NASA Daily News Summary For Release: June 13, 2000 Media Advisory m00-116 SUMMARY NEWS RELEASES NEW ROCKET TECHNOLOGY COULD CUT MARS TRAVEL TIME BACK TO THE GARDEN: NASA GOES FROM PLANTS TO PLANETS VIDEO ***ALL TIMES EASTERN*** VIDEO FILE FOR JUNE 13, 2000 ITEM 1 - PLASMA POWER SPEEDS UP SOLAR SYSTEM EXPLORATION - JSC ITEM 2 - SENSOR WEBS MAY MONITOR BIOLOGICAL ACTIVITY ON PLANETS - JPL UPCOMING TELEVISION EVENTS ***************************** NEWS RELEASES NEW ROCKET TECHNOLOGY COULD CUT MARS TRAVEL TIME An agreement to collaborate on development of an advanced rocket technology that could cut in half the time required to reach Mars, opening the solar system to human exploration in the next decade, has been signed by NASA's Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX, and MSE Technology Applications Inc., Butte, MT. The technology could reduce astronauts' total exposure to space radiation and lessen time spent in weightlessness, perhaps minimizing bone and muscle mass loss and circulatory changes. Full text: ftp://ftp.hq.nasa.gov/pub/pao/pressrel/2000/00-091.txt Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC: Michael Braukus (Phone: 202/358-1979). Contact at NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX: John Ira Petty (Phone: 281/483-5111). Contact at MSE Technology Applications, Inc., Butte, MT: Dave Micheletti (Phone: 406/494-7289). RELEASE: 00-91 ---------------------------- BACK TO THE GARDEN: NASA GOES FROM PLANTS TO PLANETS NASA scientists have gone back to the garden, "planting" wireless webs of small sensors in gardens here on Earth in preparation for missions to help monitor biological activity on planets. Sensor webs like those being tested will help make possible a key NASA goal to establish a virtual presence for exploration throughout the solar system. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, CA, and the Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens, San Marino, CA, have joined forces to study micro-climates, placing webs in the various specialized gardens at the Huntington. Like satellites and telescopes remotely "measuring" planets across the vast reaches of space, the webs allow large areas to be monitored. Unlike remote operations, sensor webs are placed inside the environment -- thus making them capable of on-site detection not possible from afar. Full text: ftp://ftp.hq.nasa.gov/pub/pao/pressrel/2000/00-092.txt Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC: Michael Braukus (Phone: 202/358-1979). Contact at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA: Nancy Lovato (Phone: 818/354-6278). ---------------------------- If NASA issues any news releases later today, we will e- mail summaries and Internet URLs to this list. Index of 2000 NASA News Releases: http://www.nasa.gov/releases/2000/index.html Index of 1999 NASA News Releases: http://www.nasa.gov/releases/1999/index.html ***************************** VIDEO UPCOMING TELEVISION EVENTS June 13, Tuesday - 12:45 - 1:15 p.m. - Astronaut Jeff Williams Live News Interview with WTMJ - JSC June 14, Wednesday - *1:00 - 2:15 p.m. - Urban Heat Island Live News Interview - MSFC - 5:00 - 7:00 p.m. - Plasma Rocket Live News Interviews - JSC June 15, Thursday - 6:00 - 10:00 a.m. - Urban Heat Islands Live News Interviews - MSFC - 1:30 - 3:30 p.m. - Agency Honor Awards - HQ - 4:30 - 9:00 p.m. - Planetary Sensor Web Live News Interview - JPL June 17, Saturday - 9:00 - 10:00 a.m. - That NASA Show: "Space Clothes" and "Tortillas in Space" - HQ - 10:00 - 11:00 a.m. - That NASA Show: "Space Clothes" and "Tortillas in Space" - HQ - 11:00 a.m. - Noon - That NASA Show: "Space Clothes" and "Tortillas in Space" - HQ June 18, Sunday - 9:00 - 10:00 a.m. - That NASA Show: "Space Clothes" and "Tortillas in Space" - HQ - 10:00 - 11:00 a.m. - That NASA Show: "Space Clothes" and "Tortillas in Space" - HQ - 11:00 a.m. - Noon - That NASA Show: "Space Clothes" and "Tortillas in Space" - HQ For a complete list of upcoming live television events, see http://www.nasa.gov/ntv/breaking.html ----------------------------- Unless otherwise noted, ALL TIMES ARE EASTERN. ANY CHANGES TO THE VIDEO LINE-UP WILL APPEAR ON THE NASA VIDEO FILE ADVISORY ON THE WEB AT ftp://ftp.hq.nasa.gov/pub/pao/tv-advisory/nasa-tv.txt WE UPDATE THE ADVISORY THROUGHOUT THE DAY. The NASA Video File normally 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 Fred Brown, 202/358-0713, fred.brown@hq.nasa.gov 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/ ***************************** Contract Awards Contract awards are posted to the NASA Acquisition information Service Web site: http://procurement.nasa.gov/EPS/award.html ***************************** The NASA Daily News Summary is issued each business day at approximately 2 p.m. Eastern time. Members of the media who wish to subscribe or unsubscribe from this list, please send e-mail message to: Brian.Dunbar@hq.nasa.gov ***************************** end of daily news summary