From: Jan Wee <jwee@mail.arc.nasa.gov>
Subject: What's Up: Week of November 9th-15th!
Date: Mon, 10 Nov 1997 06:25:52 -0600
Dear discuss-lfm members,
What's Up: Week of November 9-15th!
I. ALERT>>>>>GRAND FINALE..."TODAY ON MARS"AIRS 11/13/97 **LIVE**
Live From Mars Program 5: "Today on Mars" the fifth and final
Live From Mars television program airs: Thursday, November 13th
at 13:00-14:00 EST on NASA-TV (C-Band) and PBS (KU Band)
SATELLITE COORDINATES...
NASA-TV (C Band)
GE-2, Transponder 9C at 85 degrees west longitude, vertical
polarization, with a frequency of 3880 MHz, and audio of 6.8
MHz. (Be aware: NASA-TV may be pre-empted due to
NASA late breaking news)
PBS (KU Band)
GE-3 satellite, 87 degrees west longitude, transponder 20,
vertical polarity, 12100 MHz, audio on 6.2 and 6.8 MHz.
(This is the new PBS Adult Learning Services transponder.
It is analog and not scrambled.)
LOCAL PBS COVERAGE...PBS affiliate independently decides
its own programming schedule. Therefore, anyone hoping to
receive the broadcasts from their local PBS station should
>>>contact the *local* station!
OTHER POSSIBILITIES for ACCESS...
Community access television stations, education TV
systems and community colleges are other resources that might potentially
carry the programs if requested by you.
TEST YOUR SYSTEM *IN ADVANCE*
Note: Media coordinators are encouraged to TEST these
coordinates at least two to three days in advance to be
sure they are receiving a signal. PBS broadcasting and
NASA TV should both be accessible at during daytime
hours to help you confirm the test.
PROGRAM DESCRIPTION..."Today on Mars"
Live weather data and imagery from Mars show 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.
A FIRST...
For the first time, >>>>Closed Captioning<<< will be made
available thanks to additional support from the Digital
Equipment Corporation. Please note that this will be
available for PBS broadcasting only,
not NASA-TV.
INTERNET SERVICES....
You might have a hard time getting the "real TV" programming
so below are several options for tuning into the programming
over the Internet! Be sure to check these out!
SEE: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/video/online97.html
for complete details.
* RealAudio and RealVideo
* The ability to ask questions via email to the folks on
TV is available during the broadcast only. The email address
to use for this service is: onair-lfm@quest.arc.nasa.gov
* CU-See-Me
Here is a list of NASA TV Cu-See-Me reflectors
(all are on Channel 3):
1.zeus.arc.nasa.gov - 128.102.198.147
2.quest.arc.nasa.gov - 198.123.15.250
3.topweb.arc.nasa.gov -128.102.101.82
* Information about MBONE coverage was listed on the
MBONE scheduling program (SDR). This service also assumed
that NASA-TV coverage would not be preempted by breaking news.
* Once-per-minute snapshots from the broadcast >may be<
available from NASA Select TV.
* Questions for the guest experts can be e-mailed *during*
the live telecast to: onair-lfm@quest.arc.nasa.gov
Please be sure to screen the questions in advance for
relevancy (see Pat Haddon's previous posting for topics).
Be sure to copy all questions to: question-lfm@quest.arc.nasa.gov
to assure an answer in case the question is not selected for use
in the live broadcast.
II. REMINDER>>>>>CHAT WITH THE MARS EXPERT THIS AND NEXT WEEK
See: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/events/interact.html
1) THIS WEEK...Wednesday, November 12, 1997, 10-11 a.m., PST
Pathfinder Mission Manager Richard Cook will discuss
the Pathfinder team's strategy for sending commands to
the lander periodically, highlights of the mission,
and what team members are up to now.
2) NEXT WEEK...Tuesday, November 18, 1997, 10:30-11:30 a.m., PST
David Mittman has worn three hats during the Pathfinder mission:
flight engineer, mission planner and flight controller. David
will bring us up to date on the operations of the lander and rover,
what the commands to Pathfinder consist of (specific tasks such
as "Call Home!"), and the Deep Space Network's role now that
Pathfinder isn't communicating.
* Be sure to read Richard's and David's biographies and
journals BEFORE the chat so that intelligent questions
can be asked!
Cook's bio: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/team/cook.html
Mittman's bio: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/team/mittman.html
* To participate in the Live From Mars chats it is necessary
to register in advance. All you need to do is RSVP no less
than 24 hours in advance in order to reserve a space for
yourself. (See above URL for link to register)
Additionally, chat with project staff and other educators
on November 13th, 3:00pm Pacific/6:00pm Eastern. (No
registration required.. just meet in the chat room!)
III. ALERT>>>>> PARTICIPATE IN PHASE II OF WEATHER WATCHERS
If you haven't already viewed the online plans submitted
by participating Phase I classes, see:
http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/events/wwplans/index.html
Any class may sign up to contribute one or more sets of
weather data on a daily basis for one or other (or both,
if they have time!) of the two weeks between 11/10 and
11/21, whether they participated in Phase 1 or not. They can
build their own WEATHER WORLDS (using the consensus plan
developed during Phase 1), or they can use whatever other
data sets they can access (local weathercasts or news reports),
but they are responsible for doing so on a daily basis and
assuring its accuracy.
* Weeks of November 10 and 17: Classes will collect data.
The procedures to be followed and the URL for the form to
post your data will be sent to the list tonight.
For more information, contact Eileen Bendixsen or
Susan Hurstcalderone, moderators of Weather Watchers.
Eileen= ebend@netlabs.net
Susan= calderone@sysnet.net
IV. REMINDER>>>>>>NEW CHALLENGE QUESTION
CQ#4: Looking around the Pathfinder landing site and comparing what
you see to the scene around the Viking 1 lander, you should be
able to figure out why temperatures from Pathfinder are higher
than from Viking, at much the same season and from a location
near by.
Hint #1: It's not the difference in altitude.
Hint #2: Researchers don't think they're seeing global temperature
differences.
Hint #3: What do you do when you're going to be out in the summer
sun for a long time?
The answer is posted each week in the updates-lfm newsletter!
V. THANKS>>>>>ACTIVE DISCUSS-ERS
Thanks to Marilyn, Pat H., Stephanie, Bob A, Geoff H., and David
G. for online sharing this past week. Suggested topic for
discussion this week: How are you preparing your students
for Thursday's live telecast, "Today on Mars"? Share your
strategies by sending to: discuss-lfm@quest.arc.nasa.gov
Jan Wee, discuss-lfm moderator