NASA Daily News Summary

For Release: July 27, 2000

Media Advisory m00-144

SUMMARY

NEWS RELEASES

NASA GOES BACK TO THE FUTURE WITH PLANS FOR A MARS ROVER
IN 2003; POSSIBLE SECOND ROVER BEING STUDIED

VIDEO ***ALL TIMES EASTERN***

VIDEO FILE FOR JULY 27, 2000

BREAKING NEWS: ANIMATION OF THE MARS 2003 ROVER WILL AIR

CONTINUOUSLY BETWEEN 4:00 AND 4:15 p.m.

UPCOMING TELEVISION EVENTS

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NEWS RELEASES

NASA GOES BACK TO THE FUTURE WITH PLANS FOR A MARS ROVER IN 2003;
POSSIBLE SECOND ROVER BEING STUDIED

In 2003, NASA plans to launch a relative of the now-famous 1997

Mars Pathfinder rover. Using drop, bounce, and roll technology,
this larger cousin is expected to reach the surface of the Red
Planet in January, 2004 and begin the longest journey of
scientific exploration ever undertaken across the surface of that
alien world. Dr. Edward Weiler, Associate Administrator, Office
of Space Science, NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC, announced
today that the Mars Rover was his choice from two mission options
which had been under study since March.

Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC: Donald Savage

(Phone: 202/358-1547)

For full text, see:

ftp://ftp.hq.nasa.gov/pub/pao/pressrel/2000/00-119.txt

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If NASA issues any news releases later today, we will e-

mail summaries and Internet URLs to this list.
Index of 2000 NASA News Releases:
http://www.nasa.gov/releases/2000/index.html

Index of 1999 NASA News Releases:

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

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BREAKING NEWS: ANIMATION OF THE MARS 2003 ROVER WILL AIR

CONTINUOUSLY BETWEEN 4:00 AND 4:15 p.m.

Animation shows a view of NASA's Mars 2003 Rover as it sets about

to roam the surface of the Red Planet. The rover is scheduled for
launch in June 2003 and will arrive in January 2004, shielded in
its landing by an airbag shell. It will carry five scientific
instruments including a panoramic camera, a miniature spectrometer
(both on the large mast shown on the front of the rover). The
payload also includes magnetic targets that will collect magnetic
dust for further study by the science instruments, which include a
rock abrasion tool (on the robotic arm), two spectrometers, and a
microscopic imager. In a landing similar to that of the
Pathfinder spacecraft, a parachute will deploy to slow the
spacecraft down and airbags will inflate to cushion the landing.
Petals of the landing structure will unfold to release the rover,
which will drive off to begin its exploration.
TRT 00:48

VIDEO FILE FOR JULY 27, 2000

ITEM 1 - MARS 2003 ROVER ANIMATION - JPL

ITEM 2 - IMPROVING LAUNCH WEATHER CRITERIA IN FLORIDA - KSC
ITEM 1a - AIRBORNE FIELD MILL RESEARCH AT KSC
ITEM 1b - INTERVIEW EXCERPTS: DR. HUGH J. CHRISTIAN
ITEM 1c - INTERVIEW EXCERPTS: MONTY BATEMAN, MSFC
SCIENTIST
ITEM 1d - INTERVIEW EXCERPTS: JIM DYE NATIONAL CENTER
FOR ATMOSPHERIC RESEARCH BOULDER,
ITEM 3 - FORECASTING WEATHER WITH SPACE-BASED TECHNOLOGIES -
GSFC
ITEM 4 - DEEP SPACE ONE UPDATE - JPL (REPLAY)

ANY CHANGES TO THE VIDEO 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 pm, 6 pm, 9 pm

and midnight Eastern Time.
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UPCOMING TELEVISION EVENTS

July 27, Thursday

- 4:30 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. - Deep Space 1 Update Live News Interviews
- JPL

August 1, Tuesday
STS-106 Preflight Briefings
- 9:30 - 11:30 a.m. - STS-106 Mission Overview
- 11:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. - International Space Station Science
Payload Briefing - JSC
- 1:00 - 2:00 p.m. - STS-106 EVA Briefing - JSC
- 2:00 - 3:00 p.m. - STS-106 Crew News Conference - JSC

August 2, Wednesday
- 6:00 - 9:30 - GOES: A Day in the Life of North America Live News
Interviews - GSFC
- 9:30 - 11:00 - GOES: A Day in the Life of North America Live
News Interviews - TBD (will be carried on a to be determined
commercial satellite)
- 10:00 a.m. - Noon - Expedition One Mission Overview - JSC
- 2:00 - 3:30 p.m. - Expedition One Crew News Conference - JSC

August 3, Thursday
- 4:30 - 9:00 p.m. - Minority Students Get Head Start from JPL
Live News Interviews - JPL

For a complete list of upcoming live television events, see

http://www.nasa.gov/ntv/breaking.html

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Unless otherwise noted, ALL TIMES ARE EASTERN.

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 Fred Brown,
202/358-0713, fred.brown@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/
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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