Sept 28, 2011

Stephanie L Schierholz Headquarters, Washington
202-358-4997 stephanie schierholz@nasa gov

Veronica McGregor Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif 818-354-9452 veronica c mcgregor@jpl nasa gov

RELEASE: 11-327

150 OF NASA'S TWITTER FOLLOWERS WILL BE INVITED TO MARS ROVER LAUNCH

WASHINGTON -- NASA will host a two-day launch Tweetup for 150 of its Twitter followers on Nov 23 and 25 at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida The Tweetup is expected to culminate in the launch of the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover aboard an Atlas V 541 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station The launch window opens at 10:21 a m EST on Nov 25

The Tweetup will provide NASA's social media followers with the opportunity to tour Kennedy Space Center; speak with scientists and engineers; and, if all goes as scheduled, view the spacecraft launch The event also will provide participants the opportunity to meet fellow tweeps and members of NASA's social media team

Curiosity's arrival at the Red Planet is anticipated in August 2012 at Gale crater During the two-year prime mission, the rover will investigate whether a selected area of Mars offered environmental conditions favorable for microbial life and for preserving evidence about life if it existed

Mars Science Laboratory is the fourth space mission launching this year managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif , making 2011 one of the busiest ever in planetary exploration Aquarius launched June 10 to study ocean salinity; Juno launched Aug 5 to study the origins and interior of Jupiter; and the twin GRAIL orbiters departed for the moon on Sept 10

Tweetup registration opens at noon on Wed, Oct 5, and closes at noon on Fri , Oct 7 NASA will randomly select 150 participants from online registrations

For more information and rules about the Tweetup and registration, visit:

http://www nasa gov/tweetup

For information about connecting and collaborating with NASA, visit:

http://www nasa gov/connect

For information about the mission, visit:

http://www nasa gov/msl

and

http://mars jpl nasa gov/msl/

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