NASA Daily News Summary

For Release: May 24, 1999

Media Advisory m99-103

Summary:

-- Upcoming Live Event: Hubble Team To Present Its Final Report On

Expansion Rate of the Universe, May 25
-- Video File for May 24, 1999
-- Upcoming STS-96 Live Events
-- Upcoming Live Interview Opportunity: STS-96

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UPCOMING LIVE EVENT: HUBBLE TEAM TO PRESENT ITS FINAL REPORT
ON EXPANSION RATE OF THE UNIVERSE, MAY 25
Having completed eight years of painstaking measurements, the
Hubble Space Telescope Key Project Team tomorrow will announce its
findings regarding how fast the universe is expanding. The rate of
expansion, a value called the Hubble Constant, is essential to
determining the age and size of the universe. The team will brief
reporters as part of a Space Science Update at 11 a.m. EDT, Tuesday, May
25, in the James E. Webb Auditorium at NASA Headquarters, 300 E St. SW,
Washington, DC. The briefing will be carried live on NASA Television
with two-way question-and-answer capabilities at the Centers.

Contact at NASA Headquarters: Don Savage, 202/358-1547;

Contact at NASA Goddard: Nancy Neal, 301/286-0039;
Contact at Space Telescope Science Institute: Ray Villard, 410/338-4514.

Full text of the release:

ftp://ftp.hq.nasa.gov/pub/pao/note2edt/1999/n99-031.txt

If NASA issues any news releases later today, we will

e-mail summaries and Internet URLs to this list.

Index of 1999 NASA News Releases:

http://www.nasa.gov/releases/1999/index.html

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Video File for May 24, 1999 (TRT approx. 65 minutes)

ITEM 1 CREW ARRIVAL AT KENNEDY SPACE CENTER (TRT 08:05 APPROX.) (REPLAY
FROM 5/23/99)
ITEM 2 STS-96 CREW TRAINING (TRT 05:00) (REPLAY)
ITEM 3 STS-96 MISSION ANIMATIONS (TRT 03:30) (REPLAY)
ITEM 4 STS-96 CREW INTERVIEWS (TRT 41:17)(REPLAY)
ITEM 5 STARSHINE (TRT 04:30) (REPLAY)

Note: A TV schedule combining mission events and other NASA television

items is now available at

http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/nasatv/schedule.html

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ITEM 1 CREW ARRIVAL AT KENNEDY SPACE CENTER (REPLAY FROM 5/23/99)
The STS-96 crew arrived at Kennedy Space Center, FL, May 23, 1999,
in preparation for the launch of Space Shuttle Discovery, May 27, 1999.
Contact at NASA Kennedy: Joel Wells, 407/867-2468.

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ITEM 2 STS-96 CREW TRAINING (REPLAY)
Footage includes suit up, electrical power system training (virtual
reality), orbiter space vision training, bailout training and the crew
photo session.

Contact at NASA Johnson: Eileen Hawley, 281/483-5111.

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ITEM 3 STS-96 MISSION ANIMATIONS (REPLAY)
STS-96, a 10-day flight, will take four men, three women and more
than 5,000 pounds of supplies to the International Space Station. While
docked with the station, the astronauts will conduct a spacewalk to
attach a crane to the station for future assembly missions. Animation
illustrates the mission.

Contact at NASA Johnson: Eileen Hawley, 281/483-5111.

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ITEM 4 STS-96 CREW INTERVIEWS (REPLAY)
ITEM 4A Commander Kent Rominger
ITEM 4B Pilot Rick Husband
ITEM 4C Mission Specialist Tamara Jernigan
ITEM 4D Mission Specialist Ellen Ochoa
ITEM 4E Mission Specialist Daniel Barry
ITEM 4F Mission Specialist Julie Payette, Canadian Space Agency
ITEM 4G Mission Specialist Valery Tokarev, Russian Space Agency

Contact at NASA Johnson: Eileen Hawley, 281/483-5111.

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ITEM 5 STARSHINE (REPLAY)
Item 5A Starshine Animation
Starshine is an international, educational satellite slated to
be launched from the Space Shuttle Discovery during upcoming STS-96
mission. This twinkling spacecraft will be visible to the naked eye
during morning and evening twilight periods, giving students around the
world an opportunity to make measurements and perform experiments by
tracking the satellite.

Item 5B A World Class Project: Student B-roll

Students have voluntarily machined, sanded, polished and inspected
878 tiny aluminum mirrors that comprise the surface of Starshine. B-roll
shows careful processing of the pieces by students from Edgar Allen Poe
Middle School.

Item 5C Entering the Clean Room at Goddard

Students from St. Michael the Arc Angel School in Baltimore, MD,
don "bunny suits" and enter the clean room at NASA Goddard Space Flight
Center where Starshine is prepared for shipment. B-roll includes a view
of the Starshine spacecraft spinning.

Contact at NASA Goddard: Nancy Neal, 301/286-0039.

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UPCOMING STS-96 LIVE EVENTS:

TUESDAY, MAY 25: 9 a.m. EDT, STS-96 L-2 COUNTDOWN STATUS BRIEFING
12:30 p.m. EDT, INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION STATUS
BRIEFING
4 p.m. EDT, STS-96 PRELAUNCH NEWS CONFERENCE
WEDNESDAY, MAY 26: 9 a.m. EDT, L-1 COUNTDOWN STATUS BRIEFING
10 a.m. EDT, STARSHINE BRIEFING

*****
UPCOMING LIVE INTERVIEW OPPORTUNITY: STS-96

TOPIC: Space Shuttle Discovery will lift off Thursday, May 27, at 6:48
a.m. EDT, taking an international crew of seven astronauts to the new
International Space Station, as the first visitors since its launch and
assembly last year. As part of the mission, astronauts Tamara Jernigan
and Daniel Barry will perform a spacewalk to attach a crane to the
exterior of the station.

TALENT: Astronauts Linda Godwin and Leroy Chiao.

Godwin, from Jackson, MO, performed a spacewalk outside Russia's
Mir space station in March 1996, on her third space flight. Chiao, of
Danville, CA, performed two spacewalks in January 1996 to demonstrate
tools and techniques for assembling the International Space Station.

TIME: May 26, 1999 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. EDT (Godwin)
7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. EDT (Chiao)

To book an interview window, call Pam Poe, 407/867-7820, pager 1-800-

759-8888 pin #1711738, or Ray Castillo, 202/358-4555.

NOTE: The interviews will air on Galaxy 3R (95 degrees West),

Transponder 12 (full), downlink frequency 11930 MHz,

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The NASA Video File 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
Pam Poe, 202/358-0373.

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/

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Contract Awards

Contract awards are posted to the NASA Acquisition

Information Service Web site:

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

*****
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end of daily news summary