NASA will host the first in a series of six educational
webcasts with the NASA Earth Crew on Tuesday, October 7 at 10
a.m. EDT.
The Earth Crew is comprised of nearly 40,000 students,
families and educators across America. The Earth Crew is an
initiative of NASA’s Educator Astronaut Program. Members
receive updates about new projects, participate in
exploration-related activities and webcasts, and have the
opportunity to provide suggestions to NASA that may help in
planning future missions.
The kick-off program, led by NASA Administrator Sean O’Keefe,
with a student audience at NASA Headquarters, will be carried
live on NASA TV and the Internet. The initial webcast is
during World Space Week 2003, an array of events coordinated
by the United Nations and celebrated by more than 50 nations.
NASA TV is available at AMC-9, transponder 9C, C-Band, located
at 85 degrees west longitude. The frequency is 3880.0 MHz.
Polarization is vertical and audio is monaural at 6.8 MHz. To
view the webcast on the Internet, visit:
14-year-old student Bianca Baker will host the first program.
She is an Earth Crew member and a Tree House detective on NASA
SciFiles, an instructional TV series for elementary school
students. Administrator O’Keefe and NASA’s Associate
Administrator for Education Dr. Adena Williams Loston will
answer questions submitted in advance by Earth Crew teams
through NASA’s EdSpace Web site.
The theme for the webcast series is “Explorers and
Exploration.” Each installment focuses on one of NASA’s six
Enterprises: Aerospace Technology, Biological and Physical
Research, Earth Science, Education, Space Flight, and Space
Science. The webcasts will take place every two months.
“It is important that NASA reach out to young people and
instill in them an excitement about the missions and
discoveries that are at the core of what the agency does,”
Administrator O’Keefe said. “The Earth Crew webcast series is
a powerful means for us to demonstrate to a wide audience of
students our own enthusiasm for what we do and to encourage
them to share in it with us,” he said.
“One of the most critical goals of NASA’s Education Enterprise
is to inspire and motivate students to pursue careers in
science, technology, engineering, and mathematics,” Loston
said. “The Earth Crew initiative gives these students the
opportunity to foster an interest in all areas of NASA’s
research, through educational webcasts, web-based mission
assignments and other activities that engage them and their
parents,” she said.
The webcast will be replayed during the NASA TV Education
File. The times (all EDT) for the replays are: 2-3 p.m., 5-6
p.m., 8-9 p.m., and 11-12 p.m. on October 7; and 2-3 a.m. on
October 8.
The next webcast in the series, scheduled to air in early
December, will focus on NASA’s Earth Science Enterprise and
will feature Associate Administrator Ghassem R. Asrar.
For information about NASA Education Programs on the Internet,
visit:
For information about International Space Week on the
Internet, visit:
For information about NASA on the Internet, visit:
