NASA Invites Media To View Ongoing Orion And Testing Work At Kennedy Jan. 30

Jan. 25, 2013

Rachel Kraft
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
rachel.h.kraft@nasa.gov

Amber Philman
Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
321-867-2468
amber.n.philman@nasa.gov


MEDIA ADVISORY: M13-020

NASA INVITES MEDIA TO VIEW ONGOING ORION AND TESTING WORK AT KENNEDY JAN. 30

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Media are invited to a photo and interview
opportunity at 10 a.m. EST Wednesday, Jan. 30, at NASA's Kennedy
Space Center in Florida. Journalists will visit Kennedy's Swamp Works
research laboratories and the facility where NASA's Orion spacecraft
is being prepared for its first launch.

Kennedy Director Bob Cabana will provide a status update on the
center's transformation to a multiuse government and commercial space
launch and recovery complex. Media must be at Kennedy's press site by
9:30 a.m. for transportation to the sites.

Journalists will be able to see and photograph the research and
technology work going on in the laboratories and the progress being
made on the Orion crew module at Kennedy's Operations and Checkout
Building. NASA officials will be available for interviews at both
locations.

News media without Kennedy accreditation need to apply for credentials
by noon on Jan. 29. International media accreditation for this event
is closed. Media accreditation for the scheduled Jan. 30 Tracking and
Data Relay Satellite-K launch will be honored for the event. Media
must apply for credentials online at:

https://media.ksc.nasa.gov

Badges for the Swamp Works and Operations and Checkout Building event
may be picked up at the Kennedy Space Center Badging Office on State
Road 405.

Kennedy's Swamp Works establishes rapid, innovative and cost-effective
exploration mission solutions through leveraging of partnerships
across NASA, industry and academia. Concepts start small and build up
fast, with lean development processes and a hands-on approach.
Testing is performed in early stages to drive design improvements.
Capabilities include the Granular Mechanics and Regolith Operations
Laboratory, Electrostatics and Surface Physics Laboratory, Regolith
Activities Testbed and the Robotics Integration, Checkout and
Assembly Area.

In a revamped area of the Operations and Checkout building, NASA
employees and Lockheed Martin contractors are working side by side to
prepare Orion for Exploration Flight Test-1 next year. Orion is
designed to take U.S. astronauts farther into space than ever before.


The Orion spacecraft, managed by NASA's Johnson Space Center in
Houston, will be launched on missions by NASA's heavy-lift Space
Launch System (SLS), an entirely new capability for human
exploration. Designed to be flexible for launching spacecraft from
Kennedy for crew and cargo missions, SLS will expand human presence
beyond low-Earth orbit and enable new missions of exploration across
the solar system. NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville,
Ala., manages SLS. Kennedy manages the Ground Systems Development and
Operations Program, which is preparing to process and launch the
next-generation vehicles and spacecraft designed to achieve NASA's
goals for space exploration.

For more information about the Orion program, visit:


http://www.nasa.gov/orion

For more information on SLS, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/sls

For more information about the Ground Systems Development and
Operations Program at Kennedy, visit:

http://go.nasa.gov/groundsystems


-end-



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