Atlas V Rocket Launch at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station

Space enthusiasts looking for the perfect way to spend the day before the Aug. 31 Atlas V launch (scheduled for 6:07 a.m.) will find Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex the ideal destination. On Aug. 29 and 30, speakers from United Launch Alliance will give special presentations about the upcoming mission and the Atlas V rocket to visitor complex guests. The rocket will lift off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station carrying a Mobile User Objective System satellite. 

United Launch Alliance (ULA) engineers Michelle Knox and Anton Kolomiets will present at Journey to Mars: Explorers Wanted. Knox will speak at 11:30 a.m., 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. Saturday and Kolomiets will speak at 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. Sunday. The presentations will be 20 minutes in length with an additional 10 minutes for questions and answers.

Knox is a test engineer, working primarily in the Tank/Weld Center in the ULA Decatur factory performing pressure and hydrostatic tests on tanks for Atlas and Delta rockets, as well as cryogenic testing of various vehicle parts. Kolomiets is a structures engineer with ULA, specializing in Delta IV cryogenic second stage and payload accommodations. He has been involved in the design, testing and production engineering support in groundbreaking missions, including Orion EFT-1 and the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage for NASA’s Space Launch System rocket.

The Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex is open daily 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.