Education
Brief history of how we brought the stars indoors to planetariums
Picture this: a small audience is quietly ushered into a darkened room. They gasp in awe, as a brilliant night sky shines above. They wonder – as many after them will do – what trickery has made the roof above their heads disappear? But this is a performance; the stars above an ingenious projection. For …
Rubin Observatory assembling the most complete time-lapse record of the universe
On 23 June 2025, the world will get a look at the first images from one of the most powerful telescopes ever built: the Vera C. Rubin Observatory. Perched high in the Chilean Andes, the observatory will take hundreds of images of the southern hemisphere sky, every night for 10 years. In doing so, it …
Voyager Missions Word Search
Launched in 1977, NASA’s Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft have been expanding our knowledge of the solar system ever since. The twin probes are now traversing interstellar space. We’ve hidden 27 words related to the missions. They may be placed horizontal, vertical, or even diagonal. Good luck!
Why meteorites have less water than the asteroid bits returned by space probes
Much of what scientists know about the early solar system comes from meteorites – ancient rocks that travel through space and survive a fiery plunge through Earth’s atmosphere. Among meteorites, one type – called carbonaceous chondrites – stands out as the most primitive and provides a unique glimpse into the solar system’s infancy. The carbonaceous …
Stay busy with NASA’s Artemis coloring and activity pages
Put the “art” in Artemis with these 18 coloring and activity pages created by NASA. Through NASA’s Artemis program, the SLS rocket will power a series of increasingly complex missions to the Moon. After you have completed your artwork, share your masterpiece with the hashtag #ColorWithNASA on social media. You also can try to complete …
Artemis I Mission Word Search
NASA is launching the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and the Orion human-crated spacecraft on their maiden voyage – a long test flight around the Moon and back. We’re celebrating the milestone here at RocketSTEM with a section devoted to Artemis-related articles and activities. In our latest Word Search puzzle, we’ve hidden 33 words related to …
James Webb Space Telescope: How to send a giant telescope to space – and why
The James Webb Space Telescope is scheduled to head to space on Dec. 22, 2021. With it, astronomers hope to find the first galaxies to form in the universe, will search for Earthlike atmospheres around other planets, and accomplish many other scientific goals. I am an astronomer and the principal investigator for the Near Infrared …
QuizMe: Pluto
Test your knowledge about Pluto. This space quiz contains 15 questions about Pluto, its moons, and our exploration of the former ninth planet, now classified by scientists as a dwarf planet. Discovered by humanity less than 100 years ago, Pluto has largely remained an enigma ever since. It was not until 2015 that the first …
International Space Station Word Search
Humanity marked 20 years of continuous habitation of the orbiting International Space Station on November 2, 2020. We’re celebrating the milestone by posting a variety of articles about the ISS during this historic year. In our latest Word Search puzzle, we’ve hidden 39 words related to the ISS. The words may be placed horizontal, vertical, …
New NASA Posters Feature Cosmic Frights for Halloween
Depicting some of the Universe’s most mysterious astronomical phenomena with artistic flairs, NASA has released its latest Galaxy of Horrors posters just in time for Halloween. Presented in the style of vintage horror movie advertisements, the new posters feature a dead galaxy, an explosive gamma ray burst caused by colliding stellar corpses, and ever-elusive dark matter. …