Worldwide Tweet-up Celebrates the Launch of NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory
GREENBELT, Md. -- NASA will hold a worldwide series of connected Twitter events during the launch of its newest eye on the Sun, the Solar Dynamics Observatory.
Scheduled to launch on February 11 from NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Fla., SDO will peer into the Sun's atmosphere and probe the Sun's inner workings. It is the first mission of NASA's Living With a Star program, which seeks to reveal how solar activity is generated and to understand the causes of solar variability and its impact on Earth.
"NASA's SDO will provide a powerful new set of eyes, ears and magnetic sensors to better understand how the changing Sun can disrupt our high-tech existence," says Madhulika Guhathakurta, SDO Program Scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington.
Tweet-up events will take place at the Kennedy Space Center, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center's Visitor Center in Greenbelt, Md., 50 classrooms around the world, and 30 other independent sites. There will also be a virtual tweet-up in Second Life, a 3D virtual world where users can socialize and connect with one another.
"This social media event will include individuals, classrooms, and on-site participants in NASA's launch of SDO," says Aleya Van Doren, a formal education coordinator at Goddard. "Through the 'SDO is GO' Twitter events, we will be able to reach out to potentially millions of people and make a personal connection."
"Space is closer than I dreamed of, and it all started with a tweet," says Adam Workman of Greenwood Village, Colo., who was selected to be one of NASA's 15 Twitter correspondents at the tweet-up taking place at the Kennedy Space Center.
"Whenever I see a light in the evening canopy of stars and planets, I am thrilled to know that those are real places, and I'm looking forward to meeting others who share that same sense of thrill," says NASA Twitter correspondent Jonathan Lyons of Tallahassee, Fla.
Companies are even getting in on the event. ThinkGeek, an online company that offers products targeted to technophiles and "geeks" of all varieties, is a participant. "Geeks are, at their heart, explorers, and NASA is a shining example of the amazing work those explorers can do," says ThinkGeek President and General Manager Caroline Offutt. "ThinkGeek is excited to be part of this tweet-up, and we look forward to being inspired by the space program for years to come," she adds.
To follow SDO on Twitter, visit:
http://twitter.com/NASA_SDO
For more information about the SDO tweet-up, visit:
http://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/sdoisgo/
