Stephanie L. Schierholz
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-4997
stephanie.schierholz@nasa.gov
Aries Keck
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
301-814-8858
aries.c.keck@nasa.gov
RELEASE: 11-357
NASA INVITES TWITTER FOLLOWERS TO LAUNCH OF EARTH-OBSERVING SATELLITE
WASHINGTON -- Twenty lucky followers of NASA's Twitter account will
get behind-the-scenes access at the launch of the agency's next
Earth-observing satellite mission. They will participate in a daylong
Tweetup program at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on
Thursday, Oct. 27 and view the launch of NASA's NPP satellite, which
is scheduled to lift off aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta II
rocket between 2:48 and 2:57 a.m. PDT on Friday, Oct. 28.
The National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System
Preparatory Project (NPP) will collect critical data on long-term
climate change and short-term weather conditions. With NPP, NASA
continues gathering key data records initiated by the agency's Earth
Observing System satellites, monitoring changes in the atmosphere,
oceans, vegetation, ice and solid Earth.
Tweetup participants were selected from more than 625 people who
registered online. They will share their experiences with their
followers through the social networking site Twitter. Attendees are
coming from California, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Kansas,
New York and Oregon.
Beginning at 9:30 a.m. PDT on Oct. 27, NASA will broadcast a portion
of the Tweetup when attendees talk with NASA Astronaut Piers Sellers,
the deputy director of the Sciences and Exploration Directorate at
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.; NPP Project
Scientist Jim Gleason; NPP Systems Manager Janice Smith; NASA Launch
Director Tim Dunn; and Scott Asbury, a senior program manager with
Ball Aerospace & Technologies, Corp. in Boulder, Colo. To watch the
broadcast, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/ntv Participants also will tour Vandenberg's launch facilities, including
a visit to the launch pad. Vandenberg is headquarters for the 30th
Space Wing, which manages space and missile testing for the
Department of Defense and places satellites into polar orbit from the
West Coast using expendable boosters. Launch management for the
mission is the responsibility of NASA's Launch Services Program at
the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
NASA has invited its Twitter followers to seven previous launches, but
this is the first from the West Coast.
To follow participants on Twitter as they experience the prelaunch
events and NPP's liftoff, follow the #NASATweetup hashtag and the
list of attendees at:
http://twitter.com/NASATweetup/npp-launch For information about the NPP mission, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/npp For information about Tweetups and ways to connect with NASA via
social media, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/connect
