Tweet day for Morgan’s Grant man.
Andrew Symes, a Morgan’s Grant resident and self-described amateur astronomer, will be heading to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center for the launch of the Mars rover Curiosity from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida at the end of November.
Amy Symes photo
A Morgan’s Grant man got a Tweet surprise when he was chosen by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration as one of 150 Twitter followers to cover the launch of a Mars rover.
Andrew Symes was selected to attend the two-day “Tweetup” on Nov. 23 and 25 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center for the launch of the Mars rover Curiosity from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
“We’re getting the best view of a rocket launch that’s possible,” said Symes, who will be at the press site for the event. “Having the opportunity to see that will be amazing.
“Seeing a spacecraft launch is something I’ve always wanted to see.”
He will have the chance to talk to some of the mission scientists and engineers, ask questions, tour the Kennedy Space Center and Tweet about his experiences.
“We can Tweet during some of these talks and before the launch,” said Symes, who will send messages via Twitter from a laptop and Smartphone. “Just seeing all that up close is just a dream come true.”
The 32-year-old has been a fan of space exploration since he was a teenager.
“It was 1994 when there was a comet that impacted Jupiter; for whatever reason that really interested me,” said Symes, who describes himself as an amateur astronomer and enjoys taking photos of the night sky. “It just sort of blew my mind that average people with a telescope could see these things happen.”
NASA has held Tweetups for a number of launches since 2009, allowing people from the general public with an interest in space to witness the events up close.
“Missions like this…they put out a call for ‘Tweetup attendees’ as they call them,” said Symes, one of three Canadians chosen for the current Tweetup. “They usually get thousands of applications.”
Those chosen have to be on Twitter and a follower of one of the many NASA Twitter accounts.
“This is outreach for NASA,” said Symes. “It builds awareness of what NASA is doing.”
The Curiosity rover is expected to reach Mars by August 2012. The two-year mission will include an investigation on an area of the planet to see if microbial life could have once existed.
Curiosity has its own Twitter account at @MarsCuriosity.
Follow Symes’ experiences on Twitter at @FailedProtostar.
Participants of the Mars Curiosity rover launch will be using the hashtag #NASATweetup in their Twitter updates.
jessica.cunha@metroland.com