Hubble images a ‘Rose of Galaxies’
In celebration of the anniversary of the Hubble Space Telescope’s 1990 deployment into space, astronomers at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Md., pointed Hubble’s eye to an especially photogenic group of interacting galaxies called Arp 273. The larger of the spiral galaxies, known as UGC 1810, has a disk that is tidally distorted …
Never ending journey: Voyager spacecraft still making discovery near boundary of solar system
For more than thirty years, a pair of twin NASA spacecraft have been on an epic journey through the solar system. A journey that is arguably one of the greatest adventures in the history of mankind. They have travelled farther than any man-made objects ever have, and will soon leave our cosmic neighborhood and become …
Space News Briefs – January 2013
NPP satellite reveals new composite image of Earth at night Scientists have unveiled an unprecedented new look at our planet at night. A global composite image, constructed using cloud-free night images from a new NASA and NOAA satellite, shows the glow of natural and human-built phenomena across the planet in greater detail than ever before. …
Salute to the Pioneers of Space
The last man to walk on the Moon decided to celebrate the 40th anniversary of this occasion at the place where his flight career started. Held Dec. 15 at the National Naval Aviation Museum, with 1,200 of his friends, the event was split up into several different panel discussions. The morning panel included individuals such …
Gene Cernan: A conversation with the last men on the Moon
Forty years have passed since he left mankind’s last bootprint on the Moon, but Gene Cernan is a man focused on the future. He strongly believes that inspiring dreams within children, and encouraging STEM education is the path to a future where we walk on the Moon again. Cernan: “What we have to do is …
Harrison Schmitt: A conversation with the last men on the Moon
Of the 12 men who explored the Moon, only Dr. Harrison ‘Jack’ Schmitt was a professional geologist. After years spent training those who had gone before him, he blazed a trail for the scientist-astronauts who would later follow him into space. Schmitt: “Well I think it was important to the space program because it set …
Apollo 17: Final voyage to the Moon
Forty years ago, humanity left its last footprints on the surface of another celestial body. Apollo 17 astronauts Gene Cernan and Harrison ‘Jack’ Schmitt guided their lunar module Challenger down into a beautiful, mountain-ringed valley in the Taurus Mountains, on the edge of the Moon’s Serenitatis basin, just south of the ancient crater Littrow. The spectacular …
NASA Spinoffs from Apollo
With the success of the Apollo program, NASA delivered great progress in the fields of rocketry and aeronautics, as well as the fields of civil, mechanical, and electrical engineering. Lesser known accomplishments are some of the many spinoffs that came from the Apollo program—partnerships created between NASA and industry to commercialize the technologies developed for …
Julian Leek has an eagle’s eye view of Space Coast
It may seem like nothing more than a tall tale, to hear that after arriving at the Space Coast in the last 1960s, a teenager from England soon would be riding atop the launch tower for a Saturn V as it rolled out to the launch pad. But in this case, it is the real …
Emily Nelson working to keep astronauts safe aboard the ISS
At all times, astronauts live aboard the International Space Station (ISS). They carry out their daily activities working in a zero gravity habitat orbiting Earth, while their lives are in the hands of a ground crew hundreds of miles below them back on the ground. These “professional problem solvers” monitor everything happening inside and outside …
NASA developing SLS rocket to take us beyond LEO again
What is the Space Launch System? It’s NASA’s plan for a next generation space exploration vehicle, and it is built like a big puzzle by putting together the best of both the Saturn V that took men to the Moon and the Space Shuttle that for 30 years took us to low Earth orbit. Here’s …
Orion advancing toward 2014 test flight
NASA is making steady progress toward liftoff of the inaugural space-bound Orion crew capsule. The agency aims for a Florida blastoff of the uncrewed Exploration Flight Test-1 mission (EFT-1) – about 18 months from now – in September 2014 atop a Delta 4 Heavy Booster, NASA officials informed me. Orion will ultimately fly astronauts to …
Let’s explore with Orion activity pages
Four pages of activities and information from NASA exploring the upcoming role of Orion and the Space Launch System (SLS) in manned space exploration beyond low Earth orbit (LEO). These pages are available from NASA and geared toward students and educators of grades K-12. This article appeared in the 1st issue of RocketSTEM magazine. …
Astronomy: Guide to stargazing for students
Everyone at some time in their lives must have looked up at the stars in awe at the vastness of our home galaxy and the universe. This is the first step in your journey in the amazing world of astronomy. I am writing this series of articles as I found it very difficult to work …
Why the Moon is bigger closer to the horizon + Moon facts
Why the Moon is bigger closer to the horizon We don’t know. Not the writer, but the human population. That is not to say that there aren’t many theories, but we don’t know truly why. First off, you should probably know that the moon does not get any bigger physically. In fact if you use …
MSL Curiosity rover keeping busy on Mars
As 2012 drew to a close, NASA’s Curiosity Mars Science Lab (MSL) rover celebrated her first Christmas on the Martian surface and a resoundingly successful initial five months of exploration since the pulse pounding and unprecedented sky crane rocket powered touchdown on Aug. 6, 2012 inside Gale Crater beside a towering, layered mountain named Mount …
Getting Social with NASA at MSL Landing
The city of Los Angeles is no stranger to celebrity sightings. But for a few days last summer, well-heeled movie stars traded places with some of NASA’s best and brightest scientists and engineers. In what was described by John Holdren, President Obama’s senior science advisor, as “the most challenging mission ever attempted in the history …
Hubble image of Carina Nebula, NGC 3372
Shown here is a 50-light-year-wide view of the central region of the Carina Nebula where a maelstrom of star birth — and death — is taking place within the Milky Way Galaxy. This image is a composite of many separate exposures made by the ACS instrument on the Hubble Space Telescope along with ground-based observations. …
Teach Briefs – January 2013
Host a conversation with crewmembers aboard the ISS NASA is now accepting proposals from U.S. schools, museums, science centers and community youth organizations to host an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station, or ARISS, contact between May 1 and Nov 1, 2013. To maximize these radio contact opportunities, NASA is looking for organizations that …
The sky is not the limit at the National Naval Aviation Museum
Nestled along the coastline of the Florida Panhandle, nearly equal distance from historic Kennedy and Johnson Space Centers, is a place most well known for its sugar white sand beaches and the Navy’s Blue Angels. But Pensacola, Fla. has its own page in the annals of space exploration, as many of the astronauts from the …