Apr 2 2012

From The Space Library

RELEASE: 12-103 NASA, SPACEX ANNOUNCE NASA SOCIAL FOR FALCON 9 LAUNCH ATTEMPT

WASHINGTON -- NASA and Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) will invite 50 of their social media followers to a two-day NASA Social April 29-30 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The event is expected to culminate in the launch of SpaceX's second Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) demonstration flight. SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket is targeted to lift off at 12:22 p.m. EDT on April 30, in an attempt to become the first commercial company to send a spacecraft to the International Space Station. Registration opens at noon EDT Thursday, April 5, and closes at noon Friday, April 6. Fifty participants will be selected from online registrations.

MEDIA ADVISORY: M12-057 NASA TO HOLD BRIEFING PREVIEWING SPACEX MISSION TO SPACE STATION

HOUSTON -- NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston will hold a media briefing on Monday, April 16, to preview the SpaceX demonstration mission to the International Space Station, currently scheduled for launch April 30. The briefing will immediately follow a Flight Readiness Review (FRR) conducted by senior NASA managers, space station partners and SpaceX officials. The review likely will conclude in the early afternoon. The briefing will be broadcast live on NASA Television and on the agency's website. During the flight, SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft will conduct a series of checkout procedures, which will test and prove its systems in advance of the rendezvous with the space station. The primary objectives for the flight include a fly-under of the station at a distance of 1.5 miles (2.5 kilometers) to validate the operation of sensors and flight systems necessary for a safe rendezvous. The spacecraft also will demonstrate the capability to abort the rendezvous. If the checkout procedures go well, Dragon will perform the rendezvous while the station crew works inside the complex to grapple the vehicle with the station's robotic arm. Dragon will be berthed to the Earth-facing side of the Harmony node. At the end of the mission, the crew will reverse the process, detaching Dragon from the station, after which Dragon will return to Earth and be recovered. Briefing participants include: -- William Gerstenmaier, NASA associate administrator for Human Exploration and Operations -- Michael Suffredini, International Space Station program manager -- Alan Lindenmoyer, Commercial Orbital Transportation Services program manager -- Elon Musk, SpaceX chief executive officer and chief designer -- Holly Ridings, NASA flight director