Donald Savage
Headquarters, Washington, DC                   August 6, 1996
(Phone:  202/358-1727)

James Hartsfield
Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX
(Phone: 713/483-5111)

David F. Salisbury
Stanford University, CA
(Phone: 415/723-2558)

NOTE TO EDITORS:  N96-53

NASA BRIEFING WEDNESDAY ON DISCOVERY OF POSSIBLE EARLY MARTIAN LIFE

        A team of NASA and Stanford scientists will discuss 
its findings showing strong circumstantial evidence of 
possible early Martian life, including microfossil remains 
found in a Martian meteorite, at a news conference scheduled 
for 1:00 p.m. EDT, August 7, at NASA Headquarters, 300 E. St. 
SW, Washington, DC.  The team's findings will be published in 
the August 16 issue of Science magazine.  

        Panelists will be:

-  Dr. Wesley Huntress, Jr., NASA Assoc. Administrator for Space Science,
	 Washington, DC
-  Dr. David McKay, principal author, NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC), 
	 Houston, TX
-  Dr. Everett Gibson, NASA JSC, Houston, TX 
-  Dr. Richard N. Zare, Professor of Chemistry, Stanford University, CA
-  Kathy Thomas-Keprta, Lockheed-Martin, JSC, Houston, TX
-  Dr. William Schopf, Professor, Department of Earth and Space Sciences,
	 Univ. of California, Los Angeles 

       The briefing will be carried live on NASA TV with two-
way question-and-answer capability for reporters covering the 
event from participating NASA centers.  Audio of the 
broadcast will be available on voice circuit at the Kennedy 
Space Center by calling 407/867-1260.

       NASA Television is broadcast on Spacenet 2, 
transponder 5, channel 9, C-Band, located at 69 degrees West 
longitude, with horizontal polarization.  Frequency will be 
on 3880.0 megahertz, with audio on 6.8 megahertz.  

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