Education
How long before we get there?
Vocabulary • Apoapsis Delta V Burn: The rocket firing at the highest point of a Transfer Orbit. • Periapsis Delta V Burn: The rocket firing at the lowest point of a Transfer Orbit. • Transfer Time: The time between apoapsis and periapsis Delta V rocket firings. Narrative Getting from one orbital altitude to another not …
NASA Spinoffs from Mars exploration
In 1997, NASA’s Sojourner robot became the first rover to explore the surface of Mars. NASA has since launched other successful rover missions, gathering precious information in preparation for an undertaking that has long captured people’s imaginations—a manned mission to Mars. The challenges such an enterprise poses have necessitated new technologies that are not only …
Top 10 must-see list for new astronomers
It is very difficult to draw up a Top 10 list in any subject. In astronomy it is even more difficult due the the huge number of prospective candidates for the list. I have made it somewhat easier by restricting the list to things that beginners may view with relatively basic equipment. My list is …
Starting in astronomy: Recognising the night sky
When you look up into the night skies you will see a myriad of twinkling stars. With all of the stars in the sky you would have thought it would be impossible to recognise individual ones, but you would be wrong. Of course, nobody can recognise all of them but by starting to see patterns …
Cygnus the swan
Cygnus, The Swan, is a majestic and easy to identify constellation in the northern hemisphere. This is best viewed in summer and autumn when it rises overhead in the night skies. Cygnus is a great naked eye constellation with lots of detail and great objects within it as you start to use more powerful optical …
NASA Spinoffs for health and medicine
As NASA continues its mission to carry human presence deeper into space and expand our knowledge of the universe, the Agency’s efforts also reach into another territory—the inner space of the human body. NASA partnerships are exploring the use of carbon nanotubes to diagnose and treat brain tumors, perfecting fiber optic probes for detecting cataracts …
Can SpaceShipTwo fly up to space?
Vocabulary • Parabola: The graph of a quadratic equation, which for this project is in the shape of an upside-down capital “U” • Quadratic Equation: The equation that creates a parabola when graphed • Vertex: The maximum (or Minimum) point on a parabola Narrative If a baseball is thrown into the air to another ball …
Go where no student has gone before
S.T.E.M. projects for launching student minds into space Imagine yourself a high school student, say, 9th through 12th grade, taking math courses entailing astronautics or aerospace projects. Most projects usually run about six weeks. You are part of a team of three or four other students and collaboration is imperative. Even though you may have …
Students learn about physics from energetic demonstrations
Middle school student Nina-Simone Brown had the chance to experience Newton’s third law of motion in an exciting yet unusual way Monday morning. For those who dozed off in their middle school science class: For every action there is an opposite and equal reaction. And there was plenty of action when FMA Live! Forces in …
NASA chooses Hampton Roads school team for microgravity experiment
Students at the New Horizons Governor’s School for Science and Technology (GSST) in Hampton, Va., will have the chance to design a microgravity experiment that may some day fly on board the International Space Station (ISS). GSST was one of 14 schools across the country picked for the opportunity by the High school students United …