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



MEDIA ADVISORY: M08-200

NASA TO PROVIDE MARS SCIENCE LABORATORY LAUNCH UPDATE

WASHINGTON -- NASA will host a media teleconference at 3 p.m. EDT,
Friday, Oct. 10, to brief reporters after a meeting held by the
agency's administrator concerning the Mars Science Laboratory, or
MSL. The meeting is to discuss technical and budget issues.

The mission, scheduled to launch in 2009, will assess a variety of
scientific objectives, including whether Mars had, or has today, an
environment able to support microbial life. The rover will carry the
largest, most advanced suite of instruments for scientific studies
ever sent to the Martian surface.

The briefing participants are:
- James Green, director of the Planetary Division in the Science
Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington
- Doug McCuistion, director of the Mars Exploration Program at NASA
Headquarters
- Michael Meyer, Mars Program lead scientist at NASA Headquarters

To participate in the teleconference, reporters in the U.S. should
call 1-866-398-6118 and use the pass code "MSL." International
reporters should call 1-517-308-9407.

Audio of the teleconference will be streamed live at:



http://www.nasa.gov/newsaudio


For more information about MSL, visit:



http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl