Hi followers of JASON news
First of all, I have to say this experience is fantanstic!!! I never really knew how much work it was to produce a television show. On Sunday we spent the day hurrying up and waiting which means someone would tell us to hurry up to get somewhere and after we got all the students together and to the right spot we ended up wainting sometimes as much as an hour. But it is worth it since the experience is so fantastic. Probably the best part so far has been out on the lava flows we were have been right next to red hot lava flows. They don't move very fast but are extremely hot. We are walking across lava which has been cooled for less than an hour; sometimes after we walk on it it breaks out which means that molten rock from inside breaks through and flows on the surface. Some lava flows have a skin which is only inches thick and actually melts the soles of your boats if you stand in one spot too long.
The student argonauts are wonderful with many many different personalities. some of them really showpeople who really add a lot of excitement to the broadcast. and others are quiet but visit a lot with the scientists during times when broadcast is not occurring.
The argonauts' day is extremely busy with wake up at 1:30 a.m. with breakfast at 2:30 a.m. and van loading at 3:00 a.m. After a forty minute drive down Kilauea Volcano we arrive at the broadcast site at about 4:00 a.m., get last minute instructions and head out to our appropriate areas (lava flow, biology, astronomy, helicopter observations, roving reporter, etc). The first broadcast starts at 5:00 a.m. and last one hour but each student is only involved for about ten minutes of each broadcast. We drink over a gallon of liquids a day to overcome dehydration from the sun and hot breezes; sometimes the air temperature reachers 140 degrees out onthe lava flow.
Our broadcasts end at 12:00 noon but then we have one to three hours of public relations work which involves photos, telephone interviews, and television interviews. We get back to our lodging about 4:00, clean up and relax, and leave at 5:00 for dinner. After a end of the day meeting most students fall asleep about 8:00 p.m. for an early rise at 1:30 a.m. next morning.
This is all for now, talk to you tomorrow by email.
Mr. V (this is what the student argonauts call me)
JASON VI Home Page
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Gene Carl
Feldman
(gene@seawifs.gsfc.nasa.gov)
(301) 286-9428
Todd Carlo Viola,
JASON Foundation for Education
(todd@jason.org)
