NASA Daily News Summary

For Release: June 15, 1999

Media Advisory m99-120

Summary:

-- Video File: Quikscat Ocean Winds Satellite To Launch (replay)

-- Upcoming Live Interview Opportunity: Living Under the Lightning
Bolts, June 18
-- Upcoming Live Event: Quikscat Satellite Launch, June 18

******
No news releases have been issued today

If NASA issues any 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

*****

NOTE: There will be a NASA Television planned power outage next weekend,
June 19-20.

Video File for June 15, 1999

ITEM 1 QUIKSCAT OCEAN WINDS SATELLITE TO LAUNCH (REPLAY)

Item 1A Quikscat animation

The Quick Scatterometer (Quikscat), NASA's next El Nino watcher,
will be used to better understand global weather anomalies. The SeaWinds
instrument aboard Quikscat will provide daily, detailed measurements of
winds as they swirl above the world's oceans. Quikscat is scheduled to
launch June 18, 1999.

Item 1B Spinning Globe

Computer-generated, simulated Quikscat data on a spinning globe
shows the wind patterns over the world's oceans.

Item 1C Quikscat clean room b-roll

Footage shows the Quikscat satellite in the clean room at Ball
Aerospace & Technologies Corporation, Boulder, CO.
Item 1D Interview excerpts
Dr. Jim Graf, Quikscat Project Manager, Jet Propulsion Laboratory,
CA

Item 1E Interview excerpts

Dr. Michael Freilich, Quikscat Team Leader, SeaWinds Principal
Investigator Oregon State University

Contact at NASA Headquarters: Dave Steitz, 202/358-1730;

Contact at Jet Propulsion Lab: Diane Ainsworth, 818/354-0850.

*****
UPCOMING LIVE INTERVIEW OPPORTUNITY: LIVING UNDER THE
LIGHTNING BOLTS
-- RESEARCH COULD IMPROVE SEVERE WEATHER FORECASTING,
JUNE 18

TOPIC: In the time it takes you to read this sentence, lightning will
strike about 100 times around the world. A single bolt has 1 trillion
watts of electricity with temperatures up to 27,000 degrees Fahrenheit.
Lightning is one of the most powerful forces in nature. Understanding it
takes dedicated, intensive study. Lightning researchers are pursuing
more accurate severe weather forecasting and improved public safety.
Experts from around the world recently talked about lightning and
other flashy subjects at the 11th quadrennial International Conference
on Atmospheric Electricity in Guntersville, AL.

TALENT: Lightning Expert Steve Goodman, Global Hydrology and Climate

Center, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center

TIME: June 18, 1999, 6-9 a.m. EDT

To schedule an interview, call Connie James, 256/544-2188 or pager

256/544-1183 (PIN 0224).

*****
UPCOMING LIVE EVENT: QUIKSCAT LAUNCH, JUNE 18
The Quikscat satellite, NASA's next El Nino watcher, will be
launched at 10:15 EDT June 18 from Vandenberg Air Force Base, CA. Launch
coverage on NASA TV will begin at 8:30 p.m. EDT.

Contact at NASA Headquarters: Dave Steitz, 202/358-1730;

Contact at Jet Propulsion Lab: Diane Ainsworth, 818/354-0850.

*****
The NASA Video File generally airs at noon, 3 p.m., 6 p.m., 9
p.m. and midnight Eastern Time, but may be pre-empted by mission
coverage or breaking news. 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
Pam Poe, 202/358-0373.

During Space Shuttle missions, the full NASA TV schedule will

continue to be posted at:

http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/nasatv/schedule.html

For general information about NASA TV see:

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

*****
Contract Awards

Contract awards are posted to the NASA Acquisition

Information Service Web site:

http://procurement.nasa.gov/EPS/award.html

*****
The NASA Daily News Summary is issued each business day at
approximately 2 p.m. Eastern time. Members of the media who
wish to subscribe or unsubscribe from this list, please
send e-mail message to:

Brian.Dunbar@hq.nasa.gov

*****

end of daily news summary