From: Jan Wee <jwee@mail.arc.nasa.gov>
Subject: Re: summer viewing
Date: Tue, 03 Jun 1997 08:42:23 -0500
Dear Brian and all,
At 10:01 AM 6/2/97 -0400, you wrote:
>Could you give a run-down of TV programming this summer covering the
>Pathfinder landing and first few days? I'm sure you already have but I missed
>it and my kids are dieing to know what they will be able to see. Do you
>expect there to be live programming on the networks covering the landing?
>
>Thank you,
>
>Bryan Street
>Pathfinder School
In case you missed the summer and fall LFM programming
announcement, here is a copy of our online announcement!
It is very likely that national networks like CNN, etc.
will give the Pathfinder Landing events coverage,
in addition to NASA-TV.
Passport to Knowledge, producers of NSF, NASA and public TV
sponsored electronic field trips, INVITES ALL....
Summer School Program Leaders, Planetarium Program Directors,
Science Camp Leaders, Year-Round School and Science Center
Coordinators, & Educators to....
*EXPERIENCE* LIVE From MARS this JULY and into FALL!*
by
>>> CONNECTING families and students with NASA's Mars
Pathfinder Mission, scheduled to LAND on Mars on July 4th! <<<
______________________________ \ | /
/ / \ \ \ / /
| Come Along to MARS this July!|========== * - -
\______________________________\_/ / / \ \
|
SUMMER PROGRAMMING...
This summer provides a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity
to connect students and families to NASA's Mars Pathfinder
Mission to the Red Planet. This coming July 4th., there'll be
fireworks on Mars. Early that morning, retro-rockets will slow
NASA's Mars Pathfinder spacecraft, and sometime in the evening of
Independence Day, humans should see the first new Martian surface
images in over 20 years radioed back from an alien explorer newly
arrived on the Red Planet!
And -- thanks to modern telecommunications and an unprecedented
collaboration of NASA, NSF, museums, space interest groups, and
media producers -- you and your students can participate more
directly than ever before.
Passport to Knowledge (PTK) and the American Museum of
Natural History in New York will present 2 two-hour Live From
Mars specials -- live, interactive TV programs to be offered
via satellite on Sunday July 6th and Wednesday July 9th,
from 14:00-16:00 Eastern (11:00-13:00 hours Pacific.)
The free, un-encrypted, programs will be carried on GE-2,
transponder 21, C-band, 85 degrees West, 4120 Mhz, Vertical
polarity, audio on 6.2 and 6.8. (This is the same satellite where
NASA-TV may be found, and will thus likely already be easily
accessible to many schools, museums, and science centers.)
The Live From Mars Web site provides extensive background
on the mission and links to other valuable Mars sites.
The Live From Mars Teacher's Guide provides suggestions
for hands-on Activities you can undertake >>>before school ends<<<
to prepare students so they will appreciate the events of this
summer. The 64 page print LFM Teacher's Guide includes the
following easy to integrate activities plus 13 more!
Mars Mission Logbook
Mission Planning: Earth/Mars Comparisons
Rocket Science 101
Mapping Topography of Unknown Surfaces
Light Bulb-Egg Drop Challenge
See http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/teachers/materials.html for
more details.
Sunday July 6th will not only feature the events of the first 2 days
on Mars, the best color enhancements of the first pictures returned,
and a chance to hear NASA scientists' first reactions, but also TPS's
"Planetfest" -- a combination Star Trek convention and celebration
of space exploration and scientific discovery, promising a good time
for all! To be held in Pasadena, CA, just a few miles from JPL on July
4, 5 and 6, we plan to link "Planetfest" in via video to JPL, New York,
and many other live locations around the nation. It's hoped that
CUSeeMe, Real Audio and other Internet technologies will also share
"Planetfest" and the events of "Landing Week" with those unable to
access satellite TV.
Though primarily designed for participation by youngsters, families
and camp groups in science museums and planetariums (since school
is "out" in most places), anyone with access to a movable satellite
dish can access the programming. Many science centers are already
planning events around Pathfinder's landing. We expect many will
integrate LIVE FROM MARS into this... but we can't promise or
predict. Please check locally... and if your local museum doesn't yet
know about what's going on, please share what YOU know with them,
and direct them to our Web site, which will have increasingly
detailed information.
FALL PROGRAMMING...
Live From Mars >fall< programming includes two hour long telecasts
as we continue to track the Mars Pathfinder and Mars Global Surveyor
missions to Mars. Broadcasts are carried on NASA-TV, PBS's main
satellite, Telstar 402R and many PBS stations around the country.
LIVE FROM MARS #4: "WITH PATHFINDER TO MARS", October 14th, 1997
at 13:00-14:00 EST
Highlights of the earlier programs. A re-edited compilation (distributed
on tape, not live) of the previous programs, designed to re-introduce
students to this unique opportunity to travel virtually to Mars. Follow
the Pathfinder's travels, from "launch through landing",
in the new school year of 1997-98,
and prepare them for...
LIVE FROM MARS #5: "TODAY ON MARS", November 18th, 1997
at 13:00-14:00 EST
Live weather data and imagery from Mars shows what has been learned
to date from the Pathfinder lander and rover: how the continuing data
stream provides students with material to analyze in math and computer
classes. What Sojourner has revealed, to date, about the actual composition
of Martian rocks, and what this implies for the question of liquid water and
the possibility of life. A preview of the next decade of exploration.
Live From Mars target audience: middle school level; easily
adaptable to elementary and high school.
Live From Mars Web Site: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars
Call 1-800-626-LIVE (5483) for more information.
STAY TUNED, and use LIVE FROM MARS to link directly to the very
latest from the Red Planet!