Sept 2, 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: 11-287

NASA HOSTING FIRST WEST COAST LAUNCH TWEETUP FOR EARTH-OBSERVING SATELLITE

WASHINGTON -- NASA will invite 25 of its U S Twitter followers to a Tweetup expected to culminate in the launch of the first of a new generation of Earth-observing satellites from Vandenberg Air Force Base (VAFB) in California

The event will take place from 9 a m to 5 p m PDT on Monday, Oct 24 NASA's NPP satellite is scheduled to launch aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket between 2:48 and 2:57 a m on Tuesday, Oct 25

The National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System Preparatory Project (NPP) will observe many facets of our changing Earth It will collect critical data on long-term climate change and short-term weather conditions With NPP, NASA continues many key data records initiated by the agency's Earth Observing System satellites, monitoring changes in the atmosphere, oceans, vegetation, ice and solid Earth

During Tweetup activities on Oct 24, participants will tour Vandenberg's launch facilities; speak with agency and NPP mission scientists and managers; and interact with each other and NASA's social media team For the early-morning rocket launch, participants will watch from a special viewing section that will include a pre-launch concert by "Mobility" from the United States Air Force Band of the Golden West

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

Registration opens at noon EDT (9 a m PDT) on Tuesday, Sept 13, and closes at 5 p m EDT (2 p m PDT) on Thursday, Sept 15 NASA will randomly select 25 participants and create a waiting list Because this event takes place on an Air Force base with restricted areas, registration is limited to U S citizens

Launch management for the mission is the responsibility of NASA's Launch Services Program at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida

For more information about the Tweetup and to register, visit:

http://www nasa gov/tweetup

For information about connecting and collaborating with NASA, visit:

http://www nasa gov/connect

For information about the NPP mission, visit:

http://www nasa gov/npp

and

http://npp gsfc nasa gov

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