Elvia H. Thompson
Headquarters, Washington, DC                      March 24, 2000
(Phone:  202/358-1600)

NOTE TO EDITORS:  N00-9

BRIEFING ON REPORT OF MARS PROGRAM INDEPENDENT ASSESSMENT TEAM SCHEDULED

A briefing on the report of the Mars Program Independent Assessment Team will be held Tuesday, March 28, at 2 p.m. EST, in the James E. Webb Auditorium at NASA Headquarters, 300 E Street, SW, Washington, DC.

Thomas Young will present the team's findings and recommendations. NASA Associate Administrator for Space Science, Dr. Edward J. Weiler, will address NASA's response to the findings and recommendations. NASA chartered the team to independently assess current and future Mars programs in light of the recent loss of several spacecraft at Mars. The report of the Mars Polar Lander Failure Review Board, chaired by John Casani, will be released concurrently with the Young team's report.

The briefing will be carried live on NASA TV with two-way question-and-answer capability for reporters covering the event from participating NASA centers. The report will be available to the press, on paper, at noon EST Tuesday in the newsrooms at the following NASA locations: Headquarters, Washington, DC; Kennedy Space Center, FL; Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX; and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA. Its contents are embargoed for release until 2 p.m. EST March 28. The report will be accessible online at 2 p.m. EST from the NASA homepage at:

http://www.nasa.gov

NASA television is on GE-2, transponder 9C, located at 85 degrees West longitude, with vertical polarization. Frequency is on 3880.0 megahertz, with audio on 6.8 megahertz.

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