NASA Daily News Summary
For Release: March 16, 1999
Media Advisory m99-052

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Summary

-- News Release: Lunar Data Support Idea that Collision Split 
Earth, Moon
-- Video file for March 16

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LUNAR DATA SUPPORT IDEA THAT COLLISION SPLIT EARTH, MOON

     Analysis of data from NASA's Lunar Prospector spacecraft 
has confirmed that the Moon has a small core, supporting the 
theory that the bulk of the Moon was ripped away from the 
early Earth when an object the size of Mars collided with the 
Earth. Scientists presented this result and other findings 
today in a series of papers at the 30th Lunar and Planetary 
Science Conference in Houston, TX.

Headquarters contact: Douglas Isbell, 202/358-1547;
Ames Research Center contact: David Morse, 650/604-4724.

Full text of the release:
ftp://ftp.hq.nasa.gov/pub/pao/pressrel/1999/99-043.txt

If NASA issues any news releases later today, we will 
e-mail summaries and Internet URLs to this list.

Index of 1999 NASA News Releases:
http://www.nasa.gov/releases/1999/index.html

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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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Video File for March 16, 1999 

ITEM 1.  MARS GLOBAL SURVEYOR
ITEM 1a. GLOBAL SURVEYOR MAPPING MARS (animation)
ITEM 1b. IMAGE OF ISIDIS PLANITIA AREA
ITEM 1c. BOULDERS FROM GANGES CHASMA REGION
ITEM 1d. SAND DUNES IN THE NILI PATERA REGION
ITEM 1e. ÒHAPPY FACE CRATERÓ

Contact at Jet Propulsion Laboratory: Mary Hardin, 818/354-
0344. 

ITEM 2   LUNAR PROSPECTOR
ITEM 2a. CONCEPT OF MOONÕS CREATION BY ARTIST WILLIAM K. 
         HARTMANN 
ITEM 2b. LUNAR PROSPECTOR (animation)

Contact at Headquarters: Douglas Isbell, 202/358-1547;
Contact at Ames Research Center: David Morse, 650/604-4724.

ITEM 3.  FASTRAC ROCKET ENGINE TEST (replay)
ITEM 3a. ENGINE TEST
ITEM 3b. ENGINEERS IN CONTROL ROOM DURING TEST
ITEM 3c. X-34 ANIMATION
ITEM 3d. ENGINE ASSEMBLY AND LOAD FOR DELIVERY TO STENNIS
ITEM 3e. INTERVIEW - DANNY DAVIS, NASA PROJECT MANAGER,
         MARSHALL SPACE FLIGHT CENTER

Contact at Marshall Space Flight Center:  June Malone, 
256/544-7061 or 256/544-0034;
Contact at Stennis Space Center: Lanee Cooksey, 228/688-3341. 

The NASA Video File airs at noon, 3, 6, 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 
at 6.8 megahertz. The full text of the most recent NASA 
Video File Advisory can be found at:

ftp://ftp.hq.nasa.gov/pub/pao/tv-advisory/nasa-tv.txt

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end of daily news summary