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- NASA SPACELINK BACKGROUND
-
- NASA Spacelink runs on a Data General ECLIPSE MV-7800 minicomputer located at
- the George C. Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.
- NASA Spacelink software was developed and donated to NASA by the Data
- General Corporation of Westboro, Massachusetts. The system has a main
- memory of 14 megabytes (14 million characters), disk storage space for 708
- megabytes, and can communicate with eight callers simultaneously at 300,
- 1200, or 2400 baud. The data word format is 8 data bits, no parity, and 1
- stop bit. NASA Spacelink is a dynamic system that will change and
- expand daily. It was made available to the public in February, 1988.
-
- Initial funding for NASA Spacelink was provided by the Educational Affairs
- Division at NASA Headquarters. The NASA Spacelink data base is maintained
- by the Public Services and Education Branch of the Marshall Space Flight
- Center Public Affairs Office. Operational support is provided by the
- Information Systems Office at the Marshall Center. Information on NASA
- scientific projects and educational programs is provided to NASA Spacelink
- by education specialists at NASA Headquarters and the NASA field centers.
-
- While NASA understands that people from a wide variety of backgrounds will
- use NASA Spacelink, the system is specifically designed for teachers. The
- data base is arranged to provide easy access to current and historical
- information on NASA aeronautics and space research. Also included are
- suggested classroom activities that incorporate information on NASA
- projects to teach a number of scientific principles. Unlike bulletin board
- systems, NASA Spacelink does not provide for interaction between callers.
- However it does allow teachers and other callers to leave questions and
- comments for NASA.
-