JASON IX PROJECT LIVE BROADCASTS UNDERWAY AT JSC



March 19, 1998



Ed Campion
Johnson Space Center, Houston
Phone: 281/483-5111

<h4>Release: J98-7</h4> <h3>Jason IX Project Live Broadcasts Underway 
at JSC</h3> 

JSC civil service and contractor employees are nearing the halfway 
point of the JASON IX Project, a program allowing thousands of area 
students and teachers to participate in live telepresence broadcasts 
with research sites in Monterey Bay and Bermuda.



NASA&rsquo;s Johnson Space Center is serving as a primary interactive 
network (PIN) site for the telecasts which began earlier this week 
and will continue weekdays at 9 a.m., 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. 
through March 27 in JSC&rsquo;s Teague Auditorium.



The JASON Project is a year-round scientific expedition designed to 
excite and engage students in science and technology. It was founded 
in 1989 by Dr. Robert Ballard, after his discovery of the R.M.S. 
Titanic. This year's JASON IX Project titled "Oceans of Earth and 
Beyond" is designed to study the structure of shallow, mid-water and 
deep ocean environments and the life they support.



Students will explore a variety of marine communities and related 
phenomena such as coral reefs, kelp forests, hydrothermal vents, cold 
seeps, marine snow and exotic deep sea creatures. Students also will 
find out how recent discoveries in space are providing new clues to 
the origin of the earth's oceans and will explore the latest evidence 
of oceans beyond Earth, on Jupiter's moon, Europa.



During the two week program, over 2000 teachers and students will take 
field trips to JSC for the JASON IX broadcasts. Students and teachers 
spend countless hours both in and out of the classroom preparing for 
the telepresence experience.



JSC's Education and Information Services Branch provided comprehensive 
professional development workshops for 130 teachers in December 1997, 
where they received free JASON IX curriculum to ensure that their 
students understand the scientific principles they'll encounter 
during the live television program. The teachers participated in 
hands-on classroom activities from the curriculum led by Gordon 
Eskridge, an aerospace education specialist from Oklahoma State 
University.



As an additional professional development opportunity, JSC invited 
experts from Armand Bayou Nature Center, Texas Parks and Wildlife 
Department, Texas State Aquarium, Sea Center Texas and Sea Camp at 
Texas A&amp;M University at Galveston to give presentations to help 
teachers implement the many JASON IX curriculum investigations.



Each year, a number of students and teachers are selected to accompany 
Dr. Ballard on the JASON Project expedition as argonauts. These 
special ambassadors help the scientist on site with their research 
and explain the activities to the telepresence audience.



This is the first time JSC has a student argonaut since the outreach 
program began participating as a PIN site in 1993. Nicholas Cenegy, 
an eighth grader at McCullough Junior High School in the Conroe 
Independent School District, was selected based on his interest and 
ability in science and technology and good leadership skills. 
"Science is my absolute favorite subject in school," wrote Nicholas 
in his argonaut application. "It's so stimulating and fascinating, 
and it is involved in our everyday life."

	
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