NASA Daily News Summary

For Release: Jan. 27, 1999

Media Advisory m99-017

TODAY'S SUMMARY:

GAMMA-RAY BURST IMAGED FOR FIRST TIME

VIDEO FILE FOR JAN. 27, 1999

Gamma-Ray Burst Images and Animation
Special Request Replays

**********

GAMMA-RAY BURST IMAGED FOR FIRST TIME

Thanks to fast work on the part of astronomers and

scientists around the world--and NASA's Compton Gamma Ray
Observatory--for the first time ever, we can see a gamma ray
burst. Gamma ray bursts are some of the most powerful
explosions in the universe, enigmatic blasts that typically
last several seconds, but can outshine all the stars in the
Universe combined. Because such bursts occur with no
warning, quick detection by orbiting spacecraft and instant
notification to astronomers are critical to catch the bursts
in the act.

Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC: 202/358-1727.

Contact at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL:

Tim Tyson 256/544-0994.

Contact at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD:

Bill Steigerwald 301/286-5017.

For full text, see:

ftp://ftp.hq.nasa.gov/pub/pao/pressrel/1999/99-008.txt

^^^^^

If NASA issues additional news releases later today, we will

e-mail summaries and Internet URLs to this list.

Index of 1998 NASA News Releases:

http://www.nasa.gov/releases/1998/index.html

Index of 1999 NASA News Releases:

http://www.nasa.gov/releases/1999/index.html

**********

NASA VIDEO FILE FOR JAN. 27, 1999

ITEM 1: FIRST-EVER VISIBLE IMAGE OF GAMMA RAY BURST

Movie of burst images and animation illustrating story

summarized above.

Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC: 202/358-1727.

Contact at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL:
Tim Tyson 256/544-0994.
Contact at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD:
Bill Steigerwald 301/286-5017.

ITEM 2: Eros Fly-By Movie (special request replay)

ITEM 3: Stardust animation and B-roll (special request

replay)

ITEM 4: NEAR (Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous) spacecraft

Animation (special request replay)

^^^^^

NASA normally airs the Video File at noon, 3:00, 6:00, 9:00
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.

Ray Castillo
NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC: 202/358-4555.

For the most recent NASA Video File Advisory, see:

ftp://ftp.hq.nasa.gov/pub/pao/tv-advisory/nasa-tv.txt

For general information on NASA Television, see:

http://www.nasa.gov/ntv
**********

CONTRACT AWARDS

NASA posts contract awards to:

http://procurement.nasa.gov/EPS/award.html

**********

NASA issues the Daily News Summary at approximately 2:00 p.m.

Eastern Time on business days when we issue news releases,
new Video File material or schedule live events. Members of
the news media who wish to subscribe to or unsubscribe from
this list should send an e-mail message to:

brian.dunbar@hq.nasa.gov

**********

END OF DAILY NEWS SUMMARY