Jul 30 2012
From The Space Library
RELEASE: 12-258 WILLIAM SHATNER AND WIL WHEATON NARRATE NEW NASA MARS CURIOSITY ROVER VIDEO
WASHINGTON -- As NASA prepares for next week's Curiosity rover landing on Mars, William Shatner and Wil Wheaton share this thrilling story of NASA's hardest planetary science mission to date. The video titled, "Grand Entrance," guides viewers from entry through descent, and after landing. The video will be used at events around the country and shared on the web and social media. The goal is to educate the public about Curiosity and build awareness about the landing at 1:31 a.m. EDT, Aug. 6. Shatner and Wheaton each provide their own unique narration to the video allowing a wider range of audiences to be reached. The actors are icons to sci-fi fans worldwide through their work on Star Trek. Shatner remains a pop culture phenomenon with more than 50 years of stage, television and film experience, while Wheaton not only is a successful actor, but a writer who possesses a huge social media fan base. "Shatner and Wheaton are mavericks in inspiring film, TV and social media audiences about space," said Bert Ulrich, NASA's multimedia liaison for film and TV collaborations. "NASA is thrilled to have them explain a difficult landing sequence in accessible terms that can be understood by many. Thanks to their generous support, Mars exploration will reach Tweeters, Trekkies and beyond!" After a successful launch in November 2011, Curiosity is close to reaching its destination on the Martian surface. However, the process from entering the atmosphere to landing safely is no easy task. Curiosity has seven minutes to go from 13,000 mph to a soft landing. If a single step is unsuccessful, the mission could fail. This process has been dubbed as the "seven minutes of terror."
MEDIA ADVISORY: M12-137 NASA TELEVISION TO AIR UPCOMING CARGO SHIP LAUNCH TO SPACE STATION
WASHINGTON -- NASA Television will broadcast the launch and for the first time, the same-day rendezvous and docking of a Progress cargo spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS). Coverage begins at 3:15 p.m. EDT Wednesday, Aug. 1. ISS Progress 48 is scheduled to launch at 3:35 p.m. from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. It will dock later that day at 9:24 p.m. in a test of an abbreviated launch-to-rendezvous schedule designed to reduce the typical two-day flight between a launch and docking. The goal would be to use this new approach for future Soyuz crew member flights. Progress 48 will dock at the station's Pirs port and deliver about 2 tons of supplies. NASA TV coverage of the Progress' arrival at the station will begin at 8:45 p.m. Expedition 32 Commander Gennady Padalka of the Russian Federal Space Agency and his five crewmates, including NASA astronauts Joe Acaba and Sunita Williams, will monitor key events during Progress 48's rendezvous and docking. Russian flight controllers retain the option to revert to a normal 2-day rendezvous if developments require. If that occurs, the craft will dock Friday, Aug. 3, and NASA TV will provide live coverage.
MEDIA ADVISORY: M12-142 NASA ANNOUNCES MEDIA ACTIVITIES FOR MARS CURIOSITY MISSION LANDING
WASHINGTON -- News briefings, photo opportunities, and other media events at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif., are set for the upcoming landing of NASA's Curiosity rover on Mars. NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission will deliver the 1-ton, car-size robotic roving laboratory to the surface of Mars at 1:31 a.m. EDT Aug. 6 (10:31 p.m. PDT Aug. 5). Curiosity's landing will mark the start of a two-year prime mission to investigate whether one of the most intriguing places on Mars ever has offered an environment favorable for microbial life.
