NASA Invites Reporters to Events for LCROSS Lunar Impact

MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. – NASA is inviting journalists to events this week in Washington and California to observe the twin impacts of the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, or LCROSS, and its rocket's upper stage as they impact the moon. The goal of the mission is to search for water ice on the moon.

The satellite and upper stage both are scheduled to hit a permanently shadowed crater of the moon, four minutes apart, at approximately 4:30 a.m. and 4:34 a.m. PDT on Friday, Oct. 9. NASA Television coverage begins at 3:15 a.m. PDT

NASA will hold a pre-impact media teleconference on Thursday, Oct. 8 at 11:30 a.m. PDT from NASA's Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, Calif. NASA will provide a mission update and discuss what to expect as the Centaur upper stage rocket and the LCROSS spacecraft impact Cabeus crater, near the lunar south pole. Briefing participants on Oct. 8 are:

• Daniel Andrews, LCROSS project manager, Ames
• Anthony Colaprete, LCROSS project scientist and principal investigator, Ames
• Jennifer Heldmann, coordinator for the LCROSS observation campaign, Ames

Live audio of the teleconference will be streamed online at:

http://www.nasa.gov/newsaudio

Ames also will hold a post-impact news conference at 7 a.m. PDT on Oct. 9 in the Ames main auditorium in Building N201. The news conference will be broadcast on NASA TV and the agency's Web site. Briefing participants on Oct. 9 are:

• Daniel Dumbacher, deputy associate administrator for the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington
• Pete Worden, Ames center director
• Daniel Andrews, LC ROSS project manager, Ames
• Anthony Colaprete, LCROSS project scientist and principal investigator, Ames
• Jennifer Heldmann, coordinator for the LCROSS observation campaign, Ames
• Paul Tompkins, LCROSS flight director, Ames

To participate in the Oct. 8 teleconference and the Oct. 9 post-impact news conference, contact Jonas Dino at 650-604-5612 or jonas.dino@nasa.gov or Rachel Prucey at 650-604-0643 or rachel.l.prucey@nasa.gov.

Also on Oct. 9, reporters are invited to the Newseum in Washington to view the LCROSS impacts. The Newseum is located at 555 Pennsylvania Ave., NW. Journalists should arrive by 7 a.m. EDT. There will not be an opportunity for questions at the Newseum event, but reporters may participate by telephone in the 7 a.m. PDT news conference that will take place at Ames.

Reporters interested in attending the Newseum event in Washington should RSVP to Grey Hautaluoma at grey.hautaluoma-1@nasa.gov or Ashley Edwards at ashley.edwards-1@nasa.gov.

The NASA Exploration Center at Ames will serve as the press site for the LCROSS impacts. The press site opens to journalists at 5:30 p.m. PDT on Thursday, Oct. 8, and will remain open until 9 a.m. PDT on Friday, Oct. 9. All accredited journalists must sign in at the Exploration Center to receive badges and vehicle passes needed to gain access to the Ames main auditorium for the post-impact news conference.

For more latest information about LCROSS, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/lcross


For information and a map of additional LCROSS Impact Viewing Events, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LCROSS/impact/event_index.html


For NASA TV downlink, schedule and streaming video information, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/