NASA Daily News Summary

For Release: Jan. 14, 2000

Media Advisory m00-010

SUMMARY:

No new releases today

Video File for Jan. 14, 2000

Live television: PREFLIGHT BRIEFINGS FOR EARTH-MAPPING SHUTTLE MISSION SET FOR
JAN. 21

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Video File for Jan. 14, 2000

Item 1 - Chandra Sees M-82 Galaxy - MSFC

Item 2 - HST & Free-Floating Black Hole (replay)

Item 3 - HST Bubble Nebula Image (replay)

Item 4 - Chandra Observations Explain X-Ray Glow (replay)

Item 5 - STS-99 TCDT Pad Q&A (replay)

Item 6 - First images from FUSE satellite (replay)

Item 7- TRMM - Improving Tropical Rainfall Forecasts (replay)

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Live Television:
ISS Destiny Module End-to-End Test at the Kennedy Space Center, FL

The International Space Station program will conduct an audio and video checkout
of actual components of the International Space Station being tested prior to
launch aboard space shuttles to continue the assembly process.

The testing will begin on January 18 at 1 pm ET and continue until the evening
of January 20. The daily video file will run at noon - 1 pm ET only on these
days.

This engineering test is designed to validate the video, audio and data
transmission systems originating in the united states 'destiny' laboratory
module being readied for launch later this year.

This transmission exercise not only involves other hardware components of the
international space station, but also involves various Nasa centers, including
the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Johnson Space Center in Houston, and
the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

This particular test is a small part of ongoing hardware and software checkouts
called 'multi element integration testing' (MEIT). The MEIT designed to bring
space station components together on the ground exactly as they eventually will
be in space. This extensive testing allows the engineering teams to verify that
all the systems work properly while troubleshooting problems that otherwise
would have to be resolved on orbit

Some of the scenes you may see throughout the test include: the Space Station
Processing Facility at KSC, where components are tested and processed for
flight; the Space Station Flight Control Room in the Mission Control Center at
JSC, and flight equipment inside the destiny module.

The objectives of the test are to verify the actual 'downlink' of television,
voice and telemetry to the mission control center in Houston and the Payload
Operations Integration Center (POIC) in Huntsville.

The POIC is the ISS program's focal point for payload operations. Once Destiny
is on orbit and active, Marshall controllers will staff the facility and
interact with the worldwide scientific research community to plan and conduct
payload operations on board.

The testing will verify the communications link from NASA's tracking and data
relay satellite network to the Mission Control Center in Houston. From there,
the signal will be sent to Marshall's POIC, and then back to the Telescience
Center inside the Mission Control Center where science customers can actually
interact with payloads located in the human research facility within the destiny
laboratory.
The major objectives are to demonstrate the command and telemetry interface
between the Mission Control Center in Houston and the station, and the POIC at
Marshall and the Station. It will verify that science data can be downlinked in
high data rate to the POIC and video can be sent to all appropriate sites.

The next milestone in certifying the hardware for flight will be the mission
sequence test, which is essentially a rehearsal for the flight to deliver
destiny to the station. This test will include the commander of the first crew
that will live on the ISS, the Space Shuttle crew assigned to the laboratory's
shuttle assembly mission and flight controllers in mission control.

The mission sequence test is the most comprehensive interface test between the
mission control center and the flight hardware and software since before the
first shuttle launch in 1981.

The test involves actual activation of the module by the crew using procedures
developed for the process. This portion of the overall MEIT will not be seen on
NASA television.

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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

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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