Ryan Ziolko in Firing Room 4 of the Launch Control Center at Kennedy Space Center, from where the Space Shuttle launches were controlled. (Courtesy Ryan Ziolko) <\/p>\n
As NASA's Mars MAVEN enters orbit around the Red Planet on Sunday, a select group of everyday folks will take on a very special mission: To tell the MAVEN story over social media. <\/p>\n
NASA Social events, which launched in 2008 under the moniker NASA Tweetup, gather people to live tweet or otherwise socially share a launch, landing or other NASA experience while rubbing shoulders with the scientists and astronauts who make it all happen. <\/p>\n
\"It allows people to get behind the walls where most of the time the general public can't go,\" NASA social media manager John Yembrick said. \"It gives people that personal experience behind the scenes and helps tell the story.\" <\/p>\n
Donna Fasano of Denver snapped this photo when she learned she had been chosen to be part of the NASA Social event. \"I had the biggest grin. It was permagrin. It was cheek-splitting grin. I did a happy dance. I called everybody,\" she said. (Courtesy Donna Fasano) <\/p>\n
On Sunday, 25 people selected from across the U.S. by NASA's social media team will gather at the University of Colorado at Boulder's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics , to meet the scientists responsible for MAVEN's science operations. <\/p>\n
They'll then go to MAVEN's Flight Operations Center at Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Littleton, where they'll see spacecraft under development and watch MAVEN enter Mars' orbit. <\/p>\n
And, of course, they'll be tweeting, Facebooking and Instagramming the entire time for the world to see. <\/p>\n
Participants are vetted by NASA's social media team, but they aren't all necessarily space nerds. They do have one thing in common, however their dedication, said Aries Keck (@Aries), NASA social team member. <\/p>\n
\"They might be a musician from Brooklyn, but they will know the (spacecraft's) exact deacceleration rate better than I will because they're just so into it.\" <\/p>\n
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NASA picks 25 to live tweet MAVEN event from mission HQ in Colorado<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Ryan Ziolko in Firing Room 4 of the Launch Control Center at Kennedy Space Center, from where the Space Shuttle launches were controlled. (Courtesy Ryan Ziolko) As NASA's Mars MAVEN enters orbit around the Red Planet on Sunday, a select group of everyday folks will take on a very special mission: To tell the MAVEN story over social media. Continue reading