Live from the Hubble Space Telescope
Video Components

Program Content

On November 9, l995: The Great Planet Debate
This 30 minute program introduced the entire project, and announced the on-line discussion which led to a December 1995 consensus decision about which planets to observe. The four astronomers who served as "Planet Advocates" for the on-line debate (Reta Beebe for Jupiter, Marc Buie for Pluto, Heidi Hammel for Neptune and Carolyn Porco for Uranus) each presented reasons for using three HST orbits for "their" planet, and summarized key scientific goals which could be achieved. Presenter Bill Gutsch reviewed the history of Space Telescope (launch, servicing mission, most revealing and amazing images, current capabilities).

Thursday, March 14: 13:00-14:00 Eastern: Making Your Observations
a live, one-hour interactive telecast, linked students to the Space Telescope Science Institute, to witness the acquisition of "their" data and climaxed with a live "First Look" at the original astronomical data acquired as a result of the Passport to Knowledge observations.
Tuesday, April 23: 13:00-14:00 Eastern: Announcing Your Results
a second hour long, highly interactive broadcast enabled students to interpret and understand their observations, now enhanced by image processing.

Seeing the Broadcast

The Live From the Hubble Space Telescope programs were broadcast live over PBS and NASA Television . Each PBS affiliate independently decided its own programming schedule. In addition, the PBS satellite signal could be picked up direct from the PBS satellite. The broadcast was sent in the Ku band from the Telstar 401 satellite and broadcast over the international USIA Worldnet television network.

Also, NASA Television was simulcasting the programs. Many cable television systems receive and redistribute NASA-TV, particularly during Space Shuttle missions. For those with access to satellite reception, NASA Television is carried on Spacenet 2, transponder 5, Channel 9, C-Band, located at 69 degrees West longitude, with horizontal polarization. Frequency is 3880 M Hz with audio on 6.8 MHz.

Community access television stations, education TV systems and community colleges were other resources that carried the programs.

Ordering video tapes

VHS videotapes of the Live From the Hubble Space Telescope programming could be ordered from PASSPORT TO KNOWLEDGE.