Dec 11, 2013 | Blog, Book Reviews, Education Station, European Space Agency, Exploration, Kids Space, Mars, MESSENGER, NASA, Our Solar System, Planet Earth, Space and Science, The Moon, Why Space
Alien Seas – Oceans in Space by Michael Carroll, Rosaly Lopes (Editors); Springer, New York; $29.99 (hardcover); 2013. Thanks to the editors for this captivating “wet look” at an under-appreciated aspect of planets and moons in our celestial neighborhood – those “seas...
Dec 8, 2013 | Blog, Education Station, Exploration, International Cooperation, Kids Space, Mars, Multimedia, Space Research
The planet Mars may be on the receiving end of a “Time Capsule of Humanity” orchestrated by an international team of university students. The students are proposing to fly their time capsule to Mars via a CubeSat platform. This vehicle would carry a unique payload: a...
Dec 6, 2013 | Blog, China, Education Station, Exploration, Kids Space, The Moon
China’s Chang’e 3 lunar probe has successfully entered lunar orbit. Braking into a circular orbit around the Moon, the spacecraft is set to attempt a soft landing on moonscape in mid-December. According to the Beijing Aerospace Control Center (BACC) the craft is in a...
Dec 5, 2013 | Ask the Expert, Blog, Education Station, Exploration, International Cooperation, Kids Space, Mars, NASA, Space and Science
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover has surpassed 100,000 zaps of its ChemCam laser instrument. ChemCam zaps rocks with a high-powered laser to determine their composition and carries a camera that can survey the Martian landscape. The ChemCam concept was developed at Los...
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...