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:
http://edspace.nasa.gov
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:
http://education.nasa.gov
For information about International Space Week on the Internet, visit:
http://www.spaceweek.org/