Jun 29, 2011 | Ask the Expert, Blog, Comets, Education Station, Exploration, International Cooperation, NASA, Our Solar System, Space and Science, The Moon
Scientists are puzzled. Our Moon is dotted with swirls, considered among the most puzzling features on the surface of the Moon. These bright, looping patterns are unlike anything seen in the solar system. While the origin of the lunar swirls has been discussed for...
Jun 24, 2011 | Ask the Expert, Blog, Education Station, Exploration, International Space Station, Kids Space, NASA, Planet Earth, Space and Science, Space Research
The development of exam techniques for use on the International Space Station (ISS) is expanding the use of ultrasound on Earth. These techniques are in use by non-physician astronauts to perform ultrasound exams on their space colleagues. Why ultrasound? Ultrasound...
Jun 21, 2011 | Ask the Expert, Benefits of Space Exploration, Blog, Education Station, Exploration, International Cooperation, Kids Space, NASA, Our Solar System, Space and Science, Space Research, Why Space
There’s no question that the search for life elsewhere is a profound enterprise in human history. As the quest continues to search and find other planets circling other stars, the hunger to find out just how crowded the universe is out there also grows. The search for...
Jun 14, 2011 | Ask the Expert, Blog, Commercial Space, Education Station, Space Tourism, Spaceports
Another glide flight of the SpaceShipTwo took place today at the Mojave Air and Space Port in California. Today’s high-altitude drop from the carrier airplane – WhiteKnightTwo – was the eleventh glide flight for the SpaceShipTwo. Onboard the vessel, putting the...
Jun 13, 2011 | Ask the Expert, Asteroid Exploration, Blog, Education Station, Exploration, NASA, Our Solar System, Space and Science
NASA’s Dawn mission was launched in September 2007. The spacecraft is now approaching Vesta, a protoplanet that is currently some 143 million miles from Earth. Powered by an ion engine, Dawn will arrive at Vesta next month. Starting in September, the spacecraft will...
May 26, 2011 | Ask the Expert, Benefits of Space Exploration, Blog, Book Reviews, Education Station, Exploration, Kids Space, Mars, NASA, Our Solar System, Planet Earth, Space and Science, Why Space
First Contact – Scientific Breakthroughs in the Hunt for Life Beyond Earth by Marc Kaufman; Simon & Schuster; New York, New York; $26.00 (hard cover); 2011. The author is a science and space reporter for the Washington Post – and capitalizes on his aptitude...
Apr 24, 2011 | Ask the Expert, Blog, Book Reviews, Education Station, Exploration, Kids Space, NASA, Our Solar System, Planet Earth, Space and Science, Space Research, Why Space
Exoplanets, Edited by Sara Seager; University of Arizona Press; Tucson, Arizona; $35.00 (Cloth); 2011. The editor of this volume, Sara Seager, is the Ellen Swallow Richards Professor of Planetary Science and Professor of Physics at the Massachusetts Institute of...
Apr 21, 2011 | Ask the Expert, Blog, Education Station, Exploration, NASA, Planet Earth, Space and Science
Atmospheric sciences professor Stephen Nesbitt, left, and graduate student Daniel Harnos analyzed passive microwave satellite data to identify telltale structural rings in tropical storms that are about to intensify into hurricanes. Photo courtesy Univ. of Illinois/L....
Apr 19, 2011 | Ask the Expert, Blog, Education Station, Exploration, International Cooperation, NASA, Our Solar System, Space and Science, The Sun
NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory has been used to monitor the birth of a sunspot over a period of eight hours. Researchers at the University of Central Lancashire made use of the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) to observe the growth of the sunspot. How sunspots...
Apr 11, 2011 | Ask the Expert, Blog, Commercial Space, Education Station, Exploration, Kids Space, Space Race, Space Tourism, Spaceports
The call is out for astronaut-pilots to fly passengers on suborbital treks. Credit: Virgin Galactic Wanted: Pilot-Astronauts! The call is out from the private spaceliner group, Virgin Galactic, regarding its need for pilot-astronauts. Bankrolled by the UK’s Sir...