Dec 5, 2007

Melissa Mathews/Stephanie Schierholz Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1272/4997 melissa mathews-1@nasa gov, stephanie schierholz@nasa gov

MEDIA ADVISORY: M07-175

NASA SET TO ANNOUNCE FINAL MAJOR ARES I CONTRACT

WASHINGTON - NASA will host a news conference Wednesday, Dec 12, at 4 p m EST to announce the selection of a contractor for the upper stage instrument unit avionics for the Ares I rocket The avionics unit is the central system that provides guidance, navigation and control for the launch vehicle during ascent as it carries the Orion spacecraft to low Earth orbit

The news conference will take place in the NASA Headquarters James E Webb Memorial Auditorium, 300 E St S W , Washington It will air live on the Web and on NASA Television with questions and answers from participating NASA locations Media should confirm availability with local NASA centers by 4 p m Monday, Dec 10

News conference participants: - Doug Cooke, deputy associate administrator for Exploration Systems - Jeff Hanley, Constellation program manager - Steve Cook, Ares project manager - Danny Davis, Upper Stage Element manager

The instrument unit is part of the Ares I upper stage, which includes propellant tanks and a separately procured upper stage engine The first stage will consist of a single reusable solid rocket booster and motor, similar to those used on the space shuttle, with a fifth integrated motor segment

For NASA TV streaming video, downlink and scheduling information, visit:

http://www nasa gov/ntv

For information about NASA's Exploration Systems Mission Directorate visit:

http://www nasa gov/exploration

-end-

To subscribe to the list, send a message to: hqnews-subscribe@mediaservices nasa gov To remove your address from the list, send a message to: hqnews-unsubscribe@mediaservices nasa gov

The following information is a reminder of your current mailing list subscription:

You are subscribed to the following list: [list_name]

using the following email: example@example.com

You may automatically unsubscribe from this list at any time by visiting the following URL:

http://www aus-city com/cgi-bin/dada/mail cgi/u/[list]/

If the above URL is inoperable, make sure that you have copied the entire address Some mail readers will wrap a long URL and thus break this automatic unsubscribe mechanism

You may also change your subscription by visiting this list's main screen:

http://www aus-city com/cgi-bin/dada/mail cgi/list/[list]

If you're still having trouble, please contact the list owner at:

<mailto:list
admin@aus-city
com>

The following physical address is associated with this mailing list:

http://www aus-city com