How to Score VIP NASA Shuttle Launch Tickets

For friends and family who may want to hit up a NASA shuttle launch before it's retired in 2010, I'd highly recommend requesting some VIP Launch Tickets. From what I hear, it's an amazing spot to watch the magic. It's a fairly simple process once you know who to contact and, sometimes helping them know who to contact.

The first thing you must do is find and contact your US Representative's DC office. I ended up dealing with the Executive Assistant/Scheduler for my request. YMMV. Contact this person via phone and tell them you're looking to request VIP NASA Shuttle Launch Tickets.

The second thing you'll want is to have this web site address handy:

http://legislative.nasa.gov

My US Rep's office had never done this before so they contacted several NASA offices and left voice mails and gave up before asking me for any intel I may have. Through the magic of Google, I found this legislative branch of NASA which exists to deal with the US Congress. After forwarding the US Rep office this web site, they contacted them and found help with a woman named "Lisa". Again, YMMV.

The last step was submitting my full name and the full name of any one who is planning on going to the shuttle launch. Also, you'll need to provide your home mailing address and the date or mission (i.e. STS-124) that you're looking to attend.

After your information is submitted to NASA, they will contact your US Rep's office about a month prior to launch date to inform them if you will receive the tickets or not. If you will be able to go as a VIP guest to NASA, you'll receive a packet in the mail with information and your passes. My plan is to follow up with the US Rep office about six weeks before the launch date to "get back on the RADAR" for this information.

Since I'm just in the "waiting" stage of this process as I type this, I don't know what happens from here on out other than what I've read on this site (scroll about 2/3 down). This is where I got most of my accurate information on how to go about this process and to "help them help me".

If you go for it, good luck! I'll report back if/when I get the confirmation.