Media are invited interact with NASA experts on March 17 at 1 p.m. as the Orion spacecraft heat shield is prepped for installation into NASAs Marshall Space Flight Centers 7-axis milling and machining tool. The heat shield will be loaded into the one-of-a-kind machine, where NASA experts will extract samples of the ablative material to study and measure the erosion incurred upon the crafts high-velocity re-entry during its Dec. 5, 2014 flight test.

Mark Kirasich, NASA Orion deputy program manager; Larry Price, Lockheed Martin Orion deputy program manager; and Larry Gagliano, Marshalls deputy project manager for the Orion Launch Abort System, will make brief remarks and be available for questions.

The following day, March 18 at 5:30 p.m., the Orion team will describe how the vehicle performed during the Dec. 5 flight test at a Pass the Torch Lecture at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center, the official visitor information center for NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center. The speakers will be Price and Roger Rieger, director of Human Launch Services at United Launch Alliance. The event is free and open to the public and the media.

News media interested in covering the March 17 media opportunity at Marshall should contact Jennifer Stanfield at 256-544-0034.

Media must report to the Redstone Visitor Center at Gate 9, Interstate 565 interchange at Rideout Road/Research Park Boulevard no later than noon CDT, March 17, for escort. Vehicles are subject to a security search at the gate. Journalists will need a photo identification and proof of car insurance.

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Media Invited to View Orion Heat Shield and Interview Leadership; Attend Pass the Torch Lecture