CONTACT: Camilla Corona SDO Tel: (650) 823-8320 CamillaSDO@gmail.

com @Camilla_SDO on Twitter

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

European Space Tweetup in Cologne First NASA Mission Mascot to officially visit the European Space Agency and the DLR German Aerospace Center Cologne, Germany (September 13, 2011) - The German Aerospace Center (DLR) and the European Space Agency (ESA) have invited 60 Twitter followers to the first joint European Space Tweetup as part of German Aerospace Day on September 18, 2011 in Cologne Germany. A Tweetup is an informal, educational gathering of people who use the social media platform Twitter. The participants will have a chance to learn more about the two agencies and their activities, while sharing their impressions live via Twitter. This event is not only the first joint European Space Tweetup, but it is also the first official visit of the NASA Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) mission mascot Camilla Corona SDO to ESA and DLR. Even though Camilla is a rubber chicken, her goal is to educate children about the Sun, Space Weather, Space and Science, and to encourage them to pursue careers in science, engineering or aeronautics. As part of her outreach, Camilla SDO attends various events to learn and share her new knowledge and impressions. In May 2011 Camilla SDO and her crew Pilot Fuzz Aldrin and Mission Specialist Skye Bleu traveled in a weather balloon to the Edge of Space. Due to high jet stream winds the BTS-1 (Balloon Transportation System, 1st Flight) landed further East than anticipated and was lost for 5 days in the swamp area of Sabine National Wildlife Refuge in Louisiana. Thanks to the efforts of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services at Sabine National Wildlife Refuge the capsule and crew were found and recovered, making it the first ever mascot crew to reach the darkness of the Edge of Space and spend a week waiting for rescue in a swamp. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) is designed to help us understand the Sun's influence on Earth and Near-Earth space by studying the solar atmosphere on small scales of space and time and in many wavelengths simultaneously. SDO's goal is to understand, driving towards a predictive capability, the solar variations that influence life on Earth and humanity's technological systems by determining

how the Sun's magnetic field is generated and structured how this stored magnetic energy is converted and released into the heliosphere and geospace in the form of solar wind, energetic particles, and variations in the solar irradiance

NASA SDO Website: http://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/

German Aerospace Day takes place every two years at the Cologne/Porz establishment shared by DLR, ESA's European Astronaut Center and partners Cologne Bonn Airport and the German Air Force. This year is the first time special events are set up for the Twitter followers, such as: - Welcome notes and keynote presentations by ESA Social Media Managers Marco Trovatello, Fulvio Drigani and NASA Social Media Manager Stephanie Schierholz - Opportunities to meet former Astronaut and ESA Director of Human Space Flight and Operations Thomas Reiter as well as other ESA astronauts. - Tour of ESA's European Astronaut Center - Tour of the DLR research institutes and facilities - Visit of SOFIA, the NASA/DLR airborne observatory, using a heavily modified Boeing 747 SP - Q&As with DLR/ESA scientists and project managers - Various photo opportunities, including with Camilla Corona SDO Individuals from all around the world can follow the activities live via Twitter. The Twitter account for the tweetup is @Spacetweetup and the hashtag is #SpaceTweetup. Followers are encouraged to also follow Camilla's social media outlets. A list of various platforms can be found at: http://about.me/CamillaSDO ### Related Links DLR Space Tweetup News http://www.dlr.de/dlr/en/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-10490/ ESA European Space Tweetup http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMW5JFTFQG_index_0.html NASA Solar Dynamics Observatory Website: http://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/ NASA SDO Camilla Space Weather Project: http://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/spaceweather/ Camilla SDO various Social Media outlets: http://about.me/camillaSDO Camilla SDO on Twitter - http://twitter.com/Camilla_SDO