NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center is partnering with the U.S. Space & Rocket Center to host a community-wide viewing of the launch of the next Mars-bound spacecraft, the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) launch on Monday, Nov. 18.
Activities begin at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center at 11 a.m. CST, with a panel discussion and question-and-answer session about deep space exploration, culminating with a live launch viewing at 12:28 p.m. There will also be educational activities for kids, and the U.S. Space & Rocket Center will have lunch available for guests to purchase.
Speakers include David Smitherman, Advanced Concepts Office Study Lead; Bill Cooke, Meteoroid Environments Office Lead; and Sharon Cobb, Ph.D., Space Launch System Assistant Program Manager. The panel discussion will be broadcast live on the Marshall Center’s Ustream channel at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nasa-msfc. Questions can be submitted to panel members through the Marshall Center’s Twitter account, @NASA_Marshall.
MAVEN is set to launch aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V 401 rocket at 12:28 p.m. CST from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 41. The vehicle will examine the upper atmosphere of Mars in unprecedented detail, hoping to study specific processes that led to the loss of much of its atmosphere. Data and analysis could tell planetary scientists the history of climate change on the Red Planet and provide further information on the history of planetary habitability.
This “Brown Bag, Red Planet” public viewing event will be held at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center’s Digital Theater located in the Davidson Center. In addition, the Marshall Center also encourages the community to gather over lunch and tune in wherever they may be on Nov. 18 and be a part of the agency’s latest Mars mission.
To attend: News media interested in attending the event at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center should contact Shannon Ridinger at 256-544-0334 or Tim Hall at 256-701-0916 no later than Monday, Nov. 18, at 9 a.m. Panel members will be available for media interviews immediately following the end of the panel discussion.
Shannon Ridinger
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.
256-544-0034
shannon.j.ridinger@nasa.gov
Tim Hall
U.S. Space and Rocket Center, Huntsville, Ala.
256-701-0916
timh@spacecamp.com