NASA Daily News Summary For Release: Nov. 16, 1998 Media Advisory 98-76 TODAY'S SUMMARY: * Weiler Named Associate Administrator for Space Science * Zarya Briefings and Launch Coverage Set * Third U.S. Space Station Assembly Crew Named * NASA Video File for Nov. 16, 1998 ********** WEILER NAMED ASSOCIATE ADMINISTRATOR FOR SPACE SCIENCE NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin today named Dr. Edward J. Weiler as Associate Administrator for NASA's Office of Space Science, effective immediately. Weiler has served as acting Associate Administrator since Sept. 28, following the departure of Dr. Wesley T. Huntress, Jr. Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC: Douglas Isbell/Don Savage 202/358-1547. Full text available at: ftp://ftp.hq.nasa.gov/pub/pao/pressrel/1998/98-204.txt ^^^^^ ZARYA BRIEFINGS AND LAUNCH COVERAGE SET The launch of the first component of the new International Space Station, the Russian-built, U.S.-owned Zarya Control Module, will be the subject of preflight briefings at the Russian Mission Control Center in Korolev, Russia--outside Moscow--at 8:00 a.m. EST (4:00 p.m. Moscow time) on Nov. 17. The news conference will take place just three days before Zarya is scheduled to be launched atop a Russian Proton rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakstan. The news conference will be broadcast live on NASA Television, but questions can only be asked by reporters at the Russian Mission Control Center. Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC: Debra J. Rahn 256-961-6226; in Russia 586-75-60 Contact at NASA Moscow Office: Kyle Herring 256/961-6225. Full text available at: ftp://ftp.hq.nasa.gov/pub/pao/note2edt/1998/n98-069.txt ^^^^^ THIRD U.S. SPACE STATION ASSEMBLY CREW NAMED Astronaut James D. Halsell, Jr. (Lieutenant Col., USAF) will command the third Space Shuttle mission to carry cargo to space for the International Space Station in August 1999. Joining Halsell in the flight deck for mission STS-101 aboard Atlantis will be Pilot Scott J. Horowitz, Ph.D. (Lieutenant Col., USAF). Rounding out the crew are Mission Specialists Mary Ellen Weber, Ph.D.; Edward Tsang Lu, Ph.D.; and Jeffrey N. Williams (Lieutenant Col., USA). As the third International Space Station assembly flight, the mission will carry internal logistics and resupply cargo for station operations. The equipment will further the outfitting of the Russian Service Module. Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC: Jennifer McCarter 202/358-1639. Contact at NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX: Doug Peterson 281/483-5111. Full text available at: ftp://ftp.hq.nasa.gov/pub/pao/pressrel/1998/98-205.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. 16, 1998 ITEM 1: STARDUST MISSION TO HARVEST COMET DUST The Stardust Comet Sample Return Mission, scheduled for launch on Feb. 6, 1999, from Cape Canaveral, FL, will meet up with Comet Wild 2 ("Vilt-2"), fly through the cloud of gases and dust around the head of the comet, and collect particles flying off the nucleus. The particles will be captured in aerogel, an exotic, jelly-like glass. In 2006, the Stardust samples will parachute to Earth in a clamshell-like reentry capsule and come to rest at a pre-selected spot in the Utah desert. The tiny particles Stardust brings back will reveal ingredients from the original recipe that made the planets. Contact at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA: Mary Beth Murrill 818/354-5011. Contact at NASA Kennedy Space Center, FL: George Diller 407/867-2468. Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC: Doug Isbell 202/358-1753. ITEM 2: NASA STUDYING LEONID METEOR STORM (replay) 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 3: BREAST CANCER DETECTION BY SMART PROBE (replay) Contact at NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA: John Bluck 650-604-5026. Contacts at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC: Terri Hudkins 202/358-1977 or Mike Braukus 202/358/1979. ITEM 4: VIRTUAL SCALPEL: PRACTICE FOR SURGERY (replay) Contact at NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA: John Bluck 650-604-5026. Contacts at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC: Terri Hudkins 202/358-1977 or 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. 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 ********** 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. 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