The media and the public are invited to watch the first test flight of the Orion spacecraft on Thursday, Dec. 4 at 7:05 a.m. at Great Lakes Science Center. Doors open at 6:30 a.m. and admission is free until 10:00 a.m., including admission to the NASA Glenn Visitor Center exhibits.
Guests will be able to view live coverage on NASA television of Orion’s launch and the splashdown in the Pacific Ocean four hours later, after orbiting the Earth almost two times. Experts from NASA Glenn Research Center will be at Great Lakes Science Center to provide live commentary and engage in a Q&A session with audience members. Glenn’s contributions to the test flight will also be discussed. Special Orion exhibits will be on display and special science demonstrations are scheduled between launch and splashdown.
NASA is developing the Orion spacecraft to send humans on deep space exploration missions. The unmanned December 4 mission will evaluate Orion’s critical systems such as its heat shield, parachutes, avionics and attitude control. The latest updates on the status of the launch can be found on NASA’s Orion Launch blog page at http://blogs.nasa.gov/orion/.
Media who are interested in attending the launch and splashdown should notify Glenn’s Frank Jennings at 216-433-2776 or the science center’s Nina Arrowood at 216-696-3644.
For more information about Glenn, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/centers/glenn
For more information, contact the Science Center at 216-694-2000 or visit:
Frank T. Jennings, Jr.
NASA Glenn Research Center
216-433-2776
francis.t.jennings@nasa.gov
Nina Arrowood
Great Lakes Science Center
216-696-3644
arrowoodn@glsc.org