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Chat News

Our New NASA Quest Logo!

A brief review
With each newsletter, we will include an "insert" highlighting our QuestChat Information Center (QIC) and other information from previous newsletters or information sources worth "repeating." As a reminder, from our QIC homepage, you can receive information about:

  • how to prepare for a QuestChat;
  • time zone conversions;
  • practice chat sessions;
  • our site wide schedule of live events;
  • opportunities to give us surveys/feedback; and
  • archives of previous chats with experts.

Be sure to visit and bookmark this site, especially if you're new to QuestChat. Much of the information is updated frequently, so be sure to check in regularly.

Our New NASA Quest Logo!
You may have noticed our new logo, appearing at the top of this page, and on other NASA Quest pages. Eventually, our logo will appear on all our pages, as we continue updating our site. We hope this will help you recognize our NASA Quest online projects, materials, and resources.

Password Help
Once you register for at least one of our chats, your username and handle are stored in our database. This means that you need only this information to register for additional chats. However, because we all forget information like this over time, we now have a feature that allows you to retrieve it. On our NASA QuestChat Information Center home page, you can select our password retrieval feature and enter your e-mail address. Your username and password will then be sent to you, allowing you to register for our chats. Give it a try!

Panel Discussions
Over the years, we have enjoyed offering our text-based chats and forums. We now include panel discussions as another way for you to interact with NASA experts. Our panel discussions feature multiple experts who answer your questions live, perhaps for an hour or two. (In some cases, we may blend our forums and panel discussions, during which your questions will be answered over an extended period.) This kind of activity gives you an opportunity to receive different perspectives on certain issues. An example of a recent panel discussion is available for your review. We hope to bring you panel discussions frequently as the year progresses.

New Chat Series
We're happy to announce that during February 2000, we began what we anticipate will be a popular new annual chat series. Our National Engineers' Week chats, forums, and panel discussions will be offered every February, and feature selected experts who will share their knowledge of engineering careers and concepts.

Since our National Engineers' Week chats will occur simultaneously with our annual Black History Month chats, you may have opportunities to chat with some of our experts more than once. Be sure to tap into these exciting chat series next year!

Collaborations
The results of our recent collaborations with non-NASA organizations look quite promising. We were very excited to work closely with members of Classroom Connect, who advertised and showcased NASA Quest resources and activities, such as chats and panel discussions, for one week. Archives of these events are available on the Space Team Online/Classroom Connect event page.

The success of this partnership extends to and is very much because of your participation. We're looking forward to continuing our relationship with Classroom Connect, and utilizing their creative talents to enhance our live events.

We are also pleased to have worked with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Neighborhood Networks to reach a very large number of young people unfamiliar with NASA or science/engineering careers. As we continue learning about our diverse audience members, we look forward to working with organizations such as HUD to assist us in tailoring our live events in ways that will inspire and enrich all young people, and promote lifelong learning.

"What You're Saying ..."
After submitting your survey responses to us after a chat, some of you may wonder, "Does anyone actually read this?" We most certainly do read your comments, and use them to improve the quality of our chats. However, we believe your comments are also valuable to share with other users of our service. Therefore, we are now posting some of your responses online periodically. Our most recent postings of your comments are available via the NASA QuestChat home page. We invite you to read what some of your fellow chatters are saying, and encourage you to continue sending your feedback to us.

Upcoming chats
As we continue through the year, we look forward to continuing our regularly scheduled weekly chats with our experts. These will focus on:

Ongoing
ISS Chats
Space Topics Chats

In September 1999, we began our series of International Space Station chats, featuring men and women involved in and discussing the development and missions supporting the International Space Station (ISS). Those featured in our ISS chats are only a small sample of people from different career fields involved in our ambitious effort to house humans in space for long periods of time. We were very excited to end our first segment of ISS chats with our special guest chatter, Karl Sabbagh, writer, co-producer and co-director of the recently aired PBS documentary, SPACE STATION.

We're happy to continue our ISS chat series, as we venture forward into the era of the International Space Station. We hope you will be able to join us for this exciting series. We'll also continue offering chats with men and women dedicated to supporting space exploration. A schedule of the ISS chats and weekly space topics chats is available on the Space Team Online events page - http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/events/iss99, and the Space Team Online chat schedule page - http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/chats, respectively.

January - May 2000:
Countdown: Landing to Launch

In September 1999, as part of our "Countdown: Landing to Launch" activities, we began a series of chats following the processing of a space shuttle from landing to launch. Our series continues this spring with weekly chats and web casts. To learn about how you can be part of this event, go to http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/events.

Ongoing:
Chat about Airplanes, Wind Tunnels, and Aeronautics/Aerospace

Once again, we will offer our chats with experts who make the flying machines we use to cross the country and oceans to other countries. These chats will feature individuals involved in different aspects of aircraft design, development, and testing. Be sure to watch for more information about upcoming chat series and webcasts featuring our aeronautics/aerospace experts. Visit the Aerospace Team Online (formerly Aero Design Team Online) chat schedule page, at http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/aero/chats for our spring schedule.

Ongoing:
Mars, Mars, Mars!

Without question, the most recent Mars missions have been very hot topics. Our series of Mars Millennium chats and forums have certainly been extremely active with dialogue between our Mars experts and chat participants. As we continue our chats this spring, we anticipate our chats with Mars experts will continue to be very popular, and we invite you to join us.

As before, our Mars Millennium chats will feature many who were involved in the "modern" missions, which have taken place recently and over the last few years. Our upcoming chats will give you a chance to learn more about what scientists have learned from these missions, as well as what's in store for 2000 and beyond. You don't want to miss these chats, so make your plans now. A full schedule of these chats is available on the Space Scientists Online chat schedule, at http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/sso/chats. Mark your calendars!

Special events and focus
We will also continue our special focus on issues relating to gender equity and increasing minority awareness and representation in science and technology. These chats and forums will be offered as part of our collection of special chat series and projects, including:

We hope to include additional special events in the months to come. Stay tuned!

January 2000 - Spring 2000:
Hear from Women of NASA

Many women are part of the talented work force that make NASA a great place to work. Our chats with some of these women will resume in January. Our upcoming schedule will include forums with experts and chats with high school and college students. We will also be reintroducing quarterly chats with our Women of the World, as well as presenting annual events such as our Virtual Take Our Daughters to Work Day. You can learn more about some of the successful women working at NASA, as well as updating your calendar, by visiting the Women of NASA home page, at http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/women, or the WON schedule of events, at http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/women/99-00events.html. We hope you can join us!

We invite you to continue your participation in our NASA QuestChats, forums and other live events. If you have not participated with us before, we invite you to join us and have the experience of connecting live with NASA experts. We look forward to hearing from you this spring!

Oran Cox
QuestChat Project Manager
ocox@mail.arc.nasa.gov

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