Donald Savage
Headquarters, Washington, DC                    July 20, 2000
(Phone:  202/358-1547)

NOTE TO EDITORS:  N00-31

NASA TO ANNOUNCE MARS 2003 PLANS AT NEWS BRIEFING JULY 24

     NASA will announce the agency's Mars exploration plans for 2003 
at a news briefing to be held 2:00 p.m. EDT Monday, July 24, 2000, at 
NASA Headquarters, 300 E St. SW, Washington, DC.

     Two missions under consideration are a Mars scientific orbiter, 
which will have a camera capable of imaging objects as small as about 
two feet (60 cm) across, and a large scientific rover which will land 
using an airbag cocoon like that on the successful 1997 Mars 
Pathfinder mission.  Dr. Edward Weiler, Associate Administrator, 
Office of Space Science, Washington, DC, made the final selection.

     Two teams, one centered at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory 
(JPL), Pasadena, CA, and the other at Lockheed Martin Astronautics, 
Denver, CO, conducted separate, intensive two-month studies of the 
missions to define the and evaluate their likelihood for success, 
cost, and readiness for flight.  

     Participants will be:

*Dr. Edward Weiler, Associate Administrator, Office of Space Science, 
NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC.
*Mr. Scott Hubbard, Mars Program Director, NASA Headquarters, 
Washington, DC.
*Dr. Jim Garvin, Mars Program Scientist, NASA Headquarters, 
Washington, DC.
*Dr.  Firouz Naderi, Mars Program Office Manager, Jet Propulsion 
Laboratory,  Pasadena, CA.

     The press briefing will originate from the James E. Webb 
Auditorium at NASA Headquarters, 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 321/867-1220.

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