Oct 10, 2012

Lauren Worley Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1288 lauren b worley@nasa gov

MEDIA ADVISORY: M12-200

NASA DEPUTY ADMINISTRATOR TO VISIT LOCKHEED MARTIN TO VIEW NEXT MARS MISSION SPACECRAFT AND DEEP SPACE CAPSULE HEAT SHIELD

WASHINGTON -- NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver will visit Lockheed Martin in Littleton, Colo , on Monday, Oct 15 to view the next spacecraft to launch to Mars and a part of the Orion vehicle that will carry astronauts farther into space than ever before

The Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) mission will orbit Mars to explore how the sun may have stripped the Red Planet of most of its atmosphere, turning what possibly was once a planet habitable to microbial life into a cold and barren desert world Lockheed Martin is building the spacecraft and will perform mission operations following launch

Orion is America's latest human spacecraft that will usher in a new era of space exploration It is designed to be the safest, most advanced spacecraft ever, and will be flexible and capable enough to take NASA astronauts to a variety of destinations, including Mars Lockheed Martin is building the Orion spacecraft The Orion heat shield is being built at the company's Littleton facility

Garver will be available to speak with news media representatives following her tour of the MAVEN cleanroom and the facility where the Orion heat shield is being manufactured There will be a photo opportunity with Garver and Lockheed Martin officials while they tour the MAVEN cleanroom before her comments to reporters in front of the Orion heat shield The event starts at 9 a m MDT (11 a m EDT)

Media representatives wanting to attend the event must call Gary Napier at 303-971-4012 or email him at gary p napier@lmco com by 8 a m , Monday, Oct 15 to be badged into the facility Journalists planning to attend must be U S citizens

For information about NASA and agency programs, visit:

http://www nasa gov

-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:

https://aus-city com/cgi-bin/dada/mail cgi/u/NASA_REPORTS/example/example com/

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:

<[program_url]/list/[list]>

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

<mailto:[list_owner_email]>

The following physical address is associated with this mailing list:

[physical_address]