« Back to NewsNIA PARTNERS WITH MUSEUMS AND NASA FOR LIVE INTERACTIVE GRAIL WEBCASTS

September 06, 2011

Live, Interactive Programming with Space Experts – September 7 and 8.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- National Institute of Aerospace (NIA) has partnered with the Denver Museum of Nature & Science (DMNS), the Virginia Air & Space Center (VASC) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to host live, interactive video programming from the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida leading up to the launch of NASA’s Gravity Recovery And Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) mission to the moon.

The coverage is part of the “Year of the Solar System” supported by NASA's Science Mission Directorate and its Planetary Science Division and the “Scientists in Action” program at DMNS, which breaks down barriers for students by providing direct access to scientists so that children see scientists as real people full of passion who inspire others to pursue their own interests. The public is invited to view and participate in these live webcasts online at: http://www.livestream.com/GRAIL

The twin GRAIL spacecraft (called GRAIL-A and GRAIL-B) will be launched side-by-side on a single Delta II vehicle during a 42-day launch period that opens on September 8, 2011. The mission will unlock the mysteries of the moon hidden below its surface by creating the most accurate gravitational map of the moon to date. Accurate knowledge of the moon’s gravity will be an invaluable navigational aid for future lunar spacecraft. GRAIL will also help scientists understand the broader evolutionary histories of the other rocky planets in the inner solar system: Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars.

Dr. Steve Lee, the Denver Museum of Nature & Science’s curator of planetary science will host the live broadcasts from Kennedy Space Center with a variety of scientists, engineers, educators, and NASA officials, who will answer questions from visitors at DMNS and VASC as well as from the live audience at NASA Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Some guests scheduled to appear include: Deputy Director of NASA’s Planetary Science Division, Jim Adams; GRAIL Program Executive, Bill Knopf; space shuttle astronaut and M.D., Dr. Anna Fisher; and a leading advocate for girls and women in science who may be best known for her character Lt. Uhura on Star Trek, Nichelle Nichols.

The broadcast is scheduled to begin at noon EDT on Wednesday, September 7 - the day before launch - and continue throughout that afternoon. The show will features two-way conversations with the remote museum visitors and other online guests, NASA officials and mission experts at the Kennedy Visitor Center Complex. The live remote broadcast resumes on September 8 at 7:30 a.m. EDT, to feature GRAIL’s liftoff which is currently targeted for 8:37a.m. EDT. That afternoon, the webcast will continue with interactive discussions and GRAIL experts from noon to 5 p.m. EDT.