Donald Savage
Headquarters, Washington, DC                March 24, 2000
(Phone: 202/358-1547)

Robert Sanders
University of California, Berkeley, CA
(Phone: 510/643-6998)

Andrew Perala
W.H. Keck Observatory, Kamuela, HI
(Phone: 808/885-7887)

NOTE TO EDITORS:  N00-12

NEXT SPACE SCIENCE UPDATE UNVEILS 
SIGNIFICANT ADVANCE IN PLANET HUNTING

     The renowned team of planet-hunting astronomers, Geoffrey 
Marcy and Paul Butler, will announce a breakthrough in detecting 
planets outside our Solar System at the next Space Science Update 
(SSU), scheduled for Wednesday, March 29, at 1 p.m. EST.  The 
NASA- and National Science Foundation-sponsored research was 
conducted at the Keck Observatory in Hawaii.

     Panelists will be:
*  Dr. Geoffrey Marcy, professor of astronomy, University of 
California, Berkeley;
*  Dr. Paul Butler, staff scientist, Carnegie Institution of 
Washington, Department of Terrestrial Magnetism (DTM);
*  Dr. Alan P. Boss, staff member, Carnegie Institution of 
Washington, DTM;
*  Dr. Heidi B. Hammel, senior research scientist, Space Science 
Institute, Boulder, CO;
*  Dr. Anne Kinney, science program director, Astronomical Search 
for Origins program, NASA Headquarters, panel moderator.

     The SSU will originate from the James E. Webb Auditorium at 
NASA Headquarters, 300 E St., SW, Washington, DC, and will be 
carried live on NASA TV with two-way question-and-answer 
capability for reporters covering the event from participating 
NASA centers.  

      NASA Television is broadcast on the GE2 satellite which is 
located on Transponder 9C, at 85 degrees West longitude, frequency 
3880.0 MHz, audio 6.8 MHz.  Audio of the broadcast will be 
available on voice circuit at the Kennedy Space Center on 407/867-
1220.

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