NASA Daily News Summary For Release: Nov. 12, 1998 Media Advisory 98-74 TODAY'S SUMMARY: * NASA Astrobiology to Shower Attention on Leonids * News Briefings on STS-88, Mars Mission set for Tomorrow * NASA Video for Nov. 12, 1998 ********** NASA ASTROBIOLOGY TO SHOWER ATTENTION ON LEONIDS On Nov. 17, NASA scientists will conduct unprecedented, detailed aircraft and ground measurements of the Leonid meteor storm. The Leonid meteors originate from a trail of dust and debris in the wake of the comet Tempel-Tuttle, which orbits the Sun every 33 years. The Earth crosses this trail every November, but every 33 years the debris trail is especially dense, sometimes resulting in a meteor storm. The "shooting stars" streak through Earth's upper atmosphere, sometimes at rates of up to thousands per hour. The storm's peak lasts approximately one hour. This year, Earth is expected to pass a region just behind the comet and outside of its orbit, a favorable set of conditions for a larger-than-normal storm event. The best viewing of this storm will be in eastern Asia and the western Pacific region. Additional information on the Leonid meteor storm and the mission can be found on the worldwide web at: http://www-space.arc.nasa.gov/~leonid/ During the mission, video animation and images will be available at: http://www.leonids.arc.nasa.gov Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC: Donald Savage 202/358-1727. Contact at NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA: Kathleen Burton 650/604-1731. Full text available at: ftp://ftp.hq.nasa.gov/pub/pao/pressrel/1998/98-202.txt ^^^^^ NEWS BRIEFINGS ON STS-88, MARS MISSION SET FOR TOMORROW A series of background briefings on the upcoming STS-88 mission--the first Space Shuttle flight for assembly of the International Space Station--and on NASA's next missions to Mars will be held tomorrow, Nov. 13. Full text of the Note to Editors available at: ftp://ftp.hq.nasa.gov/pub/pao/note2edt/1998/n98-068.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 ********** VIDEO FILE FOR NOV. 12, 1998 Item 1: NASA Studying Leonid Meteor Storm Animation illustrates the Earth as it moves through the meteor shower left in the wake of Comet Tempel-Tuttle. The Earth's path will intersect that of the meteor shower on Nov. 17, 1998. Other B-roll footage shows the Persied meteor shower, taken from a research aircraft on Nov. 5, 1997, and the NASA research aircraft that will study the Leonid meteor shower. Contact at NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA: Kathleen Burton 650/604-9000. Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC: Don Savage 202/358-1727. Item 2: NASA Building Giant Research Balloons Ultra Long Duration Balloons are being designed to stay afloat for several months with over a ton of astronomy or remote sensing equipment. This new balloon technology will enable a science payload to stay aloft for up to 100 days, at a constant altitude of approximately 120,000 feet. That is about 15 miles higher than typical passenger planes fly and above 99.9% of the Earth's atmosphere. This represents an enormous advance over current long-duration balloons that stay aloft for about 10 days and cannot maintain a constant altitude. Contact at NASA Wallops Flight Facility, Wallops Island, VA: Keith Koehler 757/824-1579. Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC: Don Savage 202/358-1727 or Dave Steitz 202/358-1730. Item 3: Preserving The Star Spangled Banner (Replay) Contact at NASA Goddard Space Center, Greenbelt, MD: Bill Steigerwald 301/286-5017. Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC: Doug Isbell 202/358-1753. Item 4: Deep Space 1 (Replay) Contact at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA: John Watson 818/354-5011. Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC: Doug Isbell 202/358-1753. Item 5: Lockheed Releases Updated C130 Plane (Replay) Contact at NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA: Keith Henry 757/864-6120. Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC: Mike Braukus: 202/358-1979 ^^^^^ The NASA Video File normally airs at noon, 3:00, 6:00, 9:00 p.m. and midnight Eastern time. For further information, please contact Ray Castillo, 202/358-4555. 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. The most recent NASA Video File Advisory can be found at: ftp://ftp.hq.nasa.gov/pub/pao/tv-advisory/nasa-tv.txt Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC: Ray Castillo 202/358-4555. ********** CONTRACT AWARDS NASA contract awards are posted to: http://procurement.nasa.gov/EPS/award.html ********** The NASA Daily News Summary is issued at approximately 2 p.m. Eastern time on business days when news releases, new Video File material or live events are scheduled. Members of the news media who wish to subscribe to or unsubscribe from this list should send an e-mail message to: brian.dunbar@hq.nasa.gov ********** END OF DAILY NEWS SUMMARY