NASA will host a news briefing at 3 p.m. EDT Thursday, Aug. 22, at NASA Headquarters, 300 E St. SW in Washington, to discuss the agency’s next, and first mission to the moon launching from the Virginia coast.

The briefing will air live on NASA Television and the agency’s website.

NASA’s Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) mission is scheduled to launch at 11:27 p.m. Friday, Sept. 6, from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Va.

Data from the mission will provide unprecedented information about the environment around the moon and give scientists a better understanding of other planetary bodies in our solar system and beyond.

Briefing participants include:

– Joan Salute, LADEE program executive, NASA Headquarters
– Sarah Noble, LADEE program scientist, NASA Headquarters
– Butler Hine, LADEE project manager, NASA’s Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.
– Doug Voss, launch manager, Wallops
– Don Cornwell, mission manager for the Lunar Laser Communications Demonstration, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.

Journalists unable to attend at Headquarters may ask questions at participating NASA locations, join by phone, or send questions via Twitter using the hashtag #askNASA. To participate by phone, reporters must contact Dwayne Brown atdwayne.c.brown@nasa.gov or 202-358-1726 with media affiliation information by 2 p.m. Aug. 22.

For NASA TV streaming video, downlink and scheduling information, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

For more information about the LADEE mission, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/ladee