The Universe in its Infancy: New Findings Unveiled at News Briefing

Dolores Beasley

Headquarters, Washington, DC

(Phone: 202/358-1753)

Amber Jones

National Science Foundation, Arlington, VA

(Phone: 703/306-1070)

NOTE TO EDITORS: N00-17

The first detailed images of the early universe will be
revealed at a news briefing at 2 p.m. EDT Wednesday, April 26, in
the James E. Webb Auditorium at NASA Headquarters, 300 E St., SW,
Washington, DC.

The images were obtained by the BOOMERANG (Balloon Observations
of Millimetric Extragalactic Radiation and Geophysics) experiment,
which was designed to map the cosmic microwave background.
BOOMERANG obtained the images using an extremely sensitive
telescope suspended from a balloon that circumnavigated the
Antarctic for 10 1/2 days during December 1998 and January 1999.

Panelists will be:

* Harley Thronson, Senior Science Manager, Office of Space
Science, NASA Headquarters

* Andrew Lange, Astrophysicist, California Institute of
Technology, Pasadena

* Paolo deBernardis, Astrophysicist, Universita Roma La
Sapienza, Italy

* Robert Eisenstein, Assistant Director, Mathematical & Physical

Sciences, National Science Foundation, Arlington, VA

* Michael Turner, Astrophysicist, University of Chicago,
Chicago, IL

The BOOMERANG project is supported by NASA, the National
Science Foundation and the Department of Energy in the United
States; by the Italian Space Agency, the Italian Antarctic
Research Programme, and the University of Rome La Sapienza in
Italy; and by the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council
in the United Kingdom. The 36 team members come from 16
universities and organizations in the United States, Italy, United
Kingdom and Canada.

The science briefing will be carried live on NASA Television
with two-way question-and-answer capability for reporters covering
the event from participating NASA centers.

NASA Television is broadcast on the GE2 satellite,
Transponder 9C, at 85 degrees West longitude, with vertical
polarization, frequency 3880.0 MHz, audio 6.8 MHz.

-end-

NOTE TO EDITORS: The time of this briefing may slip due to STS-
101 Shuttle mission activities.

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