NASA Daily News Summary For Release: Feb. 18, 2000 Media Advisory m00-33 SUMMARY NEWS RELEASES: Crews Names to Continue Space Station Assembly Newfound Quasar Wins Title of "Most Distant in the Universe" VIDEO: Due to Live Coverage of Space Shuttle Mission STS-99, VIDEO FILE WILL ONLY RUN AT NOON TODAY. Video Heads Up for noon EST, Monday, Feb. 21: NASA REMOTE SENSORS TRACK URBAN SPRAWL, LOCAL CLIMATE CHANGE ***************************** Crews Names to Continue Space Station Assembly Veteran Shuttle commanders James Halsell (Col., USAF) and Terrence Wilcutt (Lt. Col., USMC) will lead the next two Space Shuttle missions to continue on-orbit assembly of the International Space Station NASA managers announced today, as they officially added Shuttle mission STS-106 to the manifest. Full text: ftp://ftp.hq.nasa.gov/pub/pao/pressrel/2000/00-029.txt NASA Headquarters contact: Kirsten Williams (Phone: 202/358-0243) Johnson Space Center contact: Doug Peterson (Phone: 281/483-5111) ----------------------------- Newfound Quasar Wins Title of "Most Distant in the Universe" If Guinness had a Book of Cosmic Records, a newly discovered quasar in the constellation Cetus would make the front page. This distant quasar easily skates past the previous record-holder, placing it among the earliest known structures ever to form in the Universe. "As soon as we saw the spectrum, we knew we had something special," said Dr. Daniel Stern of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA. " . . . This quasar told us that it was 'An Ancient' -- one of the Universe's first structures." Full text: ftp://ftp.hq.nasa.gov/pub/pao/pressrel/2000/00-030.txt NASA Headquarters contact: Donald Savage (Phone: 202/358-1547) National Science Foundation contact: Amber Jones (Phone: 703/306- 1070) Jet Propulsion Laboratory contact: Michelle Viotti (Phone: 818/354- 8774) ----------------------------- 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 ***************************** For the up-to-date NTV Schedule during Space Shuttle mission STS- 99 see: http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/nasatv/schedule.html Video File for noon EST, Feb. 21 NASA REMOTE SENSORS TRACK URBAN SPRAWL, LOCAL CLIMATE CHANGE Title: New Views of Effects of Exploding Urban Growth Release Date:February 22, 2000 Contact: Wade Sisler (301) 286-6256 David Steitz (202) 358-1730 TRT: ~ 15 minutes Library #: G00-015 URLs: http://www.svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/imagewall/aaas SYNOPSIS: Ask anyone who lives in D.C. or New York or Phoenix: urban growth is booming and it's having profound effects on people's lives. Now research data confirms it. Using sophisticated remote sensing systems, scientists have evidence of significant changes to regional geography. This Video File contains data visualizations illustrating wide ranging effects of urban sprawl. Item 1 ATLANTA SPREADS OUT AND HEATS UP This narrated composite sequence begins with thermal imagery showing how Atlanta has actually become a "heat island." The second part of the sequence shows growth of Atlanta over the past 17 years. The final portion of the sequence shows how the large heat island is actually beginning to change the weather. Item 2 3-D HEAT SIGNATURE Using a specially outfitted Lear Jet, NASA researchers collected thermal data about the Atlanta metro area. White and red colors indicate highest temperatures, respectively, and blues indicating cooler temperatures. As the city rotates, the data fades to a nighttime reading. Using the same color scale, you can see how much heat remains locked in the developed areas of the city, a phenomena which becomes instantly apparent as the picture zooms out again to show the long stripe of data draped across the terrain. ITEM 3 PATTERNS OF URBAN GROWTH In this visualization, red and orange points indicate areas of highest urban growth. Researchers assembled data from Landsat satellites in the early 70's to the late 90's and created plots of growth over time, providing valuable context for more detailed studies of air quality, climate changes, and urban planning. ITEM 4 HEAT ISLANDS CHANGE THE WEATHER Atlanta's strong urban may be affecting the region's climate. As observed by one of the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES), clouds begin forming over the city and pick up strength and size as they develop, moving east. Research suggests that as the city holds onto heat at night, it creates a low pressure system, with hot air rising and cooler surrounding air rushing in to replace it. That cooler air condenses and forms thunderclouds. ITEM 5 CITY ZONING AND URBAN GROWTH-A COMPARISON Urbanization is as much a function of planning as it is of economic vitality. From space, two large U.S. metro areas show dramatically different signals of urban sprawl and growth, largely the result of different zoning strategies. Portland, Oregon and the Washington, D.C. metro have both benefited from the robust economy, with growth propelling construction and development in both areas. ITEM 7 LANDSAT ANIMATION ----------------------------- 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 Fred Brown, 202/358-0713, fred.brown@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