LIVE FROM MARS tracks NASA's two current missions to the red planet using video, the Internet, and hands-on activities to allow students to simulate the work of the mission team and bring Mars down to Earth!

"Countdown" takes students to Cape Canaveral - into a high-security clean room for the final pre-launch preparations for Mars Pathfinder, and onto the pad to witness the launch of Mars Global Surveyor. "Cruising Between the Planets" updates the missions and visits NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, home to America's robotic solar system exploration program. Students go behind the scenes during rehearsals for Pathfinder's July 4, 1997, landing, and explore the geology of Mars.

Special programs during "Mars Week" (July 4-12) and fall 1997 continued the project through the landing and into the new school year. An online collaborative project, the "Planet Explorer Toolkit," provides "Mystery Site" challenges which invite students to analyze climate and other data from around the world and to solve science puzzles.

System Requirements VIDEO: TV or VCR (PBS and NASA-TV) ONLINE: Internet access (viable via slow- or high-speed connection), e-mail or WWW PRINT: Teacher's Guide, student worksheets, poster, and NASA background: $20.00 KIT: includes Guide, a 60-minute teacher orientation video (including "Mars the Movie," Martian meteorite news release, computer graphics of both missions, and more), an original 20-slide set, a CD-ROM ("Mars Navigator"), the "Mars Explorer" map/poster, and more: $99.00 Access http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/ Additional Information e-mail: ghaines@quest.arc.nasa.gov or ptkghs@aol.com

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LIVE FROM MARS is supported by NASA, NSF, public television, and other public and private collaborators.