Contact
Steve Roy
Media Relations Department
(256) 544-0034
steve.roy@msfc.nasa.gov

Satellite Interview: 01-348

Attention: Early Morning Producer
Friday, Nov. 16
5-8 a.m. EDT
Free 10-minute windows—with B-roll

Leonids are coming this weekend! The 2001 meteor shower could be a huge show with peak meteor rates of up to 1,400 per hour

• The 2001 Leonids meteor shower — when Earth passes through debris streams from Comet Tempel-Tuttle — could be one of the biggest astronomical shows in years.
  
• Experts at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., and the University of Western Ontario in London, predict rates of up to 1,400 meteors per hour.
  
• Stargazers will see the most meteors near dawn EST on Sunday, Nov. 18 in the Eastern United States and around 3 a.m. PST in the Western United States. 
  
• Predicting the time and intensity of meteor showers is important for protecting expensive, satellites from meteors that travel at speeds of 45 miles per second (71 kilometers per second.) 
  
• Teams will monitor the storm from six locations, including Alabama, Florida, New Mexico, Hawaii, Guam and Mongolia -- and provide near real-time updates at: SpaceWeather.com.
  
• During the 1999 Leonids event, rates of 3,700 meteors per hour were recorded over Israel and in 2001 rates of almost 400 meteors per hour were recorded over parts of North America.
  
• Talk to an expert about Leonids, its importance and the best way to see this year’s “show.”
  

Who:	Mitzi Adams Astronomer Marshall Space Flight Center
Satellite Coordinates:	GE-2, Transponder 9C, 85 degrees west longitude, Frequency: 3880 MHz, audio: 6.8 MHz.
Satellite Interview Information: Camille Sevier (256) 544-2188	Story Information: Steve Roy, Media Relations (256) 544-0034

Visit the Marshall News Center for news media at:

http://www.msfc.nasa.gov/news