Happy Holidays everyone! We'll be back in the New Year with a new name, Mars Team Online. Plan to participate in live Web chats with a whole host of new Mars experts!

Join the Scavenger Hunt! To participate, answer the 25 weather-related questions at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/events/wwhuntqs.html The class that answers the most questions correctly in each level (elementary, middle and high school) will be the winner. A random drawing will be held in case of a tie at any or all levels. All answers must be sent by 12 a.m., PST, Tuesday, December 23, 1997.

Join us TODAY from 3-4 p.m., PST, for "Exploring Mars Education." Don Scott, an expert in Mars and Mars education will demonstrate several hands-on, classroom-tested Mars lessons. Remote participation is encouraged. This event will be carried on the Learning Technologies Channel, which includes Internet audio, video, Web and chat. Go to: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/ltc/schedule.html

Join the Scavenger Hunt as classrooms across the country search the Weather Worlds data for clues and answers to questions like: How many schools are found at the 40-degree N latitude? And, which location mostly closely followed a pattern of temperatures found on Mars? Watch the Weather Worlds page for the Scavenger Hunt posting during the week of Dec. 8. Go to: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/events/wwindex.html

SIGN UP NOW FOR THIS WEEK'S WEBCHAT!!! Thursday, December 4, 8:30 a.m., PST: Tim Schofield Tim is the team leader of the Atmospheric Structure Investigation/ Meteorology Experiment, or ASI/MET. A bio of Tim will appear on: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/team in the next day or so. To RSVP for the chat go to: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/events/interact.html

Join with other classes to analyze and debate the data that have been collected through the LIVE FROM MARS Weather Worlds activity. Any class can join in the fun--previous participation in WW is not a requirement. Winners will receive prizes. For more details go to: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/events/wwindex.html

If you missed today's final Live From Mars broadcast "Today on Mars," you can view it at any time by going to: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/video/index.html and clicking on "Video/Audio Archive."

Be sure to sign up NOW for next week's Web chat with David Mittman. Details: Tuesday, Nov. 18, 10:30-11:30 a.m., PST. Please RSVP to: sandy@quest.arc.nasa.gov. For additional info go to: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/events/interact.html

The final live LFM program, "Live From Mars #5: Today on Mars," will air Nov. 13, 1997, 1-2 p.m., EST. For the first time, Closed Captioning will be made available thanks to additional support from the Digital Equipment Corporation. This service will be available for PBS broadcasting only, not NASA TV.

The NASA Mars Pathfinder team said "See you later!" to its spacecraft today after attempting to reestablish communications with it for the last month. The team will scale back its efforts to communicate with Pathfinder, but it will not give up entirely.

REMINDER: October 30 Program 4 "Destination Mars" to air on NASA-TV (C band), PBS (KU band) or over the Internet at 10-11 a.m., PST. This program is an edited compilation of previous programming. For broadcast information, an overview or copy of the script go to: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/video/index.html

So you think you're good at Concentration, then this new game is for you! Flip the tiles and test your total recall powers by matching pairs of Mars images. Go to: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/events/ or http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/kids/index.html

Sign up early for the October 23, 10:30 a.m., PST WebChat with Greg Wilson from Arizona State University. Greg is a planetary geologist working on the Mars Pathfinder meteorology experiment. He will give us the latest on the weather on Mars and an update on the seemingly silent Pathfinder. For details go to: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/events/interact.html

Try your hand at the new Pathfinder Slider Puzzle: it's a scramble to play! Rearrange the tiles to decipher the Mars mystery image. Go to: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/events/

Sign up early for the October 9, 9 a.m., PST WebChat with Dan Johnston from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Dan is the trajectory and aerobraking design analyst on the Mars Global Surveyor Operations Project, part of the Navigation Team. He will be able to fill us in on the aerobraking techniques and procedures and if they're working. For details go to: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/events/interact.html

Take a VIRTUAL TOUR of the Pathfinder landing site in Ares Vallis. Enjoy video and audio clips from Matt Golombek, Joy Crisp and Ron Greeley as you explore the site. Put on your comfy shoes, grab your hat and head out to: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/virtual

WEATHER WORLDS: Two new activities for you to start now! The challenge is for students to figure out what key weather measurements they think are most important to gather on Earth, and how to obtain them to collect the data. Go to-- http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/events/

Watch over the Internet as the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft enters the orbit about Mars at 5 p.m. PST today! Go to-- http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/video/hot.html

Check it out: New Mars Global Surveyor bio! Read about everybody's favorite Mars enthusiast, Ken Edgett at-- http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/team/edgett.html

Sign up for the Tuesday, Aug. 26 WebChat with Bridget Landry. The chat will begin at 8:30 a.m., Pacific. For details go to: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/events/interact.html

An archive of Mars Pathfinder Press Conferences is now available at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/video/news

Sign up for the Monday, Aug. 18 WebChat with Mike Mellon. The chat will begin at 10 a.m., Pacific. Mike is a planetary geologist. His work focuses on studying martian geology and climate, including, as a central link between these two, water. To get a username and password to enter the chat room, please send an RSVP to: sandy@quest.arc.nasa.gov. If the chat room fills up you can still participate by going to the Observe Room. For additional details go to: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/events/interact.html

A NASA Quest Public Service Announcement has been created for distribution to TV stations. To view the narrative and selected images go to: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/common/psa. You are encouraged to contact your local TV networks to inquire about interest in airing the PSA.

Sign up now for tomorrow's 9:30 a.m., Pacific, WebChat with Mars expert Steve Lee! Steve is a surface expert on the Hubble Space Telescope Mars Team. Further details are available at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/events/interact.html AN EXCEPTION: No username or password will be required for this chat. However, an RSVP would still be appreciated: sandy@quest.arc.nasa.gov

NASA TV will rebroadcast the July 6 and 9 Live From Mars programs starting this week! Program 3A, "Touchdown!" will be aired Friday, Aug. 1 at 1 p.m., Eastern. Program 3B, "Touchdown +6!" will run Monday, Aug. 4 at 1 p.m., Eastern.

Sign up NOW for tomorrow's WebChat with Mars expert Rob Manning! Further details are available at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/events/interact.html

Thanks to LFM teacher Tim McCollum, detailed instructions for creating your own 3-D images (similar to those taken by Pathfinder) are now available at: http://www.ux1.eiu.edu/~cxtdm/3dimages.html

Read the latest journals from Bridget Landry, Pathfinder's deputy uplink systems engineer. From "What a Rush!" to "What a Relief!" to "Much More Than Ever Expected," read Bridget's account of the last two exciting weeks on the Mars Team. Go to http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/team/journals/index.html

Be sure to check out the special "Behind-the-Scenes" reports from the Mars Team at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory at http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/events/special/index.html

Today is a working day on Mars. Pathfinder's Imager will shoot the entire 360 view to create a "monster panorama." The resulting stereo image will enable Sojourner controllers to see in three dimensions and plan for upcoming activities. The rover driver will be able to put on his stereo goggles and plan the route the rover will take to get to the first target rock, Barnacle Bill.

We have TOUCHDOWN!!! The Pathfinder spacecraft landed safely on the surface of Mars at 10:07 a.m., Pacific.

Live From Mars WebChats for the month of July are just about ready to get underway. Due to the large number of anticipated participants, it will be necessary for you to register for WebChats in order to participate. All you need to do is RSVP no less than 24 hours in advance in order to reserve a space for yourself. You will receive confirmation of your registration and a password to enter the chat room. Send an email to sandy@quest.arc.nasa.gov Tuesday, July 8, 9 a.m., Pacific, Jeff Plescia, planetary geologist Tuesday, July 15, 7 a.m., Pacific, Peter Thomas, research scientist Tuesday, July 22, 9 a.m., Pacific, Jack Farmer, exopaleontologist

The results of the "Where in the world are these P.E.T. Mystery sites?" activity have now been posted online. You can find them at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/events/pdi/winners.html We did not include the answers in case some classes choose to do the activity without the pressure of our deadline.

The moderated webchats, your opportunity to chat with the experts, will take a break until early July as we all gear up for the landing on Mars. In the meantime, questions may still be asked through email. See http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/ask/question.html

Just one more week left to get your entry in on the Mystery Site Activity. This activity requires students to tap into the resources they are learning in science to analyze data and locate the spot on the globe. A full description of this activity is available at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/events/pdi/mystery.html

Join us for our next webchats: Tuesday, May 6, 10-11 a.m., Pacific: Pete Kallemeyn. Thursday, May 15, 9-10 a.m., Pacific: Phil Christensen. If you've not yet taken part in a webchat with our Mars experts, you're missing a treat! http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/events/interact.html is the site that will give you the information you need to participate.

Compete with classrooms around the world as you try to guess: Where in the World are these PET Mystery Sites? As part of the P.E.T. project, sites from around the U.S. and international locales submitted their Planetary Data Input. Seven were selected as "mystery sites." Your mission is to find out where they are located. Start at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/events/pdi/mystery.html

We hope you are excited about Thursday's live TV broadcast from JPL (1-2:00 p.m. Eastern). We'll go behind the scenes to learn how rocket fuel, momentum, gravity and ingenuity get spacecraft from Earth to Mars. For TV details, go online to http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/video

A new list of upcoming WebChats was released. Look forward to Guy Beutelschies (Wed., April 23, 9-10 a.m., PDT) and Bridget Landry (Tue., April 29, 10-11 a.m., PDT). Both work on Mars Pathfinder. http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/events/interact.html

Students participating in the Planet Explorer Toolkit (PET) activity are sharing their data with one another. Check out http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/events/pdi/index.html

Headbone Derby presents "Mystery on Mars." This Web activity engages kids with an entertaining story in comic-strip form; more than just fun, though, the Derby teaches students how to effectively search the Web. See http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/events/headbone.html

The answer to last week's Challenge Question is online as is the new one. Take the challenge! http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/events/challenge.html

In anticipation of the broadcast April 24, we have begun our new Challenge Questions. We invite you to participate with your students! Go to http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/events/challenge.html for Question #1

The PET activity is heating up as classrooms begin to collect data. If you haven't yet been involved in PET, now is a good time to get started. Look in the Featured Events section for the Planetary Explorer Toolkit.

Consensus has finally been reached after weeks of debate. The final choice of instruments to be included in the Planet Explorer Toolkit is now listed at http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/events/toolkit.html. Next step: Data gathering!

A month full of exciting WebChats was announced. Visit live with Peter Thomas (scientist), Bridget Landry (uplink engineer), Pieter Kallemeyn (navigator) and Ted Roush (scientist). See details at http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/events/interact.html

The Kids Corner continues to grow as student stumpers are being added almost daily. Try your hand at answering some at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/kids/stumpers.html

The Planet Explorer Toolkit timeline has been revised to accommodate classrooms participating. Check for the new schedule at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/events/shoebox.html

Don't forget to check in with the WebChat schedule. Our next chat is scheduled for February 5, 9-10 a.m., PST, Phil Christensen: Phil is a planetary geologist. See his biography on the team page and plan to join us!

We have not been idle during this brief lull between broadcasts! Among other things, we have been developing a list of mentors: folks who've been successful using similar projects in real classrooms and would be willing to offer help to others to make good use of Live from Mars. Click on "Welcome" above or take a look at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/news/mentors.html

We've started the new year right! The Kids' Corner is growing with new art work, photos, newspaper articles and poetry! If you've not been there recently, take a look. LFM kids are really actively involved and wonderfully creative!

Don't forget to mark your calendar: Webchats resume next week Jan. 8, 9 a.m., PST: with Steve Stolper, software flight engineer on the Mars Pathfinder project. To keep track of the latest on the Pathfinder mission, see http://mpfwww.arc.nasa.gov/mpf/news.html

On behalf of all of us at the Live From Mars web-building site: Have a terrific holiday season, and a restful couple of weeks off!

Please note per Jan Wee's message to discuss-lfm: NASA-TV will re-broadcast the Live From Mars debut program "Countdown" on December 17,23, and 31st. The schedule can be found at: http://spacelink.msfc.nasa.gov/NASA.News/NASA.Television.Schedules /Education.Schedule/December.Education.Schedule

It's time to start submitting your individual or class's BEST Planet Explorer Toolkit Proposal as described in Step 5 of the PET Activity. at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/events/pet.html The form for submittal is at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/events/form.html

If you've not been there recently, the Kids' Corner is growing by leaps and bounds. We have several new classroom photo albums, and with Challenge Questions on hold, check out the Stumpers the kids are coming up with!

Mars Pathfinder was successfully launched at 10:58 pm PST is on its way to the Red Planet!

Updates #12 was released with Donna Shirley's reflections on the loss ofthe Russian Mars 96 mission.

A new chat schedule featuring Pathfinder Mission Planner David Mittman on December 3 was released.

The list of student work and students at work in the Kids' section is growing. Be sure to check in from time to time to see what other classrooms are doing.

Amazing details about the work of intergating the Pathfinder spacecraft are shared in Updates #11.

A special trio of Updates (#10a, 10b, 10c) was released with a draft script of the television program. As well, these scripts are available from the Video section of the LFM web at http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/video

The Russian Mars 96 mission ended in disaster as a critical rocket booster failed to fire and the spacecraft was not able to leave the Earth's orbit. On Sunday, November 17, the spacecraft crashed back into the Pacific Ocean.

A fabulous story of the launch of MGS was provided by Donna Shirley. See Update #9 or Donna's biography in the Mars Team section to read about the thrilling adventure when MGS finally left Earth for Mars.

We are now accepting email questions from students for NASA's Mars experts. This service will be available until December 1997. See http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/ask/question.html for more details. Update #8 is out with tales of kids exploring Cape Canaveral.

A registration form for teachers using LFM in their classroom has been activated at http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/teachers/survey.html If you are using LFM with students, please take a few moments to fill out the form. Thank you very much for helping us out in this.

A new Guided Tour has been added to the LFM web. It is available at http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/tourguide/start.html Together with the Overview button (on the banner of every LFM page), it provides a way to get a quick overview of the entire LFM web space.

The Mars Global Surveyor had a successful liftoff today. The mission was proceeding flawlessly up through the separation of the MGS from the launch vehicle. The next step is to deploy the solar arrays on MGS and check out the spacecraft. Great job, MGS team!

The MGS liftoff was delayed due to high winds at Kennedy Space Center. Visit the Kids' Corner to see photos of Marilyn's students doing the rocket activities suggested in the Teachers Guide. We have already received wonderful pictures from other involved classrooms. More material should be placed in the Kids' Corner soon. Please visit at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/kids/index.html

Update #7 was released with tales of rover tests in Arizona. Another round of Challenge Questions is out.

Two new press releases describe dust storms at Mars (as captured by the Hubble Space Telescope) and Mars rover tests. See the "Mars in the News" section right below this box. The discussion group for teachers has remained very active. In October, 116 messages were posted. Consider joining other teachers in sharing ideas about using Live From Mars. Look in the Teachers' Lounge under "Discussion Group for Teachers."

The complete Teachers Guide is now available in its finished form. There are web versions to browse, and an Adobe Acrobat version for downloading. See http://k12-dev.arc.nasa.gov/mars/teachers/tg

More details about all of the television programs are available in the Live Video section.

An updated listing of the PBS stations in the United States and their plans for airing the Live From Mars broadcast is available. See the Live Video section for details, or go straight to: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/video/pbs.html

Many new biographies of the men and women who work on Mars projects are now available. Over twenty diverse stories exist to provide insights into the various personalities and career paths of the people behind the new exciting Mars research happening today.

Update #6 is out with stories about testing the Pathfinder spacecraft and about simulating the Martian sand dunes in a unique windtunnel. The first Mars expert WebChat with Charles Whetsel is announced for October 30. Charles will be at the Kennedy Space Center preparing for the upcoming MGS launch. For more details, visit http://k12-dev.arc.nasa.gov/mars/interact.html The answer to Challenge Question #1 is posted. As well, a new question is available to challenge students. See http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/events/challenge.html

Several teachers have contributed their own lesson plans and helpful web pages to the LFM project. An ever expanding list of these resources can be found in the Teachers' Lounge under "Learning Resources." See http://k12-dev.arc.nasa.gov/mars/teachers/learning.html

An Introduction to Electronic Field Trips is now available. Please review these pages if you are new to these kinds of projects. The URL is http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/teachers/eft and it can be found off of the "Welcome" section of the Project News; also it can be found under "Learning Resources" in the Teachers' Lounge.

Those who receive the Updates by email have now received Update #5 presenting an explanation of the collaborative activity entitled Planet Explorer Toolkit. Check the Featured Events section of this web site for a detailed description. (All Updates are archived and accessible below this box.)

As promised the first challenge question is up at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/events/challenge.html Try your hand at Martian baseball!

Pieces of the Teacher's Guide are becoming available including several of the student activities. Watch our growth at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/teachers/tg

The newsletter: Update #4 is out announcing the arrival of the Teacher's Guide and filling you in on plans for NetDay96. Join our live chats and enjoy this day to celebrate new schools coming online. For more information see the website at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/netday96

Our graphical home page is now available. Hopefully you'll enjoy the more exciting look

A taste of the Teacher's guide is beginning to appear at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/teachers/tg These sections should be considered "in process" and are here to provide a preview of the final polished material. Nonetheless, they represent intact, completed activities and are ready to be used by teachers. A fully formatted Adobe Acrobat version will be available in late October for downloading.

The weekly Thursday WebChats to connect with other teachers and LFM staff are really taking off. Consider joining us live for an hour on Thursdays to meet your colleagues in real time. Go to the Teachers' Lounge under "WebChat Discussion."

Find out about NASA's Mars experts at the Mars Team page. Personal biographies and pictures are appearing daily. Currently there are about a dozen stories about these diverse, interesting people.

The discussion group for teachers has been red hot. In September, 178 messages were shared. Consider joining other teachers in sharing ideas about using Live From Mars. Look in the Teachers' Lounge under "Discussion Group for Teachers."

The new Table of Contents for the Teacher's Guide is here! Please look in the Teachers' Lounge under "Learning Resources."

Ordering instructions for the Teacher's Kits are available in the Welcome section at the top of this Web page. Printed copies of the Teacher's Guides are available for $10 and a multimedia kit is yours for $99.

It is hard to Web us without noticing the new orange banner. Hopefully the rest of the redesigned graphics will be in place soon.

New online are Student Stumpers. Have your students challenge other students with challenging questions they make up. Encourages kid-kid communication.

The new Project Update #2 (see link below) provides you with information on some very special interaction possibilities for teachers, previews the plans for the collaborative activity, and gives an update on the Mars Pathfinder and Mars Global Surveyor missions.

There has been little activity as yet in the chat room. I see that Jan Wee will be online live tomorrow, and our next scheduled time to chat with teachers and project staff will be Thursday, September 12 at 3:00pm Pacific time and 6:00pm Eastern. Join us! You can enter through the Featured Events section or through the Teachers' Lounge.

The discussion group for teachers has started with a bang. In August, 64 messages were sent. Consider joining other teachers in sharing ideas about using Live From Mars. Look in the Teachers' Lounge under "Discussion Group for Teachers."

Test your knowledge of Mars by taking the Mars Trivia Quiz located in the just-added background section of this perpetually growing site. It includes background on Mars itself and on the various Mars missions. This section was compiled by Irene Calizo, a summer student intern working at NASA Ames - It is really worth a stroll.

The first of our updates was sent to those of you already on the updates-lfm list and includes some information on the status of the two spacecraft.