Media are invited to an Exploration Media Day at NASA’s Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, on Wednesday, Oct. 18. Reporters will have the opportunity to tour facilities, see hardware being built, observe test demonstrations and pose questions to NASA exploration managers.
Highlights of the day will include looks at fabrication work on the Ares I-1 Flight Test Article Pathfinder and design work on the Orion crew exploration vehicle’s service module. Both are being developed at Glenn. Reporters also will see a mockup of the service module that will provide power, propulsion and life support for Orion. Additional presentations will include overviews of the roles of Glenn and the Plum Brook Facility in NASA’s exploration mission.
Included in the tour will be the lunar rover test facility for mobility risk reduction, and cryogenic and in-situ resource utilization work. Both are examples of NASA advanced capabilities projects to develop methods for expanding human presence in space.
The facilities and work support NASA’s Constellation Program, which is developing new spacecraft and support systems that will return Americans to the moon and later take them to Mars and other destinations in the solar system.
Also planned is a demonstration of experiments being conducted in Glenn’s Exercise Countermeasures Laboratory and a tour of the Fluids Combustion Facility that will be used on the International Space Station to improve understanding of fluid systems and fire safety in space.
The day will begin with a 7:30 a.m. EDT introduction and kickoff by NASA Associate Administrator for Exploration Systems Scott Horowitz. It will conclude with two press conferences, the first at 4:30 p.m. EDT featuring Constellation Program Manager Jeff Hanley and Orion Project Manager Skip Hatfield, both of NASA’s Johnson Space Center, Houston; Exploration Launch Program Manager Steve Cook of NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.; and Service Module Project Manager Jim Free of Glenn.
A second news conference at 5:30 p.m. EDT will include Human Research Program Manager Kathy Laurini of Johnson; Lunar Precursor Robotic Program Manager Tony Lavoie of Marshall; and Exploration Technology Development Program Manager Frank Peri of NASA’s Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va.
The news conferences will be carried live on NASA Television. Reporters may ask questions from participating NASA centers. Media interested in participating should contact their preferred NASA location by 5 p.m. EDT Oct. 16.
News media interested in attending the event at Glenn should contact Katherine Martin or Glenn’s Media Relations Office at 216-433-2901 by 4:30 p.m. EDT Oct. 16.
For information about Glenn’s work in the Exploration vision, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/glenn/projects/exploration.html
For information about the Constellation Program, visit:
