PART 1: Weekly WebChats
PART 2: Teacher's Guide status
PART 3: Preview of the collaborative activity
PART 4: Discussion group for teacher
PART 5: Spacecraft updates

A new opportunity is now available to connect live with other
teachers and the LFM development team.  Every Thursday,
we will meet virtually online to discuss issues and learn from one
another. Hopefully your questions about the LFM project will get
answered.  I know the LFM team will come with our listening-ears
on, ready to adapt the project to meet real teacher requirements.

We will hold the discussion on the Web using a technology called
WebChat.  To use it, you only need a Web browser like Netscape or
Microsoft's Internet Explorer.  These teacher chats will be similar to
the student/NASA-expert forums which will be held beginning in
October.  So these chats will allow you to get comfortable with the
technology ahead of time.

On Thursdays, we will alternate the starting time of the one hour
discussion.  We hope this will allow for participation from teachers
on the east coast, west coast, and everywhere in between and
beyond.
The schedule for the next few weeks is:
                     Pacific       Eastern
September 12          3:00pm        6:00pm
September 19            noon        3:00pm
September 26          3:00pm        6:00pm
October    3            noon        3:00pm

To join the fun, point your web browser to:

We know that everybody is quite anxious for the Teacher's Guide. The
entire Passport To Knowledge team is hard at work, madly jamming
to finish the document.  We expect that we'll be done in about two
weeks, and expect to start shipping hardcopy versions by the end of
September.  The free, online version should be available shortly
thereafter, around October 10.

Within a week, the table of contents should be finalized and we'll
distribute that online (via this list and the Web) so you can learn
what lessons will be included.

If you plan to order the hardcopy, please consider sending in your
order as soon as possible. There are TWO ordering options for the
Live From Mars teacher materials. Please read over the options
carefully and fill out the form below.  Be sure your check, money
order, or purchase order is made out to Passport to Knowledge and
sent to:

   Passport to Knowledge
   P.O. Box 1587
   Morristown, NJ 07962-1587

OPTION ONE:   Live From Mars Teacher's Guide  with suggested hands-on
activities and lessons, opening and closing activities. and
orientation and background information including how to use online
resources.       $10.00 (US)  $15.00 (Canada)

OPTION TWO:  Live From Mars Multi-media KIT:   Includes Teacher's
Guide (described above), Teacher Orientation Videotape, original
color poster, slide set, sample online materials, and Mars CD-ROM
(IBM/Mac) and other instructional materials fully-underwritten by
NASA's Mars Exploration Directorate -- and more!
$99.00 (US)   $112.00 (Canada)

Price includes shipping and handling.  Canadian orders -- please
make your payment payable in US DOLLARS!

Pricing for locales other than US and Canada, please contact Jan
Wee  or call 608-786-2767
(8am-4pm Central time).
Volume pricing information also available.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
    Live From Mars Teacher Materials Order Form

    Name:
    Position/Title:
    Grade Level:
    Number of students materials will impact:

    School/Museum/Science Center, etc:
    Mailing Address (Street,City, State, Zip, Country):

          $99.00 each (US), $112.00 (Canada)

Here is a preview of upcoming Live From Mars activities involving
students collaborating with one another. The full details will be
available within the next few weeks.

The activity involves having students simulate the activities of the
Pathfinder team.  Roughly sketched out:
 - in October, students brainstorm in their classrooms what
   common/inexpensive tools they would place in a shoebox to
   measure their local environment
 - Nov 1 - Nov 15 they share their ideas online
 - Nov 15 until Christmas break, the students will debate online the
   relative merits of various tools to include.  At the conclusion, we
   reach consensus on a uniform instrument package.
 - During the break, Santa Claus (or Hanukah Harry, etc) delivers the
   goods to classrooms; resourceful teachers may have to step in also.
 - January is spent measuring local environments with the agreed
   upon tools
- February we share the collective data online; a few select locations
   are designated Mystery Spots.  A contest is held to determine the
   location of these Mystery Spots.

So that is the basic plan.  More details will be forthcoming shortly.

DISCUSSION GROUP FOR TEACHERS

A new mail list called discuss-lfm is now available.  The list will
provide a forum for teachers to discuss a wide variety
of issues, concerns, teaching strategies, useful resources, project
collaboration opportunities, and suggestions for the LFM project.

The goals are similar to the weekly WebChats (described above),
but the Email format will allow for more thoughtful discussion.
Whereas WebChat demands an immediate response limited to a few
sentences, discuss-lfm is not so constrained.

The messages from discuss-lfm can be sent directly to your mail box.
This is the most common way to participate in the discussion. For
this option, every time a colleague shares a message, you'll receive
it in your mailbox.
To join the list this way, send an email message to:
   
In the message body, write only these words:
   subscribe discuss-lfm

For those feeling like they already receive too much email, a digest
of the discuss-lfm list is available.  For this option, all the
messages from a day are compiled into one bigger message which is
forwarded to your email account.  In this way, you'll receive all of
the information, but the traffic will come only once per day.
To join the list this way, send an email message to:
   

The messages from discuss-lfm can be sent directly to your mail box.
This is the most common way to participate in the discussion. For
this option, every time a colleague shares a message, you'll receive
it in your mailbox.
To join the list this way, send an email message to:
   
In the message body, write only these words:
   subscribe discuss-lfm

For those feeling like they already receive too much email, a digest
of the discuss-lfm list is available.  For this option, all the
messages from a day are compiled into one bigger message which is
forwarded to your email account.  In this way, you'll receive all of
the information, but the traffic will come only once per day.
To join the list this way, send an email message to:
   
In the message body, write only these words:
   subscribe discuss-digest-lfm

And for those that really don't want any more email, you may keep up
with this list via the Web.  Look under the Teacher's Lounge at:

Spacecraft updates

[Editor's note: in the future we intend to fill this space with personal
journals of the men and women taking part in Mars exploration.  For now,
this is all we have, so we're sharing it]

Mars Pathfinder arrived safely at the Spacecraft Assembly and
Encapsulation Facility (SAEF-2) at 3 p.m. August 13, having traveled
across the United States in a special van. Three of the four separate
components have arrived at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC): the
cruise stage, the aeroshell and the lander. The fourth element, the
Rover Sojourner, was air shipped from Los Angeles to Orlando on
Friday, August, 23. It arrived at the Cape later that day and was
safely placed in the airlock at SAEF-2.

The "Sojourner" rover successfully completed its first series of
tests after arrival at the Cape. These tests consisted of extensive
health checks (i.e., all actuators and sensors tested), a functional
test with the rover's science instrument (the APXS - alpha, proton,
and x-ray spectrometer) and a communication test with an initial
configuration of the Mars Pathfinder lander. Once these tests were
completed, the rover was stowed on the lander's rover petal along
with the exit ramps. All components were tied down in preparation
for petal attachment to the lander and petal closing later in August.
Additional communication checks are planned with the lander
prior to petal closing as the lander completes its reassembly.

The integration of the four Mars Pathfinder elements began with
the installation of the rover on one of the four petals of the lander.
After the petals are closed, the aeroshell which surrounds and
protects the lander will be installed and the parachutes will be
attached.

The assembled entry vehicle will then be mated to the cruise stage
that will carry the spacecraft on its interplanetary voyage. Finally,
before going to Launch Pad 17b, the completed Mars Pathfinder will
be mated to the upper stage booster. McDonnell Douglas Delta II. This
entire process will go quickly in preparation for the early December
launch, scheduled for a mere 81 days from today!

***

Mars Global Surveyor Status: MGS Arrives at the Cape!

On August 13th, the spacecraft arrived at the Cape in the C-17. The
spacecraft manager George Pace reported:

"The C-17 landed at the skid strip at 3:25 AM EDT. The trucks were
loaded and the convoy was underway by 5:45 AM to beat the morning
travel curfew of 6:00 AM. The convoy arrived at PHSF (Payload
Hazardous Servicing Facility ) at 6:15 AM. The spacecraft shipping
container and MGSE were moved into the airlock. After stabilization
and cleaning the container was rolled into the high bay where the
spacecraft was removed and mounted on the test dolly.

To subscribe to the updates-lfm mailing list (where this message
came from), send a message to:
  
In the message body, write these words:
   subscribe updates-lfm

CONVERSELY...

To remove your name from the updates-lfm mailing list, send a message to:
   
In the message body, write these words:
   unsubscribe updates-lfm

If you have Web access, please visit our "continuous construction" site at

 This site will remain fairly sparse until
early September.