Webcast Information - Robotics Courses

NASA Robotics
for Research
and Exploration

Web Broadcast Support Information

Links To The Broadcasts and Archives

Links will become active as they become ready..

Archives will be available within 5 hours after the broadcast..

**Please Note Lecture Time**
PST	MST	CST	EST	Spain
7am-8am	8am-9am	9am-10am	10am-11am	4pm-5pm

Date	Title / Link
September 29th, 2003 Archive	Mission to Mars, the MARTE Project, and an Introduction to Rio Tinto, Spain,
October 1st , 2003 Archive	The Wonders of a Mars Analog: Biology at Rio Tinto
October 3rd, 2003 Archive	Subsurface Life
October 6th, 2003 Archive	Spain's Iberian Pyrite Belt
October 8th, 2003 Archive	Issues and Challenges for Robotic Drilling
October 10th, 2003 Archive	Drilling on Mars
October 15th, 2003 Archive	Molecular Biology techniques for discovering life on Mars
October 17th, 2003	Sample Handling While Searching for Life

Please read the following before proceeding to the broadcast!

This web broadcast is intended to display multiple tools to help you visualize, hear and participate in the broadcast. Since there are so many items that must be loaded it may take a few minutes for everything to come up correctly on your screen if you have a dial-up connection. If you have DSL or Cable you may experience a faster display of the content.

It is recommended that you set your screen resolution to at least 1024 X 768. The way that the broadcast page is set up requires for you to have extra viewable area on your screen. To do this in Windows, right click on the desktop, go to properties and click on the settings tab. There you will see a metering bar that you can move back and forth to the desired resolution size. Select 1024 X 768 or higher. If you have it set any lower you could experience difficulties in viewing the tools within the page correctly. If you have problems with your settings you may get technical help by utilizing the contact info at the end of this page.

It is also recommended that you update your browser and your media players before proceeding to the broadcasts. Windows users can go to the start menu and initiate a "Windows Update" and that will help in keeping your browser current.

Test Your Configuartion
You may click the link above to go to our test page. There you will find a simulation of what a live event page will look like. It will help you prepare for the lectures ahead of time by testing your computer configuration. If you need assistance you may look at the text below to see what you may do to optimize your experience.

Entrance Page

The page you will be directed to when you click on a lecture link will be the entrance page. This page will provide you with the opportunity to customize your broadcast experience. You will be required to answer some basic questions. The first question will ask what language you would like the page to be displayed in. The second question will ask what Media Player you would like to view the broadcast in. Some work better for others so you may want to experiment with the two types to see which one you may like better. The third question will ask what region of the United States you are closest to in order to get the best connection to our media servers possible. If you are on the East coast or Europe you would want to choose the East coast region, and if you are closer to the West coast or Asia then you would want to choose the West coast option. Sometimes it is best to test each one to see which works best for you. If you experience difficulty in maintaining the stream then you may want to try different combinations of player and region. The fourth question in the page will be for those that have been approved for the chat room. Those that are approved must enter their email address in order to access the chat room area. If you have not received an email giving you particular instructions on how to use the chat then you don't need to bother in entering your email address. The last item on the page is an option to turn the transcript off. Depending on how well it works for you and how important it is, you can make the decision to turn it off. You may change any of these items any time during the broadcast for any of these preferences. You may return to the entrance page at any time by clicking on the "change layout" link in the links window. Once you have made your selections you will then be taken to a page that has the following....

Below is the layout of the screen that you will be entering. You can click on a region to get more info on that region.

Once you enter the Web Broadcast page, items will start to load. The items and useful tips are below and correspond to the numbered items above.

1. The Audio and Video Window

This is where you will see and hear the designated speaker for the broadcast. You may also see any video that they intend to show you.
You will have two choices in how you would like to view the web Broadcast. One will be through Real Player and the other will be with Windows Media Player. Whichever one you have on your system or prefer to use over the other is the best choice. If one fails to load for some reason you can try the other by changing the layout within the links window.
With this layout your browser may not have the proper plug-in to display the content inside the window on the page. If this happens you may click on the link at the top of the window that says either Windows Media or Real Media and it will open a Player separately from the page.

If you don't have a player or would like to upgrade for maximum performance you can go to the following links to download the player of your choice
Windows Media	Click to go to download page
Real Media	Click to go to download page

2. The Transcript Window.

This is a feature that we have made available primarily for those that are hearing impaired. It is also there for whoever might be having difficulty understanding the speaker.
This item will start to connect to the provider of this service and a window may open asking if you would like to download the plug-in. You may click yes and the plug-in will be installed and will automatically start once the web broadcast has begun.
This item may not automatically load for Mac users, and sometimes causes the browser to freeze. If this occurs you can turn this option off in the entrance page to the lecture by either clicking on the lecture link on this page or by changing the layout in the links window.

3. The Link Window

This window will have three main links within it.
The first link will take you back to the entrance page where you selected your preferences for the lecture and is labeled "Change Layout". This is where you can change languages, change the media player, turn off the transcript, and enter the chat room if you have permission.
The second link is where you can download the actual Microsoft Power Point Presentation for the lecture. You will need Power Point on your computer for this option. You can download the power point presentation by right clicking on the link and selecting "save target as" which will start the download process. Doing this will enable you to see more detail within the slides.
The third link will bring up this page in case you have trouble experiencing the lecture or a simple question regarding the technology for the broadcast.

4. The Power Point Window

This is the window where you will be able to view the Power Point Presentation. It will be in web format so it will be easily displayed and you will not need Power Point on your computer to display the information.
When the presentation first loads it will show the first slide of the presentation. Make sure the title corresponds with the correct lecture that you would like to view. You want to be at the event that corresponds to the date.
If you have a slower connection you might want to go through the slide show prior to the event so that all of the images load to your computer before hand so the slides are easily brought up when the instructor is talking about a particular slide.
You may click through the presentation at your discretion but it is advised to click through it as the instructor tells you to.

5. The Chat Window

The chat window has been designated for those that wish to ask questions during the lecture. Since there are many students that are interested in this course only a select few will be allowed to participate in this activity. It is strongly advised that you refrain from any small talk or chit chat while in the chat room. Even though it is called a chat room, we would prefer to call it a question room, reserved for asking questions only. Any technical questions may be directed to the technician at the bottom of this page.
If you would like to participate in the chat room, please send an email to Seth Carter asking to be accepted as a question answer participant.

For Further Assistance
Phone Numbers
Robotics Webmaster	650-269-2787
Web Broadcast Technician	650-604-3228
Logistics	650-269-2789
E-mail
Robotics Webmaster	cbowman@mail.arc.nasa.gov
Web Broadcast Technician	sjcarter@mail.arc.nasa.gov
Logistics	cfishbein@mail.arc.nasa.gov
Course Professor	jbeck@sjsu.edu