Jul 17, 2011 | Asteroid Exploration, Blog, Education Station, Exploration, International Cooperation, Kids Space, NASA, Our Solar System, Space and Science
It’s official. NASA’s Dawn spacecraft has relayed information to confirm that it has entered an orbit around asteroid Vesta. Dawn has become the first probe ever to enter orbit around an object in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Researchers are now...
Jul 15, 2011 | Ask the Expert, Blog, Education Station, Exploration, International Cooperation, NASA, Planet Earth, Space and Science, Space Shuttle
The worrisome build-up of human-caused orbital debris has reached a critical point. Collisions between objects will continue to occur, and so will impact damages to operational spacecraft. The trend will get worse unless more aggressive actions — such as active...
Jul 14, 2011 | Blog, Education Station, Exploration, Hubble Space Telescope, Kids Space, Mars, NASA, Uncategorized
The word from a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey is that 58 percent of American adults consider it likely life exists on other planets. Furthermore, Forty-nine percent (49%) say it’s likely that a human will walk on Mars in the next 25 years, down...
Jul 14, 2011 | Asteroid Exploration, Blog, Education Station, Exploration, NASA, Our Solar System
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA NASA’s Dawn spacecraft has taken new imagery of asteroid Vesta. As the spacecraft approaches Vesta, surface details are coming into focus. Starting late July 15, the ion-engine propelled spacecraft will spend about one...
Jul 13, 2011 | Benefits of Space Exploration, Blog, Commercial Space, Education Station, Exploration, Market Research, NASA, Space Shuttle, This Week in Space, Why Space
A just released Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey has found that 50% of Americans polled say the Space Shuttle program worth what it cost taxpayers. As the last U.S. space shuttle now circles the planet, the survey found that Americans are slightly more...
Jul 11, 2011 | Asteroid Exploration, Blog, Education Station, Exploration, International Cooperation, Kids Space, NASA, Our Solar System, Space and Science, This Week in Space
Standby for up-close looks at the large asteroid Vesta! This object resides in the main asteroid belt and is the target of NASA’s Dawn spacecraft. Spacecraft controllers are ready to go into orbit around Vesta on July 16. Once on duty, scientists will begin gathering...
Jul 7, 2011 | Ask the Expert, Asteroid Exploration, Blog, Education Station, Exploration, International Cooperation, Kids Space, Mars, NASA, Space Race, Space Shuttle
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Florida – The Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) is being pursued as the way to explore beyond low Earth orbit – back to the Moon, out to asteroids, and eventually to Mars. Regarding the decision to press ahead with Orion, Lori Garver, NASA...
Jul 3, 2011 | Blog, Education Station, Exploration, Kids Space, Mars, NASA, Our Solar System, Space and Science, The Moon
Now in prep status, a trio of NASA interplanetary missions that will be dispatched from Florida – headed for Jupiter, Earth’s Moon and Mars. First departure in early August is the Juno spacecraft that is targeted for giant Jupiter. Following a five-year cruise to...
Jun 30, 2011 | Ask the Expert, Blog, Education Station, Exploration, Kids Space, NASA, Space and Science, The Moon
NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) continues to crank out scads of data and imagery of Earth’s Moon. The Moon-circling spacecraft was launched on June 18, 2009. It has been busy providing new scientific information about our celestial neighbor in gravitational...
Jun 29, 2011 | Blog, Education Station, Exploration, Kids Space, Mars, NASA, Our Solar System, Space and Science, This Week in Space
This day…50 years ago! The Earth-orbiting Transit IV-A became the first flight test of a nuclear power source developed for use in spacecraft. Transit IV-A was powered both by solar cells and a radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG) using Plutonium 238 for fuel....