PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE
JET PROPULSION LABORATORY
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
PASADENA, CALIF. 91109 TELEPHONE (818) 354-5011
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov
Contact: John G. Watson
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 23, 1998
ASTRONAUT PAYTON TO ADDRESS ADVANCED PROPULSION CONFERENCE AT JPL
Gary Payton, the former astronaut who now heads NASA's
aeronautics and space transportation technology organization,
will be the keynote speaker for the Ninth Annual Advanced
Propulsion Research Workshop and Conference being held Mar. 11-13
at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, CA.
Experts from around the world will meet at the conference to
discuss leading technologies related to space flight propulsion
systems of the next century. The event is organized by JPL's
Advanced Propulsion Technology Group for NASA's Marshall Space
Flight Center, Huntsville, AL.
Payton, a former astronaut who flew aboard Space Shuttle
Discovery in 1985, heads up NASA's advanced propulsion concepts
and reusable launch vehicle program. JPL Director Dr. Edward C.
Stone will open the conference.
Newly added to the conference itinerary is an optional tour
of Mt. Wilson Observatory on the afternoon of Thursday, Mar. 12.
The conference banquet at the California Institute of
Technology's Athenaeum on the evening of Wednesday, Mar. 11,
features a talk by optics innovator Edward Danielson of JPL's
observational systems division. His presentation, "New Views of
the Surface of Mars," will include the most recent images from
the high-powered camera on the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft
currently orbiting the red planet.
Session topics to be discussed include new studies analyzing
the feasibility of a precursor to an interstellar mission, which
JPL began conducting this summer on behalf of NASA. Other
subjects are propulsion for the human exploration and development
of space, advanced micropropulsion, advanced chemical and
fusion/fission propulsion systems, solar sails, tethers, and
advanced materials for propulsion.
The conference will take place at JPL's von Karman
Auditorium, 4800 Oak Grove Dr., Pasadena, California, 8:30 a.m.-5
p.m. The registration fee is $80, including the banquet, with a
$40 rate for students. For further information, call (818) 354-
3637, or e-mail: patricia.hayes-rowe@jpl.nasa.gov
JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology,
Pasadena, CA.
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