NASA Invites Media to Talk to Small Satellite Experts, Tour Labs

NASA will host members of the media to learn about NASA’s small spacecraft technology development and upcoming launches, and to tour assembly and testing facilities on Tuesday, March 8, at 1:00 p.m. PST at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California.

NASA leadership, scientists and engineers involved in small spacecraft technology will speak about the growing importance of small spacecraft in space exploration, share milestone accomplishments and discuss the series of NASA-funded technology demonstration missions set to launch this year. These small satellite missions are designed to push the boundaries of space-to-Earth communications for CubeSats, test satellite-to-satellite communications and demonstrate the small spacecraft autonomous movement capabilities.

Panelists will include:

· Andrew Petro, program executive, Small Spacecraft Technology Program at NASA Headquarters in Washington

· Roger Hunter, program manager, Small Spacecraft Technology Program at Ames

· Ehson Mosleh vice president, Systems & Mission Assurance, CubeSat Proximity Operations Demonstration (CPOD) project, Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems, Inc. in Irvine, California

· Richard Hodges, principal investigator, Integrated Solar Array and Reflecterray Antenna (ISARA), Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California

· Richard Welle, principal investigator, Optical Communications and Sensor Demonstration (OCSD) project and director, Microsatellite Systems department, The Aerospace Corporation, in El Segundo, California

Following the panel briefing, media will take a tour of laboratories, test facilities and the Multi-Mission Operations Center, where engineers build, test and later track and facilitate the operation of the spacecraft and payloads.

Panelists will discuss the Nodes satellites scheduled to deploy in early March from the International Space Station, and the ISARA, OCSD and CPOD projects, all of which are funded by the Small Spacecraft Technology Program. The tour also will include visits to laboratories for the Eu:CROPIS and BioSentinel projects, which both support science missions managed by Ames.

Interested members of the news media who wish to attend should contact Kimberly Williams at kimberly.k.williams@nasa.gov before 5 p.m. on March 7 for credentials.

The Small Spacecraft Technology Program is managed by Ames and funded by NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate.

For more information about NASA’s Small Spacecraft Technology Program, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/smallsats

For more information about NASA’s Ames Research Center, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/ames