Apr 9 2013
From The Space Library
RELEASE: 13-103 - NASA'S TWITTER ACCOUNT WINS BACK-TO-BACK SHORTY AWARDS --WASHINGTON -- NASA's official Twitter feed has won its second consecutive Shorty award for the best government use of social media. The Shorty Award honors the best of social media across sites such as Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, YouTube, Foursquare and others. NASA took the prize Monday at the fifth annual Shorty Awards ceremony in New York. The NASA acceptance tweet was, "We're sharing the universe 1 tweet at a time. Be inspired! Follow NASA & RT if you love science & space. ShortyAwards." Our success stems from inspiring content that connects with people, said David Weaver, NASA's associate administrator for communications. "Our story of science and innovation resonates with everyone. Social media enables us to reach people directly like never before." The Shorty Awards also recognized NASA's MarsCuriosity account as Foursquare Mayor of the Year. Curiosity, a robotic rover, has been using the mobile application Foursquare since October 2012 to check in at locations it has been exploring on Mars. Users on Foursquare can keep up with Curiosity as it checks in at key locations and posts photos and tips. Including Monday's two awards and last year's Twitter account recognition, NASA now has five Shorty Awards. The agency also won in 2009 for its use of Twitter for the Mars Phoenix Lander mission, and astronaut Doug Wheelock was awarded the Real Time Photo of the Year in 2011 for his "Moon from Space" picture. NASA uses almost 500 social media accounts to communicate its mission to a wide range of followers. The NASA twitter account has 3.8 million followers, the most in the federal government. NASA also maintains presences on Facebook, Google+, Flickr, and other popular platforms. NASA Socials, formerly known as NASA Tweetups, allow social media followers to attend functions and interact with NASA's engineers, astronauts and scientists. Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield's Twitter account also was recognized Monday with the Shorty for the Best in Science category.
MEDIA ADVISORY: M13-058 - NASA TV PROVIDES COVERAGE OF SPACE STATION CARGO SHIP ACTIVITIES --WASHINGTON -- NASA Television will broadcast an unpiloted Russian cargo ship's departure from the International Space Station on April 15 and the launch and docking of another April 24 and 26. The ISS Progress 49 resupply ship, which arrived at the station in late October, will depart the rear port of the station's Zvezda service module at 8:01 a.m. EDT, April 15. NASA TV coverage of the undocking will begin at 7:45 a.m. Progress 49 will reenter Earth's atmosphere several days later and burn up over the Pacific Ocean. Progress 49's departure will clear the way for the arrival of the ISS Progress 51 cargo craft. Loaded with more than 3 tons of food, fuel, supplies and experiment hardware for the six crew members aboard the orbital laboratory, Progress 51 is scheduled to launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 6:12 a.m. (4:12 p.m. Kazakh time) Wednesday, April 24. NASA TV coverage of the launch will begin at 6 a.m. Progress 51 will take two days to catch up and rendezvous with the space station. It is scheduled to dock at 8:27 a.m. Friday, April 26. NASA TV coverage will begin at 7:45 a.m.
MEDIA ADVISORY: M13-059 - NASA SETS TV COVERAGE FOR ANTARES TEST FLIGHT --WALLOPS ISLAND, Va. -- NASA's commercial partner, Orbital Sciences Corporation of Dulles, Va., is scheduled to launch its first Antares rocket from Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport Pad-0A at the agency's Wallops Flight Facility on Wednesday, April 17. NASA Television coverage of the launch will begin at 4 p.m. EDT. Liftoff is scheduled for 5 p.m. with a daily launch window that runs until 8 p.m. If needed, back-up launch opportunities are available April 18-21. The Antares test flight is the first of two missions Orbital is scheduled to conduct this year under NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) Program. This mission will demonstrate the Antares launch system beginning with its April 6 rollout and placement on the launch pad through its fueling, launch, and delivery of a mass simulator payload into orbit. The mass simulator matches the weight and dimensions of the Cygnus spacecraft, which Orbital has developed to deliver cargo to the International Space Station. The simulator carries instruments to collect data about the launch environment during the Antares flight. In advance of the launch, NASA will host a media briefing to discuss the Wallops Flight Facility, Orbital's activities under NASA's COTS and Commercial Resupply Services initiatives, and the new Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport Pad-0A. It will begin at 2 p.m. Tuesday, April 16, at the Wallops Visitors Center. At 3 p.m., NASA will host a prelaunch news conference about the test launch and mission.
