From: Sandy Dueck 2nd account <sandy@quest.arc.nasa.gov>
Subject: Why the July 9 Broadcast Wasn't Aired
Date: Tue, 15 Jul 1997 09:22:07 -0700 (PDT)
>Dear discuss-lfm: > >Passport to Knowledge would like to provide you with the following >information to clarify why the July 9 broadcast wasn't aired on NASA-TV as >originally planned. > > >LFM 3B was indeed scheduled to be carried by NASA-TV live at time of air, >14-16:00 Eastern, July 9. The first hour was not, but apparently the >second hour was. According to NASA-TV, this was due to local problems at >NASA Goddard. NASA HQ is concerned about the inconvenience this may have >caused many of you and intends to reschedule full two-hour carriage of >both LFM 3A and 3B (e.g. all four hours of TV) after completion of this >current shuttle mission. The coordinates were correctly conveyed to NTV, >shared with GSFC, LFM was in the printed and online schedule, but still -- >the program did not make it to NTV's transponder. > >HOWEVER, all informational material for LFM's summer programs, both print, >online and direct mailing to science museums noted that NTV was subject to >preemption for shuttle or Pathfinder emergencies (though this is not what >happened) and provided an alternate transponder on the same satellite, >GE-2, channel 21, purchased by PASSPORT TO KNOWLEDGE and the American >Museum of Natural History, New York, where carriage was 100% guaranteed, >and where the program was available in its entirety just as planned. > >We chose this satellite to make the change of transponder, if required, as >simple as possible. We hope many of you noted this information, and >changed to GE-2, Ch 21, when you saw we were not on NTV. > >We understand, and regret, that this must be a little confusing to those >whose only experience of TV is commercial broadcasting, where all you have >to do is tune to a local channel and "there it is." The upside of direct >satellite transmission is the kind of late-breaking coverage of a news >story like Pathfinder, and the ability of a project like LFM to provide >interaction with newsmakers like Donna Shirley, Matt Golombek, Rob Manning >and the others, as well as companion e-mail and Web resources. The >downsize is that viewers have to be more active, and even proactive. We >hope most of you find the benefits outweigh the occassional problems. >We've been working hard to secure wider PBS carriage as well as NTV, but >though we've gotten up to some 200 of 350 PBS stations for some past and >present PTK projects, not all stations consider live programming viable in >their local markets. If you disagree, contact your local program manager >with your comments. FYI, in Columbus, Ohio, Sunday's program was #1 in its >last 1/4 hour rating period on WBNS, the CBS commercial station which >supported the COSI uplink. So clearly Mars and this kind of interactive >formatting can sometimes be both cutting-edge and widely popular. > >FYI, both programs also had intermittent "hits," which in TV means >temporary video and audio dropouts (less than one second in length). This >was caused by a combination of severe storms in the New York area and >planes landing at La Guardia and JFK. That's another inevitable problem >with direct satellite uplinks and downlinks! Sometimes weather on Earth >can impact interplanetary weather reports from Mars. > >In any event, we on the production team are pretty tired, but are overall >very pleased with the results of all our efforts. It was a privilege to be >out at JPL for this historic week, and to be able to share some unique >aspects of it with you by live TV and the Net. We're also very pleased >that NASA's Classroom of the Future and our partners at NASA Ames (Quest, >Learning Teachnologies Project) were able to provide the alternate of Real >Audio and Real Video, and/or CU-SeeMe on the net. We hope to do that more >and still better with current and emerging technologies for any and all >future PTK projects, to maximize access. We'd be happy to hear other >"horror" or "success" stories to guide our future plans. > >Onwards and Upwards... to Yogi, Couch, Twin Peaks (OK, too far for >Sojourner!), and beyond!!! > >Geoff Haines-Stiles & Erna Akuginow and the LFM team