WASHINGTON -- NASA is inviting interested industry representatives, academics and reporters to learn more about the Ares V heavy lift-launch vehicle, the Altair lunar lander, and the roles they will play in returning humans to the moon by 2020.

The Exploration Systems Mission Directorate forum will take place Thursday, Sept. 25, from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. EDT, at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, 1615 H Street NW, Washington. The forum will focus on the first phase conceptual designs for the Ares V heavy lift-launch vehicle, the Altair lunar lander and lunar exploration scenarios. Forum attendees will discuss the outcomes of a nine-month lunar transportation capabilities study and near-term business opportunities.

Participants from NASA's Exploration Systems Mission Directorate include Doug Cooke, deputy associate administrator for the directorate, Geoff Yoder, director of the Directorate Integration Office, and Jeff Hanley, manager of NASA's Constellation Program.

Representatives of industry and academia interested in attending the forum must register online. Attendance is limited and registration will close at 5 p.m. EDT, Sept. 23. Registration and additional information, including an agenda, are available at:

http://www.nasa.gov/directorates/esmd/home/lunar_id.html

Reporters planning to attend must contact Stephanie Schierholz at 202-358-4997 or Grey Hautaluoma at 202-358-0688 by 5 p.m., Sept. 24.

The Ares V rocket and Altair lunar lander are part of a fleet of vehicles that NASA's Constellation Program is developing for a new space transportation system designed to travel beyond low Earth orbit. The Constellation fleet also includes the Orion crew exploration vehicle and the Ares I launch vehicle. NASA plans to establish a human outpost on the moon through a successive series of lunar missions beginning in 2020.

For more information about NASA's Constellation Program, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/constellation