Renee Juhans
Headquarters, Washington, DC                     March 8, 1999
(Phone:  202/358-1712)

NOTE TO EDITORS:  N99-14

NASA TO COMMEMORATE SPACELAB: A BRIDGE TO THE FUTURE

     NASA is sponsoring a forum highlighting the history and
science accomplishments of the Spacelab series of Space Shuttle
missions, which took place from 1981 - 1998. The forum will be
held March 10-11, 1999, at the National Research Council, 2100 C
Street, NW, Washington, DC.

     Spacelab, a pressurized, cylindrical facility carried in the
Shuttle's payload bay, provided scientists with a platform for
conducting research in a laboratory environment 180 miles above
the Earth.

     The forum also will celebrate Spacelab's role in the
evolution of space-based research toward a permanent presence in
space.  Charles Walker, three-time Shuttle payload specialist,
will deliver an address entitled "Mercury, Skylab, Spacehab,
International Space Station:  A Continuum" at 5 p.m. on March 10.
Following the presentation, NASA Administrator Daniel Goldin will
serve as the keynote speaker at a reception in the Great Hall of
the National Research Council at 5:30 p.m.

     NASA, industry and university researchers will discuss
Spacelab's contributions to a broad range of space-based research,
including microgravity effects, genetics, human physiology,
combustion, gravitational biology, protein crystal growth and
commercial research.  Participants include:

*  Dr. Kenneth Baldwin, University of California at Irvine
*  Dr. Arthur Davidsen, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD
*  Dr. Lawrence DeLucas, University of Alabama at Birmingham
*  Dr. David Larson, State University of New York at Stoney Brook
*  Dr. Arnauld Nicogossian, NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC
*  Dr. Simon Ostrach, Case Western University, Cleveland, OH
*  Dr. David Robertson, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN
*  Mr. Joseph Rothenberg, NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC
*  Dr. Lawrence Young, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

     Researchers will be available for interviews during the
conference.  To schedule an interview, please contact Renee Juhans
at 202/358-1712.  Media representatives are required to register
for the conference; when registering, please indicate that you are
Media.  For more information, go to:

      http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/olmsa/spacelab.html

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