Andy

I am well aware of this project. JPL has several at any one time.  The joy
of this particular one is the partnering with other large institutions to
"share the work/resources" and leverage the outreach. And obviously, Mars
has a great deal of public interest.

My particular question remains.  There are literally thousands of museums
and science centers. We, JPL, do not have a "formal" process for how we
interact with museums. Generally, a contact is made through several doors.
A JPL'r visits a center and gets interested, a museum calls JPL etc.

We struggle with many of the same issues as museums-how to best serve the
public in an era of dwindling resources?  Example, a museum calls and asks
for images. There is no current "one stop shop" for all images at JPL,
though many have been put on a web called Planetary Photojournal. In
working with major museums, I am surprised to discover the inability to
"download" high res images, so we end up sending out zip disks.

One suggestion is for JPL to host an annual "museum/science center day" and
just invite all to "come on over" and spend the day with various projects
and personnel.  Obviously, budgets are limited for museums, so picking a
time when another conference is in the Los Angeles Area might be helpful.

Feel free to e-mail me directly at:
[log in to unmask]

I thank you for thoughts and time.

Alice Wessen
Outreach Lead-JPL Commercial Technology and Technology and Applications
Programs
Mail Stop 180-401
Jet Propulsion Laboratory/California Institute of Technology
4800 Oak Grove Drive
 Pasadena  CA  91109-8099
818-354-4930
818-393-4093 fax
e-mail: [log in to unmask]


At 08:43 AM 3/19/99 -0500, you wrote:
>This seems a good opportunity to mention the Mars Millennium Project, a
>joint undertaking of the US Department of Education, the National
>Endowment for the Arts, the J. Paul Getty Trust, and NASA's Jet
>Propulsion Laboratory, under the auspices of the White House Millennium
>Council.  Following my signature block is a memo on the project that AAM
>sent to directors of institutional members.  Please contact me if you
>would like more information.  Also please note that we unaccountably
>omitted to include the website of the Mars project -- so here it is:
>http://www.mars2030.net.
>
>Andy Finch
>American Association of Museums
>[log in to unmask]
>
>Last month, the White House announced its premier youth initiative for
>1999-2000, the Mars Millennium Project, which is being developed by the
>U.S. Department of Education, the National Endowment for the Arts, the
>NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and the J. Paul Getty Trust.  Over 100
>organizations, including AAM, have signed on as national partners, and
>the project has significant corporate support as well, including USA
>Today and AOL.
>
>The project asks young people to imagine a Mars settlement for 100
>people in the year 2030, posing critical questions about what makes a
>community function.  What will it take to survive?  What will give life
>meaning?  According to the White House, "participants will use their
>knowledge of history, the arts, sciences, and technology to explore
>scientific, social and cultural characteristics they would export to a
>new planetary environment as they design an ideal community in which
>they would want to live."
>
>The Mars Project aims to involve school and community educators working
>with young people in the K-12 age groups.  An introductory poster is
>being sent to every school, as well as to every art, science and math
>teacher in the United States. We believe that this project offers
>museums a unique opportunity to showcase their presence as educational
>resources for their communities, and therefore we have arranged for all
>AAM institutional members to receive this poster as well.  You can
>expect to see it in the very near future.
>
>The poster includes a return device.  Those who send it in to the Mars
>Project office will receive "participation guidelines" that can be used
>to design curriculum and other programs.  The guidelines will include
>simple language recommending that participants contact their local
>museums to explore their collections and human resources that could
>relate to the Mars Project - so be ready for calls.  We believe that
>with a little imagination, every museum can find a connection to the
>project!
>
>AAM would like to coordinate museum web resources for the Mars Project.
>At this stage, we envision a museum gateway at the Mars home page that
>would link to simple Mars-themed entries telling participants how to
>utilize your  educational resources.  If your institution would like to
>create such an entry, please contact Andy Finch in AAM Government
>Affairs at 202-289-9125; FAX 289-6578; [log in to unmask]
>