Add to NASA Daily News Summary
For Release: Feb. 4, 1999
Media Advisory m99-025a


ADD TO TODAY'S SUMMARY:

* SOHO SPACECRAFT DETECTS SOURCE OF HIGH-SPEED 
  SOLAR "WIND" 

* SPACE STATION ASTRONAUTS TO VISIT WASHINGTON

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SOHO SPACECRAFT DETECTS SOURCE OF HIGH-SPEED 
SOLAR "WIND" 

NOTE--Local News Angles:
* Southwest Research Institute, Boulder CO
* Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD.

     Solving a long-standing solar mystery, scientists have 
discovered the source of fountains of electrified gas that 
flow from the Sun like water gushing through cracks in a dam.  
Called the high-speed solar wind, this gas flows out at two 
million miles per hour from the edges of honeycomb-shaped 
patterns of magnetic fields at the surface of the Sun.

     American and European scientists detected the source 
using the NASA/European Space Agency's Solar and Heliospheric 
Observatory (SOHO) spacecraft.  The nature and origin of the 
solar wind is one of the main mysteries SOHO was designed to 
solve.  SOHO operates at a special vantage point about one 
million miles out in space between the Sun and Earth.  SOHO, 
launched in 1995, is a project of international collaboration 
between the European Space Agency and NASA, and is operated 
from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD.

Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC:  Donald Savage 
202/358-1547.

Contact at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD:  
Bill Steigerwald 301/286-5017.

For full text, see:
ftp://ftp.hq.nasa.gov/pub/pao/pressrel/1999/99-011.txt 

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SPACE STATION ASTRONAUTS TO VISIT WASHINGTON

     The Space Shuttle crew that began building the 
International Space Station will discuss working in space and 
perform demonstrations with a space suit and their 
construction tools at the National Air and Space Museum, 
tomorrow, beginning at 7 a.m.  While in the Washington D.C. 
area, the crew will visit Ballou Senior High School and 
Children's Hospital.

     Media interesting in attending the events or arranging 
for interviews should call number below for further details.  

Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC:  Jennifer 
McCarter 202/358-1639.

For full text, see:
ftp://ftp.hq.nasa.gov/pub/pao/media/1999/m99-024.txt 

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END OF ADD TO DAILY NEWS SUMMARY FOR FEB. 4, 1999