

PRESS SITE OPERATING HOURS

On launch day, Saturday, June 30, the NASA-KSC News Center will be open from
2:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.

NASA TELEVISION COVERAGE, “V” CIRCUITS, WEBCAST AND RECORDED LAUNCH STATUS

NASA Television will carry the prelaunch news conference and mission
science briefing beginning at 1 p.m. EDT on Friday, June 29. On launch day,
Saturday, June 30, countdown coverage will begin at 2 p.m. EDT. Coverage
will conclude shortly after spacecraft separation that occurs approximately
one hour, twenty-five minutes after launch.

NASA Television is available on satellite GE-2, transponder 9C,
located at 85 degrees West longitude. A simulcast of the NASA Television
coverage will also be available on the World Wide Web at
http://www.ksc.nasa.gov. Additional Information about MAP is available at
http://map.gsfc.nasa.gov.

Audio only of NASA Television coverage of the prelaunch news
conference and launch commentary will be available on the “V” circuits which
may be dialed directly at 321/867-1220, 867-1240, 867-1260, 867-7135,
867-4003, 867-4920.

The NASA-KSC News Center codaphone will carry MAP prelaunch status reports
beginning at L-3 days, on Wednesday, June 27, and may be dialed at
321/867-2525.