Orion Launch

PARAMUS, NJ – To infinity and beyond!  Connecting space travel to the next frontier Tracy Glock, a Life Skills Education and Achievement Program Teacher at Paramus High School, has been chosen as part of a select group of participants to attend the initial flight of the Orion Spacecraft at the Langley Research Center in Hamilton, Virginia on December 3^rd and 4^th.  Tracy Glock was invited to participate in NASA Social, a program that provides opportunities for NASA's social media followers to learn and share information about NASA's missions, people, programs and discoveries.

NASA Social is the next evolution in the agency's social media efforts. The program includes both special in-person events and social media credentials for individuals who share news in a significant way. Over 3,000 applicants applied to participate, with only 150 chosen to receive clearance and credentials.

To be chosen, Mrs. Glock had to meet specific social media engagement criteria, and as a result of being selected, she will have the same credentials and access to the event as news media, will get behind-the-scenes access to NASA's first field center and a briefing on Orion's first flight test. Langley's massive Landing and Impact Research Facility and Hydro Impact Basin will be showcased. In the 1960s, this is where Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin learned how to land on the moon. Guests will also tour Langley labs, where NASA is evaluating asteroid grappling, developing lunar habitat technologies and testing an Orion mockup. On Dec. 4, participants will be offered a special opportunity to watch Orion's launch and splashdown at the nearby Virginia Air & Space Center, NASA’s official visitor center.

NASA's Orion spacecraft is built to take humans farther than they've ever gone before. More powerful than any rocket ever built, it will be capable of sending humans to deep space destinations such as an asteroid and eventually Mars. Orion will serve as the exploration vehicle that will carry the crew to space, provide emergency abort capability, sustain the crew during the space travel, and provide safe  re-entry from deep space.

Orion will launch atop a Delta IV Heavy rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Space Launch Complex.  Concluding a two-orbit, four-hour flight that will test many of the systems most critical to safety Orion will splashdown at the nearby Virginia Air & Space Center.

Mrs. Glock will be documenting the events leading up to the launch and the launch itself over the course of two days on December 3 and December 4, utilizing social media.  Twitter followers experience this historic launch using #Orion or by following her tweets @TicTockMrsGlock