NASA Daily News Summary For Release: Dec. 21, 1998 Media Advisory 98-99 TODAY'S SUMMARY: NASA SELECTS NEW NAME AND SETS NEW LAUNCH DATE FOR ADVANCED SPACE X-RAY TELESCOPE NASA VIDEO FILE FOR DEC. 21, 1998 ********** NASA SELECTS NEW NAME AND SETS NEW LAUNCH DATE FOR ADVANCED SPACE X-RAY TELESCOPE NASA today set a new launch date for the Advanced X- ray Astrophysics Facility (AXAF), and announced that it will be renamed the Chandra X-ray Observatory in honor of the late Indian-American Nobel Laureate Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar. The Observatory will launched no earlier than April 8, 1999. It will be carried to space aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia on mission STS-93, commanded by astronaut Eileen Collins. The shipment of the spacecraft was delayed in mid- October so the prime contractor could complete testing on flight software. Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC: Donald Savage : 202/358-1547. Contact at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL: Dave Drachlis 256/544-0034. Contact at AXAF Science Center, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Cambridge, MA: Wallace Tucker 617-496-7998. Full text available at: ftp://ftp.hq.nasa.gov/pub/pao/pressrel/1998/98-225.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 ********** NASA VIDEO FILE FOR DEC. 21, 1998 ITEM 1: Advanced X-Ray Astrophysics Facility (AXAF) Animation and B-Roll to accompany release above. Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC: Donald Savage : 202/358-1547. Contact at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL: Dave Drachlis 256/544-0034. Contact at AXAF Science Center, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Cambridge, MA: Wallace Tucker 617-496-7998. ITEM 2: Apollo 8 Christmas Message Excerpt from Dec. 24, 1968, television broadcast by NASA Astronauts Frank Borman, James A. Lovell, Jr., and William A. Anders during the Apollo 8 mission. This was the first mission to orbit the moon. Upon entering lunar orbit, on Dec. 24, the astronauts broadcast vistas of the moon and "Earthrise" over the moon. As a Christmas message to the world, they read passages from Genesis. This is the 30th anniversary of this mission, which took place Dec. 21-27, 1968. Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC: Elvia Thompson 202/358-1696. ITEM 3: NASA'S Top 10 Video Files of 1998 (replay) 1: JOHN GLENN RETURNS TO SPACE Contact at NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX: Eileen Hawley 281/483-5111. 2: BUILDING THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION Contact at NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX: James Hartsfield 281/483-5111. Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC: Dwayne Brown 202/358-1726. 3: HUBBLE VIEWS POSSIBLE PLANET OUTSIDE MILKY WAY Contact at Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD: Ray Villard 410/338-4514. Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC: Don Savage: 202/358-1727. 4: GAMMA RAY BLAST RIVALS BIG BANG Contact at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD: Bill Steigerwald 301/286-5017. Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC: Don Savage 202/358-1727. 5: LUNAR PROSPECTOR FINDS ICE ON MOON Contact at NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA: David Morse 650/604-4724. Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC: Doug Isbell 202/358-1753. 6: EL NINO/LA NINA CAUSE SEVERE WEATHER Contact at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA: Mary Hardin 818/354-0344. 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. 7: ANTARCTIC OZONE HOLE BIGGEST YET 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. 8: SCIENTISTS DISCOVER MAGNETAR Contact at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL: Tim Tyson 256/544-0994. Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC: Don Savage 202/358-1727. 9: SOLAR POWERED AIRPLANE REACHES ALTITUDE RECORD Contact at NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, CA: Fred Brown 805/258-2663. Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC: Mike Braukus 202/358-1979. 10: EILEEN COLLINS NAMED FIRST FEMALE SHUTTLE COMMANDER Contact at NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX: Eileen Hawley 281/483-5111. ITEM 4: Launch (on Dec. 11) of Mars Climate Orbiter (replay) Contact at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA: Diane Ainsworth 818/354-5011. Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC: Doug Isbell 202/358-1753. ^^^^^ 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 2:00 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