NASA Wallops Flight Facility Site Director Bill Wrobel has granted Authority to Proceed (ATP) for the Wednesday, Sept. 18, launch of a demonstration mission to the International Space Station by the Orbital Sciences Corp. of Dulles, Va. Orbital is targeting a 10:50 a.m. EDT launch from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport Pad-0A at Wallops. ATP verifies project managers, the Wallops range and range safety are ready to support the established plans and procedures for launch operations. This followed Monday's Launch Readiness Review, at which Orbital and NASA managers gave a "go" to proceed toward launch. NASA will preview the launch and mission in a news conference at 2 p.m. today at the Wallops Visitors Center. NASA TV and the agency's website will air the briefing live with question and answer capability available from participating NASA centers or on the telephone. To participate using the phone bridge, which is operated out of NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, journalists must call the Johnson newsroom at 281-483-5111 by 1:45 p.m. Questions also can be asked in advance and during the briefing via Twitter by using the hashtag #askNASA. The prelaunch briefing participants are: -- Alan Lindenmoyer, program manager, NASA's Commercial Crew and Cargo Program -- Frank Culbertson, executive vice president, Orbital Sciences Corp. -- Mike Pinkston, Antares program manager, Orbital Sciences Corp. -- Sarah Daugherty, test director, NASA's Wallops Flight Facility NASA TV launch commentary coverage will begin on Wednesday, Sept. 18, at 10:15 a.m. Video b-roll of launch preparations will air at 10 a.m. For more information about the mission, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/orbital and http://www.nasa.gov/station. If you are interested in viewing the launch in the Chincoteague, Va., area, the recommended launch viewing sites are the NASA Wallops Flight facility Visitors Center (http://sites.wff.nasa.gov/wvc) or the Assateague National Seashore (http://www.nps.gov/asis/index.htm). Information about how to view the launch from the mid-Atlantic East Coast can be found at: http://www.orbital.com/NewsInfo/MissionUpdates/Orb-D1.

• published: 18 Sep 2013
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