Mar 29 2017

From The Space Library

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Current revision

MEDIA ADVISORY M17-037 NASA to Preview ‘Grand Finale’ of Cassini Saturn Mission

NASA will hold a news conference at 3 p.m. EDT Tuesday, April 4, at the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, to preview the beginning of Cassini's final mission segment, known as the Grand Finale, which begins in late April. The briefing will air live on NASA Television and the agency’s website.

Cassini has been orbiting Saturn since June 2004, studying the planet, its rings and its moons. A final close flyby of Saturn's moon Titan on April 22 will reshape the Cassini spacecraft's orbit so that it begins its final series of 22 weekly dives through the unexplored gap between the planet and its rings. The first of these dives is planned for April 26. Following these closer-than-ever encounters with the giant planet, Cassini will make a mission-ending plunge into Saturn's upper atmosphere on Sept. 15.

The panelists for the briefing are:

• Jim Green, director of NASA’s Planetary Science Division at the agency’s headquarters in Washington
• Earl Maize, Cassini project manager at JPL
• Linda Spilker, Cassini project scientist at JPL
• Joan Stupik, Cassini guidance and control engineer at JPL

Media who would like to attend the event at JPL must arrange access in advance by contacting Gina Fontes in the JPL Media Relations Office at 818-354-9380 or georgina.d.fontes@jpl.nasa.gov. Media who arrange access must bring to the event valid media credentials, and for non-U.S. citizens, valid passports.

To participate by phone, media must email their name and affiliation to georgina.d.fontes@jpl.nasa.gov by 8 a.m. April 4.

Media and the public also may ask questions during the briefing on Twitter using the hashtag #askNASA.

Supporting graphics, video and background information about Cassini's Grand Finale will be posted before the briefing at: [1]

The Cassini mission is a cooperative project of NASA, ESA (European Space Agency) and the Italian Space Agency. JPL, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. JPL designed, developed and assembled the Cassini orbiter.

MEDIA ADVISORY M17-038 California Students to Speak to NASA Astronauts on International Space Station

Students from Betsy Ross Elementary School in Anaheim, California, will speak with Expedition 50 Commander Shane Kimbrough and Flight Engineer Peggy Whitson, both of NASA.

Students from Betsy Ross Elementary School in Anaheim, California, will speak with NASA astronauts living and working aboard the International Space Station at 11:40 a.m. EDT Monday, April 3. The 20-minute, Earth-to-space call will air live on NASA Television and the agency’s website.

Expedition 50 Commander Shane Kimbrough and Flight Engineer Peggy Whitson, both of NASA, will answer questions from students in several grades. Students at Betsy Ross Elementary School have been hard at work exploring the space program, NASA and the space station leading up to the downlink. They have conducted research through virtual field trips while also designing realistic models of the space station. With each engaging activity, the students’ knowledge of NASA and the space program has been greatly enhanced.

Kimbrough launched to the space station Oct. 19, 2016, and will return April 10. Whitson launched to the space station Nov. 17, 2016, and is scheduled to return to Earth later this spring.

Media interested in covering the event should contact Keith Sterling, director of communications & public information, Anaheim Elementary School District, at 714-600-0952 or ksterling@anaheimelementary.org. Ross Elementary is at 535 S. Walnut Street in Anaheim.

Linking students directly to astronauts aboard the space station provides unique, authentic experiences designed to enhance student learning, performance and interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). This in-flight education downlink is an integral component of NASA Education’s STEM on Station activity, which provides a variety of space station resources and opportunities to students and educators.