NASA Announces News Briefing on Mars Orbiter Science Finding

WASHINGTON -- NASA will host a news briefing on Thursday, Aug. 4, at 11 a.m. PDT (2 p.m. EDT) about a significant new Mars science finding. The briefing will be held at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

The new finding is based on observations from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which has been orbiting the Red Planet since 2006. Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, Calif., for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington.

The briefing panelists are:
-- Philip Christensen, geophysicist, Arizona State University, Tempe
-- Colin Dundas, research geologist, U.S. Geological Survey, Flagstaff, Ariz.
-- Alfred McEwen, planetary geologist, University of Arizona, Tucson
-- Michael Meyer, Mars Exploration Program lead scientist, NASA Headquarters
-- Lisa Pratt, biogeochemist, Indiana University, Bloomington

The news briefing will air live on NASA Television and the agency's website. For NASA TV streaming video, downlink and scheduling information, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/ntv . The event will also be carried live, with a live chat box available, at http://www.ustream.tv/nasajpl2 .

2011-238b

Guy Webster/Priscilla Vega 818-354-6278/354-1357
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
guy.webster@jpl.nasa.gov/ priscilla.r.vega@jpl.nasa.gov

Steve Cole 202-358-0918
NASA Headquarters, Washington
stephen.e.cole@nasa.gov