May 12, 2011

Steve Cole Headquarters, Washington
202-358-0918 stephen e cole@nasa gov

MEDIA ADVISORY: M11-094

NASA ANNOUNCES NEWS BRIEFING ON AQUARIUS/SAC-D MISSION

WASHINGTON -- NASA will hold a news briefing on Tuesday, May 17, at 1 p m EDT, on the agency's next Earth-observing satellite mission, Aquarius/SAC-D, scheduled to launch on June 9 The briefing will be held at NASA Headquarters in Washington

Panelists will discuss the international spacecraft mission, a collaboration between NASA and Argentina's space agency, Comisi��n Nacional de Actividades Espaciales (CONAE), with participation by Brazil, Canada, France and Italy CONAE provided the SAC-D spacecraft

The mission's primary instrument, NASA's Aquarius, will make the agency's first space-based global measurements of the salinity of the ocean surface Salinity, a key missing variable in satellite observations of Earth, links ocean circulation, the global balance of freshwater and climate Seven other SAC-D instruments, contributed by Argentina, Canada, France and Italy, will collect environmental data for a wide range of applications, including studies of natural hazards, air quality, land processes, and epidemiology

The panelists are: - Eric Lindstrom, Aquarius program scientist, NASA Headquarters - Eric Ianson, Aquarius program executive, NASA Headquarters - Gary Lagerloef, Aquarius principal investigator, Earth & Space Research, Seattle - Amit Sen, Aquarius project manager, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif - Daniel Caruso, Aquarius/SAC-D project manager, CONAE, Buenos Aires

The briefing will be held in the James E Webb Auditorium at NASA Headquarters, located at 300 E St SW, Washington Reporters unable to attend in person may ask questions from participating NASA centers or by telephone To participate by phone, reporters must contact Dwayne Brown at 202-358-1726 or dwayne c brown@nasa gov by 9 a m on May 17

The news conference will air live on NASA Television and the agency's website For NASA TV streaming video, downlink and scheduling information, visit:

http://www nasa gov/ntv

Viewers also can watch the event and chat live on Ustream at:

http://www ustream tv/nasajpl2

For more information about Aquarius/SAC-D, visit:

http://www nasa gov/aquarius

http://www conae gov ar/eng/principal html

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