HAMPTON, Va. – Media are invited to join Virginia’s governor and other officials at a ribbon-cutting ceremony and tour of NASA Langley Research Center’s new engineering services facility on Oct. 17. The event will be followed by a demonstration of some of the hardware to be used in NASA’s planned Asteroid Redirect Mission.

The new, 138,000-square-foot Integrated Engineering Services Building will serve as the primary collaboration space at NASA Langley for engineering and research organizations, and offers meeting and gathering spaces for other organizations as well. It is the second building to be completed as part of a 20-year revitalization program at Langley, made possible through a partnership with the U.S. General Services Administration and its contractors.

The asteroid retrieval work at Langley is part of NASA’s planned Asteroid Redirect Mission, in which a robotic spacecraft will capture and redirect an asteroid near the end of this decade. The spacecraft will redirect it to a stable orbit around the moon. Astronauts on NASA’s Orion spacecraft, launched from a Space Launch System rocket, will explore the asteroid in the mid-2020s. The mission will directly enable NASA’s planned human journey to Mars.

The events will begin with a speaking program from 10 to 11 a.m. A media-availability will be held from 11 to 11:15 a.m., with a building tour and reception from 11 a.m. to noon, followed by the asteroid redirect hardware demonstration in a separate facility.

Guest speakers for the ribbon-cutting will include:

NASA Langley Center Director Steve Jurczyk
NASA Deputy Associate Administrator Lesa Roe
Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe
U.S. Rep. Scott Rigell
U.S. Rep. Bobby Scott
Hampton Mayor George Wallace
GSA Regional Administrator, Mid-Atlantic Region, Sara Manzano-Diaz

To ensure access, the deadline to respond is no later than noon Thursday, Oct. 16. Respond to Michael Finneran by phone (757-864-6110) or email (michael.p.finneran@nasa.gov<mailto:michael.p.finneran@nasa.gov>). Media need to arrive no later than 9:30 a.m. with proper identification to be escorted onto NASA Langley.

Video, still imagery and animation is available that documents construction of the new building and illustrates the Asteroid Redirect Mission.

For images of the new building, including construction shots, go to https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasa_langley/sets/72157647385000780/

For a 15-second time-lapse video of construction, from ground-breaking to completion, go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coOyqUpetaQ&feature=youtu.be

For more information about the Asteroid Redirect Mission, go to http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/asteroids/initiative/#.VDVHfSldVfA