WASHINGTON — At the next space shuttle launch, NASA will host 150 people from around the world and provide them with a behind-the-scenes perspective to share with their followers via the social networking service Twitter.

Reporters are invited to cover the NASA Tweetup and the liftoff of shuttle Discovery, targeted for 4:40 p.m. EDT on Nov. 1, from the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. To cover the launch on-site, U.S. reporters must request credentials from Kennedy by Wednesday, Oct. 20. Media representatives should submit requests online at: https://media.ksc.nasa.gov

Participants at the NASA Tweetup on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1 will tour Kennedy and meet with shuttle technicians, managers, engineers and astronauts. They also will get a demonstration of Robonaut, a human-like robot similar to the one that will be delivered to the space station with this mission. The Tweetup culminates with the viewing of the shuttle launch. At 2:15 p.m. EDT on Oct. 31, NASA will use UStream to broadcast an hour of the Tweetup program at: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nasa-television

People are expected to attend from 38 states, the District of Columbia, Australia, Canada, Chile, England, Japan, Latvia, New Zealand and the Philippines.

Tweetup participants are coming from Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin. Attendees were selected randomly from more than 2,700 online registrations.

Reporters interested in interviewing Tweetup attendees should contact Stephanie Schierholz at 202-358-4997 or stephanie.schierholz@nasa.gov .

To follow the Tweetup participants on Twitter as they experience the prelaunch events and shuttle liftoff, follow the #NASATweetup hashtag and the list of attendees at: http://twitter.com/nasatweetup/sts-133-launch

NASA also has a website where anyone — including those not on Twitter — can follow along with the events: http://buzzroom.nasa.gov

To follow NASA on Twitter, visit: http://www.twitter.com/NASA

For more information about space shuttle Discovery’s STS-133 mission, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle

To follow STS-133 crew member Nicole Stott as she tweets during the mission, visit: http://www.twitter.com/Astro_Nicole