Apr 27 2018

From The Space Library

MEDIA ADVISORY M18-070 Montana, Vermont Students to Speak with NASA Astronauts on Space Station

Students from Montana and Vermont will talk with astronauts on the International Space Station next week as part of NASA’s Year of Education on Station.

NASA astronauts Drew Feustel and Scott Tingle will answer questions about life aboard the space station, NASA’s deep space exploration plans and conducting science in space during two opportunities. The Expedition 55 astronauts are living, working and researching aboard the International Space Station. The 20-minute, Earth-to-space calls will air live on NASA Television and the agency’s website.

The first event, at 11:55 a.m. EDT Tuesday, May 1, will allow Laurel Public School students in Laurel, Montana, to speak with Feustel. The students are part of a NASA program, High School Students United with NASA to Create Hardware, that has used the city’s strong aviation and technology background to build a relationship with the space station for 13 years. Media interested in attending the event should contact Dr. Linda Filpula at linda_filpula@laurel.k12.mt.us or 406-628-3356. The event will take place at 203 East 8th St., Laurel, Montana.

The second event, at 12:20 p.m. Wednesday, May 2, will allow students from Champlain Valley School District in Hinesburg, Vermont, to speak with both Feustel and Tingle. Media interested in attending should contact Jen Roth at jroth@cvsdvt.org or 802-425-2771. The event will take place at Charlotte Central School 408 Hinesburg Rd., Charlotte, Vermont.

Linking teachers directly to astronauts aboard the space station provides unique, authentic experiences designed to enhance student learning, performance and interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). This in-flight education downlink is an integral component of NASA’s Year of Education on Station, which provides extensive space station-related resources and opportunities to students and educators. Astronauts living in space on the orbiting laboratory communicate with the Mission Control Center on Earth 24 hours a day through the Space Network's Tracking and Data Relay Satellites (TDRS).

In addition to the student connection, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Norishige Kanai will connect with a technical exposition at 7:20 a.m. Wednesday, May 2, at the Makuhari New City, Chiba Prefecture, in Japan. This event will also air live on NASA Television and the agency’s website.

MEDIA ADVISORY M18-071 NASA Sets Sights on May 5 Launch of InSight Mars Mission

NASA’s next mission to Mars, Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight), is scheduled to launch Saturday, May 5, on a first-ever mission to study the heart of Mars. Coverage of prelaunch and launch activities begins Thursday, May 3, on NASA Television and the agency’s website.

InSight, the first planetary mission to take off from the West Coast, is targeted to launch at 7:05 a.m. EDT (4:05 a.m. PDT) from Space Launch Complex-3 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California aboard a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket.

Launching on the same rocket is a separate NASA technology experiment known as Mars Cube One (MarCO). MarCO consists of two mini-spacecraft and will be the first test of CubeSat technology in deep space. They are designed to test new communications and navigation capabilities for future missions and may aid InSight communications.

NASA TV and online mission coverage is as follows (all times Eastern):

Thursday, May 3

4 p.m. – Prelaunch Briefing

• Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters
• Bruce Banerdt, InSight principal investigator at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory
• Tom Hoffman, InSight project manager at JPL
• Annick Sylvestre-Baron, deputy project manager for the InSight seismometer investigation at France's space agency, the Centre National d'Études Spatiales
• Philippe Lognonné, InSight seismometer investigation lead at the Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris in France
• Tilman Spohn, investigation lead at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) for the Heat Flow and Physical Properties Probe (HP3), an instrument on InSight
• Andrew Klesh, MarCO chief engineer at JPL
• Anne Marinan, MarCO systems engineer at JPL
• Stu Spath, InSight program manager at Lockheed Martin Space
• Tim Dunn, launch director with NASA’s Launch Services Program
• Scott Messer, ULA program manager for NASA launches
• Col. Michael Hough, commander of the 30th Space Wing at Vandenberg
• 1st Lt. Kristina Williams, weather officer for the 30th Space Wing

Saturday, May 5

6:30 a.m. – Launch coverage begins.

7:05 a.m. – Launch time

Prelaunch Briefing Participation (all times Pacific)

The deadline for media to apply for accreditation for this launch has passed. However, media still may participate in the May 3 prelaunch briefing by phone by contacting JoAnna Wendel at joanna.r.wendel@nasa.gov no later than noon on Thursday, May 3.

Media and the public also may ask questions during the event on social media using #askNASA.

Media who are accredited to attend the prelaunch briefing in person should confirm their participation with 2nd Lt. Amy Rasmussen of the 30th Space Wing Public Affairs Office at amy.rasmussen@us.af.mil no later than 10 a.m. on Monday, April 30.

Accredited media should arrive at the Hawk’s Nest off Highway 1, about one mile south of the Santa Maria Gate at Vandenberg, by 11 a.m. to be escorted. Media must present a driver’s license or passport to receive a base pass.

Public Launch Viewing

There are two official launch viewing sites for the public in Lompoc, California. For information on these sites, visit: https://mars.nasa.gov/insight/mission/timeline/launch/watch-in-person/

InSight will be the first mission to peer deep beneath the Martian surface, studying the planet's interior by measuring its heat output and listening for marsquakes, which are seismic events similar to earthquakes on Earth. It will use the seismic waves generated by marsquakes to develop a map of the planet’s deep interior. The resulting insight into Mars’ formation will help us better understand how other rocky planets, including Earth, were and are created.

JPL manages the InSight mission for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. InSight is part of NASA's Discovery Program, managed by the agency’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. The spacecraft, including cruise stage and lander, was built and tested by Lockheed Martin Space in Denver.

Several European partners, including France's space agency, the Centre National d'Étude Spatiales, and Germany’s DLR, are supporting the mission.

ULA, of Centennial, Colorado, is providing the Atlas V launch service. The Launch Services Program at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, is responsible for launch management.