NASA Daily News Summary

For Release: Oct. 13, 1999

Media Advisory m99-211

Summary:

NO WATER ICE DETECTED FROM LUNAR PROSPECTOR IMPACT

Video File for Oct. 13, 1999

ITEM 1 - NO WATER ICE DETECTED FROM LUNAR PROSPECTOR

IMPACT
(FILE FOOTAGE)
ITEM 2 - NASA'S ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AIRCRAFT AND SENSOR
TECHNOLOGY (ERAST) PROJECT AIRCRAFT - B-ROLL
ITEM 3 - PERSONAL SATELLITE ASSISTANT - (replay)

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NO WATER ICE DETECTED FROM LUNAR PROSPECTOR IMPACT

The controlled crash of NASA's Lunar Prospector spacecraft into a

crater near the south pole of the Moon on July 31 produced no
observable signature of water, according to scientists digging
through data from Earth-based observatories and spacecraft such as
the Hubble Space Telescope. This lack of physical evidence leaves
open the question of whether ancient cometary impacts delivered
ice that remains buried in permanently shadowed regions of the
Moon, as suggested by the large amounts of hydrogen measured
indirectly from lunar orbit by Lunar Prospector during its main
mapping mission. Research group leaders from the University of
Texas at Austin announced their results today at the annual
meeting of the American Astronomical Society's Division for
Planetary Sciences meeting in Padua, Italy.

Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC: Doug Isbell

202/358-1747.
Contact at NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA: David
Morse 650/604-4724.
Contact at University of Texas at Austin: Becky Rische 512/471-
7272.

For full text, see:

ftp://ftp.hq.nasa.gov/pub/pao/pressrel/1999/99-119.txt

----------

If NASA issues additional 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 Oct. 13, 1999

ITEM 1 - NO WATER ICE DETECTED FROM LUNAR PROSPECTOR

IMPACT
(FILE FOOTAGE)

The controlled crash of NASA's Lunar Prospector spacecraft into a

crater near the south pole of the Moon on July 31 produced no
observable signature of water, according to scientists digging
through data from Earth-based observatories and spacecraft such as
the Hubble Space Telescope. This lack of physical evidence leaves
open the question of whether ancient cometary impacts delivered
ice that remains buried in permanently shadowed regions of the
Moon, as suggested by the large amounts of hydrogen measured
indirectly from lunar orbit by Lunar Prospector during its main
mapping mission. (See press release above.)

Contact at NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA: Laura

Lewis 650/604-2162.
Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC: Doug Isbell
202/358-1753.

Item 1a - NO ICE FOUND BY LUNAR PROSPECTOR TRT - 1:14

The Lunar Prospector completed its mission at the end of July. Its
final task was to crash into the surface of the Moon. Scientists
hoped the impact would reveal more about possible water ice on the
Moon. The unique experiment did not detect any signs of ice,
leaving open the question of whether it exists or not. Animation
shows the Lunar Prospector over the Moon, descent to the surface,
and impact.

Item 1b - PROSPECTOR VIEWS TOWARDS IMPACT TRT - :46

Animation sequence shows two events (with dip to black in

between):
1 - Lunar Prospector crashing into Moon.
2 - Deorbit burn of the Lunar Prospector (view of Earth in
background).

Item 1c - METEOR IMPACT ON MOON TRT - :33

Animation sequence shows meteors and a comet striking the Moon,

followed by a map depicting where a concentration of water ice may
be located.

Item 1d - LUNAR DATA TRT - 1:28

During its 18 month mission, Lunar Prospector searched the lunar

crust and atmosphere for a wide variety of potential resources.
This sequence begins with the Moon in its natural state from data
collected by the Clementine satellite. It dissolves into a false-
color image of the Moon indicating amounts of hydrogen detected by
the Lunar Prospector. The red shows the highest amounts of
hydrogen and therefore the most probable place for water to exist.

Item 1e - IMPACT SITE TRT - :18

A true depiction of the Moon from Clementine data followed by a

tilt to show the south pole, the planned crash site for the Lunar
Prospector. Note that the crash site shows the strongest red,
indicative of the most probable place for water to exist.

Item 1f - OBSERVING SATELLITES - ANIMATION TRT - :41

Numerous ground and space-based observatories assisted NASA in a

search for water in material hurled upward from the planned
impact. Instruments onboard the Hubble Space Telescope (cut 1) and
the Submillimeter Wave Astronomy Satellite (cut 2) monitored the
impact site for the signature of water.
Item 1g - LUNAR PROSPECTOR MISSION TEAM TRT - :34

Footage shows Lunar Prospector mission control at NASA Ames

Research Center in Moffett Field, CA. Alan Binder and mission
control team execute engine burn to adjust the Lunar Prospector's
orbit.

Item 1h - OBSERVATORY B-ROLL TRT - :45

Footage shows the McDonald Observatory and telescope, Texas; Ed

Barker controlling the telescope with joystick; and Moon surface
observed through the McDonald telescope. The McDonald Observatory,
the Hubble Space Telescope and the Keck Observatory are all
scheduled to observe the impact.

ITEM 2 - NASA'S ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AIRCRAFT AND SENSOR

TECHNOLOGY (ERAST) PROJECT AIRCRAFT - B-ROLL

Slow-Flying Planes Present Commercial Possibilities: A conferece

being held at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards, CA,
today is focusing on the capabilities of several slow-flying
aircraft developed during the last five years to perform a variety
of high-altitude, long-endurance Earth science and commercial
missions. The aircraft, developed as part of NASA's Environmental
Research Aircraft and Sensor Technology (ERAST) project are the
first NASA has helped develop for commercial purposes. The
conference will examine the use of these aircraft in the
commercial and scientific arenas, especially focussing on remote
imaging to assist in precision farming on coffee plantations, the
potential for information gathering to mitigate disasters, use of
these aircraft in California's statewide planning and resource
management and the value the program to the insurance industry for
risk assessment.

Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC: Michael Braukus

202/358-1979.
Contact at NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, CA: Jenny
Breedhart 661/258-3689.
Item 2a - ERAST CONFERENCE SET TRT - 5:09

The capabilities and commercial possibilities for several slow-

flying aircraft developed during the last five years under ERAST
is the topic of a conference held October 13, 1999 at NASA¹s
Dryden Flight Research Center. The aircraft, developed as part of
The Environmental Research Aircraft and Sensor Technology (ERAST)
project, are the first NASA has developed for commercial purposes.
Footage includes b-roll of the five featured aircraft in this
order: (1) Proteus, (2) Altus, (3) Pathfinder Plus, (4) Helios,
(5) Perseus-B.

Item 2b - INTERVIEW TRT - 3:18

John DelFrate, Manager, Solar Powered Aircraft, ERAST

Item 2c - INTERVIEW TRT - 1:52

David Bushman, Project Manager, Proteus, Perseus B, Altus

aircraft, ERAST

Item 2d - INTERVIEW TRT - 2:41

John Sharkey, Project Manager, ERAST program

Item 3 - PERSONAL SATELLITE ASSISTANT (replay) TRT - 8:47

Scientists at NASA are developing an autonomous robot called the

Personal Satellite Assistant to support future space missions. It
is a little bigger than a softball and a little smaller than a
soccer ball.

The Personal Satellite Assistant will be equipped with a variety

of sensors to monitor environmental conditions in a spacecraft
such as the amount of oxygen, carbon dioxide and other gases in
the air; the amount of bacteria growth; air temperature and air
pressure. The robot will also have a camera for video
conferencing, navigation sensors, wireless network connections,
and even its own propulsion components enabling it to operate
autonomously throughout the spacecraft.
Contact at NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA: Michael
Mewhinney 650/604-3937.
Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC: Doug Isbell
202/358-1753.

Item 3a - Personal Satellite Assistant TRT - 2:10

Animated sequence demonstrates capabilities of the Personal

Satellite Assistant, a micro-robot that might be built to assist
crew in space and inside spacecraft such as the space shuttle, the
International Space Station, or perhaps vehicles that will explore
Mars.

Item 3b - Various Views of Personal Satellite Assistant TRT - :31

This mock-up displays possible features of the Personal Satellite

Assistant. This would include video and infrared cameras, a flat
panel display for desktop video conferencing, and sensors to
detect atmospheric elements such as nitrogen and oxygen.

Item 3c - Interview Excerpts TRT - 4:45

Yuri Gawdiak, Principal Investigator, NASA Ames Research Center

**********

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