Jul 24, 2013 | Benefits of Space Exploration, Comets, Exploration, Hubble Space Telescope, NASA, Our Solar System, Planet Earth, Space and Science, Space Research
Though more than three million miles distant, Comet ISON, also known as the “soda pop” comet, is putting on quite a show for the planet’s best equipped observatories. The active comet is headed heads towards a close encounter with the sun in late...
Jul 23, 2013 | Blog, Education Station, Exploration, Kids Space, Mars, NASA
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory has issued a map showing the route driven by the rover Curiosity through the 342 Martian day, or sol, as of July 21, 2013. Shown in the map, the numbering of the dots along the line indicates the sol number of each drive. North is up....
Jul 23, 2013 | Exploration, International Space Station, NASA, Planet Earth
NASA appointed a Mishap Investigation Board on Tuesday to unravel a July 16 space suit leak that released at least a liter of water, much of it into the helmet of European Space Agency astronaut Luca Parmitano. NASA’s Mission Control was forced to short...
Jul 22, 2013 | Blog, Education Station, Exploration, Kids Space, NASA, Our Solar System, Planet Earth, The Moon
Two spacecraft have managed to snag images of our Earth and the Moon, but from far, far away. NASA’s MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) orbiter circling Mercury took the image July 19 as part of a campaign to search for natural...
Jul 18, 2013 | Blog, Education Station, Exploration, Kids Space, NASA, Our Solar System, Planet Earth, The Moon
NASA’s MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) spacecraft will capture images of Earth on July 19 and 20. The images on the second day will also include pictures of the Moon where all six of the Apollo landing sites will be...
Jul 17, 2013 | European Space Agency, Exploration, International Space Station, NASA, Space and Science, Space Research
European Space Agency astronaut Luca Parmitano joined in a NASA investigation of the leak that allowed one to two liters of water to seep into his space suit and helmet during a spacewalk with NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy on Tuesday. The planned six to seven hour...
Jul 15, 2013 | Benefits of Space Exploration, Exploration, Hubble Space Telescope, NASA, Our Solar System, Space and Science, Space Research
Some persistent detective work by SETI astronomer Mark Showalter turned up a tiny new moon of Neptune, the distant blue-green planet’s 14th. Showalter made the discovery July 1 after tracking the movement of a white dot that surfaced over and over again in 150...
Jul 13, 2013 | Ask the Expert, Blog, Education Station, European Space Agency, Exploration, International Cooperation, Kids Space, NASA, Our Solar System, Planet Earth, Space and Science, Why Space
Space is about to become a giant photo booth. This coming week, step outside and get your picture taken. It’s a “long shot” that’s for sure…but the camera is adjusted to infinity. On July 19, the Cassini spacecraft that’s now in orbit around Saturn will be positioned...
Jul 11, 2013 | Asteroid Exploration, Benefits of Space Exploration, Comets, European Space Agency, Exploration, International Cooperation, Mars, NASA, Our Solar System, Planet Earth, Roscosmos, Space and Science
NASA is refining plans for a second SUV-sized Curiosity rover mission to Mars in 2020 that would search for evidence of past biological activity, a potential international enterprise whose results may address the prospects for life elsewhere in the solar system and...
Jul 10, 2013 | Blog, Education Station, Exploration, Kids Space, NASA, Our Solar System, Pluto, Space Research
NASA’s Pluto-bound New Horizons spacecraft has spotted the ice-covered moon, Charon. The largest of Pluto’s five known moons, Charon orbits about 12,000 miles (more than 19,000 kilometers) away from Pluto itself. New Horizons spacecraft used its highest-resolution...