Dallas resident takes Twitter followers to Mars

He was picked to join a tweet-up at NASA's Kennedy Space Center during the launch of a space mission.

NASA/JPL-Caltech

The NASA Mars Science Laboratory rover, Curiosity, will launch in late November.

Downtown Dallas resident Noah Jeppson is one of 150 people who will get a front-row seat at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida for a two-day tweet-up. Jeppson will share news on Twitter November 23 and 26 about the launch of Curiosity, a rover that will land on Mars and study whether it has had conditions favorable for life.

(This rover is smart: It will use a laser to peek inside rocks and release gasses, and then send information back to Earth about what's on Mars.)

Last we chatted with Jeppson, he was organizing Park(ing) Day in Downtown Dallas, which created temporary parks for a few hours in some of the city's busiest areas. We also talked to him recently about a historical project for a building in Downtown Dallas. As it turns out, he's also got a fascination with outer space.

Dallas resident Noah Jeppson

“It's a personal interest grown from a fascination with space exploration as a child,” Jeppson said in an email. “As a designer, much of the work I do relies on the latest technologies, and JPL [The Jet Propulsion Laboratory] and NASA continue to push technology further. In a way, that sense of learning through exploration can be applied to anything I do.”

Jeppson was picked through a lottery of more than 1,000 people who wanted to join the tweet-up. He had applied twice before.

Jeppson is especially stoked about the Mars mission. “While I would have been excited to attend any of the NASA Tweetups – the final shuttle missions were very popular – I've always held a special interest in NASA's Mars missions,” he said. “I've followed past rover missions over the years, so it will be exciting watching the launch of the next generation vehicle. I've brushed on up on my Mars knowledge to be ready for the event.”

Curiosity will go on a nearly two-year mission and will arrive on Mars in August 2012.

Follow Jeppson's Tweets at twitter.com/ dfwcre8tive. He'll be using the hashtag #NASATweetup. Seven other tweet-up participants are from Texas.