NASA Digest, Vol 44, Issue 9

	January 17, 2017  MEDIA ADVISORY M17-004 Iowa Students to Speak to NASA Astronaut on the International Space Station NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson performs an Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) exam. Researchers believe that the measurement of visual, vascular and central nervous system changes over the course of this experiment and during the subsequent post-flight recovery will assist in the development of countermeasures, clinical monitoring strategies, and clinical practice guidelines. Credits: NASA Students from Oskaloosa and Mt. Ayr Community Schools in Iowa will have the opportunity to speak with a NASA astronaut living and working aboard the International Space Station at 10:25 a.m. EST on Thursday, Jan. 19. The 20-minute, Earth-to-space call will air live on NASA Television and the agency's website. Expedition 50 Flight Engineer Peggy Whitson, an Iowa native, will answer questions from fourth graders assembled at Iowa Public Television's studios in Johnston, Iowa. Whitson launched to the space station on Nov. 17 and will live aboard until the spring. Media interested in covering the event should contact Susan Ramsey at 515-725-9703. The IPTV studio is located at 6450 Corporate Drive in Johnston. This in-flight education downlink is an integral component of the NASA Office of Education's efforts to improve science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) teaching and learning in the United States. Linking students directly to astronauts aboard the space station through the agency Office of Education's STEM on Station activity provides authentic, live experiences in space exploration, space study and the scientific components of space travel, while introducing the possibilities of life in space. For NASA TV streaming video, schedule and downlink information, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/nasatv For more information, videos and lesson plans highlighting research on the International Space Station, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/stemonstation
	Press Contacts Sarah Ramsey Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1694 sarah.ramsey@nasa.gov William Jeffs Johnson Space Center, Houston 281-483-5111 william.p.jeffs@nasa.gov

	January 17, 2017  MEDIA ADVISORY M17-006 NASA Hosts Facebook Live to Mark Success, Future of New Horizons Mission Artist's conception of NASA's New Horizons spacecraft encountering a Kuiper Belt object, part of an extended mission after the spacecraft's July 2015 Pluto flyby. New Horizons is set to fly past 2014 MU69 – a KBO currently about a billion miles (1.6 billion kilometers) beyond Pluto, on Jan. 1, 2019. Credits: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI Members of NASA's New Horizons team will discuss the achievements of the first encounter with Pluto and look ahead to the mission's next exploration of the Kuiper Belt during a Facebook Live event at 4 p.m. EST on Thursday, Jan. 19 -- the 11th anniversary of the spacecraft's launch. The event, live-streamed from New Horizons mission operations at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, will be available on the NASA New Horizons Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/new.horizons1/?fref=ts The conversation will cover a range of topics, including the top three findings from the spacecraft's Pluto flyby and what New Horizons is doing on the way to its next science target. Team members scheduled to appear are: Jim Green, director of the Planetary Science Division at NASA Headquarters Alan Stern, New Horizons principal investigator at Southwest Research Institute Glen Fountain, New Horizons (encounter) project manager at APL Kelsi Singer, New Horizons co-investigator at Southwest Research Institute Helene Winters, New Horizons project manager at APL The team will answer questions from the public during the live event. Media may submit questions before and during the event by emailing Laurie Cantillo at NASA Headquarters, laura.l.cantillo@nasa.gov.                         New Horizons team members also will be available for interviews through Friday, Jan. 20. Media should contact Michael Buckley in APL Public Affairs at (240) 228-7536 or michael.buckley@jhuapl.edu to arrange interviews with the team. All data from New Horizons' flight through the Pluto system in July 2015 has been transmitted safely to Earth, with the last bits arriving last fall. While the team continues to analyze this historic set of images and other materials, it's planning for the spacecraft's next encounter – a flyby of Kuiper Belt object 2014 MU69, on Jan. 1, 2019.  For information about NASA's New Horizons mission, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/newhorizons
	Press Contacts Dwayne Brown / Laurie Cantillo Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1726 / 202-358-1077 dwayne.c.brown@nasa.gov / laura.l.cantillo@nasa.gov Michael Buckley Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Md. 240-228-7536 michael.buckley@jhuapl.edu