JOHNSON SPACE CENTER AND JASON PROJECT HELP STUDENTS EXPLORE LIFE ON EARTH AND IN SPACE



February 23, 2000



Ann Hutchison
Johnson Space Center, Houston
(Phone: 281-483-5111)

<h4>Release: J00-12</h4> <h3>Johnson Space Center and Jason Project 
Help Students Explore Life on Earth and in Space</h3> 

Dr. Robert Ballard, discoverer of the RMS Titanic, along with former 
astronaut Dr. Kathy Sullivan, will take students throughout the 
country on a virtual tour exploring the realms of inner and outer 
space.



The Johnson Space Center will co-host a series of live interactive 
broadcasts during this year&rsquo;s JASON XI Project, "Going to 
Extremes.&rdquo; The project will explore two platforms, one in space 
and one under water, that enable humans to go beyond their physical 
limitations to explore the unknown and ask the question 
&ldquo;why?.&rdquo;



JSC&rsquo;s unique Mockup and Integration Facility and its Neutral 
Buoyancy Laboratory, where astronauts train for space flight, will be 
the sites of the NASA broadcasts beginning February 28. The 
broadcasts will continue weekdays through March 10 at 9 a.m., 10:30 
a.m., noon, 1:30 p.m. and 3 p.m. in JSC&rsquo;s Teague Auditorium.



The JASON Project is a year-round scientific expedition founded by 
Ballard in 1989 designed to excite and engage students in grades 4 
through 9 in science and technology. The project also provides 
professional development to teachers.



During the expedition, participants will take a &ldquo;tour&rdquo; of 
the International Space Station to learn how astronauts will live 
while carrying out critical research. Host researchers at JSC include 
Astronaut Bill Shepherd, commander of the first crew scheduled to 
live aboard the new International Space Station. The host researchers 
demonstrate hardware, operate systems in mockups-trainers, and 
deliver some of the instructional content. -MORE- -2-



Live broadcasts also will originate from the National Oceanographic 
and Atmospheric Administration&rsquo;s Aquarius underwater laboratory 
in the Florida Keys &ndash; the world&rsquo;s only underwater ocean 
laboratory. Participants will examine our marine ecosystem by 
interacting with aquanauts living underwater in Aquarius for a week 
or more as they study seafloor specimens and evaluate coral reef 
life.



Students will learn about the design, engineering and maintenance of 
the ISS and Aquarius, the intensive training involved in preparing 
researchers for the extreme environments of space and sea, and the 
research conducted from these platforms. They also will learn how 
people survive in these extreme environments, explore the limitations 
of physiology and how new technology allows us to overcome our 
limitations in these harsh environments.



During the two-week program, which will include 55 hours of live, 
interactive broadcasts from the expedition sites, more than 4,000 
teachers and students will take field trips to JSC for the JASON XI 
broadcasts. Students and teachers spend countless hours both in and 
out of the classroom preparing for the telepresence experience.



JSC&rsquo;s Education and Community Support Branch provided 
comprehensive professional development workshops for nearly 350 
teachers from November 1999 through January 2000. During training, 
NASA provided JASON XI curriculum materials at no cost to the 
teachers to ensure that their students understand the scientific 
principles they will encounter during the live television programs. 
The teachers participated in hands-on, curriculum-based classroom 
activities led by Angelo Casaburri, an aerospace education 
specialist, and Delicia Slaughter, JSC&rsquo;s education outreach 
program coordinator. Each year, a few students and teachers are 
selected to accompany Ballard on the JASON Project expedition as 
Argonauts. These special ambassadors help the scientist on site with 
research and explain the activities to the telepresence audience. 
They also interact with the host researchers during their activities.



JSC&rsquo;s student Argonaut this year is Brian Stratton, a freshman 
at Ball High School in Galveston. He was one of only 20 students 
selected from across the country to participate in JASON XI as an 
argonaut. Stratton has always had an interest in science. &ldquo;I 
like that I get to go somewhere else, have fun and learn new 
things,&rdquo; he added.



Program co-host Sullivan currently serves as the director of the 
Center of Science and Industry, Columbus, Ohio.



More information about the JASON XI Project can be found at the 
following URL: www.jasonproject.org

	
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