NASA is about to open space shuttle launches to a whole new
audience.
About 100 lucky followers of NASA's Twitter feed are
descending on the agency's Cape Canaveral, Fla., spaceport to get a front row
seat to the planned Monday launch of space shuttle Atlantis. The gathering is
the first time NASA has held an event for Twitterers to view a shuttle liftoff
in person.
Atlantis is scheduled
to fly on Nov. 16 at 2:28 p.m. EST (1928 GMT) from Launch Pad 39A at NASA's
Kennedy Space Center.
Tweeps for shuttle
"This will be my first time getting this close to a
launch," said Erin Libranda of Katy, Texas, who
is planning to attend with her daughter Jordan Dailey. Libranda said she
hopes that the shuttle can lift off on time and "that it is as exciting
being there in person as it is watching it on TV."
Libranda saw the opportunity announced on her local news and
signed up as quickly as she could. NASA gave tickets to the two-day event
to the first 100 people to register.
"I'm certain it will be one of those 'top moments' of
my life," said another tweep (Twitter user), Adam Fast of Lawrence, Kan.
"I'm most excited to feel the ground shake, see the rockets light and meet
some of the people behind all that happens."
Fast, a pilot, said he thinks it's important to educate the
public more about NASA's activities and how they could impact everyday lives.
"NASA seems to be working hard to share what they're
doing, but I don't think they're going deep enough yet," he told
SPACE.com.
Tina Cassler, another attendee, grew up near the Florida
spaceport but moved away 25 years ago and hasn't been back since. She travelled
from Lauderdale, Minnesota for the event.
"The behind-the-scenes aspect intrigues me,"
Cassler told SPACE.com. "I hope to learn a great deal and better
understand all that they do at NASA.
Stone age astronauts
For their part, the
astronauts planning to ride Atlantis on an 11-day trip to the International
Space Station said they are excited about the tweetup.
"I think it's exciting that this is generating more
interest in space exploration and certainly interest in the last few missions
of the shuttle," said STS-129 mission specialist Bobby Satcher in a
preflight news conference. "It's bringing on the next generation who like
to communicate in this kind of way and form their social networks this way. I'm
excited that there are a lot of people who are twittering that will be
following the mission."
Satcher, an orthopedic surgeon, is actually pulling tweeting
double-time for Atlantis' mission as he posts updates as Astro_Bones and
ZeroG_MD. Crewmate Leland Melvin, a veteran spaceflyer, is also posting Twitter
updates as Astro_Flow.
The mission's commander, Charlie Hobaugh, however, expressed
bemusement at the whole affair.
"I am in the stone ages as far as mass communications
goes," Hobaugh said. "I don't even know how to text message. Bobby,
it's all up to you!"
The tweetup is part of NASA's growing
involvement with the Twitter micro messaging service. Two spaceflyers
currently onboard the space station — NASA astronauts Jeff Williams
("Astro_Jeff") and Nicole Stott ("Astro_Nicole") — also post
updates to the site.
SPACE.com is providing complete coverage of Atlantis'
STS-129 mission to the International Space Station with Staff Writer Clara
Moskowitz in Washington, D.C. and Managing Editor Tariq Malik in New York. Click here for shuttle mission
updates and a link to NASA TV.
advertisement
