NASA Daily News Summary – Media Advisory m99-261

NASA Daily News Summary

For Release: Dec. 20, 1999

Media Advisory m99-261

SUMMARY:
NASA’s FEATS PRESAGE ITS NEXT MILLENNIUM
NASA TO ISSUE STATUS REPORTS DURING Y2K TRANSITION
Video:
NOTE: DUE TO STS-103 MISSION COVERAGE, THE VIDEO FILE TODAY WILL

RUN AT NOON ONLY.
ALL TIMES EASTERN
Video File for Dec. 20, 1999
ITEM 1 – TERRA MISSION LAUNCH (replay)
ITEM 2 – DAZZLING LAVA FOUNTAIN ON IO SEEN BY GALILEO – JPL

         (replay)
ITEM 3 – FUTURE FLIGHT CENTRAL – ARC (replay)
Live Television Events This Week:
December 21, Tuesday 
5:00 – 10:00 am – Future Flight Central Live News Interviews – ARC
———————-
Subject:  Live Shots on NASA Virtual Airport Tower Dec. 21, 1999
To:       Assignment Editors and Morning News Producers
From:     Laura Lewis 650/604-2162, pager 650/317-0551

          NASA Ames Research Center
Airline passengers will soon benefit from NASA FutureFlight

Central, the world1s first full-scale virtual airport-control

tower located at NASA Ames Research Center.  Opened for business

on Dec. 13, 1999, NASA FutureFlight Central is a world-class

research facility dedicated to addressing the future needs of the

nation1s airports.  It is designed to test-–under realistic

airport conditions and configurations–ways to solve potential air

and ground traffic problems at commercial airports.  
The new facility will benefit airline passengers by providing

safer air travel with fewer airport delays and greater cost

efficiencies.
NASA FutureFlight Central uses supercomputers and twelve rear-

projections video screens to provide a seamless, 360-degree high-

resolution view of an airport from the control tower.  The

facility can be configured to provide realistic views of any

airport in the world–either existing or under construction–under

all weather and seasonal conditions.  Real people interact during

live-action simulations to test new technologies, fine-tune

airport operations, and evaluate airport improvements under risk-

free conditions.
For more information about how this exciting new NASA technology

will benefit your viewers, interview Yuri Gawdiak, NASA Systems

Manager, or Nancy Dorighi, NASA FutureFlight Central facility

manager.  Yuri will be available from 5:00 – 8:00 a.m. EST (2:00 –

5:00 a.m. PST) and Nancy will be available from 8:00 – 10:00 a.m.

EST (5:00 – 7:00 a.m. PST) on Tuesday, Dec. 21.  Interviews will

be live from NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA
Ask Yuri or Nancy:

*  What is NASA FutureFlight Central?

*  How will the new facility benefit air travelers?

*  In what ways can airports and airlines benefit from

   the new facility?

*  What are the other uses for the facility?
Contact Laura Lewis at 650/604-2162 to book an interview window on

December 21.
Further information about the facility can be found at:

http://ffc.arc.nasa.gov
*****************************
NASA’S 1999 FEATS PRESAGE ITS NEXT MILLENNIUM
     NASA’s achievements in 1999 extended from terrestrial

airport runways to extrasolar planets and addressed

concerns ranging from the environmental to the

cosmological.  Background information is available to

illustrate the top 10 NASA stories of the year at the URLs

listed.  Plans are to air NASA’s major 1999 video stories

on NASA TV Tuesday, Dec. 21, through Thursday, Dec. 23, at

noon and to list its top ten Internet stories at URL:

     http://www.nasa.gov/newsinfo/top10_99.html
Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC:  Sarah Keegan (Phone

202/358-1600).
For full text, see:

ftp://ftp.hq.nasa.gov/pub/pao/pressrel/1999/99-149.txt 
—————————–
NASA TO ISSUE STATUS REPORTS DURING Y2K TRANSITION
     Reporters covering the transition of U.S. information

systems and infrastructure into the Year 2000 will be able

to receive status reports from NASA overnight on Dec. 31,

1999, and on Jan. 1, 2000.  The NASA Y2K Coordination and

Communications Team, located at the Goddard Space Flight Center,

Greenbelt, MD, will issue status reports electronically.  Status

reports will also be posted to the NASA Headquarters File Transfer

Protocol (FTP) server.  Status reports will also be available

directly via FTP.  Status reports will also be available through

NASA’s voicemail system by calling 202/358-1445.  NASA expects to

issue several status reports between late Friday evening and early

Saturday morning, depending on events.  Updates will be issued

after 5 p.m. EST Saturday only if events warrant.
Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC:  Brian Dunbar (Phone

202/358-1600).
For full text, see:

ftp://ftp.hq.nasa.gov/pub/pao/note2edt/1999/n99-061.txt 
—————————–
If NASA issues any news releases later today, we will e-

mail summaries and Internet URLs to this list.
Index of 1999 NASA News Releases:

http://www.nasa.gov/releases/1999/index.html
*****************************
Video File for Dec. 20, 1999
ITEM 1 – TERRA MISSION LAUNCH (replay)
ITEM 2 – DAZZLING LAVA FOUNTAIN ON IO SEEN BY GALILEO – JPL

         (replay)
A fiery lava fountain shooting more than a mile above the surface

of Jupiter’s volcanic moon Io has been captured by the camera

onboard NASA’s Galileo spacecraft during a recent close flyby.

The images, showing a curtain of lava erupting within a giant

volcanic crater, will be unveiled today during the American

Geophysical Union’s fall  meeting in San Francisco.  Galileo took

the pictures on Thanksgiving night, November 25.
The new Io images are available at (as of noon today):

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/pictures/io
Contact at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA:  Jane

Platt (Phone 818/354-5011).

Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC:  Doug Isbell (Phone

202/358-1753).
ITEM 3 – FUTURE FLIGHT CENTRAL – ARC (replay)
Contact at NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA:  Michael

Mewhinney (Phone 650/604-3937).

Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC:  Michael Braukus

(Phone 202/358-1979).
ITEM 3a – FUTUREFLIGHT CENTRAL – ANIMATION—————-TRT  :29
NASA1s FutureFlight Facility, opening Dec. 13, 1999, is the

world1s first full-scale virtual airport control tower. Located at

NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, the facility will

provide the airline industry with robust test and research

capabilities within a safe, real-time, simulated environment.
ITEM 3b – FUTUREFLIGHT CENTRAL – ANIMATION—————-TRT 1:38
Simulations from the control tower of NASA1s new FutureFlight

Facility, depicting San Fransisco International airport and its

virtual air traffic.
ITEM 3c – FUTUREFLIGHT CENTRAL B-ROLL———————TRT 2:33
Testing of the systems in the new FutureFlight Central facility,

showing both the control tower and the downstairs pseudo-pilot

areas.
ITEM 3d – AIRPLANE B-ROLL———————————TRT 1:34
Montage of commercial aircraft at various U.S. airports engaging

in ground transportation maneuvers as well as footage inside an

air traffic control tower.
ITEM 3e – INTERVIEW EXCERPTS——————————TRT 1:52
Paul Kutler, Deputy Director, Information Sciences & Technology

Directorate, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA.
ITEM 3f – INTERVIEW EXCERPTS——————————TRT 1:37
Nancy Dorighi, Facility Manager, FutureFlight Central, NASA Ames

Research Center, Moffett Field, CA.
ITEM 3g – INTERVIEW EXCERPTS—————————–TRT  1:24
Jim McClenahen, Air Traffic Control Analyst, FutureFlight Central,

NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA.
—————————–
Unless otherwise noted, ALL TIMES ARE EASTERN.
ANY CHANGES TO THE 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.
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 Elvia Thompson,

202/358-1696, elvia.thompson@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
*****************************
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*****************************
end of daily news summary