Donald Savage
Headquarters, Washington, DC                   December 1, 2000
(Phone: 202/358-1727)

Mary Hardin
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA
(Phone: 818/354-0344)

NOTE TO EDITORS: N00-058

MAJOR MARS DISCOVERY TO BE ANNOUNCED AT DEC. 7 SCIENCE BRIEFING

     Imaging scientists Dr. Michael Malin and Dr. Ken Edgett from 
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft will present what they 
describe as their most significant discovery yet at a Space 
Science Update at 2:00 p.m. EST on Thursday, Dec. 7. Their 
findings are being published in the December 8 issue of Science 
Magazine.

This science update will be held in the James E. Webb Auditorium 
at NASA Headquarters, 300 E St., S.W., Washington, DC, and will be 
carried live on Telstar 5, transponder 11. The Ku-band satellite 
is located 97 degrees West longitude with a downlink frequency of 
11929 MHz, vertical polarity.

Please note that, due to coverage of the ongoing Shuttle mission, 
NASA Television does not expect to carry this briefing, and two-
way question-and-answer capability from agency centers will not be 
available. 

Participants will be:
* Dr. Ed Weiler, Associate Administrator for Space Science, NASA 
Headquarters, Washington, DC., will be panel moderator.
* Dr. Michael Malin principal investigator, Mars Orbiter Camera on 
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft at Malin Space Science 
Systems (MSSS), San Diego, CA.
* Dr. Ken Edgett, staff scientist at MSSS.
* Dr. Jim Garvin, Mars Exploration Program Scientist at NASA 
Headquarters.
* Dr. Ken Nealson, director of the Center for Life Detection at 
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA.
 
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