NASA related news conferences at annual 2005 joint assembly meeting

Erica Hupp/Dolores Beasley
May 20, 2005
Headquarters, Washington
(Phone: 202/358-1237/1753)

Rob Gutro
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
(Phone at the AGU Press Room: 504/670-7020)

RELEASE: 05-23

NEWS TIPS: NASA-RELATED NEWS CONFERENCES AT ANNUAL 2005 JOINT ASSEMBLY
MEETING

New findings from NASA missions and NASA-funded research will be presented
at the 2005 Joint Assembly Meeting, to be held in room 236 at the Morial
Convention Center, in New Orleans, La., May 23-27, 2005.
News conferences will be held on several Earth and space science topics
including findings from the recent Sumatra earthquakes, research on solar
flares, and updates on NASA missions to Mars, Saturn and beyond the solar
system. The following is a schedule of news briefings:

NEWS CONFERENCE: Saturn's Magnetosphe Like Earth's, Like Jupiter's, or
Like 25 Years Ago?
The Cassini spacecraft's highly choreographed dance around Saturn is
providing interesting results about the big bubble surrounding the planet,
generally know as the magnetosphere. Since reaching Saturn orbit June 30,
2004, Cassini has provided more information on Saturn's magnetosphere than
was available from the Voyager flybys. Its magnetosphere is more dynamic
than Jupiter's and very different from Earth's.

Time/Location: Monday, May 23 at 1 p.m. EDT (Noon local CDT). Related
sessions a SM11A/SM12A/SM13A.

News Conference Participants:
- Michele Dougherty, Principal Investigator, Cassini Magnetometer;
Professor, Imperial
College, London, U.K.
- Donald G. Mitchell, Scientist, Cassini Magnetospheric Imaging Instrument,
Johns Hopkins
University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Md.
- Frank Crary, Deputy Principal Investigator, Science Operations, Cassini
Plasma
Spectrometer; Physicist, Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, Texas
- William Kurth, Deputy Principal Investigator, Cassini Radio and Plasma
Wave Science
Instrument; Research Scientist, Department of Physics and Astronomy,
University of Iowa, Iowa City

NEWS CONFERENCE/TELECOM: Another First!: Voyager 1 Reaches the Edge of the
Solar System
Voyager 1 has become the first spacecraft to enter the heliosheath, the last
step before it leaves the solar system. On December 17, 2004, when Voyager 1
was 94 times Earth's distance from the Sun, energetic particle beams became
steady in strength, the direction of these beams nearly reversed, and the
magnetic field strength jumped. New radio waves were observed. Voyager
scientists will discuss why they conclude that the spacecraft has reached
the heliosheath, as well as some puzzling and unexpected aspects of these
observations, and predict what Voyager will see in this new and unexplored
region of space.

Time/Location: Tuesday, May 24, at 10 a.m. EDT (9 a.m. local CDT). Related
sessions a SH22A/SH23A. Reporters Off-Site and within the U.S. may call
into the News Conference by dialing toll free: 1-888-935-0266 PASSCODE:
AGU.

News Conference Participants:
- Edward C. Stone, Downs Laboratory , California Institute of Technology,
Pasadena, Calif.
- Donald A. Gurnett, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of
Iowa, Iowa City
- Alan Coffman Cummings, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena,
Calif.
- Leonard F. Burlaga, Laboratory for Solar and Space Physics, NASA Goddard
Space Flight
Center, Greenbelt, Md.

NEWS CONFERENCE: Solar 'Fireworks' Signal New Space Weather Mystery
On January 20, 2005, the Sun emitted the strongest burst of ionizing
radiation in nearly 50 years. The event was captured by several satellites,
including SOHO, TRACE, RHESSI, CORIOLIS, and ACE. The data show surprising
science and have alarming implications for the importance and difficulty of
space weather prediction.

Time/Location: Tuesday, May 24, at 11 a.m. EDT (10 a.m. local CDT). Related
sessions a SP21A/SP23B/SP41C/SP42A/SP51C/SP52A.

News Conference Participants:
- Richard Nightingale, Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Center, Palo
Alto, Calif.
- Robert Lin, Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California Berkeley,
Berkeley, Calif.
- Bernard Jackson, Center for Astrophysics and Space Sciences, University of
California at
San Diego, La Jolla, Calif.
- Richard Mewaldt, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, Calif.

NEWS CONFERENCE: Latest Adventures of Spirit and Opportunity on Mars
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit has been examining an outcrop of
layered bedrock, the most extensive one Spirit has found in more than 15
months of field work inside Gusev Crater. Opportunity has reached the edge
of a landscape called the "Etched Terrain," which orbital images show to be
intriguingly different from anything the rover has crossed previously. Rover
team members will present the latest scientific findings from the missions
and will report on the condition of these robots after more than a year of
bonus-time extended work assignments on Mars.

Time/Location: Tuesday, May 24, at 3 p.m. EDT (2 p.m. local CDT). Related
session: P31A.

News Conference Participants:
- Steve Squyres, Rovers principal investigator, Department of Astronomy,
Cornell University,
Ithaca, N.Y.
- Jim Erickson, Rovers project manager, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
(JPL), California
Institute of Technology (Cal Tech) Pasadena, Calif.
- Richard Morris, Rover science team member, NASA Johnson Space Center,
Houston,
Texas

NEWS CONFERENCE: The December 2004 and March 2005 Sumatra Earthquakes
In the past six months the Sunda Trench experienced the two largest
earthquakes in 40 years and the largest quakes to occur since the advent of
modern digital measurement technology. The panelists will offer information
from their latest research on how earthquake aftershock patterns reveal
where the Sunda Trench moved and where it might rupture in the future, how
GPS measurements indicate sliding and buckling of the tectonic plates, how
seismometers and superconducting gravimeters reveal our planet vibrating
weeks and months after the two great earthquakes, and whether we can observe
the predicted earthquake-induced changes to Earth's rotation rate.

Time/Location: Thursday, May 26, at 10 a.m. EDT (9 a.m. local CDT). Related
sessions a U43A/U44A/U51A/U52A/U53A/U54A.

News Conference Participants:
- Jeffrey Park, Professor of Geology and Geophysics, Yale University, New
Haven, Conn.
- Meredith Nettles, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Department of Earth and
Planetary
Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.
- Yehuda Bock, Research Geodesist and Senior Lecturer, Institute of
Geophysics and
Planetary Physics, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of
California - San
Diego, La Jolla, Calif.
- Richard Gross, Geophysicist, NASA JPL, Cal Tech, Pasadena, Calif.

NEWS CONFERENCE: Crediting Reductions in the Emissions of Air Pollutants in
a Future Climate Mitigation Agreement -- Opportunities and Challenges
Air pollutants such as tropospheric ozone and particulate matter contribute
to climate change as well as adversely impacting human health and
agriculture. Reducing emissions of certain air pollutants can both benefit
public health and mitigate climate change. In addition, when and where the
air pollutants are emitted can influence their impact on climate.
Scientific and policy issues associated with including short-lived
greenhouse gases and aerosols in a future climate agreement will be
discussed in this session.

Time/Location: Thursday, May 26, at 3 p.m. EDT (2 p.m. local CDT). Related
sessions a A51B/A52B.

News Conference Participants:
- Denise Mauzerall, assistant professor and Michael Oppenheimer, professor,
both of
Princeton University, Princeton, N.J.
- Jan Fuglestvedt, Research director, CICERO, Oslo, Norway
- James Hansen, Director, NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, N.Y.

For more information about the American Geophysical Union 2005 Joint
Assembly Meeting:


http://www.agu.org/meetings/sm05/


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Jacques :-)

www.spacepatches.info