David E.

Steitz
Headquarters, Washington Nov. 15, 2001
(Phone: 202/358-1730)

Dolores Beasley
Headquarters, Washington
(Phone: 202/358-1753)

NOTE TO EDITORS: N01-69

JASON AND TIMED MEDIA BRIEFINGS SET FOR NOVEMBER 19

The launch of the Jason-1, NASA's latest Earth Science

oceanography satellite, and TIMED, NASA's Thermosphere,
Ionosphere, Mesosphere, Energetics and Dynamics space science
satellite, is scheduled for Friday, Dec. 7, from Vandenberg Air
Force Base, Calif.

In preparation for the launch, NASA will hold mission science

briefings starting at 1 p.m. EST Monday, Nov. 19, in the James
Webb Memorial Auditorium, NASA Headquarters, 300 E Street SW,
Washington. The Jason mission team will present first, followed
by the TIMED mission team at 2 p.m. EST.

Jason 1 is a joint U.S./French oceanography mission. The

spacecraft will build on the heritage of the Topex/Poseidon
satellite in observing global climate interactions between the
sea and the atmosphere. Jason 1 will monitor world ocean
circulation, study interactions of the oceans and atmosphere,
improve climate predictions and observe events like El Nino.
Speakers for the Jason 1 mission briefing will be:

-- Ghassem R. Asrar, Associate Administrator for Earth Science,

NASA Headquarters, Washington
-- Eric Lindstrom, Oceanography Program Scientist, NASA
Headquarters
-- Nicole Papineau; Program Coordinator, Atmosphere, Climate and
Ocean; Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales; Paris
-- Charles Yamarone, Deputy Director of the Earth Science and
Technology Directorate, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory
(JPL), Pasadena, Calif.
-- Lee-lueng Fu, Project Scientist, JPL

NASA's TIMED mission will study a mysterious region in our

atmosphere called the Mesosphere, Lower Thermosphere/Ionosphere,
or "MLTI." Located about 40-110 miles (60-180 kilometers) above
the Earth, the MLTI is one of the last frontiers for atmospheric
exploration.

During its two-year mission, TIMED will study the basic

structure of the MLTI, its chemistry and the flow of energy to
and from this layer of the atmosphere. Scientists will analyze
how the MLTI region affects, and is changed by, the lower
atmosphere; how it influences the space near Earth occupied by
low-Earth orbiting satellites; and how events on the Sun affect
the MLTI. TIMED is a joint mission between NASA and the Johns
Hopkins Applied Physics Lab (APL), Laurel, Md.

Speakers for the TIMED mission briefing will be:

-- George Withbroe, Division Director, Sun-Earth Connection,
NASA Headquarters
-- Mary Mellott, TIMED Program Scientist, NASA Headquarters
-- Sam Yee, TIMED Project Scientist, APL
-- Dave Kusnierkiewicz, TIMED Mission System Engineer, APL
-- Bruce Campbell, TIMED Project Manager, Goddard Space Flight
Center, Greenbelt, Md.

The briefings will be carried live on NASA Television with two-

way question-and-answer capability for reporters covering the
briefing from participating NASA centers. Reporters must
coordinate in advance with NASA Center Newsrooms to participate
remotely. NASA TV is broadcast on satellite GE-2, transponder
9C, at 85 degrees West longitude, vertical polarization,
frequency 3880 MHz, audio of 6.8 MHz. The briefing also will
available on the Internet at:

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

-end-