Barbara Selby

Headquarters, Washington, D.C.

February 26, 1991
(Phone: 703/557-5609)

Rick Mould
University of Alabama-Huntsville
(Phone: 205/895-6414)

George Purvis
Orbital Science Corp., Space Data Div., Chandler, Ariz.
(Phone: 602/899-6000)

RELEASE: 91-33

JOUST 1 COMMERCIAL LAUNCH SET FOR MARCH 29

The launch of Joust 1, a commercial suborbital rocket

carrying 10 materials and biotechnology experiments, has been
scheduled for 8:30 a.m. EST on March 29 from Launch Complex 20 at
the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla.

The Joust 1 mission is sponsored by the University of Alabama

in Huntsville's Consortium for Materials Development in Space
(UAH CMDS), a NASA Center for Commercial Development of Space.
Orbital Sciences Corp., Space Data Division, Chandler, Ariz.,
under a contract with UAH CMDS, will provide the rocket and
launch services.

Space Data will use its Prospector launch vehicle to lift the
payload approximately 400 miles into space. The one-stage rocket
will provide about 13 minutes of microgravity for the
experiments. Following reentry, the payload will splash down in
the Atlantic Ocean about 200 miles downrange where it will be
recovered by ship and returned to Cape Canaveral.

The Joust 1 flight will involve participation from four other

NASA commercial development centers. The CCDS payload
participants include:

* UAH CMDS -- Three materials science and processing

experiments;

* Advanced Materials Center, Battelle Columbus Laboratories,

Columbus,
Ohio -- Three materials processing experiments;

- more -
-2-

* Center for Cell Research, Penn. State University, State

College -- one biotechnology experiment;

* Bioserve Space Technologies, University of Colorado,

Boulder -- one
biotechnology experiment; and

* The Center for Commercial Development of Space Power and

Advanced
Electronics, Auburn University, -- power distribution and
control units.

Additionally, two industrial members of UAH CMDS will have

experiments as part
of the payload:

* Thiokol Corp., Logan, Utah -- a materials science

experiment with thin films; and

* Instrumentation Technology Associates, Inc., (ITA) Exton,

Pa. -- Materials
Dispersion Apparatus which will hold experiments in
biomedical,
manufacturing processes and fluid science fields.

Teledyne-Brown Engineering, Huntsville, Ala., will provide

payload integration.

The Joust launch is funded in part by a grant from NASA's

Office of Commercial Programs. Total cost for the launch,
payload and launch services is about $3 million.
 This will be the fourth commercial launch sponsored by the
UAH CMDS. The previous launches -- all part of the consortium's
Consort launch series -- were conducted at White Sands Missile
Range, N.M.
- end -

EDITORS NOTE: A preflight press briefing will be conducted

the day before launch at NASA's Kennedy Space Center News Center,
followed by a photo opportunity at Launch Complex 20. News media
planning to cover the Joust 1 flight should direct their request
for accreditation to:

Lisa Fowler, PA-PIB

Phone: 407/867-2468
John F. Kennedy Space Center, FAX:
407/867-2692
Kennedy Space Center, FL 32899

Letters of accreditation should be written on the letterhead

of the requesting organization, be signed by a management
official and list the name, function and Social Security number
of the individual(s) for whom press credentials are requested.