Oct 20, 2011

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

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