Aug 3, 2011 | Blog, Education Station, Exploration, NASA, Our Solar System, Space and Science, Uncategorized
NASA’s Juno spacecraft is ready to begin its five-year journey to Jupiter with a boost from Cape Canaveral this Friday, August 5th. On that day, the launch window opens at 11:34 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time and remains open through 12:43 EDT. Weather appears to be...
Jul 31, 2011 | Asteroid Exploration, Blog, Education Station, Exploration, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Kids Space, Our Solar System
The saga behind the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s (JAXA) Hayabusa asteroid probe is headed for another landing, this time on the silver screen. In fact, a trio of movies is on tap focused on the space probe’s seven year journey to asteroid Itokowa and its...
Jul 30, 2011 | Asteroid Exploration, Commercial Space, Constellation Program, Exploration, International Space Station, Space Shuttle, NASA, Mars, The Moon
Americans disagree with the decision to retire NASA’s space shuttle program and fear the U. S. will fall behind rival nations in the exploration of space, according to a late July poll by IBOPE Zogby. The majority of those surveyed also believe the U. S. needs...
Jul 29, 2011 | Blog, Education Station, European Space Agency, Exploration, Kids Space, Mars, NASA, Space and Science
When NASA’s mega-Mars rover, Curiosity, lands in August 2012, its target zone is Gale Crater. The robot will touch down at the foot of a layered mountain inside the crater that spans 96 miles (154 kilometers) in diameter. This geological feature also holds a mountain...
Jul 28, 2011 | Blog, Education Station, Exploration, Kids Space, Space Research
Kavya Manyapu is a Boeing 777 aircraft engineer. While airplane travel is one thing…a space trek to Mars is on her mind too. Manyapu recently spent two weeks in a desert environment with limited water and food supplies. She took part in an Analogue Mars Habitat...
Jul 28, 2011 | Asteroid Exploration, Education Station, Exploration, Kids Space, Mars, NASA, Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle, Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle
NASA’s Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle, or MPCV, is moving forward as the space agency’s deep space vehicle for human exploration. At the Lockheed Martin Waterton facility near Denver, Colorado, work is underway to integrate the Crew Module and the tower-like Launch...
Jul 25, 2011 | Blog, Education Station, Exploration, Hubble Space Telescope, International Cooperation, International Space Station, Space Shuttle, NASA, NASA, Space Shuttle
Check out this just issued and impressive video from the Nature Video Channel. NASA’s 30-year Space Transportation System (STS) program came to an end on 21st July 2011. The Space Shuttle fleet delivered the Hubble Space Telescope, the International Space Station, and...
Jul 24, 2011 | Biographies, Blog, Book Reviews, Education Station, Exploration, NASA, The Moon
Falling to Earth: An Apollo 15 Astronaut’s Journey to the Moon by Al Worden with Francis French; Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C.; $29.95 (hardcover); July 2011. This is a great read, one that is frank in telling the tale of an Apollo astronaut first...
Jul 24, 2011 | Asteroid Exploration, Blog, Education Station, Exploration, International Cooperation, NASA, Our Solar System
NASA’s Dawn spacecraft has relayed an impressive new image of asteroid Vesta. Making use of its Framing Camera – a project funded by Germany’s Max Planck Society, the DLR German Aerospace Center, and NASA/JPL — the smallest detail visible on Vesta is about 1.2...
Jul 23, 2011 | Exploration, Hubble Space Telescope, International Space Station, Space Shuttle, NASA, Mars, Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle, Planet Earth, The Moon, The Sun
The crew of NASA’s final shuttle mission completed the last leg of their mission on Friday, as they returned to Houston, where hundreds from the Texas city welcomed them back as colleagues and neighbors. Neither the rush hour traffic nor the high heat seemed...