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 …