LIVE FROM THE AURORA for 2003

Dear UPDATES-LFRF Members:

Next year we will be partnering with NASA’s Sun-Earth Connection to produce
two spectacular new science specials. The specials debut on Tuesday
February 11 and Tuesday March 18, 2003 at 13:00-14:00 Eastern on
participating PBS stations and NASA Television-free for all educational
networks, non-commercial cable systems, schools, and science centers and
planetariums, and supported by teacher-tested hands-on activities and web
resources connecting real world science to the National Science Education
Standards.

The following announcement provides more information.

Eileen Bendixsen

Online Moderator

PASSPORT TO KNOWLEDGE

http://passporttoknowledge.com

***

PASSPORT TO KNOWLEDGE and NASA’S SUN EARTH CONNECTION EDUCATION FORUM

Present

AURORAS-LIVING WITH A STAR

and

LIVE FROM THE AURORA

(part of NASA’s Sun-Earth Days, 2003)

Explore and explain…

* Electricity and magnetism

* Atoms and particles

* Optics and the electromagnetic spectrum

* The structure and dynamics of Earth’s atmosphere

* Sunspots and solar cycles…

Excite students with…

* Spectacular images and remote locations

* Real time interaction with leading researchers

* Animations of key science concepts

* Background on high tech careers

* Real life adventures in cutting edge science…

Most of us take the Sun for granted, and-apart from the seasons-don’t
really appreciate its impact on every aspect of our lives. Auroras,
however, are the most outward, visible, dramatic and downright beautiful
sign of our deep connections to the local star. Their shimmering colors
reveal the otherwise invisible layers of the atmosphere. They demonstrate
the importance of Earth’s magnetosphere to life on our planet, an
all-important protection against the vast energies of the Universe around us.

* Witness the world’s most beautiful auroras, seen from the ground, and
captured by NASA spacecraft such as IMAGE and POLAR, as well as dramatic
views from the Space Shuttle

* See dynamic animations demonstrating Sun-Earth connections, showing how explosions on the Sun energize Earth’s radiation belts, and generate the
northern and southern auroras

* Meet the engaging men and women who study the aurora with increasingly sophisticated instruments, including satellites, sounding rockets, and radars

* Find out about “space weather” and explore its increasing importance to
21st century society

* Understand how and why Sun-Earth Connections like those seen in the
aurora can impact life on our planet by disrupting satellite
communications, generating power surges and blackouts, endangering human
spaceflight and even air travel, and ultimately affecting global climate.

AURORAS-LIVING WITH A STAR

Tuesday February 11, 2003, 13:00-14:00 Eastern

Provides a state-of-the-art documentary portrait of contemporary aurora
science, Earth-Sun connections, and offers teachers classroom-ready
background to provide students with information and researcher profiles to
engage and excite them in preparation for the upcoming live broadcast.
Segments will also be accessible online as streaming video in 4-5 minute
units, correlated with the NAS/NRC National Science Education Standards and
AAAS’s “Benchmarks.”

Locations (tentative listing): Earth’s magnetic North Pole-Ellef Ringnes
Island, Canada; Poker Flat rocket range, Alaska; Sondrestrom, Greenland;
Antarctica; NASA Goddard; NASA Marshall; aurora-viewing sites such as
Native American sites where myths, such as those of the Menominee,
originate; an airliner cockpit, flying the Polar route, Stanford Solar
Center, and many more!

LIVE FROM THE AURORA

Tuesday March 18, 2003, 13:00-14:00 Eastern

Student viewers interact in real-time with researchers at live uplink sites
such as NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and at high latitudes in Alaska,
where auroras are frequent and intense. The diverse cadre of on-camera
researchers will post BIOgraphies and Field Journals online allowing
students to go behind the scenes in ways no textbook can.

Through the website, students will be able to “Ask an Auroral Scientist”
any time from January 2003 through May 2003, the end of the school year.
The website will also house PDF files with teacher-tested, inquiry-based
hands-on activities.

The DISCUSS-SUN and UPDATES-SUN lists will support this exciting project.
If you are not subscribed to the DISCUSS-SUN or UPDATES-SUN lists you can
subscribe at:

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