NASA Daily News Summary

For Release: Feb. 24, 1999

Media Advisory m99-038

TODAY'S SUMMARY:

SPACE SHUTTLE DEVELOPMENT CONFERENCE SET FOR JUNE;

NATIONAL FORUM TO FOCUS ON SHUTTLE OF THE FUTURE

INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION VISIBLE FROM SELECTED CITIES

THIS WEEK

NASA TV PROGRAMMING NOTE

VIDEO FILE FOR FEB. 24, 1999

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SPACE SHUTTLE DEVELOPMENT CONFERENCE SET FOR JUNE;

NATIONAL FORUM TO FOCUS ON SHUTTLE OF THE FUTURE

What new technologies and new missions are in store for

the Space Shuttle of the future? NASA and Space Shuttle
prime contractor United Space Alliance will hold a national
conference in June to identify candidate emerging
technologies and system concepts for next-generation upgrades
to the Space Shuttle. The conference will feature new
technology demonstrations, advanced system concepts and
design proposals for Space Shuttle avionics, propulsion,
power, ground systems and major element configurations.
Next-generation missions for the Shuttle will be presented
and discussed, including research, technology testing,
satellite retrieval and refueling, and vehicle assembly in
orbit.

Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC: Jennifer

McCarter 202/358-1639.

Contact at NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX: James

Hartsfield 281/483-5111.

Contact at United Space Alliance, Houston, TX: Brian Chase

281/212-6369.
For full text, see:
ftp://ftp.hq.nasa.gov/pub/pao/pressrel/1999/99-026.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 1998 NASA News Releases:

http://www.nasa.gov/releases/1998/index.html

Index of 1999 NASA News Releases:

http://www.nasa.gov/releases/1999/index.html

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INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION VISIBLE FROM SELECTED CITIES

THIS WEEK

A new star is rising. The International Space Station (ISS)

assembly -- currently consisting of the energy and control
block "Zarya" and the U.S. connecting module "Unity" -- is
visible to the naked eye as a (not-so-faint-anymore) star.
As ISS assembly continues over the next four-five years, the
faint dot will grow to a brilliant star in the morning and
evening skies, second only in brightness to the planet Venus,
the brightest object (besides the moon) at dawn and dusk. A
viewing schedule for 3000 cities is available from:
http://www.hq.nasa.gov/osf/station/viewing/issvis.html

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NASA TV PROGRAMMING NOTE:

Yesterday's briefing on the Wide-Field Infrared Explorer

(WIRE) Mission will air today on NASA TV at 1:00, 4:00, and
7:00 p.m., EST. Technical difficulties interfered with audio
during live broadcast of the briefing yesterday.

^^^^^

VIDEO FILE FOR FEB. 24, 1999

ITEM 1. LA NINA
ITEM 2. WIDE-FIELD INFRARED EXPLORER (WIRE) TO STUDY
STARBURST GALAXIES (replay)

^^^^^

ITEM 1. EL NINO & LA NINA

Animation, B-Roll, Interview

El Nino and La Nina drive global climate changes. As warm

water in the tropical Pacific shifts its location one-third
of the way around the globe, this major heat source to the
atmosphere changes the position of atmospheric high and low
pressure centers. This causes changes in the position of the
jet stream hitting North America and associated temperature
and rainfall patterns. The jet stream location is critical
for steering storms into the continental United States.

Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC: David E.

Steitz 202/358-1730.
Contact at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD:
Wade Sisler 301/286-6256.

ITEM 2. WIDE-FIELD INFRARED EXPLORER (WIRE) TO STUDY

STARBURST GALAXIES (replay)

Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC: Donald Savage

202/358-1547.
Contact at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD:
Lynn Jenner 301/286-0045.

^^^^^

NASA normally airs the Video File at noon, 3:00, 6:00, 9:00
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.

Ray Castillo
NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC: 202/358-4555.

For the most recent NASA Video File Advisory, see:

ftp://ftp.hq.nasa.gov/pub/pao/tv-advisory/nasa-tv.txt
For general information on NASA Television, see:
http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

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CONTRACT AWARDS

NASA posts contract awards to:

http://procurement.nasa.gov/EPS/award.html

NASA issues the Daily News Summary at approximately 2:00 p.m.

Eastern Time on business days when we issue news releases,
new Video File material or schedule live events. Members of
the news media who wish to subscribe to or unsubscribe from
this list should send an e-mail message to:
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END OF DAILY NEWS SUMMARY