NASA Daily News Summary For Release: Dec. 11, 2000 Media Advisory m00-226 SUMMARY NEWS RELEASES NASA ROBOTICS MAY SOON HELP SPINAL CORD PATIENTS TAKE FIRST STEPS STUDENTS USING NASA AND NSF DATA MAKE STELLAR DISCOVERY; WIN SCIENCE TEAM COMPETITION VIDEO **ALL TIMES EASTERN*** VIDEO FILE FOR DEC. 11, 2000 UPCOMING TELEVISION EVENTS ************ NEWS RELEASES ************ NASA ROBOTICS MAY SOON HELP SPINAL CORD PATIENTS TAKE FIRST STEPS NASA engineers and University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), neurophysiologists are creating a robot-like device that could help rehabilitate thousands of Americans with spinal cord injuries. The device, still in the development phase, will look like a treadmill with robotic arms, and will be fitted with a harness to support the patient's weight. The arms resemble knee braces that attach to the patient's leg, guiding the legs properly on the moving treadmill. The robotic stepper device is one of several projects in the Neural Repair Program at the UCLA Brain Research Institute and JPL. UCLA neurologists now believe that by using the robotic stepper device in rehabilitation, some patients functionally confined to wheelchairs may be able to learn to walk again, and those with limited movement could improve their level of walking. Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC: Michael Braukus (Phone: 202/358-1979) Contact at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA: Carolina Martinez (Phone: 818/354-9382) Contact at University of California, Los Angeles, CA: Harlan Lebo (Phone: 310/206-0510) For full text see: ftp://ftp.hq.nasa.gov/pub/pao/pressrel/2000/00-194.txt ----------------------------------- STUDENTS USING NASA AND NSF DATA MAKE STELLAR DISCOVERY; WIN SCIENCE TEAM COMPETITION Three high school students, using data from NASA's Chandra X- ray Observatory and the National Science Foundation's Very Large Array (VLA), today won first place in the Siemens-Westinghouse Science and Technology Competition in Washington, DC. The team award was based on their discovery of the first evidence of a neutron star in the nearby supernova remnant IC443. All Three students are from the North Carolina School for Science and Mathematics (NCSSM) in Durham, NC. Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC: Dolores Beasley (Phone: 202/358-1753) Contact at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL: Steve Roy (Phone: 256/544-6535) Contact at Chandra X-ray Observatory Center, Cambridge, MA: Megan Watzke (Phone: 617/496-7998) Contact at National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Socorro, NM: David Finley (Phone: 505/835-7302) For full text see: ftp://ftp.hq.nasa.gov/pub/pao/pressrel/2000/00-195.txt ----------------------------------- 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 FILE ************ VIDEO FILE FOR DEC. 11, 2000 ITEM 1 - HIGH DEPENDABILITY COMPUTER CONSORTIUM WITH CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY - AMES ITEM 2 - HEALTH OF CORAL REEFS (REPLAY BY REQUEST) - GSFC ------------------------------- 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. **** Note **** During Space Shuttle missions, the NASA Television schedule can be found at the following web address: http://ston.jsc.nasa.gov/tvsked/schedule.html ************ UPCOMING TELEVISION EVENTS ************ Upcoming Television Events: December 11, Monday *6:04 p.m. - STS-97 Landing December 12, Tuesday *2:00 a.m. - Noon - Expedition I Live Coverage and Commentary - JSC *Noon - 12:30 p.m. - NASA Video File - HQ *12:30 p.m. - STS-97 Astronaut Post Landing Press Conference - KSC December 13, Wednesday *2:00 - 11:00 a.m. - Expedition I Live Coverage and Commentary - JSC 11:00 a.m. - Twin Aerospike Engine Testing Press Briefing - MSFC December 14, Thursday *2:00 a.m. - Noon - Expedition I Live Coverage and Commentary - JSC *TBD - Expedition I PAO Event - JSC 4:30 - 9:00 p.m. - Robotic Stepper Live News Interviews - JPL December 15, Friday *2:00 a.m. - Noon - Expedition I Live Coverage and Commentary - JSC *4:00 - 5:00 p.m. - Expedition I Status Briefing - JSC December 16, Saturday *1:00 a.m. - Midnight - ISS Weekend Audio (A/G) - JSC December 17, Sunday *1:00 a.m. - Midnight - ISS Weekend Audio (A/G) - JSC December 18, Monday *2:00 a.m. - Noon - Expedition I Live Coverage and Commentary - JSC For a complete list of upcoming live television events, see http://www.nasa.gov/ntv/breaking.html During Space Shuttle missions, the NASA Television schedule can be found at the following web address: http://ston.jsc.nasa.gov/tvsked/schedule.html ----------------------------------- Unless otherwise noted, ALL TIMES ARE EASTERN. 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. 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