Douglas Isbell/Don Savage
Headquarters, Washington, DC                      August 2, 1999
(Phone:  202/358-1547)

John Watson
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA
(Phone: 818/354-5011)

NOTE TO EDITORS:  N99-42

ASTEROID FLYBY RESULTS BRIEFING SET FOR AUGUST 3

     NASA'S Deep Space 1 spacecraft flew by the asteroid Braille 
in the early morning hours of July 29, completing all of the 
mission's primary technology tests and gathering bonus scientific 
data.  Although the spacecraft did not obtain close-up images of 
the asteroid, it took low-resolution, black-and-white photos 
approximately 15 minutes after the flyby. The encounter returned 
enough information about the rocky body to give scientists clues 
about its composition and geologic history. 

     Results from this closest-ever spacecraft encounter with an 
asteroid will be the topic of a televised Space Science Update 
briefing on Tuesday, August 3.

     The briefing will be held at 1 p.m. EDT in the von Karman 
auditorium at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA, 
and will be broadcast live on NASA Television.

     Launched in October 1998, Deep Space 1 is the first mission 
in NASA's New Millennium Program, which is designed to test 12 
advanced technologies in flight so that they can be used with 
confidence on spacecraft in the 21st century.  The mission has 
accomplished all of its technology testing goals and, if funding 
allows, it may fly past two comets in 2001.

     Panelists at Tuesday's briefing will include:

* Dr. Marc Rayman, the Deep Space 1 deputy mission manager and 
chief mission engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
* Dr. Bob Nelson, Deep Space 1 project scientist at JPL
*Dr.  Larry Soderblom of the U.S. Geological Survey in Flagstaff, 
AZ, the camera-spectrometer group leader for the Deep Space 1 
science team
*Dr. Eileen Ryan, visiting assistant professor of physics at New 
Mexico Highlands University in Las Vegas, NM  

* Moderator David Seidel, supervisor, Technical Outreach Group, 
Mission and Systems Architecture Section at JPL

     Extensive information on Deep Space 1, including a detailed 
press kit, is available on the Internet at:

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/ds1news/

     NASA Television is available on transponder 9C of the GE-2 
satellite at 85 degrees west longitude, vertical polarization, 
frequency 3880 MHz, audio of 6.8 MHz.  Two-way question-and-answer 
capability will be available for news media at participating NASA 
centers.

                            -end-