Athena Brensberger aka @Astroathens Visits Vandenberg Air Force Base, Tours NASA Mission Control, The Weather Squadron, Western Range Operations Control Center at 30th Space Wing & More!
Athena Brensberg, known as her social media prowess @Astroathens attended the launch site of NASA’s Mars Insight Lander at Vandenberg Air Force Base as part of the NASA Social team covering all launch activities up though lift off and payload deployment.
Upon arrival, Athena provided an overview of what those launch activities would be, in a general synopsis you can view HERE, where she details who will be include in the NASA TV press briefing she would be in the audience for, and extrapolates upon the critical instruments necessary to perform nominally and gather invaluable scientific data about the interior of Mars. Brensberger breaks down the various aspects of the mission which make the InSight mission so exciting, which you can read via her blog at Astroathens.com.

Athena @Astroathens Brensberger is an international model and science host with a background in astrophysics and creative arts. Her mission is to bridge the gap between entertainment and science and is a vocal and visible proponent of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math).
The featured videos above follow Athena as she takes part in the NASA Social activities with mission specialists and scientists on-site explaining various instruments and vial components of InSight; experiences a virtual reality (VR) demo of NASA’s OnSight software, revealing just how immersive and informative the virtual world can enlighten scientists here on Earth through data obtained from the Mars Science Laboratory, or, Curiosity rover. Athena was then briefed by Lockheed Martin on the historical significance of NASA’s InSight mission with respect to previous incomplete and successful attempts to reach Mars, whether in orbit or at the surface. In the second vlog episode, Athena tours the Atlas V rocket itself, developed and manufactured by United Launch Alliance (ULA), whose Centaur upper stage is escorted to space by Aerojet Rocketdyne’s powerful RL10C-1 engine.
We thank Athena for her support of Explore Mars and although she cannot physically attend, Athena will be virtually taking part in the Humans To Mars Summit, where she’s one of our esteemed panel guests for ‘Engage & Educate: How Social Media Amplifies Awareness and Support for the Journey to Mars Missions’ taking place on Day 3 from 11:30AM – 12:15PM EST. |