Get Inside View of Space Program at ‘Tweetups’

April 16, 2010 — If you tweet and follow NASA on Twitter, you have a chance to get an inside look at the nation’s space program. "We're inviting the public to share in the excitement of human spaceflight during one of the last three scheduled space shuttle missions," said Stephanie Schierholz, social media manager at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "NASA is providing this behind-the-scenes access to give our Twitter followers an understanding and appreciation of all the work that goes into a successful shuttle launch and mission." The goal of NASA Tweetups is to allow people who regularly interact with each other via Twitter to meet in person and discuss one of their favorite subjects: NASA. For the launch Tweetup on May 13-14, NASA will randomly select 150 people from those who sign up on the Web. Registration opens at 10 a.m. April 19, and closes at 10 a.m. April 20. Registration indicates your intent to travel to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida and attend the two-day event in person. You are responsible for your own expenses for travel, accommodation, food and other amenities. To sign up and for more information about the Tweetup, click here. Shuttle Atlantis is targeted to launch at 2:19 p.m. EDT, May 14 on its way to the International Space Station. Once the STS-132 mission has launched, NASA will host an additional Tweetup at the agency's Johnson Space Center in Houston that will provide a different perspective of mission operations. This also will be the second mission Tweetup at Johnson. At Kennedy, NASA Twitter followers will take a tour of the center, view the shuttle launch and speak with shuttle technicians, managers, engineers, and astronauts. After Atlantis' launch, registration for the STS-132 mission Tweetup at Johnson Space Center will be announced on NASA's Twitter account. NASA Twitter followers at the Johnson Tweetup will tour the center, view mission control and astronauts' training facilities and speak with managers, flight directors, trainers, and astronauts. Both Tweetups will include a "meet-and-greet" session to allow participants to mingle with fellow “Tweeps” and the staff behind the tweets on @NASA. To follow NASA programs on Twitter, click here.

PubliNASA “Tweeps,” or Twitter followers, have a chance to meet in Cape Canaveral May 13-14. The STS-132 crew includes, clockwise from bottom, Commander Ken Ham, Mission Specialists Garrett Reisman and Michael Good, Pilot Tony Antonelli ,and Mission Specialists Piers Sellers and Steve Bowen. Credit: NASA

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