Feb. 2, 2011 Sarah Ramsey Headquarters, Washington 202-215-9680 sarah.ramsey@xxxxxxxx MEDIA ADVISORY: M11-021 NASA DEPUTY ADMINISTRATOR MEETS WITH COMMERCIAL SPACE INNOVATORS WASHINGTON -- NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver will travel to Las Vegas and Boulder, Colo., this week to meet with leaders of two commercial space companies, Bigelow Aerospace and Sierra Nevada Corp., and tour their facilities. NASA is partnering with the commercial sector to develop innovative technologies to ensure that the U.S. remains competitive in future space endeavors. On Friday, Feb. 4, Garver will tour Bigelow Aerospace facilities at 1899 W. Brooks Ave. in North Las Vegas. NASA has been discussing potential partnership opportunities with Bigelow for its inflatable habitat technologies. Garver and the company's President Robert Bigelow will hold a news conference at 1 p.m. PST. To attend, media representatives must contact Mike Gold at mgold@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx On Saturday, Feb. 5, Garver will meet with Mark Sirangello, chairman of Sierra Nevada Space Systems. Afterward, she will tour the company's facility responsible for spacecraft mechanical subsystems, components and satellite manufacturing in Louisville, Colo. Garver also will visit a test facility at the University of Colorado at Boulder to observe progress on Sierra Nevada's Dream Chaser spacecraft. It is under development with support from NASA's Commercial Crew Development Program to provide crew transportation to and from low Earth orbit. A news conference will be held at 11:30 a.m. MST in the CU-Boulder College of Engineering and Applied Science, Civil Engineering Building, located on the northeast corner of Colorado Ave. and Regent Drive. To attend, news media must contact Teresa Jones at 720-256-7073 or teresa.jones@xxxxxxxxxxx Journalists interested in a one-on-one interview with Garver during the Feb. 4 and Feb. 5 events should contact Sarah Ramsey at 202-215-9680 or sarah.ramsey@xxxxxxxxx Deputy Administrator Garver's biography is available at: http://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/garver_bio.html Photos and information about the two events will be posted on her Facebook and Twitter sites. http://www.facebook.com/LoriGarver http://twitter.com/lori_garver For information about NASA and agency programs, visit: http://www.nasa.gov -end- To subscribe to the list, send a message to: hqnews-subscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx To remove your address from the list, send a message to: hqnews-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx