NASA Will Host 150 People For Tweetup At Launch Of Jupiter-Bound Mission

Stephanie L. Schierholz

Headquarters, Washington                               

 

Veronica McGregor

Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

WASHINGTON -- NASA will host a two-day launch Tweetup for 150 of its Twitter followers on Aug. 4 - 5 at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Tweetup is expected to culminate in the launch of the Jupiter-bound Juno spacecraft aboard an Atlas V rocket.

The launch window opens at 11:39 a.m. EDT on Aug. 5. The spacecraft is expected to arrive at Jupiter in 2016. The mission will investigate the gas giant's origins, structure, atmosphere and magnetosphere. Juno's color camera will provide close-up images of Jupiter, including the first detailed glimpse of the planet's poles.

The Tweetup will provide @NASA Twitter followers with the opportunity to tour the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex; speak with scientists and engineers from the Juno and other upcoming missions; 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.

Juno is the second of four space missions launching this year, making 2011 one of the busiest ever in planetary exploration. Aquarius was launched June 10 to study ocean salinity; Grail will launch Sept. 8 to study the moon's gravity field; and the Mars Science Laboratory/Curiosity rover heads to the Red Planet no earlier than Nov. 25.

Tweetup registration opens at 3 p.m. on Friday, June 24, and closes at 3 p.m. on Monday, June 27. NASA will randomly select 150 participants from online registrations. For more information 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.

Juno's principal investigator is Scott Bolton of the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., manages the mission.

For more information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/juno and http://missionjuno.swri.edu.

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Tweetup At NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory Previews 2011 Missions

Stephanie L. Schierholz

Headquarters, Washington                               

 

Veronica McGregor

Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

PASADENA, Calif. -- News media representatives are invited to cover a Tweetup hosted by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., on Monday, June 6. More than 100 NASA Twitter followers, who registered in April, will attend the event.

With four NASA/JPL space missions launching in 2011 and an asteroid belt encounter nearly under way, this year will be one of the busiest ever in planetary exploration. Tweetup participants will interact with JPL scientists and engineers about these upcoming missions: Aquarius, to study ocean salinity; Grail, to study the moon's gravity field; Juno to Jupiter; and the Mars Science Laboratory/Curiosity rover. Tweetup participants also will learn about the Dawn mission and its planned encounter with the asteroid Vesta.

The Tweetup will take place from approximately 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. PDT. It will include a tour of JPL, hands-on demonstrations and a last chance to see the Curiosity rover before it ships to Florida for its launch in the fall. Tour stops will include the Spacecraft Assembly Facility, where Curiosity is undergoing assembly and testing, the mission control center of NASA's Deep Space Network, and JPL's new Earth Science Center.

NASA Television will broadcast portions of the Tweetup from 8:15 - 10:30 a.m. PDT and again from 1:30 - 3:30 p.m. PDT on June 6 at http://www.nasa.gov/ntv and http://www.ustream.tv/nasajpl2.

Tweetup participants will mingle with fellow attendees and the staff behind @NASA, @NASAJPL, @MarsRovers, @AsteroidWatch and other NASA social media accounts.

NASA's first Tweetup was held at JPL on Jan. 21, 2009, and NASA Headquarters held its first on July 21, 2009. The most recent event was at NASA's Kennedy Space Center for the space shuttle Endeavour's final launch. Following JPL's June event, the next NASA Tweetup will be July 7-8 at Kennedy for the Space Shuttle Program's final launch. Registration for that Tweetup is open from noon EDT Wednesday, June 1, through noon Thursday, June 2, at

http://www.nasa.gov/tweetup.

ACCREDITATION

News media representatives who would like to cover the June 6 Tweetup must RSVP in advance to JPL Media Relations at 818-354-5011. Non-U.S. citizens also must bring valid passports.

WEB COVERAGE

Follow the conversation before and during the June 6 event on Twitter by using the hashtag #NASATweetup and following the @NASAJPL, @JPLTweetup, and @NASATweetup accounts.

Find all the ways to connect and collaborate with NASA at http://www.nasa.gov/connect.

For more information about Aquarius, Grail, Juno, the Curiosity rover, Dawn and NASA’s other science missions, visit http://science.nasa.gov.

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