Aug 14 2013
From The Space Library
MEDIA ADVISORY M13-131 NASA Invites Media to Meet New Astronaut Candidates
Eight astronaut candidates who arrived at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston this week to begin training will participate in a news conference with NASA Administrator Charles Bolden at 10 a.m. CDT (11 a.m. EDT) Tuesday, Aug. 20.
The news conference will be a rare opportunity for journalists to speak with the candidates, as they will be unavailable for media interviews while they focus on training for the next two years.
During the event, news media representatives also will be able to interview NASA officials involved in astronaut selection and training, and visit the training facilities at Johnson.
The astronaut candidates are Josh A. Cassada and Victor J. Glover, both lieutenant commanders in the U.S. Navy; Tyler N. "Nick" Hague, a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Air Force; Christina M. Hammock; Nicole Aunapu Mann, a major in the U.S. Marine Corps; Anne C. McClain and Andrew R. Morgan, both majors in the U.S. Army; and Jessica U. Meir.
The candidates were selected come from the second largest pool of applicants NASA has ever received -- more than 6,000.
During the next two years, the group will participate in a variety of technical training activities at space centers and remote locations around the globe to prepare for missions that will help the agency push the boundaries of exploration and travel to new destinations in the solar system.
To attend the event, media representatives must call the Johnson newsroom at 281-483-5111 by 2 p.m. CDT Monday, Aug. 19.
Reporters and NASA social media followers may submit questions to the candidates on Twitter, Facebook and Google+ in advance using the hashtag #askNASA. NASA will open a thread on its Facebook page where questions may also be posted. The event will air live on NASA Television and the NASA website.
MEDIA ADVISORY M13-134 NASA Hosts Kepler Spacecraft Status Teleconference
NASA will host a news teleconference at 2 p.m. EDT Thursday, Aug. 15, to discuss the status of the agency's Kepler Space Telescope.
Kepler is the first NASA mission capable of finding Earth-size planets in or near the habitable zone, the region around a star in which the surface temperature of an orbiting planet might be suitable for liquid water. Launched in 2009, Kepler has discovered planets and planet candidates with a wide range of sizes and orbital distances and helped scientists better understand our place in the galaxy.
The briefing participants are:
- Paul Hertz, astrophysics director, NASA Headquarters
- William Borucki, Kepler science principal investigator, NASA's Ames Research Center
- Charles Sobeck, deputy project manager, NASA's Ames Research Center
For dial-in information, journalists should email their name, affiliation and telephone number to J.D. Harrington at j.d.harrington@nasa.gov by 1 p.m. Thursday. Media representatives and the public also may ask questions via Twitter using the hashtag #AskNASA.
