NASA announces AAS events and news conferences

SAN ANTONIO - NASA researchers will present new findings to the media on a wide range of space science topics during the 211th Meeting of the American Astronomical Society. The AAS meeting runs Monday, Jan. 7 through Friday, Jan. 11, 2008 at the Austin Convention Center, 500 East Cesar Chavez Street, Austin, Texas.

NASA researchers will hold press conferences and present research findings at the 2008 Annual AAS meeting during a variety of scientific sessions that are open to registered media. Noteworthy NASA-related presentations are listed below.

Press Conferences / Events:

Hubble Space Telescope Servicing Mission SM4
TIME: Tues. Jan. 8, 10 a.m. EST (9 a.m. CST) in AAS Press Room

Astronaut John M. Grunsfeld, who will conduct spacewalks to service the Hubble Space Telescope during the STS-125 Space Shuttle mission, will brief reporters on plans for the eagerly awaited flight. Other presenters include: Alan Stern, associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters, Washington; Preston Burch, Hubble program manager, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.; John M. Grunsfeld, astronaut, NASA's Johnson Space Center, Houston; and David Leckrone, senior Hubble project scientist, Goddard.

Poster: Pair Attenuation Signatures in Gamma-Ray Bursts with High-Energy Spectral Components
TIME: Tues., Jan. 8, 2008, 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. EST (10 a.m.-11:30 a.m. CST), Ballroom G
POSTER SESSION: 018

NASA Goddard's Julie McEnery joins Matthew G. Baring and Brenda Dingus on this poster that highlights GLAST, with dramatically improved sensitivities in the 30 MeV-300 GeV energy band. Recent work exploring time-dependent expectations for burst spectral properties has identified distinctive evolutionary trends for internal pair creation turnovers.

Invited Talk: NASA: The View from the Top
Address to the Astronomers by NASA Administrator Michael Griffin
TIME: Tues. Jan. 8, 12:40 p.m. EST (11:40 a.m. CST)

NASA Town Hall Meeting
TIME: Tues. Jan. 8, 1:30 p.m.-2:45 p.m. EST (12:30 p.m.- 1:45 p.m.)

Senior representatives from NASA's Science Mission Directorate and Astrophysics Division will discuss NASA's science program and outlook. Topics will include the status of the research program, highlights of operating missions, progress of missions in development, and anticipated opportunities for both non-flight basic research awards (grants) and flight mission investigations.