NASA Daily News Summary

For Release: Dec. 8, 1998

Media Advisory 98-91

TODAY'S SUMMARY:

* Solar Wind Squeezes Some Of Earth's Atmosphere

Into Space

* NASA Video File for Dec. 8, 1998

* Contract Award: NASA Selects Future-X Flight Demonstrator

and Experiments

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SOLAR WIND SQUEEZES SOME OF EARTH'S ATMOSPHERE INTO SPACE

Researchers using NASA's Polar spacecraft have found the first

direct evidence that bursts of energy from the Sun can cause oxygen
and other gases to gush from Earth's upper atmosphere into space.
Scientists first saw this effect Sept. 24-25, 1998, when a storm
from the Sun smacked into the Earth. Using particle detectors on
Polar, they found that the flow of "polar wind" out of Earth¹s upper
atmosphere increased substantially when the storm hit. In effect,
pressure from the solar ejection squeezed gas out of the ionosphere.
Scientists have known since the early 1980s that Earth's upper
atmosphere leaks oxygen, helium, and hydrogen ions (atoms that have
gained or lost an electron) into space from regions near the poles.
But it was not until the Polar spacecraft flew through this fountain
of ionized gas in September 1998 that scientists confirmed that the
flow of ions was caused by solar activity.

Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC: Don Savage 202/358-

1547.

Contact at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD: Bill

Steigerwald 301/286-5017.

Full text available at:

ftp://ftp.hq.nasa.gov/pub/pao/pressrel/1998/98-221.txt

^^^^^

If additional news releases are issued later today, summaries and

Internet URLs will be e-mailed to this list.

Index of NASA News Releases:

http://www.nasa.gov/releases/1998/index.html
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VIDEO FILE FOR DEC. 8, 1998

ITEM 1: MARS CLIMATE ORBITER (replay)

Footage includes mission animation and hardware b-roll. The Climate

Orbiter is scheduled for launch from Kennedy Space Center on Dec. 10
at 1:56 p.m. EST.

Contact at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA: Diane

Ainsworth 818-354-5011.
Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC: Doug Isbell 202/358-
1753.

ITEM 2: GIANT FAULT ON EUROPA

Contact at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA: Jane Platt

818-354-0880.
Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC: Don Savage 202/358-
1727.

ITEM 3: CORONAL MASS EJECTIONS CRUSH EARTH'S ATMOSPHERE

Contact at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD:

Wade Sisler 301/286-6256.
Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC: Dave Steitz
202/358-1730.

ITEM 4: SPRING IS LONGER

Contact at NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA: John Bluck
650-604-5026.
Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC: Dave Steitz
202/358-1730.

ITEM 5: EL NINO: TOPEX/POSEIDON IMAGES (JPL)

Contact at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA: Mary

Hardin 818-354-0344.
Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC: Dave Steitz
202/358-1730.

ITEM 6: THE YEAR OF EL NINO/LA NINA (replay)

Contact at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD:

Wade Sisler 301/286-6256.
Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC: Dave Steitz
202/358-1730.
ITEM 7: MOLA/MGS PHOTOGRAPHS MARS' NORTH POLE (replay)

Contact at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD:

Wade Sisler 301/286-6256.
Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC: Doug Isbell
202/358-4555.

ITEM 8: IMPACTS OF LARGE FIRES (replay)

Contact at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD:

Wade Sisler 301/286-6256.
Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC: Dave Steitz
202/358-1730.

ITEM 9: EARTH'S RADIATION BELT (replay)

Contact at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD:

Wade Sisler 301/286-6256.
Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC: Dave Steitz
202/358-1730.

^^^^^

The NASA Video File normally airs at noon, 3:00, 6:00, 9:00
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.

Ray Castillo
NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC: 202/358-4555.

The most recent NASA Video File Advisory can be found at:
ftp://ftp.hq.nasa.gov/pub/pao/tv-advisory/nasa-tv.txt

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CONTRACT AWARDS

NASA SELECTS FUTURE-X FLIGHT DEMONSTRATOR AND

EXPERIMENTS

NASA has selected The Boeing Company, Downey, CA, for

negotiations leading to possible award of a four-year cooperative
agreement to develop the first in a continuous series of advanced
technology flight demonstrators called "Future-X." Total value of
the cooperative agreement, including NASA and Boeing contributions,
is estimated at $150 million, with an approximate 50/50 sharing
arrangement. Work under the cooperative agreement will begin
immediately depending on successful negotiations. Pending results
of these negotiations, alternative designs are available for NASA
selection. In addition, three companies and three NASA Centers were
selected for seven Future-X flight experiments with a total
estimated value of $24 million. The Future-X effort will be managed
by the Space Transportation Programs Office at NASA's Marshall Space
Flight Center, Huntsville, AL

Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC: Jim Cast 202/358-1779.

Contact at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL: June
Malone 256/544-0034.

Full text available at:

ftp://ftp.hq.nasa.gov/pub/pao/contract/1998/c98-w.txt

^^^^^

NASA contract awards are posted to:

http://procurement.nasa.gov/EPS/award.html

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**********

END OF DAILY NEWS SUMMARY