Local media are invited to watch the final minutes of countdown for NASA's CALIPSO satellite launch with NASA Langley Research Center employees this Friday.

The Reid Conference Center will open at 5:30 a.m., April 21, for employees to view the 6:02 a.m. launch on a large projection screen. NASA Langley's News Media Office will issue an updated Media Advisory if this schedule changes.

Media representatives interested in attending should contact Kathy Barnstorff at 864-9886 or 344-8511 and plan to be at NASA Langley's main gate no later than 5:15 a.m.

NASA Langley leads the CALIPSO (Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations) project. Ready for a three-year mission, the satellite is set to launch aboard a Boeing Delta II at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.

Data from CALIPSO will help scientists better understand Earth's clouds and airborne particles: answering questions about how they form, evolve, affect water supply, climate, weather and air quality. Launching on the same rocket is another NASA satellite, CloudSat. The two will fly just 15 seconds apart as part of NASA's "A-Train," a constellation of several Earth-observing satellites.

One of the partners in the CALIPSO mission, Hampton University is providing scientific contributions and managing the outreach program.

For more information on CALIPSO on the Internet, please visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/calipso

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