HQ NOTE TO EDITORS: N00-054

NASA BRIEFING FOR UNIQUE SATELLITE DUO SCHEDULED NOV. 3

NASA is scheduled to brief the news media on the  launch of two Earth observation satellites, including one  with the unusual ability to track migrating whales.

The briefing is set for 11 a.m. EST, Nov. 3, in the James  E. Webb Memorial Auditorium at NASA Headquarters, located  at 300 E St., SW, Washington, DC.

The satellites -- Earth Observing 1 (EO-1) and the SAC-C,  an international cooperative mission between NASA and the  Argentine Commission on Space Activities (CONAE) -- are  scheduled for launch Nov. 18, at 1:24 p.m. EST, on a Delta  rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base, CA.

The first of three New Millennium Program Earth-orbiting  missions, EO-1 is an advanced land-imaging mission that  will demonstrate new instruments and spacecraft systems.  NASA started the New Millennium Program in 1996 to  identify, develop and flight-validate key instrument and  spacecraft technologies that can enable new or more cost- effective approaches to conducting science missions in the  21st century.

Joining EO-1 aboard the Delta rocket is the SAC-C  spacecraft, designed to study the structure and dynamics of  the Earth's atmosphere, ionosphere and geomagnetic field.  SAC-C will also seek to measure the space radiation in the  environment and its influence on advanced electronic  components, as well as determine the migration route of the  Franca whale. 

Another objective of the payload is to verify autonomous  methods of attitude and orbit determination. The SAC-C  mission is a collaboration between the United States,  Argentina, Brazil, Denmark, France and Italy.

The Nov. 3 briefing will be carried live on NASA Television  with two-way question-and-answer capability from the NASA  centers. NASA Television is broadcast on the GE2 satellite  located on transponder 9C, at 85 degrees West longitude,  frequency 3880.0 MHz, audio 6.8 MHz.