NASA Participates in Presidential Inaugural Activities Jan. 18-21

Jan. 15, 2013

David Weaver
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
david.s.weaver@nasa.gov

RELEASE: 13-023

NASA PARTICIPATES IN PRESIDENTIAL INAUGURAL ACTIVITIES JAN. 18-21

WASHINGTON -- NASA will participate in the inauguration of President
Obama with several events, including an open house, a star party and
a NASA Social; exhibits on the National Mall and at NASA
Headquarters; and with two floats and marchers in the inaugural
parade.

During the events Jan. 18 - 21, members of the public will have an
opportunity to meet and mingle with several astronauts and members of
NASA's Mars Science Laboratory team responsible for the Curiosity
rover, which is five months into a two-year mission on the Red
Planet.

Jan. 18:

NASA will open the doors of its headquarters at 300 E St. SW in
Washington to the general public for an open house from 10 a.m. to 4
p.m. EST Friday.

Members of the public are invited to interact with NASA's leadership
in two panel discussions, from 10 a.m. to noon and 2-4 p.m., in the
James Webb Auditorium. Topics to be covered in the sessions are
NASA's plans for the future of human spaceflight; the importance of
technology innovation to our future; science on the International
Space Station; and NASA's ongoing and future missions to Mars; and a
demonstration of NASA's exoskeleton.

The panelists will include current members of NASA's astronaut corps
and senior NASA leadership.

Guests must enter the building through the West Lobby, where they will
see a variety of displays highlighting NASA's work, including
aeronautics research and NASA missions to Mars. The West Lobby is
located near the intersection of 4th and E streets SW.

In conjunction with the open house, a group of 75 social media users
who follow NASA on Twitter, Facebook and Google+ were selected to
visit NASA Headquarters for in-depth, behind-the scenes briefings
from astronauts and agency leaders. Active social media users were
selected at random from those who registered online to attend this
NASA Social.

Jan. 19:

NASA will join other federal agencies for a National Day of Service on
the National Mall in Washington from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday.
Visitors to NASA's exhibit will meet and mingle with astronauts and
learn about the numerous opportunities available for members of the
public to engage directly with NASA programs. NASA's tent will be on
the Mall between 14th St., and the 12th St., expressway underpass, in
the Education Section.

Below are the appearance times for NASA's astronauts:

10 a.m.-noon Kjell Lindgren and Serena Aunon
12:30-2:30 p.m. Lee Morin and Kate Rubins
3-5 p.m. Mike Massimino and Alvin Drew

NASA will host a Star Party at the Arlington Planetarium in Arlington,
Va., from 5:30 - 9:30 p.m. Saturday as part of inaugural activities.
Telescopes will be provided for the public to star gaze, and
astronomers, NASA astronauts and other experts will be on hand to
talk about current NASA missions and the future of space exploration.
Planetarium shows will also be offered, with limited, reserved
seating. The event is free and open to the public, and tickets are
not required for the star gazing part of the event.

For information on show times and ticket reservations, visit:

http://friendsoftheplanetarium.org/

The Star Party will be held at the David M. Brown Planetarium, located
at 1426 North Quincy Street, Arlington (Next to Washington Lee High
School). Parking is available in the I-66 parking garage on 15th St.
N behind the planetarium, as well as on the street. The closest metro
stations are Virginia Square and Ballston, each about a half a mile
from the planetarium.

For those not in the Washington area, you can participate in the Star
Party by posting your pictures of the night sky to the National Night
Sky Gazing Flickr group at:

http://www.flickr.com/groups/nightskygazing

In case of inclement weather, updated information about the event will
be available on NASA's inauguration activities webpage at:

http://www.nasa.gov/inauguration

Jan. 21:

NASA will participate in Monday's Inaugural Parade with full-size
models of two spacecraft that are boosting America to new heights --
the Curiosity Mars rover and Orion, the multi-purpose capsule that
will take our astronauts farther into space than ever.

Walking beside the two spacecraft and greeting spectators along the
parade route will be members of the Curiosity team from NASA's Jet
Propulsion Laboratory and several current and former astronauts. The
participating astronauts are Alvin Drew, Serena Aunon, Kate Rubins,
Mike Massimino, Lee Morin and Kjell Lindgren, as well as Leland
Melvin, NASA's associate administrator for Education, and John
Grunsfeld, NASA's associate administrator for Science.

The West Lobby of NASA Headquarters also will be available as a
warming center during daylight hours Monday.

For information about NASA and agency programs, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov


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