Live Interactions

During the course of Live from the Hubble Space Telescope, various NASA experts were available for live interactions with students. These scheduled events took place in two ways: CU-SeeMe and WebChat.

Each event was scheduled for two one-hour blocks in a given day to provide schools with flexibility.

CU-SeeMe

CU-SeeMe is a technology which provides a videoconference over computer networks. Cu-SeeMe sessions were held on:

April 23, 1996
CU-SeeMe and Webchat party immediately following the April 23 broadcast: For an additional level of interactivity, participants joined together immediately following the final broadcast for an unrehearsed celebration. Heidi Hammel, Marc Buie, Space Telescope personnel and Passport to Knowledge folks were all on hand to discuss what we'd just learned.

April 11 Chris Wilkinson from the Goddard Space Flight Center;
TOPIC: the HST as a spacecraft
In addition to the two hours with Chris, the hour between Chris' participation time was provided for classroom-classroom interactons

April 17 Alex Storrs and Tony Roman from Space Telescope Science Institute;
TOPIC: How we prepared the HST to make your Pluto and Neptune observations

March 29 A special session was available from the exhibit floor of the NSTA convention. This convention brought together 15,000 science teachers for a festival of learning. Many Passport to Knowledge organizers and teachers were attending, and those who could not attend in person were able to virtually join us.

Tips for CU-SeeMe success are available.

WebChat

WebChat is a technology in which you type brief thoughts while others are doing the same thing. Every Tuesday from 3-4pm Pacific (6-7 Eastern) there was a regularly scheduled WebChat with Live from the Hubble Space Telescope organizers and others who drop in. These sessions provided a chance to get familiar with the system before a scheduled conference with a NASA expert.

A schedule for the WebChat sessions with NASA experts was:

Tuesday, March 26:
Chris Wilkinson, Eric Isaac, Kathy Southall, Tony Cruz and Angela Manifold from Goddard Space Flight Center;
TOPIC: the HST as a spacecraft

Wednesday, April 10:
Alex Storrs and Tony Roman from Space Telescope Science Institute;
TOPIC: How we prepared the HST to make your Pluto and Neptune observations

Tuesday, April 23:
Post-Broadcast Q&A with STScI's Christian Ready