Dolores Beasley
Headquarters, Washington, DC         April 20, 2000
(Phone: 202/358-1753)

Amber Jones
National Science Foundation, Arlington, VA
(Phone: 703/306-1070)

NOTE TO EDITORS:  N00-17

THE UNIVERSE IN ITS INFANCY:  
NEW FINDINGS UNVEILED AT NEWS BRIEFING

     The first detailed images of the early universe will be 
revealed at a news briefing at 2 p.m. EDT Wednesday, April 26, in 
the James E. Webb Auditorium at NASA Headquarters, 300 E St., SW, 
Washington, DC.

The images were obtained by the BOOMERANG (Balloon Observations 
of Millimetric Extragalactic Radiation and Geophysics) experiment, 
which was designed to map the cosmic microwave background.  
BOOMERANG obtained the images using an extremely sensitive 
telescope suspended from a balloon that circumnavigated the 
Antarctic for 10 1/2 days during December 1998 and January 1999. 

Panelists will be:
*   Harley Thronson, Senior Science Manager, Office of Space 
Science, NASA Headquarters
*   Andrew Lange, Astrophysicist, California Institute of 
Technology, Pasadena
*   Paolo deBernardis, Astrophysicist, Universita Roma La 
Sapienza, Italy
*   Robert Eisenstein, Assistant Director, Mathematical & Physical 
Sciences, National Science Foundation, Arlington, VA
*   Michael Turner, Astrophysicist, University of Chicago, 
Chicago, IL

The BOOMERANG project is supported by NASA, the National 
Science Foundation and the Department of Energy in the United 
States; by the Italian Space Agency, the Italian Antarctic 
Research Programme, and the University of Rome La Sapienza in 
Italy; and by the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council 
in the United Kingdom.  The 36 team members come from 16 
universities and organizations in the United States, Italy, United 
Kingdom and Canada. 

The science briefing will be carried live on NASA Television 
with two-way question-and-answer capability for reporters covering 
the event from participating NASA centers.  

     NASA Television is broadcast on the GE2 satellite, 
Transponder 9C, at 85 degrees West longitude, with vertical 
polarization, frequency 3880.0 MHz, audio 6.8 MHz.

                           -end-

NOTE TO EDITORS:  The time of this briefing may slip due to STS-
101 Shuttle mission activities.