What:

Hundreds of regional small business owners will meet with NASA leaders and industry partners Sept. 29, at Ares Industry Day at the Von Braun Center in Huntsville, Ala. Media are invited to cover the event.

Ares I is the crew launch vehicle that will transport the Orion crew exploration vehicle and deliver uncrewed cargo payloads to space. Ares V is the cargo launch vehicle that will carry heavy-lift payloads to space for use by exploration missions.

The Industry Day event will provide small business leaders a forum to network and discuss business opportunities with representatives from NASA and large prime business contractors. Presentations by contractor representatives and senior project managers from NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville and Johnson Space Center in Houston will highlight the progress of work related to the design and development of NASA’s Ares I and Ares V launch vehicles.

The Ares launch vehicles are being designed and developed by the Exploration Launch Projects Office at Marshall on behalf of NASA’s Constellation Program. Constellation is responsible for developing NASA’s future crew and launch vehicle systems that will lift future generations of explorers to the moon, Mars and beyond.

Who:

NASA speakers will include Robin Henderson, associate director of the Marshall Center; Jeff Hanley, manager of NASA’s Constellation Program at the Johnson Center; Steve Cook, manager of NASA’s Exploration Launch Projects Office at Marshall; Dan Dumbacher, deputy manager of the Exploration Launch Projects Office; and Earl Pendley, contracting officer in the Space Transportation Support Office of Marshall’s Procurement Office.

Additional participants from NASA’s Exploration Launch Projects Office at Marshall will include Rick Burt, manager of the Ares I First Stage; Danny Davis, manager of the Ares I Upper Stage; Mike Kynard, acting manager of the Ares Upper Stage Engine; and Craig McArthur, acting manager of the Ares V Core Stage and Core Stage Engine.

Industry speakers will include Fred Brasfield of ATK Thiokol in Brigham City, Utah; John Vilja of Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne in Canoga Park, Calif.; Randy Lycans of Jacobs Engineering in Huntsville, Ala.; and Mike Ogles of Teledyne Brown Engineering in Huntsville. Other potential prime contractors also have been invited to participate in an afternoon networking session.

When:

The Industry Day Forum is from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. CDT Sept. 29, at the Von Braun Center.

Where:

Von Braun Center, North Hall
700 Monroe St.
Downtown Huntsville

To attend: News media interested in covering the event and interviewing speakers from the Marshall Center should contact Kim Newton in the Marshall Public & Employee Communications Office at 256-544-0371 by close of business on Sept. 28, 2006. Media can report directly to the Von Braun Center on Sept. 29. Parking is available in the parking garage across from the Von Braun Center on Monroe Street.

For information about NASA’s Constellation Program, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/constellation

For more information about NASA’s Ares launch vehicles, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/ares

For more information about NASA and agency programs, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/home