Astronauts and Scientists Answer Questions About Living and Working on the Red Planet

In celebration of Space Day 2002 …
Adventure to Mars! the Cyber Space Day Webcast will bring the exciting
prospect of living and working on Mars to students, teachers and space
enthusiasts around the world.
Live on May 2, 2002 from the Smithsonian’s
National Air and Space Museum, the two-hour Webcast will offer viewers the
chance to learn from some of the foremost space experts about Mars and the
latest discoveries.

Broadcast over the Internet and via satellite from noon to 2:00 p.m. EDT,
the Webcast will offer students the chance to interact live with a wide range
of Mars experts, scientists and astronauts, some of whom are currently working
on the Mars Odyssey and other robotic missions to Mars.
Guests include space
legends Sen. John Glenn and Dr. Sally Ride; Orlando Figueroa, Director of
NASA’s Mars Exploration Program; Dr. Matthew Golombek, Chief Scientist for the
Mars Pathfinder Mission; Dr. Kathryn Clark, NASA’s Senior Scientist for Human
Exploration and Development of Space; Dr. Cathy Weitz, Program Scientist for
the Mars Exploration Rover (MER); Dr. James Garvin, Lead Scientist for Mars
Exploration Program; and Dr. Thomas Watters, Senior Scientist, Center for
Earth and Planetary Studies at NASM.
Sponsored by NASA’s Office of Space
Flight and Lockheed Martin, the Webcast will also feature students who
developed “Stellar” solutions to the Design Challenges of living and working
on Mars.

The first hour of Cyber Space Day will be hosted by Robert Krulwich, ABC
News Special Correspondent and 13-year old Bianca Baker, host of NASA’s Why?
Files.
The second hour will be hosted by Joie Chen, CBS News Correspondent
and Dara Jordan, a 10th grader from Benjamin Banneker Academic High School in
Washington, D.C.

With input from teachers nationwide, the Webcast is intended to serve as
an informative and entertaining classroom learning tool.
Webcast viewers can
ask questions of the guests via email and share their opinions and ideas with
fellow viewers through live polls and space quizzes.
Students can also post
questions in advance on the Space Day Discussion Boards at
http://www.epals.com/forum/spaceday2002/forum.e and log on to the Webcast to
hear the answers in real time.

Divided into 15-minute segments, the Webcast will cover a variety of
topics such as: the latest Mars findings, upcoming missions to Mars and the
challenges that face the next generation of space explorers.
The segments
will include:

    Hour 1
    12:00 - 12:15 - Introducing a Place Called Mars

    12:15 - 12:30 - Mars Explorers and Discoveries

    12:30 - 12:45 - Mars Features (Design Challenge - Mission: Explore)

    12:45 - 1:00  - Preparing For Mars

    Hour 2
    1:00 - 1:15   - Human Missions - Paving The Way

    1:15 - 1:30   - Getting to and Reporting From Mars
                    (Design Challenge - Space Day Star)

    1:30 - 1:45   - Life on Mars - Past, Present and Future

    1:45 - 2:00   - On Mars and Beyond
                    (Design Challenge - Inventors Wanted)

The 2nd Annual Space Day Student Survey results will be announced on the
Webcast.
The survey, conducted in partnership with USA TODAY Education, asks
students’ opinions about various aspects of living and working on Mars.
The
survey can be viewed at: http://www.usatoday.com/educate/home.htm .

For more information, please visit http://www.spaceday.com or email
info@spaceday.com .
The Webcast will be available at
http://www.spaceday.com/en/teachers/cyberday.php and via satellite on Space
Day 2002, May 2 from Noon _ 2 p.m. EDT.
The Webcast can be viewed using
either Windows Media Player or Real Player.
These applications can be
downloaded free of charge at
http://www.spaceday.com/en/teachers/cyberday.php . The satellite coordinates
for Cyber Space Day are:

  • KU-Band
  • SBS 6/Transponder 3
  • Downlink Frequency: 11774 MHz, Horizontal
  • C Band
  • Telstar C5/Transponder 6
  • Downlink Frequency: 3820 MHz, Horizontal

Satellite test time will be from 11:00 a.m. – Noon EDT, May 2