Curiosity Launch Tweetup
This artist concept features NASA's Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover along with an illustrated astronaut bird.
PASADENA, Calif. - NASA's social media followers at seven field centers around the nation will virtually come together at a NASA Social on Friday, Aug. 3, to preview the landing of the Mars Science Laboratory's (MSL) Curiosity rover on Aug. 5 PDT (Aug. 6 EDT).

NASA Socials are in-person meetings with people who engage with the agency through Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and other social networks. Events will be held simultaneously at the Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif.; Glenn Research Center in Cleveland; Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.; Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.; Johnson Space Center in Houston; Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., and Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va. Kennedy Space Center will be celebrating its 50th anniversary during its NASA Social.

From 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. PDT (12:30 to 2:30 p.m. EDT), every center will be connected with JPL, which manages the MSL mission for NASA, via a multi-center NASA Television simulcast. NASA Social participants at each center will have the opportunity to ask questions of the JPL science and engineering teams during the simulcast. More than 150 social media followers also will tour their respective host NASA center.

You can view the social online during the day Friday by visiting a NASA dashboard at: http://www.nasa.gov/social . To get an inside view during the simulcast with all the centers participating, view the new NASA superchannel and select webcam views at: http://www.ustream.tv/nasa . The NASA Social speaker program and news conferences also will be carried on: http://www.nasa.gov/msl .

The public can follow the mission on Facebook and Twitter at: http://www.facebook.com/marscuriosity and http://www.twitter.com/marscuriosity .

For information about connecting and collaborating with NASA, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/connect .

For NASA TV streaming video, schedules and downlink information, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/ntv .

The California Institute of Technology in Pasadena manages JPL for NASA.

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Veronica McGregor 818-354-9452
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
veronica.c.mcgregor@jpl.nasa.gov

John Yembrick/Jason Townsend 650-604-2065 / 202-358-0359
NASA Headquarters, Washington
john.yembrick@nasa.gov / jason.c.townsend@nasa.gov