Donald Savage
Headquarters, Washington, DC                      April 30, 1998
(Phone:  202/358-1547)

Bill Steigerwald
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD
(Phone:  301/286-5017)

NOTE TO EDITORS:  N98-27

NEXT SPACE SCIENCE UPDATE FEATURES 
LARGEST EXPLOSION SINCE THE BIG BANG 

       The next Space Science Update, scheduled for 2 p.m. EDT, 
Wednesday, May 6, 1998, at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC, will 
feature the discovery of a gamma-ray burst which scientists are 
calling the most powerful explosion since the creation of the 
universe in the Big Bang.  The gamma-ray burst, originating in a 
distant galaxy, was first detected by the Italian Beppo-Sax 
satellite and NASA's Compton Gamma Ray Observatory, with follow-up 
observations using the Keck Observatory in Hawaii and the Kitt 
Peak Observatory in Arizona, and confirmed by NASA's Hubble Space 
Telescope. 

        Panelists will be:
  *   Dr. Shrinivas Kulkarni, Astronomer, California Institute of 
Technology, Pasadena, CA
  *   Dr. David Helfand, Professor of Astronomy, Columbia 
University, New York
  *   Dr. Stan Woosley, Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics, 
University of California, Santa Cruz
  *   Dr. John Bahcall, Professor, School of Natural Sciences at 
the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton University, NJ
  *   Dr. Alan Bunner, Science Director for the Structure and 
Evolution of the Universe  program, NASA Headquarters, Washington, 
DC, panel moderator.

       The Space Science Update will originate from the NASA 
Headquarters Auditorium, 300 E St., S.W., Washington, DC, and will 
be carried live on NASA TV with two-way question-and-answer 
capability for reporters covering the event from participating 
NASA centers.  

     NASA Television is broadcast on the GE-2 satellite, located 
on Transponder 9C, at 85 degrees West longitude, vertical 
polarization, frequency 3880.0 Mhz, audio 6.8 MHz.  Live audio of 
the broadcast will be available on voice circuit at NASA's Kennedy 
Space Center, FL, on 407/867-1220.

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