[Boatanchors] For The Comet Inclined

[Duane Fischer, W8DBF]

Hi All,

Here is a NASA advisory for Monday February 14th, Valentines Day. A comet to 
go along with the roses/candy for the XYL! Enjoy -

Feb. 8, 2011

Dwayne Brown

Headquarters, Washington

202-358-1726

dwayne.c.brown at nasa.gov

DC Agle

Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

818-354-0474

agle at jpl.nasa.gov

Blaine Friedlander

Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y.

607-254-6235

bpf2 at cornell.edu

MEDIA ADVISORY: M11-026

NASA HOSTING EVENTS FOR VALENTINE'S NIGHT COMET ENCOUNTER

PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA will host several live media activities for

the Stardust-NExT mission's close encounter with comet Tempel 1. The

closest approach is expected at approximately 8:37 p.m. PST, with

confirmation received on Earth at about 8:56 p.m. PST on Monday, Feb.

14.

Live coverage of the Tempel 1 encounter will begin at 8:30 p.m. Feb.

14 on NASA Television and the agency's website. The coverage will

include live commentary from mission control at NASA's Jet Propulsion

Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif., and video from Lockheed Martin

Space System's mission support area in Denver.

A news briefing is planned for 10 a.m. on Feb. 15. Scheduled

participants are:

-Ed Weiler, NASA's associate administrator, Science Mission

Directorate

-Joe Veverka, Stardust-NExT principal investigator, Cornell University

-Tim Larson, Stardust-NExT project manager, JPL

-Don Brownlee, Stardust-NExT co-investigator, University of

Washington, Seattle

To cover the Tempel 1 flyby at JPL, journalists must contact the JPL

Media Relations Office at 818-354-5011. Valid media credentials are

required. Non-U.S. citizens must bring passports.

Starting Feb. 14 at 8 p.m., news media representatives can watch live

coverage of the control room via a feed to JPL's von Karman

Auditorium. The auditorium will remain open through the evening for

media. Reporters who will not travel to JPL may call the Media

Relations Office to make arrangements to ask questions during the

Feb. 15 briefing.

Mission coverage schedule (all times PST and subject to change):

8:30 to 10 p.m., Feb. 14: Live NASA TV commentary begins from mission

control; includes coverage of closest approach and the

re-establishment of contact with the spacecraft following the

encounter.

Midnight to 1:30 a.m., Feb. 15: NASA TV commentary will chronicle the

arrival and processing of the first five of 72 close-approach images

expected to be down linked after the encounter. The images are

expected to include a close-up view of the comet's surface.

10 a.m., Feb. 15: News briefing

Starting on Feb. 9, NASA TV will air Stardust-NExT mission animation

and b-roll during its Video File segments. For NASA TV streaming

video, scheduling and downlink information, visit:





http://www.nasa.gov/ntv



Live commentary and the news conference also will be carried live on

one of JPL's Ustream channels. Viewers during events can engage in a

real-time chat and submit questions to the Stardust-NExT team at:





http://www.ustream.tv/user/NASAJPL2



The public can watch a real-time animation of the Stardust-NExT comet

flyby using NASA's new "Eyes on the Solar System" Web tool. JPL

created this 3-D environment, which allows people to explore the

solar system directly from their computers. It is available at:





http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/eyes



This flyby of Tempel 1 will give scientists an opportunity to look for

changes on the comet's surface since it was visited by NASA's Deep

Impact spacecraft in July 2005. Since then, Tempel 1 has completed

one orbit of the sun, and scientists are looking forward to

monitoring any differences in the comet.

During its 12 years in space, Stardust became the first spacecraft to

collect samples of a comet (Wild 2) in 2004, which were sent in 2006

to Earth for study. The mission is managed by JPL for NASA's Science

Mission Directorate in Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems in

Denver built the spacecraft and manages day-to-day mission

operations.


Duane Fischer, W8DBF - WPE8CXO
E-Mail: dfischer at usol.com
Hallicrafters web site: www.w9wze.net
HHRP web site: hhrp.w9wze.net