Dec 4, 2013 | Blog, Comets, Education Station, European Space Agency, Exploration, International Cooperation, Kids Space, Our Solar System, Space and Science
Rosetta, Europe’s comet chaser is about to get a wake-up call. Early next year — on January 20th — the European Space Agency’s Rosetta spacecraft will yawn to life from its 957-day hibernation. For the outbound probe, it’s the beginning of an eventful...
Dec 3, 2013 | Ask the Experts — Answers, Benefits of Space Exploration, Blog, Education Station, Exploration, International Space Station, Kids Space, Multimedia, NASA, Space Research, Why Space
Origami is a source of inspiration for mechanical engineering students who are working with NASA/JPL, the National Science Foundation, and origami master Robert Lang to design novel mechanisms for use in space and in other applications. Brigham Young University (BYU)...
Nov 30, 2013 | Blog, Education Station, Exploration, Kids Space, Mars, NASA, Uncategorized
NASA’s Curiosity rover on Mars is busy surveying its surroundings. The rover is driving from a flatter area where it worked for several months after landing in 2012 to the slopes of a mountain 3 miles (5 kilometers) high, Mount Sharp. Pressing forward, Curiosity is...
Nov 26, 2013 | Blog, China, Education Station, Exploration, Kids Space, The Moon
On Mars there’s Curiosity, Spirit and Opportunity – veteran NASA robot rovers of the Red Planet. But add a new mobile robot’s name to the space exploration history books. According to China’s Xinhua news agency, the “Yutu” or Jade Rabbit is the name for the country’s...
Nov 23, 2013 | Ask the Expert, Asteroid Exploration, Blog, Commercial Space, Education Station, Exploration, Kids Space, NASA, Our Solar System, Planet Earth, Space Research
NASA and Planetary Resources Inc., of Bellevue, Wash., are partnering to develop crowd-sourced software solutions to enhance detection of near-Earth objects using agency-funded data. The agreement is NASA’s first partnership associated with the agency’s...
Nov 22, 2013 | Blog, Education Station, Exploration, International Cooperation, Kids Space, Mars, NASA, Space and Science
Two spacecraft are headed for Mars: NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution mission (MAVEN) and the Indian Space Research Organization’s Mangalyaan probe, also called Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM). MAVEN was hurled Marsward on November 18 and is on track to arrive...
Nov 20, 2013 | Ask the Experts — Answers, Asteroid Exploration, Benefits of Space Exploration, Blog, Education Station, Exploration, International Cooperation, Kids Space, Multimedia, NASA, Our Solar System, Planet Earth, Space and Science, Space Research, Why Space
That Feb. 15 asteroid that burst over the Russian city of Chelyabinsk has reset thinking regarding damage caused by smaller space rocks. Also, there may be more small asteroids than formerly thought. These findings and other research observations are on view tonight...
Nov 19, 2013 | Blog, Comets, Education Station, Exploration, Kids Space, Our Solar System, Space and Science, The Sun
Scientists are reporting that Comet ISON appears to have lost individual fragments in the past days. Images taken of the speedy object show two wing-shaped features in the comet’s atmosphere. The researchers’ analyses show two striking features within the comet’s...
Nov 14, 2013 | Ask the Expert, Blog, Education Station, Exploration, Kids Space, NASA, Our Solar System, Space and Science
NASA’s MESSENGER spacecraft is orbiting Mercury and has been able to snag images of two comets: 2P/Encke and C/2012 S1 (ISON. Later this month, both of these comets will be substantially brighter and much closer to Mercury and the Sun. MESSENGER has been poised for...
Nov 13, 2013 | Blog, Commercial Space, Education Station, Exploration, Kids Space, NASA, Space Race, Space Research, The Moon
At a press conference today, representatives of NASA and Bigelow Aerospace discussed the options for commercial sector involvement in space exploration beyond low-Earth orbit. Under a NASA Space Act Agreement, Bigelow Aerospace of North Las Vegas, Nevada has scoped...