NASA To Preview February Comet Encounter

WASHINGTON -- NASA will hold a news briefing at 1 p.m. EST on Wednesday, Jan. 19, to discuss the Feb. 14 Stardust-NExT mission flyby of comet Tempel 1. The encounter will mark the first time scientists can look for changes on a comet's surface caused by a close flyby of the sun.


The news conference will be in the James E. Webb Auditorium at NASA Headquarters at 300 E St. SW in Washington. It will be broadcast live on NASA Television and streamed on the agency's website.

The briefing participants are:

-- Joe Veverka, Stardust-NExT principal investigator, Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y.

-- Tim Larson, Stardust-NExT project manager, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

-- Pete Schultz, Stardust-NExT co-investigator, Brown University, Providence, R.I.

-- Steve Chesley, Stardust-NExT co-investigator, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena

Media representatives unable to attend in person may ask questions from participating NASA locations or by telephone. For dial-in information, journalists must send their name, affiliation and telephone number to Steve Cole at stephen.e.cole@nasa.gov or call 202-358-0918 by 11 a.m. Jan. 19.

For NASA TV streaming video and downlink information, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

For more information about NASA's Stardust-NExt mission, visit:

http://www.stardustnext.jpl.nasa.gov/