NASA Digest, Vol 58, Issue 13

	March 21, 2018  MEDIA ADVISORY M18-049 Media Preview of Final Voyage of NASA's Around-the-World Atmospheric Mission NASA's DC-8 takes off from its base of operations at Armstrong Flight Research Center Building 703 in Palmdale, Calif. on January 11, 2018. Credits: NASA Media are invited to preview the final deployment of one of NASA's most ambitious airborne studies of Earth's atmosphere on Friday, April 13, at Building 703 of NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center, located in Palmdale, California. Since 2016, the Atmospheric Tomography (ATom) mission has studied pollution and greenhouse gases in the atmosphere with the agency's DC-8 flying laboratory. Scheduled to begin in late April, the 26-day journey will take researchers over the North Pole, across the Pacific Ocean to New Zealand, and on to the tip of South America before flying over the Atlantic to Greenland and returning to California. ATom measures more than 200 gases and airborne particles in the atmosphere over the oceans to better understand how gases, such as methane, and ozone and airborne particles, such as black carbon, enter, transform and are ultimately removed from the atmosphere. These processes are key components of Earth's air quality and climate. The mission complements NASA's satellite observations of the major gases of Earth's atmosphere. With the DC-8 aircraft, ATom makes detailed measurements of atmospheric composition that are difficult or impossible to make from space. Media will learn about preliminary results on pollution in the global atmosphere from previous ATom flights and will have opportunities to interview lead scientists and mission managers. Media will tour NASA's DC-8 aircraft, which is outfitted with scientific instruments. Registration is open for U.S. and foreign media. All interested U.S. citizens and green card holders must request credentials by 5 p.m. EDT Thursday, April 5. The deadline for foreign nationals is 5 p.m. Friday, March 30. To request credentials, email Armstrong public affairs officer Kate Squires at kate.k.squires@nasa.gov. Include full name as it appears on a valid government-issued photo identification, media affiliation, email address and telephone number. For more information about ATom, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/content/earth-expeditions-atom
	Press Contacts Steve Cole Headquarters, Washington 202-358-0918 stephen.e.cole@nasa.gov Kate Squires Armstrong Flight Research Center, Edwards, Calif. 661-276-2020 kate.k.squires@nasa.gov

	March 21, 2018  MEDIA ADVISORY M18-050 Media Invited to View NASA Spacecraft That Will Touch the Sun This illustration of NASA's Parker Solar Probe depicts the spacecraft traveling through the Sun's outer atmosphere. Humanity's first mission to a star, Parker Solar Probe is scheduled to launch July 31, 2018. Credits: JHU APL Media are invited to view NASA's Parker Solar Probe spacecraft at 9:30 a.m. EDT on Wednesday, March 28, at the agency's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. The spacecraft will embark this summer on a daring trek, traveling closer to the Sun than any spacecraft in history. The Sun is the only star that can be studied up close. In addition to helping solve how stars throughout the universe drive heat, radiation, energy and particles out into space, data from the spacecraft will help scientists better understand how this constant solar outpouring can create hazardous space weather events near Earth. Space weather can impact not only astronauts living and working in space, but also interfere with satellites and radio signals. Media attending the event will have an opportunity to interview the mission team as well as view the spacecraft from outside the cleanroom where it is undergoing final testing before it ships to NASA's Kennedy Space Flight Center in Florida for a scheduled July 31 launch. Media representatives need to RSVP online by 5 p.m. Monday, March 26 at: http://bit.ly/2p8Kh5d Media may contact Haley Reed at haley.p.reed@nasa.gov or 301- 286-3131 for further information. Parker Solar Probe is part of NASA's Living with a Star (LWS) Program to explore aspects of the Sun-Earth system that directly affect life and society. LWS is managed by Goddard for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, manages the mission for NASA. APL designed and built the spacecraft, and also will operate it.
	Press Contacts Dwayne Brown Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1726 dwayne.c.brown@nasa.gov   Karen Fox Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. 301-286-6284 karen.c.fox@nasa.gov Geoff Brown Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Md. 240-228-5618 geoffrey.brown@jhuapl.edu