HAMPTON, Va. -- <\/p>\n
More than two dozen social-media users will get a unique look at NASA's latest Mars mission when they gather Friday at Langley Research Center. <\/p>\n
The event is part of a NASA Social, which will simultaneously take place at six NASA centers across the country. The 30 people selected for Langley's social gathering will get briefings on the landing of the Mars Curiosity rover, participate in a question-and-answer session with scientists involved in the mission and view a number of the center's space projects. <\/p>\n
The Curiosity rover, which is the size of an SUV and weighs about 2,000 pounds, is expected to touch down early Monday. Its mission is to discover whether the ingredients for life exist on Mars. <\/p>\n
Langley scientists worked on the entry, descent and landing phase of the mission the so-called \"seven minutes of terror\" between when the spacecraft enters the Martian atmosphere at 13,200 mph and rover is deployed on the planet's surface as well as developing sensors in the craft's heat shield that will record heat and atmospheric pressure during the descent. <\/p>\n
Michael Finneran, lead for social media at Langley, says the socials fit well into the space agency's outreach program. NASA has been using the gatherings formerly called tweetups to host thousands of social-media fans at shuttle launches and other events since 2009. <\/p>\n
\"We're trying to excite people, inspire them, educate them, inform them and tell them what they're getting for their taxpayer dollars,\" he said of the gatherings. <\/p>\n
Finneran said the 30 participants were culled from more than 250 applicants who registered through NASA's main website. Langley attendees include an active-duty Marine, several educators and a Harley-Davidson motorcycle enthusiast. While many of the participants live in Virginia, some will be traveling from as far away as San Diego and Minnesota. <\/p>\n
\"We have people with a lot of different interests, but their one common interest is the interest in space,\" he said. \"That's what brings them together.\" <\/p>\n
Friday's social is the second for NASA Langley. A tweetup was held in November, when participants witnessed a splashdown test of the crew capsule for the next generation of U.S. manned space vehicles. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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