WASHINGTON, Nov. 22, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — Media are invited to view the arrival of the Artemis I Orion spacecraft, consisting of its crew and service modules, as it lands aboard NASA’s Super Guppy aircraft on Sunday, Nov. 24 at Mansfield Lahm Airport. The spacecraft is coming to Ohio for environmental testing at NASA’s Plum Brook Station in Sandusky in preparation for the Artemis I mission.

This event is an opportunity to view the aircraft, offloading of the spacecraft in its protective transportation covering and positioning on the 135-foot truck that will deliver the spacecraft to Plum Brook Station the following day. Media will also have the opportunity to hear from various officials and the NASA experts responsible for Orion and the simulated space environments testing taking place in Ohio.

The following officials are expected to be available for comment during the event:

• Members of Ohio’s federal delegation, state and local governments
• Dr. Marla Pérez-Davis, acting director, NASA’s Glenn Research Center
• Mark Kirasich, Orion program manager, NASA’s Johnson Space Center
• Jules Schneider, Director for Orion Assembly Test & Launch Operations, Lockheed Martin
• Nicole Smith, Orion testing project manager, Glenn
• Mark Russell, Super Guppy pilot, Glenn
• Doug Wheelock, astronaut, Johnson

Media interested in attending should contact Jimi Russell at [email protected] or 216-433-2894 no later than 5 p.m. EST on Friday, Nov. 22 for registration and additional information regarding event logistics.

Media should plan to arrive at the airport, located at 2000 Harrington Memorial Road, no later than 1:30 p.m. EST to ensure they are in position for aircraft landing, which is expected around 2:30 p.m. EST.

NASA has also identified Monday, Nov. 25 as a potential transportation backup day and will notify media as soon as possible if this option is taken. All event timing is subject to change without prior notice due to weather conditions and aircraft availability.

Engineers at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida have been assembling, testing and integrating the crew module and the European-built service module, which arrived in the U.S. last year. Artemis I is an uncrewed test flight around the Moon, the first in a series of progressively more complex missions that will land the first woman and next man on the lunar surface by 2024. NASA will then use what it learns on the Moon to prepare to send humans to Mars.

For more information about NASA’s Artemis program, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/artemis

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SOURCE NASA