From: Jan Wee <jwee@mail.arc.nasa.gov>
Subject: Re: Broadcast of "Cruising Between the Planets"
Date: Wed, 09 Apr 1997 10:32:11 -0500
Dear Linda and all discuss-lfm members,
At 04:59 PM 4/6/97 -0700, you wrote:
>I hope this does not sound like a dumb question, but I do not
>understand how to receive the above broadcast. Is it on a national
>channel?, a subscription service? or only available to people with
>access to Jet Propulsion Lab. broadcasts? or the Muncie school district?
ANSWER...
Your question is not dumb at all! I am glad you asked as it is
timely that we remind everyone of the broadcast details.
Live From Mars programs are broadcast *live* via both NASA-TV and
PBS' main satellite, Telstar 402. "Cruising Between the Planets"
will air at 13:00-14:00 EST (1-2pm EST) on Thursday, April 24th.
1) You have TWO OPTIONS for downlinking the program via satellite:
OPTION ONE: NASA-TV SATELLITE COORDINATES ON **C-BAND**:
NOTE: NASA TV may pre-empt scheduled programming for live
agency events.
Please note that effective March 15, 1997, the NASA TV
satellite changed to:
GE-2
Transponder 9C at 85 degrees West longitude
Vertical polarization,
Frequency of 3880 Mhz, and audio of 6.8 Mhz.
OPTION TWO: SATELLITE COORDINATES FOR **KU BAND** PBS CARRIAGE:
Telstar 402 R
7 Lower
89 degrees West
Frequency 11895 Vertical
6.2 and 6.8 Audio
ALSO.... your LOCAL PBS station *may* be carrying the LFM programs
*LIVE* or via TAPE DELAY. Please CALL your local PBS station
and inquire about their plans. Each PBS station (Education Coordinator)
does receive our DACS (background information). If they are not aware of
the PTK programming and are interested in more information, they
may call the PTK Office at 973-656-9403. Our office can fax them
details if they are missing key information!
Educators without satellite dish access or lack local PBS feeds should
not give up. Call your local cable company and see if they can help
access the feed. Check with a local higher education agency -- many
of these folks have satellite dishes and may be willing to tape the
program for you. How about a parent with a dish? Many PTK participating
educators have told inspiring stories of how they creatively acquired our
programming. Perhaps some of them will share them via discuss-lfm!
PTK does make available copies of the programs within one week of
the live telecast for a nominal charge. Please email me directly
for further details!
2) IMPORTANT THINGS TO REMEMBER...
1) NASA-TV may pre-empt programming due to NASA agency needs.
Be prepared -- this has happened a couple of times in the
past and folks were disappointed as they had not arranged to tap
the KU Band satellite feed. Be sure to have your back-up
plans in place. If pre-empting does occur, LFM Program Two
will be re-broadcast on NASA-TV. I will keep this list
aware of re-broadcast dates.
2) The PBS carriage on KU Band is more difficult to "lock-in"
for many media coordinators. Be sure to *** TEST your KU
Band coordinates **** to see if you are actually receiving feeds
via Telstar 402R. Do this at least 2-3 days in advance so
you can work out the bugs.
3) There is NO fee for accessing any of the PTK telecasts, including
the Live From Mars series. We DO strongly encourage you to
*register your participation* via the LFM web site registration
form on our home page at http://quest.arc.nasa.gov This
information
allows us to keep you posted about future projects, as well as
gives us key information about participants.
We also strongly encourage all educators to **prepare students** for
each of the broadcasts (as you would with any FIELD TRIP)
by actively engaging students in the hands-on related lessons found
in our Live From Mars teacher's guide. A web-based copy of the
teacher's guide is found at:
http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/teachers/tg/index.html
To order a PRINT copy of the LFM Teacher's Pack which
includes the Teacher's Guide, LFM poster, blackline
masters, and background files on the Mars Missions... Send a
check, money order, or purchase order (sorry, no credit card
orders) for $10.00 to:
Passport to Knowledge
P.O. Box 1502
Summit, NJ 07902-1502
or fax your school purchase order to: 973-656-9813.
4) You may record and re-broadcast our LFM programs within your
school district for educational purposes for ONE year within
the broadcast date. Off-Air Taping Rights are found on the
inside front cover of the print teacher's guide.
I hope this helps Linda and other members of the discuss-lfm list.
I will be keeping you aware of any late breaking news regarding the
April 24th broadcast.
Sincerely,
Jan Wee, moderator