Terri Hudkins

Headquarters, Washington, DC November 3, 1995

(Phone: 202/358-1977)

RELEASE: 95-200

NASA BEGINS SERIES OF LIVE EDUCATION TELECASTS

A live, pre-college educational NASA television

broadcast entitled, NASA...On the Cutting Edge, will begin
Tues., Nov. 7, featuring students using computers to
manipulate robots, examining how the Sun interacts with
Earth and our Solar System, exploring the international
Space Station, and previewing NASA's future exploration and
scientific advancements.

Now in its second season, NASA...On the Cutting Edge

is a series of three, 1-hour, live and interactive education
television programs broadcast via satellite to schools in
all 50 states, Canada, Mexico and Puerto Rico between 4-5
p.m. Eastern time. Last season, over 2,000 education
institutions participated in the series.

The videoconference series updates teachers and

students in grades 5-12 with explorations of NASA research
in science, mathematics and technology. Registered
participants can dialogue with NASA presenters on-air during
each program via phone. Post-broadcast interaction is
available through Internet conferencing on NASA Spacelink.
To register, send an e-mail to:

nasaedutv@smtpgate.osu.hq.nasa.gov

There is no charge to participate but schools must

register in advance to receive satellite coordinates,
announcements, publications and support materials and
instructions on how to obtain an Educator Account on NASA
Spacelink. To register, write NASA Teaching From Space,
Oklahoma State University, 308 CITD Room A, Stillwater, OK
74078-0422, or call 405/744-6784.

The 1995-96 schedule includes:

Robotics
Tuesday, November 7, 1995
4-5 p.m. Eastern

See how telerobotic and virtual reality systems push

the limits of space exploration and how NASA develops
specialized robots, which make astronauts time in space
safer and more effective. Preview exciting robotic spin-
offs in agriculture, health care, and futuristic amusement
parks.

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Students in Pasadena, CA, will use local controls to

operate an experimental robot in a Mars-like test field at
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and a robot in a neutral
buoyancy tank at the Maryland University, College Park, MD.
These tests will execute actual courses that will be
undertaken in future NASA Mars missions.

International Space Station

Thursday, January 25, 1996
4-5 p.m. Eastern

Find out how this multi-national effort will yield our

first permanent steps into the Cosmos and learn why planned
experiments need to be conducted in this permanent
microgravity environment.

Fire & Life -- The Sun-Earth Connection

Thursday, April 11, 1996
4-5 p.m. Eastern

This program examines how solar orbiters are answering

questions like, "What processes drive the Sun's
variability?" and, "How does the Sun interact with Earth,
the Solar System and the Interstellar Medium?"

The educational broadcast series is produced for NASA

by the Teaching From Space Program in conjunction with
Oklahoma State University's Educational Television Services
and NASA Field Centers.

NASA TV broadcasts on C-band, Spacenet 2, transponder

5, 69 degrees West longitude. NASA TV intends to simulcast
live broadcasts when they do not conflict with Shuttle
mission programming and scheduled video news feeds.
Distance-learning networks and PBS affiliates are encouraged
to simulcast the broadcasts.

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