Establishing a real-time multimedia link to the Arctic

In July 1998, the NASA Learning Technologies (LT) Project and the United States Coast Guard (USCG) implemented a real-time multimedia link between the USCG Cutter Polar Star in the Gulf of Alaska and schools in the United States and Japan. The Polar Star implemented a mobile high-speed data link connected to the Internet using Inmarsat via Intelsat 178/spl deg/E. This link utilized satellite and high-frequency communication links to the NASA Learning Technologies Channel (LTC) to conduct the Internet-based educational events. The NASA LTC is a media for distributing video and audio to 1500 sites worldwide over the Internet.