NASA is very active on Twitter and uses the platform in a variety of ways to engage their audience and drive awareness of the space program.

Back in April they hooked up with Twitter directly to launch a new campaign on the network, and NASA regularly holds tweet-ups for its 1.2 million followers, several of which have included live attendance of an actual space shuttle launch.

Now, 30 lucky @NASA fans can grab another once-in-a-lifetime prize – a chance to pilot the space shuttle!

Well, kind of. It’s the space shuttle simulator, but hey, that’s still pretty cool. Says NASA:

NASA’s Johnson Space Center is hosting a daylong Tweetup on Tuesday, July 19, during space shuttle Atlantis’ STS-135 mission to the International Space Station. Participants will get a behind-the-scenes tour at Johnson and a hands-on opportunity aboard the space shuttle simulator to take control in a training scenario.

Registration opens today (June 28) at 11am ET, and will be open for 24 hours. You need to have a Twitter account and be following @NASA to qualify for entry.

(Source: NASA.)