April 12, 1996

Billie Deason 483-8646

Bob Fitzmaurice 483-1257

Release: 96-012

NOTE TO EDITORS:

Students to Participate in Jason Project Sessions at Johnson Space Center

With the help of the world's first underwater World Wide Web site and leading-edge "video-streaming" technology that sends live video images over the Internet, students and teachers will be tracking sharks as seen through the eyes of a robotic vehicle roaming the ocean floor off the Florida Keys, following the observations of a diver examining aquatic life in the Florida Everglades, and traveling with a U.S. Navy nuclear-powered submarine as it maps never-before explored areas of Florida coastal waters.

The JASON Project underwater expedition takes place from April 15-26, 1996, in the Florida Keys. Students across the United States and in Europe will join potentially millions of other students on the Internet to search for sharks, shipwrecks, star coral and rare aquatic life in the shallow Florida waters. A digital camera connected to the underwater Web site will give the students a virtual porthole beneath the sea.

At JSC's Teague Auditorium, students from the Grisham Middle School of Austin, Texas, will remotely control the robotic vehicle1s camera on Thursday, April 18, from 3 to 4 p.m. CDT. Students from the Seabrook Intermediate School will point the robotic camera on Tuesday, April 23, from 12 to 1 p.m. CDT. Other student and teacher groups will participate in the live, interactive televised exploration in one-hour sessions scheduled over the two-week period.

Beta-SP format "b-roll" videotapes are available for television reporters at the JSC Newsroom, 483-5111.

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