MEDIA RELATIONS OFFICE
JET PROPULSION LABORATORY
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
PASADENA, CALIFORNIA 91109. TELEPHONE (818) 354-5011
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov

Carolina Martinez? (818)354-9382
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

Dwayne Brown? (202)358-1726
NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C.

NOTE TO EDITORS : 2004-135?
May 28, 2004

SPACECRAFT PREPARES TO RING SATURN

NASA and European Space Agency officials will discuss the Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn at a press briefing on Thursday, June 3, at 7 a.m. Pacific Time (10:00 a.m. EDT). The briefing will originate from NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C., and will be broadcast live on NASA TV.? Local reporters are invited to watch the briefing, with two-way question and answer capability, at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

After nearly seven years and a journey of 2.2 billion miles (3.5 billion kilometers) through space, the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft will arrive at Saturn on June 30, 2004 (July 1, 2004 Universal Time).? Panelists will discuss the mission, and the challenging maneuver to place the spacecraft in orbit around Saturn.

Panelists:

• Dr. Ed Weiler, NASA's Associate Administrator for Space Science, Washington
• Orlando Figueroa, Director, Solar System Exploration Division, NASA Headquarters
• Dr. Charles Elachi, Director of JPL and Team Leader for the Cassini Radar Instrument
• Robert Mitchell, JPL Cassini Program Manager
• Dr. Jean-Pierre Lebreton, European Space Agency Huygens Probe Project Manager

NASA TV is available on AMC-9, transponder 9C, C-Band, located at 85 degrees west longitude. The frequency is 3880.0 MHz. Polarization is vertical, and audio is monaural at 6.80 MHz; with two-way question-and-answer capability from participating NASA centers. For listen-only service call: 321/867- 1220/1240/1260. The briefing will be webcast live at: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/webcast/cassini/ .

Media who would like to watch at JPL must RSVP to the Media Relations Office at (818) 354-5011.? Valid media credentials are required.? Non-U.S. citizens must also bring passports.

For information about the Cassini mission on the Internet, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/cassini or? http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov .