MEDIA RELATIONS 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: Jane Platt

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEJanuary 11, 1999

PUBLIC LECTURES EXPLORE NASA SEARCH FOR 'COSMIC ROOTS'

       The search for life beyond the solar system will be the topic of a pair of free public lectures Thursday, January 21, at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Friday, January 22, at Pasadena City College.

       "NASA's Origins Program -- The Search for Our Cosmic Roots and ... Galactic Cousins?" will be the topic of the lectures by Dr. Firouz Naderi, manager of the Origins Program at JPL. The JPL lecture will be held in the Laboratory's von Karman Auditorium, while the Pasadena City College lecture will be in the campus' Forum. Both are at 7 p.m., with limited seating available on a first-come, first-served basis.

       Naderi will explain NASA's series of planned missions to trace our existence to the formation of galaxies, stars, planets and early life on Earth. Origins missions will also hunt for Earth-like planets around stars in our "galactic neighborhood." The lectures are part of the monthly von Karman Lecture Series sponsored by JPL's Public Affairs Office.

       During his 19 years at JPL, Naderi has also served as program manager for the Space Science Flight Experiments Program, project manager for the Scatterometer and SeaWinds projects, and project manager for mobile satellite experiments. Naderi was also the program manager at NASA Headquarters for the Advanced Communications Technology Satellites Program.

       More information about JPL's von Karman Lecture Series is available on the Internet at http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/lecture/, or by calling (818) 354-5011. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology.

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