Accreditation Open for Launches, Hurricane Study Media Day at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility

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Jul 30, 2013, 03:00 ET

WASHINGTON, July 30, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Media accreditation now is open for two launches and a media viewing opportunity in September from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.

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The media activities are associated with the launch of NASA's Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer mission, the agency's Hurricane and Severe Storm Sentinel Mission research flights and the launch of Orbital Sciences Corp.'s demonstration mission to the International Space Station.

Media should send their accreditation request for these three events to Keith Koehler by email at [email protected]. For questions about accreditation or additional information, contact Koehler by phone at 757-824-1579.

Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer

NASA's Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) is scheduled to launch at 11:27 p.m. EDT Friday, Sept. 6. Backup launch days are Sept. 7-10. LADEE is a robotic mission that will orbit the moon to gather detailed information about the structure and composition of the thin lunar atmosphere and determine whether dust is being lofted into the lunar sky.

A thorough understanding of these characteristics of our nearest celestial neighbor will help researchers understand other bodies in the solar system, such as Mercury, outer planet moons and larger asteroids.

LADEE will launch from the Mid Atlantic Regional Spaceport's (MARS) Pad 0B on a U.S. Air Force Minotaur V rocket, an excess ballistic missile converted into a space launch vehicle and operated by Orbital. This will be the first flight of the Minotaur V and the first launch beyond Earth orbit from Wallops.

Media without U.S. citizenship must apply by Friday, Aug. 16, for credentials to cover the prelaunch and launch activities. The early accreditation is needed to meet NASA's deadline to process international media credentials. For media who are U.S. citizens, the application deadline is Monday, Aug. 26.

For information about NASA's LADEE mission, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/ladee

Hurricane and Severe Storm Sentinel (HS3) Mission Media Day

During August and September, NASA will fly two Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicles over the Atlantic Ocean to study tropical cyclones and the processes that underlie hurricane formation and intensification. The aircraft are equipped with instruments to survey the overall environment of the storms and peer into the inner core of hurricanes to study their structure and processes.

NASA will conduct a media day beginning at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 10. Reporters will meet HS3 scientists and pilots and learn about NASA's efforts to better understand these powerful storms. Media also will be able to view the Global Hawks and tour the Wallops Global Hawk Operations Center.

Journalists without U.S. citizenship must apply for credentials to participate in media day activities by Friday, Aug. 23. For media who are U.S. citizens, the application deadline is Tuesday, Sept. 3.

For information on the HS3 mission, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/hs3

Antares-Cygnus Launch to ISS

Orbital Science Corp., one of NASA's two partners in the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program, is targeting a launch window of Saturday, Sept. 14 to Thursday, Sept. 19 for a demonstration flight of its Cygnus cargo spacecraft to the International Space Station. Orbital's Antares rocket will launch the spacecraft from MARS Pad 0A.

Media without U.S. citizenship must apply for credentials to cover the prelaunch and launch activities by Tuesday, Aug. 27. For media who are U.S. citizens, the deadline to apply is Sept. 6.

For more information about Orbital's demonstration mission to the space station, visit:

http://www.orbital.com/Antares-Cygnus/

For more information about NASA's commercial space initiatives, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/commercial

Dwayne Brown
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1726
[email protected]

Trent J. Perrotto
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
[email protected]

Keith Koehler
Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia
757-824-1579
[email protected]

SOURCE NASA