Blast Off for Interactive Space and Sea Expedition With the JASON Project … And Never Leave Your Desk

Live Internet Activities With Explorer Robert Ballard Expedition Web Casts, Underwater Chats, Explorer Games, Space Station Simulations

Students, teachers and
Internet users everywhere can blast off to galaxies far, far away and explore
the ocean floor during the latest expedition of the world-renowned learning
program the JASON Project.

JASON makes it possible for web users to tour the world’s only underwater
laboratory, which sits on the floor of the Atlantic Ocean, and build their own
virtual space stations.
And anyone can do it right from their computers at
www.jasonproject.org, Feb. 28 – March 10, 2000.

International explorer Dr. Robert Ballard and the JASON Project team will
go to extremes this year with an expedition to NOAA’s Aquarius Underwater
Laboratory off the coast of Key Largo, Florida, and the NASA-Johnson Space
Center in Houston, Texas.

During the two-week live JASON expedition, the following Internet
activities will be available at www.jasonproject.org:

• Web casts of JASON expeditions can be seen at www.jasonproject.org,
  daily Feb. 28 – March 10.
  The LIVE web cast will air daily 11:30
  a.m. – 12:30 p.m. EST.
  The program is also archived for on-demand
  viewing.

• Live chats will take place with researchers, including Titanic-
  discoverer and JASON Project founder Dr. Robert Ballard, as well as
  students working at the Johnson Space Center and Aquarius Underwater
  Laboratory.
• Tues. Feb 29, 7:30 p.m. EST, Chat with JASON “Argonauts” at
  NASA-JSC and Aquarius.
  The “Argonauts” are a competitively-
  selected group of students and teachers who are chosen to
  work alongside researchers at the JASON expedition sites.
• Wed. March 1, 8 p.m. EST, Chat with Dr. Robert Ballard and
  find out what it takes to be an explorer in extreme
  environments.
• Wed. March 8, 7 p.m. EST, Chat with JASON Project researchers
  Dr. Ellen Prager and Dr. Mark Patterson from the floor of the
  Atlantic Ocean in the Aquarius Habitat.

    Other activities available 24 hours a day include:
    *     Virtual rendering -- design your own space station in a Virtual
          Workplace.  The Virtual Workplace is among the first collaborative
          learning programs that encourage young students to use the Internet
          as a work area.
    *     Explorer games allow the user to assume the roles of famous
          explorers throughout history.  The games enable the JASON audience
          to learn navigational techniques and experience the same challenges
          faced by historical explorers highlighted in the curriculum.
    *     iPix allow web users to step inside the picture and take a three-
          dimensional tour of NASA's International Space Station (ISS) and the
          Johnson Space Center.
    *     Quick Time Virtual Reality (QTVR) allows participants to see 360-
          degree viewpoints of historic vessels.  Each QTVR correlates with a
          specific explorer in the explorer game.  This particular tool
          enables the JASON participants to take their educational experience
          to the next level by allowing them to see the ships that helped
          inspire today's explorers.
    *     Web cams provide a behind-the-scenes look into the Aquarius Habitat
          and the underwater environment surrounding it, as well as a peek
          into the Johnson Space Center.
    *     Streaming slide shows with audio tell select science stories,
          describe experimental procedures and explain certain argonaut
          activities.
    *     Journals written by JASON student and teacher argonauts, complete
          with captioned images, will be posted daily during the two-week
          expedition.
    *     A photo scrapbook with a captioned collection of expedition images
          will be updated daily as well.

A team of engineers from EDS E.solutions has helped develop these
innovative collaborative learning programs that enable Internet users to plug
into the wealth of interactive activities available on the JASON web site.
EDS has pioneered various technologies that allow students around the world to
experience science and technology in new ways.
Teaming with EDS in providing
services to this year’s JASON Project are Sprint, which is providing long line
service for the interactive segments of the broadcast, and Sun Microsystems,
Inc., which is supplying web servers.

The JASON Project is internationally-renowned for its ability to
incorporate cutting-edge technologies, a multi-disciplinary curriculum,
professional training for teachers and Internet communications into one
comprehensive learning program.
School-based subscriptions offering Internet
activities are available year-round in a gated community called Team JASON
Online.

The JASON Foundation for Education is supported by a unique alliance of
public, private and non-profit organizations that are committed to the
improvement of science and technological education for all students.
Besides
EDS, Sprint and Sun Microsystems, other JASON Project corporate sponsors
include Bechtel Group, Inc., ExxonMobil Corporation, Honeywell International
Inc., the National Science Center Foundation, Inc., PACTIV Corporation and
Tenneco Automotive, Inc.