Starting with the next Shuttle launch, the Kennedy Space Center Web site
will officially expand its launch coverage to include downloadable video
of launch-related activities, allowing Web site visitors to view clips
from NASA TV as well as some KSC Web-exclusive videos.

Site managers experimented with the process during the launch of STS-100,
available at
http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/shuttle/countdown/sts100/milestonest.html. Now that the video procedure has been tested and refined, it is being
included as a permanent part of KSC’s online launch coverage.

Using downloadable video clips rather than streaming video allows KSC Web
developers to archive the clips, so that future visitors to the Web site
can explore past footage. The videos will be available in RealMedia format
in three sizes for 28.8K modems, 56K modems, and Cable/broadband visitors.

Video coverage will begin with the closure of the Shuttle’s payload bay
doors, typically a few days before launch. On launch day, crew activities
covered will include breakfast, suit-up, departure for the launch pad,
entry into the Orbiter, and closure of the hatch. Coverage will continue
through the final moments of the countdown, culminating with the launch of
the Shuttle and the separation of the solid rocket boosters about two
minutes into the flight.

Most of the video provided on the KSC Web site is taken directly from NASA
TV. However, the KSC video team may also cover events at the VIP viewing
areas and inside the Launch

Control Center, which NASA TV does not typically cover. Animations and
other footage will be included when they are available.

“We’re very pleased that we have the ability to make these videos
available to those who follow our online coverage,” said KSC Internet
Services Manager Dennis Armstrong. “We serve a global audience, and we’re
continuing to enhance the site for those who depend on it as their source
for timely launch information.”

KSC maintains the Shuttle Countdown Online, available at
http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/shuttle/countdown/. Shuttle Countdown
Online provides information about the current Shuttle mission as well as
links to photos and videos, technical information, launch guest briefings,
and mission posters. A real-time countdown clock is activated at T-43
hours prior to scheduled launch time, and round-the-clock coverage begins
at T-6 hours and counting, about eight to nine hours before launch.