posted 09-26-2018 07:32 PM               

We're Hosting a 'Moon to Mars' Event at an Agency Location Nearest You

NASA is opening its doors and inviting its social media followers and news media to an in-person 'Moon to Mars' event on Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2018, at agency locations across the country.

The event takes guests on a tour of the center and highlights our work with international and commercial partners to refocus exploration efforts on the Moon, with an eye to ultimately going on to Mars and even beyond.

Each center will be connected via a multi-center NASA Television simulcast with NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine at Kennedy Space Center during the event. Bridenstine will discuss plans to enable human exploration of the Moon as preparation for human missions to Mars and deeper into the solar system.

Participants will get a unique behind-the-scenes look at the respective center and the diverse work of the agency through tours and presentations with scientists, engineers and managers. The events also will provide guests the opportunity to interact with fellow social media users, space enthusiasts and members of NASA's social media team.

Social media users interested in attending should register for an in-person event at one of the locations throughout the country. Registration for the NASA Social closes at 11:59 p.m. EDT on Monday, Oct. 1. Participants will be selected from online submissions.

We have NASA locations in Alabama, California, Florida, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Ohio, Texas, and Virginia. No two locations are the same. Each center has a different itinerary depending on their location.

• Ames Research Center, Silicon Valley, California
  Ames Research Center will host up to 12 social media followers to learn about the center's cutting-edge research that is helping NASA explore the Moon and send astronauts into deep space. Ames is a leader in robotic exploration of the Moon. The center managed the agency's LCROSS mission, among others, which detected significant amounts of water on the Moon hidden inside a crater near the Moon's south pole. Participants will meet lunar scientists and engineers, hear about current lunar research activities and receive hands-on training on how to drive and operate a robotic rover on the Moon's surface. Attendees will also go behind the scenes of facilities for testing spacecraft and step inside a cleanroom where scientists are preparing a satellite mission that will study how space radiation impacts living organisms traveling beyond low-Earth orbit.

• Armstrong Flight Research Center, Edwards, California
  Armstrong Flight Research Center will host up to 20 social media followers for a behind-the-scenes look at the center's current & historical work in developing and advancing NASA's mission to send astronauts into deep space. Attendees will have a rare opportunity to tour aircraft hangars and support facilities, while seeing cutting-edge aeronautic technologies up-close. Participants will learn about Orion Pad Abort-1, the Flight Opportunities program that supports the commercial spaceflight market, and Prandtl-M, a glider that could potentially be selected for Moon and/or Mars.

• Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, Ohio
  Glenn Research Center will host up to 20 social media followers for a behind-the-scenes look at the center's work to return astronauts to the Moon for long-term exploration and preparation for missions deeper into our solar system. Participants will tour facilities where Glenn engineers are exploring methods to extract resources from the lunar surface to transform them into life-sustaining elements like breathable air, water and fuel. Attendees will learn about a new nuclear power technology that could provide the energy required for living on and exploring the surface of the Moon, and propulsion technology that is critical to NASA's deep-space missions.

• Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland
  Goddard Space Flight Center will host up to 40 social media users for an all-day event highlighting NASA science, engineering and exploration to our Moon and soon, to Mars. Attendees will learn all about the only NASA mission that's currently in orbit around our Moon – the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), and talk to science experts about recent science results and beautiful images coming from the mission. There will be opportunities to learn about how NASA is studying the potential hazards that astronauts may face from emissions from the Sun and other space weather; the latest in space communications and navigation, which will be crucial in getting science data from the Moon and getting humans to the Moon. Also we'll tour the Sample Analysis at Mars laboratory, which works in concert with the Mars rover Curiosity.

• Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California
  The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) will host up to 30 digital creators to learn how the center's robotic missions help future human exploration of the Moon and Mars. Participants will meet scientists and engineers and go behind the scenes in JPL's space facilities. Highlights will include a stop in mission control, a lunar rock and Surveyor 3 hardware retrieved by Apollo 12 astronauts, and the Mars 2020 rover currently being assembled in a JPL clean room.

• Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas
  Johnson Space Center will host up to 20 social media followers for a behind-the-scenes look at the center's work in developing and advancing NASA's mission to send astronauts into deep space. Participants will tour facilities where engineers are working to design and test the Orion spacecraft that will carry astronauts to the Moon and beyond, learn about astronaut life in space, as well as get a first-hand look at lunar samples from Apollo missions. Attendees will learn about the technologies being used to prepare for these missions and talk with subject matter experts about NASA's future in deep space exploration.

• Kennedy Space Center, Kennedy Space Center, Florida
  Kennedy Space Center will host up to 30 social media followers for in-person speech by NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine about the agency's work to develop and advance lunar exploration. Participants will get behind-the-scenes access to the Orion spacecraft, Space Launch System hardware, ground systems and technologies that will enable our deep space exploration to the Moon and on to Mars.

• Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia
  Langley Research Center will host up to 40 social media followers for a behind-the-scenes look at the center's work in developing and advancing NASA's mission to send astronauts into deep space. Participants will tour facilities where researchers and engineers are working to design, test and advance space architecture, space assembly and commercial flight. They will also see how Langley uses virtual reality, robotics and wind tunnels to take us beyond Earth. Attendees will learn about Langley's critical role (past and present) in driving NASA's research and concepts related to deep-space missions, experience hands-on technology and witness the stunning flight-testing facilities that we're using to get to the Moon and Mars.

• Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Alabama
  Marshall Space Flight Center will host up to 45 social media enthusiasts for a behind-the-scenes look at the capabilities that will help make possible a sustainable human presence in deep space. Participants will see flight hardware for the Space Launch System rocket, NASA's deep space rocket that with the Orion spacecraft will carry humans to the Moon and beyond. Guests will visit a mock-up deep space habitat, world-class advanced manufacturing and 3D printing facility that is leading the way in additive manufacturing techniques, and tour labs where science and technology are merging together to benefit deep space exploration.

• Stennis Space Center and Shared Services Center (NSSC) near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi
  Stennis Space Center and the NASA Shared Services Center will host up to 25 social media followers who will learn about cutting-edge technology being developed and the center's key role in NASA Space Launch System (SLS), including testing of the RS-25 engines that will power the core stage of SLS. Participants will view the historic B-2 test stand that is being renovated for SLS core stage testing, and also visit the A-1 test stand where the RS-25 engines are tested. At the NASA Shared Services Center, guests will learn about the select business activities in financial management, human resources, information technology, procurement and business support services that are performed for all NASA Centers. Visitors will also tour the Enterprise Service Center to see firsthand how the NSSC processes and stores documents and responds to inquiries from NASA customers.

• Wallops Flight Facility, Wallops Island, Virginia
  The Wallops Flight Facility will host up to 20 participants to see the inner workings of launching commercial resupply flights that deliver vital supplies and cutting edge scientific experiments to the astronauts living and working in space. Guests will get a behind-the-scenes look at Launch Pad 0-A where Antares launches to the International Space Station and Launch Pad 0-B where we launched LADEE to the Moon. Photo opportunities include the Wallops Moon/International Space Station "on ramp" road sign and outside of the Horizontal Integration Facility. Guests will go inside the Mission Operations Control Center – the brand new building that no NASA Social group has been to before. This building will be used during the NG-10 resupply launch, and could be used for future Moon missions. During the event, guests will watch Administrator Bridenstine's talk at the Wallops Visitor Center followed by a Q&A session with Wallops director Bill Wrobel. Lastly, guests will visit the Sounding Rockets building where the ASPIRE mission to test a parachute for the Mars 2020 rover and a recent heliophysics mission were assembled and tested.