National Aeronautics and Space Administrion

Since its inception in 1958, NASA has accomplished many great scientific and technological feats in air and space. NASA technology also has been adapted for many nonaerospace uses by the private sector. NASA remains a leading force in scientific research and in stimulating public interest in aerospace exploration, as well as science and technology in general. Perhaps more importantly, our exploration of space has taught us to view Earth, ourselves, and the universe in a new way. While the tremendous technical and scientific accomplishments of NASA demonstrate vividly that humans can achieve previously inconceivable feats, we also are humbled by the realization that Earth is just a tiny "blue marble" in the cosmos. Check out our "Thinking About NASA History" folder online as an introduction to how history can help you.

Saturday, August 31, 2024

Event Horizon Telescope

"The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) was designed to capture images of some of the most gargantuan structures in the universe — and a new observation just pushed it to its limits."https://www.astronomy.com/science/event-horizon-telescope-captures-highest-resolution-images-ever-taken-from-the-ground/?utm_source=join1440&utm_medium=email&utm_placement=newsletter

Dark Matter

"Dark matter isn’t simply dark: it’s invisible. Light of all types seems to pass through as though it’s completely transparent. However, dark matter does have mass, which we see by its gravitational influence."https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/research/topic/dark-energy-and-dark-matter

Deep Purple Telescope

"The Deep Purple telescope developed by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) researchers is now operational in space."https://www.llnl.gov/article/51736/deep-purple-payload-successfully-deployed-operational?utm_source=join1440&utm_medium=email&utm_placement=newsletter

Tuesday, August 27, 2024

Mars sized planet

"Roughly 4.5 billion years ago, a Mars-sized celestial body slammed into our home planet."


https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/our-moon-was-likely-covered-in-a-magma-ocean-long-ago-and-new-data-from-indias-lunar-rover-supports-that-theory-180984963/?utm_source=smithsoniandaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=editorial&spMailingID=50118209&spUserID=MTQzNjUzNTAxNTQ5OAS2&spJobID=2762942663&spReportId=Mjc2Mjk0MjY2MwS2

Monday, August 26, 2024

SpaceX

"NASA decided Saturday it’s too risky to bring two astronauts back to Earth in Boeing’s troubled new capsule, and they’ll have to wait until next year for a ride home with SpaceX."https://apnews.com/article/boeing-spacex-nasa-astronauts-starliner-e4e81e5a6c23dee2f8f72260ddea011c

First piece of ISS

"The first piece of the International Space Station was launched in November 1998."https://www.nasa.gov/learning-resources/for-kids-and-students/what-is-the-international-space-station-grades-5-8/

Sunday, August 25, 2024

Backyard World

"Most familiar stars peacefully orbit the center of the Milky Way. But citizen scientists working on NASA’s Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 project have helped discover an object moving so fast that it will escape the Milky Way’s gravity and shoot into intergalactic space."

https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/nasa-citizen-scientists-spot-object-moving-1-million-miles-per-hour?utm_source=iContact&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nasajpl&utm_content=wise20240815

Saturday, August 24, 2024

Starliner

"NASA officials will announce their final decision on Saturday as to whether two NASA astronauts — Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams — will return to Earth on Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft or hitch a ride home with SpaceX instead — a decision that could have a huge impact across the rapidly evolving space industry."

https://techcrunch.com/2024/08/22/nasa-to-decide-saturday-whether-astronauts-will-ride-boeings-starliner-home-or-use-spacexs-dragon-instead/

Friday, August 23, 2024

Theia

"Around 4.5 billion years ago, a Mars-sized protoplanet referred to as Theia had a very bad day."

https://www.popsci.com/science/moon-magma-ocean/

Chandrayaan-3

"India's Chandrayaan-3 mission has uncovered evidence of a former magma ocean near the Moon's South Pole, a region previously unexplored in such detail."

https://www.nature.com/articles/d44151-024-00132-5

Wednesday, August 21, 2024

Magnetosphere

"A magnetosphere is the region around a planet dominated by the planet's magnetic field."

https://science.nasa.gov/heliophysics/focus-areas/magnetosphere-ionosphere/?utm_source=join1440&utm_medium=email&utm_placement=newsletter

NASA Telescope

"Using images from a NASA telescope, three amateur scientists discovered a star-like object sprinting through space — so fast, in fact, it'll whiz right out of the Milky Way."https://mashable.com/article/nasa-neowise-discovery-intergalactic-space?utm_source=join1440&utm_medium=email&utm_placement=newsletter

Juice

"The European Space Agency's Juice mission is on its way to explore Jupiter’s icy moons, arriving in a few years, but to get there it's stealing some orbital velocity from Earth, Venus, and – for the first time – the Moon."https://www.iflscience.com/first-photos-from-esas-juice-as-it-performed-never-before-attempted-gravity-maneuver-75621?utm_source=join1440&utm_medium=email&utm_placement=newsletter

Tuesday, August 20, 2024

Juno Developments

"Scientists with NASA’s Juno mission have developed the first complete 3D radiation map of the Jupiter system. " https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/danish-instrument-helps-nasas-juno-spacecraft-see-radiation?utm_source=iContact&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nasajpl&utm_content=juno20240820

Friday, August 16, 2024

Solar Eclipse History

"For most of human history, cosmic events weren’t understood to be the simple result of physics—instead, they were messages from the divine or omens regarding the future. This is especially true for a total solar eclipse, where the moon entirely obscures the sun, bringing nighttime for a few bizarre minutes during the day."https://www.popsci.com/science/solar-eclipse-history/?utm_term=pscene081624&utm_campaign=PopSci_Actives_Newsletter&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email

Thursday, August 15, 2024

Nasa astronauts

"Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, the two NASA astronauts stuck on the International Space Station due to delays with the Boeing Starliner aircraft, previously said they were doing great while waiting to come back to Earth."

https://www.businessinsider.com/boeing-starliner-pilot-butch-wilmore-sleeping-bag-on-the-iss-2024-8

Stars to Sand Ratio

Snapple Real Fact #1440: There are more stars in the universe than grains of sand on Earth.

Tuesday, August 13, 2024

Spacecraft

"Nearly 15 years ago, a relatively small spacecraft about the size of a polar bear launched into space with a big mission: to map the entire sky at infrared wavelengths with a sensitivity up to hundreds of thousands of times better than previous surveys."https://www.caltech.edu/about/news/nasas-infrared-survey-telescope-ready-to-retire?utm_source=join1440&utm_medium=email&utm_placement=newsletter

Swift Tuttle

"Each July and August the Earth encounters debris left behind from comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle."https://www.amsmeteors.org/2024/08/viewing-the-perseid-meteor-shower-in-2024/

Perseids

"Every August, just when many people go vacationing in the country where skies are dark, the best-known meteor shower makes its appearance: The Perseids."https://www.space.com/perseid-meteor-shower-2024-peak

M Dwarf Stars

"Using NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), an international team of astronomers has detected two new super-Earth exoplanets orbiting nearby M-dwarf stars."


https://phys.org/news/2024-08-astronomers-super-earths-orbiting-nearby.html?utm_source=join1440&utm_medium=email&utm_placement=newsletter

Thursday, August 8, 2024

ISS

"The two astronauts who went up to the International Space Station (ISS) on Boeing's Starliner may have to come home on a different spacecraft, NASA officials said during a press conference Wednesday."


https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/nasa-boeings-starliner-astronauts-home-spacecraft/story?id=112647562

Monday, August 5, 2024

Meteor zipping through Space

"It doesn't have the name recognition of Halley's Comet, but this enormous snowball zipping through space has fascinated at least one astronomer night after summer night for its shape-shifting tail. " https://mashable.com/article/comet-2024-photograph-zigzagging-tail?utm_source=join1440&utm_medium=email&utm_placement=newsletter

Saturday, August 3, 2024

Moon

"When you learn about the moon in school, you’re generally taught that its gravity is insufficient to capture and retain any significant atmosphere." https://www.popsci.com/science/moon-metal-atmosphere/

Geometric Storms

"The sun has been putting on quite a show this week, sparking impressive auroras across the U.S. and Canada, and it isn't finished yet. " https://www.space.com/auroras-this-weekend-northern-lights-heightened-geomagnetic-activity

Canadian Robotic Arm

"A Canadian robot arm on the International Space Station is days from a big milestone." https://www.space.com/iss-canadarm2-robot-arm-canada-50th-spacecraft-catch

Friday, August 2, 2024

NASA 1958

"Since 1958, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration has brought the mysteries of the cosmos down to Earth, inspiring millions across the world to set their eyes on the final frontier. " https://discover.join1440.com/topics/nasa?pinned-resource=jfks-historic-1962-speech-on-why-we-go-to-the-moon

NASA beginning

"Since 1958, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration has brought the mysteries of the cosmos down to Earth, inspiring millions across the world to set their eyes on the final frontier. " https://discover.join1440.com/topics/nasa?utm_source=join1440&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=daily-digest#video-gallery

Sky Watchers August 19

"Monday, Aug. 19 brings the start of another major political convention in Chicago. And that night, skywatchers will be able to gaze upon a most "unconventional" full moon, because it will also be — all politics aside — a "Blue Moon."" https://www.space.com/blue-moon-august-2024