WASHINGTON — NASA will hold a media briefing on Thursday, Jan. 29, at 11 a.m. EST to discuss the upcoming Orbiting Carbon Observatory mission, the first NASA spacecraft dedicated to studying carbon dioxide. The televised briefing will take place in the James E. Webb Memorial Auditorium at NASA Headquarters, 300 E St. S.W., Washington.

Set for launch Feb. 23 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, the experimental Orbiting Carbon Observatory will map the global distribution of carbon dioxide, the leading human-produced greenhouse gas driving changes in Earth’s climate.

The briefing participants are:

– Eric Ianson, Orbiting Carbon Observatory program executive, Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters

– David Crisp, Orbiting Carbon Observatory principal investigator, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

– Charles Miller, Orbiting Carbon Observatory deputy principal investigator, JPL

– Ralph Basilio, Orbiting Carbon Observatory deputy project manager, JPL

– Anna Michalak, Orbiting Carbon Observatory science team member, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

Reporters may ask questions from participating NASA locations or by telephone. To reserve a telephone line, contact J.D. Harrington by e-mail at j.d.harrington@nasa.gov.

For more information about NASA TV downlink and streaming video, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

For more information about NASA’s Orbiting Carbon Observatory, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/oco