Jan 12, 2012

Dwayne Brown Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1726 dwayne c brown@nasa gov

DC Agle Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif 818-393-9011 agle@jpl nasa gov

Whitney Lawrence Mullen Sally Ride Science, San Diego 858-638-1432 wmullen@sallyridescience com

MEDIA ADVISORY: M12-005

NASA AND STUDENTS TO ANNOUNCE NEW NAMES FOR TWIN LUNAR PROBES

WASHINGTON -- NASA will host a news conference at 1 p m EST, Tuesday, Jan 17, to announce the names selected from a nationwide student contest for twin spacecraft that will study the moon in unprecedented detail The event will be held in the James E Webb Memorial Auditorium at NASA Headquarters, located at 300 E Street SW, in Washington

Nine hundred schools and more than 11,000 students from 45 states, as well as Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia, participated in the contest that began in October 2011

The agency's twin Gravity Recovery And Interior Laboratory (GRAIL A/B) spacecraft successfully achieved lunar orbit on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, respectively The status of the spacecraft and upcoming plans for science operations also will be discussed

NASA Television and the agency's website will broadcast the live event Journalists can participate from NASA centers or join by phone To obtain dial-in information, media representatives must contact Steve Cole at stephen e cole@nasa gov, by noon EST, Tuesday, Jan 17

The participants are:

-- John Grunsfeld, associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters, Washington -- Leland Melvin, associate administrator for Education, NASA Headquarters -- Maria Zuber, GRAIL principal investigator, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Mass -- Sally Ride, president and CEO, Sally Ride Science, San Diego -- Teacher and students submitting the selected names

The event will be carried live on Ustream, with a live chat box available, at:

http://www ustream tv/nasajpl2

For more information about GRAIL visit:

http://www nasa gov/grail

or

http://grail nasa gov

For NASA TV streaming video, downlink and schedule information, visit:

http://www nasa gov/nasatv

-end-

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