NASA Daily News Summary For Release: Feb. 16, 2000 Media Advisory m00-029 SUMMARY NEWS RELEASES: ONSET OF TITANIC COLLISION LIGHTS UP SUPERNOVA RING VIDEO: ALL TIMES EASTERN Due to Live Coverage of Space Shuttle Mission STS-99, VIDEO FILE WILL ONLY RUN AT NOON PM TODAY. Video File: ITEM 1 - NEAR EARTH ASTEROID RENDEZVOUS (NEAR) MISSION IMAGES OF ASTEROID EROS ITEM 1a - NEW IMAGES ITEM 1b - IMAGES FIRST RELEASED YESTERDAY, FEB. 15 ITEM 2 - SHUTTLE RADAR TOPOGRAPHY MISSION (SRTM) IMAGES OF EARTH ITEM 2a - IMAGES FIRST RELEASED AT MISSION STATUS BRIEFING YESTERDAY, FEB. 15 ITEM 2b - IMAGES FIRST RELEASED AT MISSION STATUS BRIEFING MONDAY, FEB. 14 NOTE: NEW IMAGES WILL BE RELEASED AT TODAY'S MISSION STATUS BRIEFING ON NASA TELEVISION, 2:00 PM ITEM 3 - HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE IMAGE: ONSET OF TITANIC COLLISION LIGHTS UP SUPERNOVA RING ITEM 4 - NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES INDUCTS CARRUTHERS INTO ITS PORTRAIT GALLERY ITEM 5 - STARSHINE TO RE-ENTER EARTH'S ATMOSPHERE IN A BLAZE OF GLORY - GSFC ITEM 6 - STS-99 ANIMATION For the up-to-date NTV Schedule during Space Shuttle mission STS- 99 see: http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/nasatv/schedule.html --------------- Other Live Television Events This Week: February 17, Thursday * 9:00 - 11:00 am - NASA FY 2001 Budget Posture Hearing Before House Science Committee (tape delayed from 2/16/00) - HQ * 1:00 pm - NEAR Early Science Results Press Briefing - HQ February 18, Friday * 10:30 - Noon - International Space Station: Expedition 2000 (tape delayed from 2/17/00) ***************************** ONSET OF TITANIC COLLISION LIGHTS UP SUPERNOVA RING NASA's Hubble Space Telescope is giving astronomers a ringside seat to a never-before-seen, violent, celestial "main attraction" unfolding in a galaxy 169,000 light years away. The knockout event is the collision of the fastest moving debris from an immense stellar explosion seen in February 1987 with the gas ring that circles that site. This collision is beginning to cause the gases in the ring to glow as they are heated to millions of degrees and compressed by the sledgehammer blow of a 40 million mile-per- hour blast wave. In new pictures taken on February 2, Hubble's sharp view revealed four bright new knots of heated gas at places that had been fading slowly for a decade. Under an observing program called the supernova intensive survey, a team of astronomers has been monitoring SN1987A with Hubble since it was launched in 1990. Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC: Donald Savage (Phone 202/358-1547). Contact at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD: Nancy Neal (Phone 301/286-0039). Contact at Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD: Ray Villard (Phone 410/338-4707). For full text, see: ftp://ftp.hq.nasa.gov/pub/pao/pressrel/2000/00-027.txt ----------------------------- If NASA issues any news releases later today, we will e- mail summaries and Internet URLs to this list. Index of 2000 NASA News Releases: http://www.nasa.gov/releases/2000/index.html Index of 1999 NASA News Releases: http://www.nasa.gov/releases/1999/index.html ***************************** Video File for Feb. 16, 2000: ITEM 1 - FOUR IMAGES OF OF ASTEROID EROS FROM---------TRT :15 each NEAR EARTH ASTEROID RENDEZVOUS (NEAR) MISSION Contact at Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD: Helen Worth (Phone 240/228-5113). Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC: Donald Savage (Phone 202/358-1547). In the first hours after NEARıs insertion into orbit around Eros, the spacecraftıs camera took these images from a range of 210 miles above the surface. The many craters visible serve as landmarks for navigating the spacecraft. Images taken Feb. 14, 2000. ITEM 2 - SHUTTLE RADAR TOPOGRAPHY MISSION (SRTM) IMAGES OF EARTH NOTE: NEW IMAGES WILL BE RELEASED AT TODAY'S MISSION STATUS BRIEFING ON NASA TELEVISION, 2:00 PM Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC: David E. Steitz (Phone 202/358-1730). ITEM 2a - Image of Paranagua, Brazil----------------------TRT :15 These X-SAR data were recorded by Endeavour on Feb. 15, 2000, over the Baia de Paranagua in Brazil, approx. 200 km southeast of Sao Paulo located in the State of Parana. The Baia de Paranagua is an estuary. Further inland the highest peak of the Serra do Mar Range, the Pico Parana, is visible. ITEM 2b - 3-D ISLAND IMAGERY------------------------------TRT :15 These X-band radar images were recently acquired by the Space Radar Topography Mission payload aboard Endeavour on Feb. 15, 2000. This 3-D image shows two islands, Miquelon and Saint Pierre, located south of Newfoundland, Canada. ITEM 2c - SOUTH AFRICA------------------------------------TRT :15 This image shows a portion of the Great Karoo region of South Africaıs Northern Cape Province. The semi-arid area is known for its unique variety of flora and fauna. ITEM 2d - SRTM IMAGE OF BRAZIL----------------------------TRT :15 This topographic image acquired by SRTM shows an area south of the Sao Francisco River in Brazil. The scrub forest terrain shows relief of about 1300 ft. Areas like this are difficult to map by traditional methods because of frequent cloud cover and local inaccessibility. ITEM 2e - SRTM IMAGE OF WHITE SANDS, NM------------------TRT :15 X-band radar image taken from Endeavour in the course of the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission. ITEM 2f - SRTM IMAGE OF KAMCHATKA, RUSSIA-----------------TRT :15 These X-band radar images were recently acquired by the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission payload aboard Endeavour. This image is from Kamtchatka, Russia, at 90 meters. This close-up image shows terrain characteristics of the region never seen before. ITEM 2g - SRTM IMAGE OF KAMCHATKA, RUSSIA-----------------TRT :15 These X-band radar images were recently acquired by the Space Radar Topography Mission payload aboard Endeavour. This image is from Kamtchatha, Russia at 90 meters. This detailed image shows terrain characteristics of the region never seen before. ITEM 3 - HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE IMAGE: ONSET OF TITANIC COLLISION LIGHTS UP SUPERNOVA RING Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC: Donald Savage (Phone 202/358-1547). Contact at Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD: Ray Villard (Phone 410/338-4707). ITEM 3a - NEW HUBBLE IMAGES-------------------------------TRT :50 New Hubble images of SN1987A taken Feb. 2, 2000, show that four new knots of gas have begun to glow in the complex ring structure surrounding the exploded star. This animation shows the evolution of the structure from the initial explosion in 1987 to the present. TRT - :50 ITEM 3b - SUPERNOVA 1987A RING BLAZES---------------------TRT :15 This NASA Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 image shows the blowing gas ring around Supernova 1987A as seen on Feb. 2, 2000. Excited by light from the explosion, the gas has been fading for a decade; parts of it are now being heated by the collision of an invisible shockwave from the Supernova explosion. ITEM 3c - BRIGHT KNOTS IN THE SKY-------------------------TRT :15 Image processing emphasizes four new bright knots of superheated gas in the observation. The brightest knot at the far right was first seen in 1998. Astronomers have been waiting three years to see more of the ring light up as the Supernova shockwave smashes into it. This is a first sign of the collision to come in the near future. ITEM 4 - NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES INDUCTS CARRUTHERS INTO ITS PORTRAIT GALLERY Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC: Sonja Alexander (Phone 202/358-1761). ITEM 4a - FOOTAGE FROM EVENT------------------------------TRT 6:32 Dr. George Carruthers was one of three accomplished African Americans inducted into the National Academies portrait gallery on Feb. 14, 2000. Former astronaut Dr. Bernard Harris spoke to students from several Washington, D.C. area schools. Music was provided by the Walter Johnson Gospel/Show choir. ITEM 4b - INTERVIEW EXCERPTS------------------------------TRT 2:06 Dr. George Carruthers, Senior Astrophysicist, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC ITEM 5 - STARSHINE TO RE-ENTER EARTH'S ATMOSPHERE IN A BLAZE OF GLORY - GSFC The Student-Tracked Atmospheric Research Satellite for Heuristic International Networking Equipment (STARSHINE) will re-enter the Earth's atmosphere in a fiery blaze of glory after nine months in orbit on approximately February 18 or 19. Contact at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD: Nancy Neal (Phone 301/286-0039). Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC: Delores Beasley (Phone 202/358-1753). http://www.azinet.com/starshine/index.html ITEM 5a - STARSHINE ANIMATION The Student-Tracked Atmospheric Research Satellite for Heuristic International Networking Equipment (STARSHINE) will re-enter the Earth's atmosphere in a fiery blaze of glory after nine months in orbit on approximately February 18 or 19. STARSHINE was launched from a Get Away Special (GAS) canister with a Hitchhiker ejection system onboard Discovery. Its highly inclined, low earth orbit allows its mirrors to reflect back flashes of sunlight to observers on Earth. ITEM 5b - STARSHINE'S RETURN TO EARTH STARSHINE is slowly falling in altitude with each orbit of the Earth's atmosphere. Predictions indicate that it will end its nine-month mission on approximately February 18 or 19, when it will descend to an altitude low enough for aerodynamic heating to cause it to become a spectacular falling object in the sky and as it vaporizes completely. The reentry coincides with the peak of the 11-year solar cycle, resulting in a more varied orbit for the satellite's descent. In addition, the data gathered may be able to provide scientists with information about the solar cycle peak's affect on our atmosphere. ITEM 5c - ANIMATION OF STUDENTS OBSERVING STARSHINE Students around the world measured STARSHINE'S rise and set in the sky in terms of longitude, latitude and altitude from their observing sites, then posted their observations on the project's web site. Students will be encouraged to try to see the fiery reentry and capture it on film if possible. Groups such as the U.S. Space Command also will be observing and recording the event. ITEM 5d - DISCO BALL ROCKS IN SPACE Video shows a replica of STARSHINE and how it would reflect light from the sun. STARSHINE was built by the Naval Research Laboratory, Washington D.C., for deployment into space at a low earth orbit from a Hitchhiker canister on the Space Shuttle Discovery. Students of all ages around the world worked on nearly 900 of the tiny mirrors in their classrooms and then sent them back to the project, for placement on the spacecraft. ITEM 5e - A WORLD CLASS PROJECT The 878 tiny aluminum mirrors were voluntarily machined, sanded, polished, and inspected by students of all ages around the world. Students in the video are from Edgar Allen Poe Middle School in Annandale, VA. The mirrors were mounted on the surface of the STARSHINE spacecraft to reflect flashes of sunlight to observers on Earth during its mission. ITEM 5f - INTEGRATION OF STARSHINE STARSHINE is placed into its canister before being shipped to NASA's Kennedy Space Center, FL. The ejection system that sent Starshine into space is also shown. ITEM 6 - STS-99 ANIMATION--------------------------------TRT 16:14 ----------------------------- Unless otherwise noted, ALL TIMES ARE EASTERN. ANY CHANGES TO THE LINE-UP WILL APPEAR ON THE NASA VIDEO FILE ADVISORY ON THE WEB AT ftp://ftp.hq.nasa.gov/pub/pao/tv-advisory/nasa-tv.txt WE UPDATE THE ADVISORY THROUGHOUT THE DAY. The NASA Video File normally airs at noon, 3 p.m., 6 p.m., 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 on 6.8 megahertz. Refer general questions about the video file to NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC: Ray Castillo, 202/358-4555, or Elvia Thompson, 202/358-1696, elvia.thompson@hq.nasa.gov During Space Shuttle missions, the full NASA TV schedule will continue to be posted at: http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/nasatv/schedule.html For general information about NASA TV see: http://www.nasa.gov/ntv/ ***************************** Contract Awards Contract awards are posted to the NASA Acquisition information Service Web site: http://procurement.nasa.gov/EPS/award.html ***************************** The NASA Daily News Summary is issued each business day at approximately 2 p.m. Eastern time. Members of the media who wish to subscribe or unsubscribe from this list, please send e-mail message to: Brian.Dunbar@hq.nasa.gov ***************************** end of daily news summary