NASA will hold a media briefing at 11 a.m. PDT (2 p.m. EDT) Thursday, June 12, at NASA Headquarters in Washington about the upcoming Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 mission.

The briefing will be broadcast live on NASA Television and streamed on the agency's website.

OCO-2, NASA's first spacecraft dedicated to studying carbon dioxide, is set for a July 1 launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Its mission is to measure the global distribution of carbon dioxide, the leading human-produced greenhouse gas driving changes in Earth's climate. OCO-2 replaces a nearly identical spacecraft lost in a rocket launch mishap in February 2009.

The briefing participants are:

-- Betsy Edwards, OCO-2 program executive with the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington

-- Ralph Basilio, OCO-2 project manager with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California

-- Mike Gunson, OCO-2 project scientist at JPL

-- Annmarie Eldering, OCO-2 deputy project scientist at JPL

The public also may ask questions during the briefing on Twitter using the hashtag #AskNASA.

OCO-2 is one of five NASA Earth science missions scheduled for launch in 2014. NASA monitors Earth's vital signs from land, air and space with a fleet of satellites and ambitious airborne and ground-based observation campaigns. NASA develops new ways to observe and study Earth's interconnected natural systems with long-term data records and computer analysis tools to better see how our planet is changing. The agency shares this unique knowledge with the global community and works with institutions around the world that contribute to understanding and protecting our home planet.

For more information about NASA's Earth science activities in 2014, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/earthrightnow

JPL manages the OCO-2 mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. JPL is managed for NASA by the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

The public can watch the briefing on NASA TV, or on the Web at: http://www.nasa.gov/nasatv and http://www.ustream.tv/nasajpl2

For more information about NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/oco2

News Media Contact

Alan BuisJet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California818-354-0474alan.buis@jpl.nasa.govSteve ColeNASA Headquarters, Washington202-358-0918stephen.e.cole@nasa.gov2014-181