NASA Daily News Summary

For Release: Oct. 4, 1999

Media Advisory m99-204

Summary:

No news releases today.

Video File for Oct. 4, 1999

ITEM 1 - MARS METEORITE OR MARS ROCK?

ITEM 2 - HIGH-RESOLUTION IMAGES SHOW NO EVIDENCE OF ANCIENT

OCEANS
ON MARS (replay)

ITEM 3 - SPACE SHUTTLE WIRING (replay)

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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

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Video File for Oct. 4, 1999

ITEM 1 - MARS METEORITE OR MARS ROCK? TRT 3:47

Martian meteorite carbonates--3.9 billion years old.

A new study of the carbonite minerals found in a meteorite from

Mars shows they were formed about 3.9 billion years ago.
Scientists believe the planet had flowing surface water and warmer
temperatures then, making it more Earth-like. The carbonates
themselves are tiny deposits--reddish globules, some with purplish
centers and many surrounded by white borders. Researchers at
NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX, and the University of
Texas at Austin did the study using different techniques.

Contact at NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX: John Ira Petty
281/483-5111.

ITEM 2 - HIGH-RESOLUTION IMAGES SHOW NO EVIDENCE OF TRT

:15
ANCIENT OCEANS ON MARS

Scientists studying high-resolution images from NASA's Mars Global

Surveyor spacecraft have concluded there is no evidence of
shorelines that might have surrounded proposed ancient oceans on
Mars, as suggested by some images from the Viking missions of the
1970s. This Mars Orbiter Camera image of one proposed shoreline,
between the rough Lycus Sulci uplands (lower half) and the flat
Amazonis plains (upper half) shows that the contact zone between
the two is clearly not a wave-cut cliff, and that there are no
features that can be unambiguously identified as coastal
landforms.

Credit: NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems

Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC: Doug Isbell

202/358-1753.
Contact at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA: Mary
Hardin 818/354-5011.

ITEM 3 - SPACE SHUTTLE WIRING

A short during liftoff of Space Shuttle Columbia in July was

traced to a wire in the payload bay with damaged insulation. As a
result of that problem, NASA decided to inspect much of the wiring
in all four of the space shuttles and make repairs as required.
Technicians at the Kennedy Space Center, FL, are currently
inspecting Space Shuttles Discovery, Endeavour and Atlantis.
Columbia will be inspected at Palmdale, CA, where it is undergoing
its previously scheduled Orbiter Maintenance Down Period.

Technicians are visually examining the wires and using their hands
to check for damaged insulation. As a preventative measure, they
also are installing flexible plastic tubing over some wiring,
smoothing and coating rough edges in the proximity of wiring, and
installing other protective shielding where needed. The next
Shuttle mission, the STS-103, Hubble Space Telescope Servicing
Mission, is currently scheduled for no earlier than Nov. 19, 1999.

Contact at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC: Kirsten Williams

202/358-0243.

ITEM 3a - B-ROLL TRT 3:42

Shows technicians inside the Shuttle Bay inspecting wiring,

including using magnifying glasses.

ITEM 3b - INTERVIEW TRT 1:28

William F. Readdy, Deputy Associate Administrator for Space

Flight, NASA Headquarters

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end of daily news summary