NASA Offers Schools And Education Groups Chance To Talk To Space

HOUSTON -- NASA is offering opportunities for schools and educational
groups to speak with astronauts aboard the International Space
Station to learn about the challenges and rewards of their work.
Members of Expedition 29 and 30, the 29th and 30th crews to live on
the station, will be available for question-and-answer sessions from
September through March 2012.

NASA astronauts Mike Fossum of McAllen, Texas, Dan Burbank of
Yarmouthport, Mass., and Don Pettit of Silverton, Ore, will
participate in the 20-minute question-and-answer sessions, known as
in-flight downlinks.

"These discussions are unique opportunities for students to learn
first-hand from astronauts aboard the station what it is like to live
and work in space," said Cindy McArthur, Teaching From Space (TFS)
project manager at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. "It is
inspiring to see science come alive for the students."

The downlinks are modified videoconferences where participants see and
hear crew live from space, but the crew only has audio connectivity.
U.S. educational organizations such as museums, science centers,
local school districts, national and regional education organizations
and local, state and federal government agencies are eligible to
participate. NASA provides this opportunity through TFS at no cost to
the host organization and will work with the host institution to plan the downlink.

Interested parties should contact TFS at
JSC-Teaching-From-Space@mail.nasa.gov for information about technical
requirements, expectations, content, format, and audience, and
proposal guidelines and forms. Proposals must be submitted
electronically and are due April 29.

The downlinks are broadcast live on NASA Television and streamed on
the agency's website. Due to the nature of human spaceflight,
organizations must demonstrate the flexibility to accommodate changes
in downlink dates and times. Participating organizations also must
have two dedicated phone lines and the capability to receive NASA TV
via NASA's Live Interactive Media Outlet Channel to view and
communicate with the crew. The channel is a digital satellite C-band
downlink by uplink provider Americom. It is on satellite AMC 6,
transponder 5C, located at 72 degrees west, downlink frequency 3785.5
Mhz based on a standard C-band 5150 Mhz L.O., vertical polarity, FEO
is 3/4, data rate is 6.00 Mhz, symbol rate is 4.3404 Mbaud,
transmission DVB, minimum Eb/N0 is 6.0 dB.

For NASA TV streaming video, downlink and schedule information, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

For more information about Teaching From Space, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/teachingfromspace/home/index.html

For more information about the International Space Station and the
Expedition 29 and 30 crews, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/station

Source: NASA

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