Travel to MARS

["Jennifer Sellers, NASA K-12 Internet Initiative"]

NOW *YOU* CAN TRAVEL TO MARS!

In November and December 1996, NASA will launch two missions to Mars. Via
the Internet and interactive video, students across America and around
the world will have a unique opportunity to travel along with the robot
spacecraft!

LIVE FROM MARS is the latest in the ongoing series of "electronic field
trips" offered by PASSPORT TO KNOWLEDGE, the innovative distance learning
project which created LIVE FROM ANTARCTICA and most recently LIVE FROM
THE HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE. Together with NASA JPL's Mars Exploration
Directorate, and with additional support from NSF and public television,
LIVE FROM MARS will include: 4 live, interactive video programs
accessible via PBS stations and NASA-TV; extensive online materials
ranging from simple e-mail up to a graphics-rich Web site and
opportunities for online collaborations; and a printed Teacher's Guide,
poster, and other materials.

The Pathfinder mission is slated to land on Mars on July 4 1997. LIVE
FROM MARS provides an opportunity to celebrate and understand humanity's
exploration of our solar system as never before.

THE JULY 1996 TEACHER WORKSHOP AND "VIRTUAL WORKSHOP"

NASA, PASSPORT TO KNOWLEDGE and THE PLANETARY SOCIETY (the
world's largest non-governmental space interest group) are collaborating
on a teacher training workshop in Washington D.C. July 18, 19 and 20 --
timed to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the successful Viking
landings on Mars.

On July 20, PTK and NASA's K-12 Internet Initiative are taking the
workshop beyond the bounds of Washington, D.C., via the Internet and
NASA-TV. Using space-age technology, we are abolishing the
accidents of time and geography. The "Virtual Teacher's Workshop"
will allow remote participants to see and hear Mars mission
planners, educators who have been developing hands-on lesson plans,
and members of the PASSPORT TO KNOWLEDGE project who will
explain how live video and the Internet can bring Mars to your school or
home!  Throughout the day, there will be opportunities not only to
listen, but to interact via e-mail, CU-SeeMe, and WebChat.

This is the first-ever "virtual" teacher training workshop supported by
NASA. Be part of exploring the possibilities of cyberspace as we travel to
Mars. Who knows, the first humans to set foot on the Red Planet may be in
your classroom or nursery, right now, just waiting to receive the seeds of
discovery you'll see and hear on July 20!

Join us in cyberspace at <http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/marsconf/index.html>
and prepare for *your* upcoming journeys to Mars!