NASA Daily News Summary For Release: Mar. 8, 2000 Media Advisory m00-45 SUMMARY NEWS RELEASES: HIGH RESOLUTION IMAGES SHOW BIG DIFFERENCES BETWEEN MARS POLAR CAPS VIDEO: VIDEO FILE: ITEM 1 - MARS GLOBAL SURVEYOR HIGH RESOLUTION IMAGES SHOW BIG DIFFERENCES BETWEEN MARS' POLAR CAPS- JPL ITEM 2 - GALILEO SPACECRAFT GETS THUMBS UP TO CONTINUE EXPLORING JUPITER NOTES FOR PRODUCERS: THE "CHEESY" SIDES OF MARS LIVE INTERVIEWS ON THURSDAY, MARCH 9 NEW MARS IMAGES AND LIVE INTERVIEW OPPORTUNITIES ABOUT MARS ON FRIDAY, MARCH 10 LIVE TELEVISION EVENTS THIS WEEK ------------------------ VIDEO PRODUCERS NOTE: THE "CHEESY" SIDES OF MARS LIVE INTERVIEWS ON THURSDAY: FROM: Jack Dawson, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, (818) 354-0040 NEW NASA IMAGES REVEAL THE 'CHEESY' SIDES OF MARS New images from NASA's Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft show the red planet's North Pole looks like cottage cheese, while the South Pole resembles Swiss cheese, leaving scientists hungry for answers about how the two regions evolved so differently. Scientists publishing a paper in the journal Nature on March 9 say closeups of the North polar cap of Mars show a relatively flat, pitted surface that resembles cottage cheese, while the South polar cap has larger pits, troughs and flat mesas that give it a holey, Swiss cheese appearance. The pitted look of the South pole is seen nowhere else on Mars. This leads scientists to speculate that these strange landforms may mean the South polar region is dominated by dry ice, while the North polar cap is mostly water ice. On Earth plant life and the oceans remove and recycle carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. But on Mars, which has neither plant life nor oceans, there should be a lot more carbon dioxide found in its atmosphere. Mars Global Surveyor, in orbit around Mars since September 1997, has returned a wealth of new findings about the red planet. The mission is managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, DC. Live satellite interview opportunities are available with planetary scientist Dr. Andy Ingersoll from 6:00 to 10:00 a.m. EST on Thursday, March 9. B-roll and interviews will be carried 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. Emergency telephone numbers are 818/354-0246 and 818/354-2113. 6-10 a.m. EST - Dr. Andy Ingersoll is a Caltech professor of planetary science and coauthor of the Nature paper. With expertise in comparative planetology, weather and climate and global change, Ingersoll relates the new Mars findings to studies of Earth's atmosphere. The new findings may be an indication that the missing carbon dioxide on Mars is locked up as dry ice in the South polar region. Ingersoll earned his bachelor's degree from Amherst College in Massachusetts, and his master's degree and doctorate from Harvard University. At Caltech since 1966, Ingersoll has been on the science teams of numerous robotic missions to Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. POSSIBLE QUESTIONS: * What do these findings tell us about the Martian past? * If Mars once had abundant water, where did it go? * Why does Mars have a carbon dioxide atmosphere while Earth's is mostly nitrogen? * How does studying Mars' climate history help us understand Earth's environment? ------------------------ VIDEO PRODUCERS NOTE: NEW MARS IMAGES ON FRIDAY: TAKE A 3-D TOUR OF A MYSTERIOUS, HIDDEN MARS --"Don't wait for the Movie" On Friday, as Hollywood launches millions of moviegoers on a fictional adventure to Mars, NASA will release striking new 3-D images of the real Mars. The new images allow scientists to look beneath the surface of Mars and provide a window into Mars' geologic past--a window that reveals tantalizing clues into the evolution of some of the most puzzling surface features of any planet in our solar system. Planetary Scientist Dr. Jim Garvin will be available to discuss the images Friday, March 10, from 6:00 - 11:00 a.m. EST. The interviews come to you from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD. Ask Jim about the 3-D images: - Mission to Mars is another in a long series of Mars movies. What do you think is behind public's fascination with Mars? (Video: 3-D Flyover Mars Montage of Valleys, Mars Surface) - What excites Scientists at NASA about studying Mars? (Video: Polar Caps) - How do the most recent images allow scientists to see inside the red planet? (Video: Mars Window) - What do the new images say about Mars' early past? (Video: Inside Mars) - Why are scientists interested in finding water on Mars? (Video: Mars B-Roll) - How are the 3-D Images Created? (Video: 3-D Flyover) Book a window: Deanna Corridon (301-286-0041; corridon@pop100.gsfc.nasa.gov) or Wade Sisler 301-286-6256, 888- 474-0914 pager, wsisler@pop100.gsfc.nasa.gov). Basic window is four minutes long with a one-minute transition. Roll-ins/B-roll: It is recommended that we roll the short video sequences for you so our talent can see and talk to the visuals. We will also uplink B-roll at 5:50 a.m. EST on Friday, March 10. NASA-TV: The interview will take place on NASA-TV. 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. ------------------------ LIVE TELEVISION EVENTS THIS WEEK: March 9, Thursday *5:30 - 10:00 am - Mars Global Surveyor Images of the North and South Pole of Mars Live News Interviews - JPL *1:00 pm - Backside of the Sun Space Science Update - HQ 5:00 - 7:00 pm - KC-135 Student Campaign Live News Interviews - JSC March 10, Friday 5:00 - 11:30 am - Latest Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) Images Live News Interviews - GSFC March 11, Saturday 8:00 am - 5:00 pm - Kennedy Space Center Southeast Regional First Robotics Competition - KSC ***************************** NEWS RELEASES: HIGH RESOLUTION IMAGES SHOW BIG DIFFERENCES BETWEEN MARS POLAR CAPS New high-resolution images from NASA's Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft comparing the ice caps at the North and South poles show the difference between the two regions is in the "cheese." The North polar cap has a relatively flat, pitted surface that resembles cottage cheese, while the South polar cap has larger pits, troughs and flat mesas that give it a holey Swiss-cheese appearance. Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC: Donald Savage (Phone 202/358-1547). Contact at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA: Mary Hardin (Phone 818/354-5011). Contact at Cornell University, Ithaca, NY: David Brand (Phone: 607/255-3651). Contact at California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA: Robert Tindol (Phone: 626/395-3631). For full text, see: ftp://ftp.hq.nasa.gov/pub/pao/pressrel/2000/00-035.txt ----------------------------- If NASA issues any news releases later today, we will e- mail summaries and Internet URLs to this list. 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