Date Published	Title	Trivia Text
2005-01-19	Huygens Probe Lands on Saturn's Largest Moon!	Congratulations, ESA! The European Space Agency's (ESA's) Huygens probe, carried to Saturn by the Cassini spacecraft, parachuted to the surface of Saturn's giant moon Titan on Friday, Jan. 14th, finally revealing what lies beneath Titan's thick orange clouds. To learn more, visit the Cassini-Huygens Home page.  For students who want to learn more, visit the Cassini-Huygens Kids Page.
2004-11-18	Happy Thanksgiving!	Since many schools are taking the rest of the week off, so are we!  We will be back next week with two exciting, new articles and many more lessons for you to use in the classroom.  Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving!
2004-11-17	Do you always count by starting with one?	Most scientific laws begin with one.  For example, Kepler's and Newton's Laws begin with one, with their first law being the most fundamental.  However, there is a set of four laws that ends in three, so it must not have started with one.  Can you find the name of that law, the area of science that these laws pertain, and why did they not start with one?
2004-10-21	Last Eclipse of 2004	Don't miss your last chance to see an eclipse this year. On Wednesday, October 27, 2004, a total lunar eclipse will be visible in North & South America, as well as in western Europe & Africa. For more information, including viewing times for your area, click here.
2004-01-01	Earth at Perihelion	On January 4th, 2004, the Earth will make its annual closest approach to the Sun -- an event astronomers call perihelion. To learn more read Earth at Perihelion or check out the Earth's seasons, equinoxes, solstices, perihelion, and aphelion-1992-2020.
2003-12-18	Winter Solstice	December 22 marks the first day of winter or winter solstice.  The winter solstice marks the shortest day and the longest night of the year. The Sun appears at its lowest point in the sky, and its noontime elevation appears to be the same for several days before and after the solstice. The word solstice means the Sun stopping.  Following the winter solstice, the days begin to grow longer and the nights shorter.  To learn more click on Seasons Of The Year.
2003-08-21	The Red Planet	The Red Planet is about to be spectacular! This month and next, Earth is catching up with Mars in an encounter that will culminate in the closest approach between the two planets in recorded history. The next time Mars may come this close is in 2287. The encounter will culminate on August 27th when Mars comes to within 34,649,589 miles of Earth and will be (next to the moon) the brightest object in the night sky. Mars will be easy to spot. By the end of August when the two planets are closest, Mars will rise at nightfall and reach its highest point in the sky at 12:30a.m.
2003-05-29	Trivia	June 3rd, 1965—First U.S. Spacewalk Astronaut Ed White made the United States' first spacewalk during the Gemini 4 mission.  The EVA started over the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii and lasted 23 minutes, ending over the Gulf of Mexico.  To see photographs of the spacewalk, click here.   What was the first food consumed in space by an American astronaut? The first U.S. astronaut to eat in space was John Glenn during the second manned Mercury space flight flown in April, 1962. The first food item he ate was applesauce packaged in an aluminum tube, similar to that of a toothpaste tube.   On which mission were dining utensils first used? Eating utensils were first used during the Apollo 8 mission in December 1968. Before Apollo 8, food and beverages were either consumed through a straw or tube or were eaten by hand.
2003-05-22	Famous Dates In May	May 22, 1906 —The Wright brothers receive a patent on their flying machine.  This patent protected their ideas and prevented others from stealing their airplane design.  To see a picture of the patent for the flying machine, click here. May 28, 1959 —Monkeynauts Able and Baker were launched in the nosecone of a Jupiter rocket. After their 15 minute flight, the monkeys were successfully recovered.  They withstood forces 38 times the force of Earth's gravity and were weightless for 9 minutes.  They were the first animals to be recovered alive after a spaceflight.
2003-05-08	May 14th: Skylab Launch	America's 1st Space Station, Skylab, was launched 30 years ago on May 14, 1973. Skylab was home to three 3-man crews who occupied Skylab for a total of 171 days. The empty Skylab fell to Earth on July 11, 1979.
2003-05-01	First American In Space	On May 5, 1961, Alan Shepard was the first American to journey into space.  His Freedom 7 Mercury capsule flew a suborbital flight lasting 15 minutes 22 seconds. His spacecraft splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean, where he and Freedom 7 were recovered by helicopter and transported to the awaiting aircraft carrier U.S.S. Lake Champlain. He was launched by a Mercury-Redstone rocket.
2003-04-17	Apollo 13 Landing	On April 17th, 1970 the world watched as Apollo 13 landed after its ill-fated trip to the moon.  An oxygen tank explosion crippled the spacecraft on its way to the moon, keeping the astronauts from landing on the moon.  The crew, Jim Lovell, Fred Haise, and John Swigert, used the lunar module as a lifeboat.  The astronauts’ fly-by of the moon made them the deepest voyagers into space, traveling 248,655 miles (400,085 km) from the Earth.
2003-03-06	Cosmonuat Elena Kondakova	March 8, 1995: Cosmonuat Elena Kondakova sets the first women's record for long-duration spaceflight with 169 days aboard Soyz and Mir.
2003-02-27	Apollo 9	March 3, 1969: Apollo 9 launches carrying the 1st Lunar Module into space. The Lunar Module, nicknamed "Spider" was tested in Earth orbit.
2003-02-20	Feb 20 - On This day	Feb. 20, 1986: Mir Space Station becomes the first third-generation Space Station launched. Mir means "peace" or "village" in Russian. Feb. 20, 1962: John Glenn becomes the first American to orbit the Earth. He made three Earth revolutions in his capsule named Friendship 7.
2003-02-20	Discovery of Pluto	Pluto was discovered on February 18, 1930 by Clyde Tombaugh at Lowell Observatory.
2003-02-13	Discovery of Pluto	Pluto was discovered on February 18, 1930 by Clyde Tombaugh at Lowell Observatory.
2003-01-30	Explorer I	The first U.S. satellite was launched into space 45 years ago on January 31. Which agency accomplished this milestone? Was it: The Army?; The Navy?; or NASA?
2003-01-23	Teacher - Astronaut Barbara Morgan	Barbara Morgan, the agency's first Educator Astronaut, has been assigned as a crew member on the November 2003 STS-118 Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station. Barbara Morgan has served in the Astronaut Office CAPCOM Branch, working in Mission Control as prime communicator with on-orbit crews. CAPCOM is a shortened version of the word Capsule Communicator. This flight control position title is a hold over from the Apollo mission days when the crew cabin was in fact a capsule. The word capsule does not apply anymore with the Space Shuttle but the word CAPCOM is still used out of tradition. The function of the CAPCOM is to relay information to the crew from Mission control via the air to ground voice loops. Only one person is designated to talk directly to the crew and that is the CAPCOM. This position is typically filled by another astronaut.
2003-01-16	STS	What does STS stand for? Space Transportation System
2003-01-09	Galileo Galilee	On January 11, 1610, Galileo Galilee discovers Jupiter's moon Ganymede Ganymede is the largest satellite in the solar system with a diameter of 5,268 km (3270 miles). It is larger than Mercury and Pluto, and three-quarters the size of Mars.
2002-12-12	The Wright Brothers	The Wright Brothers Orville and Wilbur Wright made their first successful flight on December 17, 1903. Make a model, work on a puzzle, read an article, or complete a lesson based on the The Wright Brothers. To find articles and lessons, simply type "The Wright Brothers" in the search box, located in the upper-right corner of the NASAexplores homepage.
2002-12-05	Wright Family	Wilbur and Orville Wright had two older brothers and a younger sister.   None of the Wright children were given a middle name.
2002-12-05	Walt Disney Day	December 5th is Walt Disney Day, marking his birth on this date in 1901. The cartoonist, film maker, and amusement park developer died on December 15, 1966.
2002-11-27	Happy Thanksgiving	Thanksgiving. Did you know that George Washington proclaimed the fourth Thursday of November as a day of thanksgiving, but it didn't become a national holiday until Congress established the day in 1941?
2002-11-21	The Third Spacefaring Nation	On November 26, 1965, which country became the third country to launch a satellite into orbit? A. On November 26, 1965, France became the third country to launch a satellite into orbit.
2002-11-14	Penumbral Eclipse of the Moon, 2002 November 19-20	What is a penumbral eclipse? A penumbral eclipse is the outer shadow in a zone where the Earth blocks part but not all of the Sun's rays from reaching the Moon. In contrast, the inner or umbral shadow is a region where the Earth blocks all direct sunlight from reaching the Moon. The beginning of the penumbral phase will be visible in Africa, Europe, Greenland, North America except the western part, the Arctic region, Central America, South America except the southern tip, extreme western Asia, the Atlantic Ocean, and the western Indian Ocean; the end visible in North America, the Arctic region, Central America, South America, Greenland, Europe, northern and western Russia, the western Middle East, western Africa, the Antarctic Peninsula, the Atlantic Ocean, and the eastern Pacific Ocean.
2002-11-07	ISS Marks Human Presence Milestone	The International Space Station marked a milestone in space history on November 2, 2002. The world's first international orbital outpost celebrates the second anniversary of continuous residency and permanent human presence in space. The anniversary marks an ambitious and virtually flawless year of expansion and research in space. The station has grown by more than 56,000 pounds in components added during the past 12 months. Over the last two years, the station's internal volume has increased from that of an efficiency apartment to a three-bedroom house. This year, construction began on the station's backbone, a truss structure that eventually will support almost an acre of solar panels to provide more power for orbital research than ever before. In the past 12 months, 33 people have visited or lived aboard the orbiting complex. A total of 112 visitors have been aboard the station since it was launched, including men and women from six nations.
2002-10-31	Microbes	The term "microbe" suggests tiny, tiny creatures. However, there are some huge microbes that can be seen with the unaided eye. Thiomargarita namibiensis is a gaint single-celled bacteria. It was found in the ocean floor off the coast of Namibia in Africa. It can grow to almost millimeter or 1/25th of an inch in diameter. That’s about as big as the period at the end of this sentence. T. namibiensis "eats" sulfur and "breathes" nitrate.
2002-10-24	High School Experiments	What was the first experiment to fly aboard the shuttle that was suggested by a high school student? The experiment that was suggested by a high school student was on the effect of space on insects —honey bees, moths,and house flies.
2002-10-24	Flight Hours	How many hours of flying time in a jet aircraft must a pilot have to apply to be an astronaut? 1,000 hours
2002-10-17	Birthday of NASA astronaut	October 17, 1956: Mae Carol Jemison was born.
2002-10-17	Goddard's Vision Day	On October 19, 1899, Robert Goddard thought of space travel while in a cherry tree.
2002-10-10	First Spacewalk by U.S. Woman	October 11, 1984: Katherine Sullivan, Ph.D., is the first U.S. woman to walk in space.
2002-10-10	Apollo 7	The first piloted Apollo mission, Apollo 7, took place October 11-12, 1968, with astronauts Wally Schirra, Donn Eisele, and Walter Cunnignham.
2002-10-10	Breaking Sound Barrier	Capt. Charles E. Yeager flies faster than sound for the first time in the rocket powered Bell X-1 on October 14, 1947.
2002-10-03	NASA Astronaut Richard F. Gordon, Jr.	Richard F. Gordon, Jr. was born October 5, 1929, in Seattle, Washington. Gordon, a Navy Captain, received his wings as a naval aviator in 1953. Winner of the Bendix Trophy Race from Los Angeles to New York in May 1961, he established a new speed record of 869.74 miles per hour and a transcontinental speed record of 2 hours and 47 minutes. Captain Gordon was one of the third group of astronauts named by NASA in October 1963. He served as backup pilot for the Gemini 8 flight, as pilot for the 3-day Gemini XI mission, as backup command pilot for Apollo 9, command module pilot for Apollo 12, and as backup spacecraft commander for Apollo 15. Captain Gordon retired from NASA and the US Navy in January 1972.
2002-09-26	NASA's Birthday	NASA became operational October 1, 1958. A full-scale political crisis broke out on October 4, 1957, when the Soviets launched Sputnik 1, the world's first artificial satellite. This had a "Pearl Harbor" effect on American public opinion, creating an illusion of a technological gap. As a direct result of this crisis, NASA began operations one year later, absorbing into it the earlier National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA); its 8,000 employees, an annual budget of $100 million, three major research laboratories—Langley Aeronautical Laboratory, Ames Aeronautical Laboratory, and Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory—and two smaller test facilities. It quickly incorporated other organizations into the new agency, notably the space science group of the Naval Research Laboratory in Maryland, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory managed by the California Institute of Technology for the Army, and the Army Ballistic Missile Agency in Huntsville, Alabama, where Wernher von Braun’s team of engineers were engaged in the development of large rockets. Eventually NASA created other Centers and today it has ten located around the country. For more information on the history of NASA, visit the NASA History Office.
2002-09-19	Equinox	Equinox literally means "equal night". On the vernal (spring) and autumnal (fall) equinoxes, day and night are the same length. On an equinox, the Sun is above the equator, so both the northern and southern hemispheres of the Earth are getting about the same amount of sunlight. Consequently, both hemispheres experience similar seasons (fall in one hemisphere and spring in the other). Spring equinox: the beginning of spring, often called the vernal equinox. Vernal means "of spring." It occurs on March 20th or 21st. Autumnal equinox: the beginning of autumn. It occurs on September 22nd or 23rd. In 2002, the autumnal equinox will occur on September 23rd at 12:56 AM EDT.
2002-09-12	Astronaut Mae Jemison	On September 12, 1992, Mae Jemison, M.D., became the first African-American woman in space as a mission specialist aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour. Dr. Jemison was born in Decatur, Alabama, on October 17, 1956. She enrolled at Stanford University at the age of 16 and in 1977 graduated with degrees in both chemical engineering and Afro-American studies. She received a Doctor of Medicine degree from Cornell University in 1981. Dr. Jemison speaks fluent Russian, Japanese, and Swahili, as well as English.
2002-09-05	1905 Wright Flyer	The Wright 1905 Flyer, the first practical airplane, flew for 33 minutes and 17 seconds, covering a distance of 20 miles, on October 4, 1905.
2002-08-29	Graf Zeppelin	August 29, 1929, the Graf Zeppelin, a rigid airship or dirigible, completed a historic flight around the world that included a nonstop leg from Friedrichshafen to Tokyo—a distance of almost 7,000 miles. The flight was as big a global news story as the moon landings at the time, and many thousands flocked to see the Graf Zeppelin on the scheduled stops. On these flights, as well as most others, letters from collectors from all over the world were carried. In fact, many of the flights were financed in part, and sometimes wholly, by the revenue derived from philatelic mail carried aboard during these flights. The size of the Graf was dictated only by the inner dimensions of the construction hanger. When completed, the airship was 100 feet in diameter, and 110 feet high including the gondola bumpers, bringing her within 2 feet of the rafters of her shed. During its operating life from 1928 to 1937, the Graf Zeppelin made 590 flights, covering more than a million miles. A total of 13,100 passengers were carried without a single injury.
2002-08-22	Three Amelia Earhart Records	On August 25, 1932, Amelia Earhart set three records for women flyers: the first non-stop U.S. crossing longest distance record a coast-to-coast record time
2002-08-15	Perseid Meteoroids	Perseid meteoroids are little pieces of the comet Swift-Tuttle. This comet has a lot of dusty debris that travels along with it. The dust forms a cloud that the Earth speeds through every year around the middle of August. Perseid meteors pose no danger to people on Earth. Although they strike our atmosphere with a velocity exceeding 130,000 miles per hour, these bits of space dust are extremely fragile and usually smaller than a grain of sand. Meteoroids from Comet Swift-Tuttle completely vaporize in the air about 100 kilometers above Earth's surface. They may be tiny, but these dust particles can make some very bright streaks of colorful light through the night sky! Click here to see and hear a video (3.9 MB) of the 2001 Perseid shower captured by Bill Cooke and Rob Suggs of Marshall Space Flight Center Space Environments Group in Huntsville, AL.
2002-08-08	Secret Signal	Q: Early in 1964, after his historic Mercury flight in 1961, NASA astronaut Alan Shepard was grounded from Gemini flights due to an inner ear problem. He was then named head of the NASA Astronaut Office, which he reportedly ran with an iron fist. Shepard's mood ranged from easygoing to very harsh. Shepard's secretary began to use a tactic to silently alert the Gemini astronauts entering his office to Shepard's mood of the day. What was it? A: Shepard's secretary, Gaye Alford, would hang one of two pictures on the wall in her office. The pictures were of Shepard smiling and scowling, and the appropriate on would be displayed as needed.
2002-08-01	Von Braun and Disney	Wernher Von Braun served as technical advisor on three space-related television films that Walt Disney produced in the 1950s. Together, von Braun (the engineer) and Disney (the artist) used the new medium of television to illustrate how high man might fly on the strength of technology and the spirit of human imagination. The first television show, "Man in Space," aired on ABC on March 9, 1955. Although the Disney producers employed humor and cartoon animation in the first part of "Man in Space," von Braun's on-camera segment was much more straightforward. "If we were to start today on an organized, well supported space program, I believe a practical passenger rocket could be built and tested within ten years," von Braun said. The second show in the series also aired in 1955 and was called "Man and the Moon." An educational brochure published to promote "Man and the Moon," said, "This film presents a realistic and believable trip to the moon in a rocket ship - not in some far off fantastic never-never land, but in the near foreseeable future."<16> Von Braun, complete with a slide rule in his pocket, narrates a section of the film and describes his ideas for a two-phase trip to the moon. The final show in the series aired on December 4, 1957, and was entitled "Mars and Beyond." An estimated 42 million people saw the first show in the Disney "science factual" series. <23> Contemporary television critics responded favorably to all three shows, and they recognized the contributions that von Braun and the other technical advisors made.
2002-07-25	Celebrating 30 Years of Imaging the Earth	NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey this week celebrate Landsat's 30th anniversary of imaging the Earth. Landsat — originally called ERTS, for Earth Resources Technology Satellite — was developed by NASA. On July 23, 1972, NASA launched the first Landsat satellite, beginning the longest running record of Earth's continental surfaces as seen from space — a record unmatched in quality, detail, coverage and importance. This 30-year archive of imagery, a scientific partnership between NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), provides invaluable historical detail that helps us understand and protect our home planet. Landsat is part of NASA's Earth Science Enterprise, a long-term research effort to understand and protect our home planet. For more information visit Landsat 7.
2002-07-18	John Glenn's Birthday	Mercury and Shuttle astronaut Colonel John Herschel Glenn, Jr., was born July 18, 1921, in Cambridge, OH.
2002-07-11	ISS Marks Human Presence	International Space Station marked a milestone in space history on November 2, 2002. The world's first international orbital outpost celebrates the second anniversary of continuous residency and permanent human presence in space. The anniversary marks an ambitious and virtually flawless year of expansion and research in space. The station has grown by more than 56,000 pounds in components added during the past 12 months. Over the last two years, the station's internal volume has increased from that of an efficiency apartment to a three-bedroom house. This year, construction began on the station's backbone, a truss structure that eventually will support almost an acre of solar panels to provide more power for orbital research than ever before. In the past 12 months, 33 people have visited or lived aboard the orbiting complex. A total of 112 visitors have been aboard the station since it was launched, including men and women from six nations.
2002-07-11	Telstar I	Forty years ago, people in the United States and Europe were very excited about a little satellite called Telstar I. It was launched by NASA on July 10, 1962. Later that same day, live television pictures originating in the USA were relayed via Telstar and received in France.Beginning in the late 1950's, NASA pioneered the technology that made TV satellite broadcasts an every-day part of our lives. NASA satellites relayed the first international coverage of the Olympic Games. The 1964 games were broadcast from Tokyo to the US and Europe via Relay I and Syncom 3.
2002-07-04	NASA Technology Helps Smithsonian Preserve the Star-Spangled Banner	A NASA infrared camera, used to image Mars, was used to assist the Smithsonian Institution in preserving the original Star-Spangled Banner. Despite receiving the best possible care at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, the flag deteriorated from decades of exposure to light, pollution and temperature fluctuations.The camera made images of the flag using infrared light to identify deteriorated and soiled areas not obvious to the human eye. The camera took 72 separate images that were pieced together using a computer creating a mosaic of the massive flag. (The flag is 30 feet wide and 34 feet long, close to three stories high, and weighs 150 pounds with its linen backing.) Each image takes approximately 25 minutes to make and is composed of 200 infrared wavelengths, or colors.Wool is the major component of the flag and contaminants found on the surface reflect infrared light differently than wool itself. With NASA's camera, scientists were able to look for things that can't be seen easily, or at all, with the human eye, such as moisture and oils.
2002-06-27	Able-Baker Mission	Before American astronauts ventured beyond the Earth, scientists and engineers had to assess the nature of the space environment and the hazards of human exploration. On May 28, 1959—just after the start of Project Mercury and during selection of the seven Mercury astronauts—the Pioneer IV space probe was launched into orbit around the Sun from Cape Canaveral, and two monkeys made a 579-kilometer (360-mile) high suborbital flight. The test took its name from the two monkeys, Able, a 3.18 kilogram (7-pound) rhesus monkey, and Baker, a 311.9 gram (11-ounce) squirrel monkey. The flight lasted 16 minutes.The two monkeys survived the flight in good condition. Able died 4 days later from a reaction to the anesthetic given during surgery to remove an infected electrode. Baker died on Nov. 29, 1984, in Huntsville, Ala., of kidney failure at the age of 27.The flight contained seven other experiments. Sea urchin eggs, human blood cells, yeast and onion skin cells, corn seeds, mustard seeds, mold spores, and fruit fly larvae were exposed to cosmic rays and returned to Earth for study. Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum
2002-06-13	Flag Day Question	The United States is celebrating Flag Day June 14th. Q: The late 1960s were turbulent times, and burning United States flags was unfortunately commonplace. Indeed, NASA in those days took extraordinary precautions to prevent several extraordinary US flags from being burned. What were these flags and why were they so important? The Flags are those that are "flying" on the moon, having been erected during the Apollo missions. The only place available to stow the flags on the already-cramped lunar landers was on the ladder — right next to the engine exhaust! The housing, made of a stainless steel outer case separated from an aluminum layer by Thermoflex insulation, had to protect the flag from the 2000°F temperatures that the ladder would experience during descent. The flag itself could only withstand 300°F before damage ocurred. For the full story, visit Where No Flag Has Gone Before. For other interesting facts about the American flag and space, search the NASAexplores Trivia for "flag."
2002-06-13	First American Space Walk	On June 3, 1965, an Air Force test pilot-turned astronaut named Edward H. White II became the first American to step outside an orbiting spacecraft. It was his first trip into space.
2002-06-06	Sir Isaac Newton	Sir Isaac Newton changed the world. Born in 1643, Newton was only an above average student. But he went home from Cambridge one summer in 1665, thought a lot about the physical nature of the world, and came back two years later with a revolutionary understanding of mathematics, gravitation, and optics. A Professor of his, upon understanding what Newton had done, resigned his own position at Cambridge so Newton could have it. Newton's calculus provided a new mathematical framework for the rapid solution of whole classes of physical problems. Newton's law of gravitation explained in one simple formula how apples fall and planets move. Newton's insights proved to be so overwhelmingly powerful he was the first scientist ever knighted. Visit the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center page for more information and a picture of Sir Isaac Newton.
2002-05-30	Summer Firsts In Flight	May 31, 1935: Goddard rocket launched in New Mexico attained the altitude of 7,500 feet. June 1939: First transatlantic passenger service, by Pan American Airways, with a Boeing four-engined Yankee Clipper. June 2, 1954: With test pilot J. F. Coleman at the controls, the Convair XFY-1, a vertical takeoff aircraft, made the first free vertical takeoff and landing at Moffett Naval Air Station, Mountain View, California. June 6, 1950: Ramjet missile launched that accelerated under ramjet power to Mach 3.1 at 67,200-feet altitude, at National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) Wallops Island.
2002-05-30	NACA	The predecessor organization for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) existed from 1915 until 1958.
2002-05-23	The Decision to Go to the Moon	I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth. On May 25, 1961, President John F. Kennedy announced before a special joint session of Congress the dramatic and ambitious goal of sending an American safely to the Moon before the end of the decade. The decision involved much consideration before making it public, as well as enormous human efforts and expenditures to make what became Project Apollo a reality by 1969. Only the construction of the Panama Canal in modern peacetime and the Manhattan Project in war were comparable in scope. NASA's overall human spaceflight efforts were guided by Kennedy's speech; Projects Mercury (at least in its latter stages), Gemini, and Apollo were designed to execute Kennedy's goal. His goal was achieved on July 20, 1969, when Apollo 11 commander Neil Armstrong stepped off the Lunar Module's ladder and onto the Moon's surface. For the full text and audio recordings of President Kennedy's speech, along with photographs and links to related resources, visit the NASA History Office "The Decision to Go to the Moon" page.
2002-05-16	Aerogel	Guinness Records Names JPL's AEROGEL World's Lightest Solid A new version of aerogel, the particle-collecting substance on NASA's Stardust spacecraft, has been recognized by Guinness World Records as the solid with the lowest density. The NASA Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL) team received the official certificate May 6, 2002. Aerogel is pure silicon dioxide and sand, just as is glass, but aerogel is a thousand times less dense than glass because it is 99.8 percent air. What remains is sometimes called "solid smoke," for its cloudy translucent color and super-light weight. Surprisingly, this seemingly brittle substance is durable and easily survives launch and space environments. More information is available at JPL's Stardust Aerogel web site.
2002-05-09	Rube Goldberg Device	Republican James G. Fulton of Pennsylvania, after viewing a January 27, 2962, Mercury-Atlas 6 launch attempt, declared that the Mercury spacecraft and Atlas booster could be described as "a Rube Goldberg device on top of a plumber's nightmare." A Rube Goldberg device is defined as "of, relating to, or being a contrivance that brings about by complicated means what apparently could have been accomplished simply." The term derives from the cartoons of Reuben Lucius (“Rube”) Goldberg (1883-1970), an American cartoonist noted for his intricate diagrams of such contrivances.
2002-05-09	May 1937	May 6: German dirigible Hindenburg destroyed at Lakehurst, N.J., an event which ordained the death of the large dirigibles. May 9: H. F. Pierce launched a liquid propellant rocket to a 250-foot altitude at Old Ferris Point, N.Y. For more significant milestones in the history of aeronautics and astronautics from the 1930's, visit the NASA History Office chronology.
2002-05-02	First Astronauts	NASA selected the first group of astronauts in 1959. From 500 candidates having the required jet aircraft flight experience and engineering training as well as height below 5 feet 11 inches, 7 military men became the nation’s first astronauts. The second and third groups chosen included civilians who had extensive flying experience. By 1964, requirements had changed, and emphasis was placed on academic qualifications; in 1965, 6 scientist astronauts were selected from a group of 400 applicants who had a doctorate or equivalent experience in the natural sciences, medicine, or engineering. The group named in 1978 was the first of space shuttle flight crews and was composed of 15 pilots and 20 mission specialists; 6 of the 35 were women and 4 were members of minorities.
2002-04-25	History of Flight: Gliders and Autogiros	Glider A glider is a heavier-than-air aircraft that usually has no engine. To fly, a glider must reach flying speed, which is the speed at which the wings generate enough lift to overcome the force of gravity. With the early gliders, the flying speed was very low, and most gliders took off into a wind. Experiments with gliders laid the foundation for the design of the first powered aircraft. Early glider pioneers included Sir George Cayley, Jean-Marie Le Bris, Otto Lilienthal, Octave Chanute, Orville and Wilbur Wright, and John Joseph Montgomery. Autogiro An autogiro is a rotary-wing aircraft that uses a propeller for forward motion and a freely rotating, unmotorized rotor for lift. The Spanish aeronautical engineer Juan de la Cierva invented it in the early 1920s. The autogiro differs from the helicopter in that the engine does not continuously move the rotor, as the engine on a helicopter does. The engine is connected to the rotor only during takeoff and climb. The small propeller at the front of the machine is vertical to the fuselage and pulls the autogiro forward as the propeller on an aircraft does. The forward motion causes the rotor to turn automatically. For more information about gliders, autogiros, and other terms, consult the Dictionary at the U.S. Centennial of Flight home page.
2002-04-18	April Milestones Of The 1930's	April 20, 1930 - Charles Lindbergh and Anne Morrow set a transcontinental speed record from Los Angeles to New York: 14 hours, 45 minutes April 19, 1932 - The first Goddard rocket with gyroscopically controlled vanes, for automatically stabilized flight, was fired.
2002-04-18	KSC is a National Wildlife Refuge	Kennedy Space Center (KSC) is located on a barrier island, called Merritt Island, about 34 miles long and varying in width from 5 to 10 miles. The total land and water area covers more than 140,000 acres; only 6,000 acres are actually used for Space Shuttle operations. Many people don't realize that KSC is also a National Wildlife Refuge. The KSC/Refuge area supports one of the largest populations of scrub jays in Florida. Just south of launch pad 39A, manatees graze protected in a sanctuary in the northern end of Banana River. Between May and September, thousands of endangered sea turtles come ashore on this barrier island in the dark of night to lay their eggs. Merritt Island's strategic location along the Atlantic Flyway provides a resting and feeding place for thousands of wading birds, shore birds, and songbirds. Diverse habitats that include brackish marshes, salt water estuaries, and hardwood hammocks provide homes to an amazing diversity of more than 500 species of wildlife. To see photographs of the wildlife refuge, visit the Alligators and Rocket Ships web site.
2002-04-11	April Milestones In Flight	April 16, 1912 - American Harriet Quimby becomes the first woman to pilot a plane across the English Channel April 1914 - The first American use of aircraft in military operations by the navy, in operations against Mexico at Vera Cruz April 1928 - Hubert Wilkins and his pilot, Carl Ben Eiselson, fly a Lockheed Vega on the first trans-Arctic flight from Point Barrow, Alaska, to Spitsbergen April 17, 1925 - Sgt. Randall L. Bose and Pvt. Arthur Bergo make a delayed parachute jump of 1,500 ft. to demonstrate that falling persons remain conscious April 16, 1941 - Igor I. Sikorsky sets a national helicopter record by hovering virtually motionless over a Stratford, Connecticut, airport, for 1 hour, 5 minutes
2002-04-04	Marie-Sophie Germain	Marie-Sophie Germain was born in Paris on April 1, 1776. As a girl, she smuggled candles into her room and wrapped herself in quilts because her father turned off the heat and light to her room when he found out she was studying geometry and Latin. Later, she took correspondence courses under a man's name from the Ecole Polytechnique because they didn't allow women to attend. Ms. Germain made significant contributions to acoustics, elasticity, and the theory of numbers; her greatest contribution to mathematics was the proof of Fermat's last theorem for several prime exponents less than 100. She was recommended for an honorary doctorate from the University of Goettingen, but died of breast cancer before it could be awarded.
2002-04-04	Wernher von Braun: Education	At 18, Wernher von Braun enrolled at the Berlin Institute of Technology. In 1932, at the age of 20, he received his bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering, and was offered a grant to conduct and develop scientific investigations on liquid-fueled rocket engines. Two years later, Wernher received his PhD in physics from the University of Berlin. Dr. Wernher Von Braun, who served as the first Director of the Marshall Space Flight Center from 1960 to 1970, is most noted for directing the development of the giant Saturn V rocket that carried men to the Moon for the first time in 1969.
2002-03-21	Vernal Equinox	The word "vernal" is the Latin word for spring. "Equinox" comes from the Latin word "aequinoctium," aequi-, meaning equal, and nox, meaning night. Because the Sun is positioned above the equator, day and night are about equal in length all over the world during the equinoxes.
2002-03-21	Wernher von Braun: Youth	Wernher von Braun was born March 23, 1912. At age 10, he decided his goal in life would be to "help turn the wheel of time." His interests led him to explore many paths in his early life including composing music and recycling old automobile parts to build a new car. As a result of spending so much of his time building a car, he flunked mathematics and physics. After reading Hermann Oberth's Rocket into Planetary Space and receiving the gift of a telescope from his mother, he decided to become a space pioneer and physicist. At 16 he organized an observatory construction team. His volunteers built a complete observatory in their spare time.
2002-03-14	Janis Davis-Street	Janis Davis-Street is a nutritionist at NASA Johnson Space Center. She grew up in Georgetown, Guyana, which is located on the north eastern coast of South America, and lived there until 19 years old. She went to college in Ontario, Canada, and completed graduate school in Alberta, Canada, immigrating to the US in 1987.
2002-03-14	Chief Scientist Dr. Lucid	Space veteran and NASA astronaut Dr. Shannon W. Lucid was selected as NASA's Chief Scientist in February, 2002. Lucid is the only woman to have been awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor by the President of the United States A veteran of five Space Shuttle flights, Lucid was among the first six women ever selected to become an astronaut and she currently holds the United States single mission flight endurance record as a result of her mission to the Russian space station Mir in 1996. When Lucid returned to Earth during STS-79, she had traveled more than 75 million miles and spent more than 188 days in orbit.
2002-03-07	Marta Bohn Meyer	Marta Bohn Meyer In 1991, Marta Bohn Meyer became the first female crew member assigned to the SR-71 aircraft. The SR-71 aircraft have been used by NASA as testbeds for high speed and high altitude aeronautical research. The aircraft can fly at speeds of more than 2,200 miles per hour (Mach 3+, or more than three times the speed of sound) and at altitudes of over 85,000 feet. These aircraft make excellent platforms for research and experiments in a variety of areas— aerodynamics, propulsion, structures, thermal protection materials, high speed and high temperature instrumentation, atmospheric studies, and sonic boom characterization. Marta became Director of the Office of Safety and Mission Assurance at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center in 1999. Outside of the workplace, Marta enjoys building and flying aerobatic airplanes, running, reading, and writing.
2002-03-07	Pioneer 10 Anniversary	Launched on March 2, 1972, Pioneer 10, is now 7.4 billion miles from Earth. Pioneer 10 was the first spacecraft to pass through the asteroid belt and the first to make direct observations and obtain close-up images of Jupiter. In 1983, it became the first man-made object to leave the solar system when it passed the orbit of Pluto, the most distant planet from the Sun.
2002-02-28	Sydney Torch	The Olympic torch was blasted into space April 24, 2002, to lead off the longest torch tour in the history of the Olympic Games. The Space Shuttle Atlantis carried the torch and a Sydney 2000 flag into orbit during its 10 day expedition to the International Space Station. Atlantis returned to the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida on May 4. The torch was lit in Greece on May 10 at the start of an Olympic torch relay through Oceania and Australia, the site of the 2000 Olympics. Australian-born NASA astronaut Dr. Andy Thomas coordinated the effort to add the torch to the Shuttle manifest so that it would truly circle the Earth in the spirit of the Olympics. This is the second time an Olympic torch relay has begun by orbiting the earth, the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games being the first.
2002-02-21	Former Astronaut Carries Olympic Torch	An honored member of the NASA Advisory Council made his Olympic debut by carrying the torch of the 2002 Winter Games through Utah. Jake Garn, former United States Senator and Payload Specialist aboard the Space Shuttle flight STS 51-D, ran the last leg that brought the torch into the Salt Lake Valley, at the entrance of Emigration Canyon. As mayor of Salt Lake City 30 years ago, Garn laid the groundwork for the city's eventually successful bid for a winter Olympic games. Additional information about Garn is available on the Johnson Space Center web site.
2002-02-14	Friendship 7	On February 20, 1962, astronaut John Glenn piloted the Mercury-Atlas 6 "Friendship 7" spacecraft on the first manned orbital mission of the United States. Launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, he completed a successful three-orbit mission around the earth, reaching a maximum altitude (apogee) of approximately 162 statute miles and an orbital velocity of approximately 17,500 miles per hour. Glenn's "Friendship 7" Mercury spacecraft landed approximately 800 miles southeast of KSC in the vicinity of Grand Turk Island. Mission duration from launch to impact was 4 hours, 55 minutes, and 23 seconds.
2002-02-14	Astronaut In 2002 Winter Olympics	Astronaut John Glenn of the United States was one of eight notables who carried the Olympic flag in the opening ceremony of the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah. Glenn, Noble Prize winner Desmond Tutu of South Africa, aboriginal Olympic champion Cathy Freeman of Australia, political leader Lech Walesa of Poland and 1998 Olympic ski jumping hero Kazuyoshi Funaki of Japan. each represented one of the five continents symbolized by the Olympic rings. Olympic champion Jean-Claude Killy of France represented sport, explorer Jean-Michel Cousteau of France represented the environment, and film director Steven Spielberg of the United States for culture.
2002-02-07	Cosmonaut On Discovery	In February 1994, cooperation in space exploration between former rivals—the United States and Russia—began when Sergei Krikalev became the first Russian cosmonaut to fly aboard a US spacecraft (the space shuttle Discovery, mission STS-60).
2002-02-07	Bessie Coleman	Bessie Coleman was the first African-American woman aviator. She received her pilot's certificate in 1921 in France, and followed up with additional training in stunt-flying, also in France, as at that time there were no flight schools in the United States willing to train African-American pilots. Ms. Coleman died in a tragic flying accident in 1926, before she was able to achieve her goal of opening her own flight school. Known as "Queen Bess, Daredevil Aviator," Bessie is still an inspiration to many. She was honored in 1995 by the U.S. Postal Service with a Black Heritage commemorative stamp.
2002-01-31	Explorer 1	Explorer 1 was the first U.S. Earth-orbiting satellite. It was launched January 31, 1958, from Cape Canaveral, FL. The launch vehicle was an Army Jupiter-C rocket. Explorer 1 orbited the Earth every 115 minutes. Its orbit carried it from a low of about 220 miles to a high of nearly 1,600 miles.
2002-01-10	Food Packaging On The Space Shuttle	Weight and volume have always been primary design factors for every piece of hardware launched into space. The Shuttle is no exception. Weight allowed for food is limited to 3.8 pounds per person per day, which includes the 1 pound of packaging for each person each day. Foods are individually packaged and stowed for easy handling in the zero gravity of space. All food is precooked or processed so it requires no refrigeration and is either ready to eat or can be prepared simply by adding water or by heating. The only exceptions are the fresh fruit and vegetables stowed in the fresh food locker. Without refrigeration, the carrots and celery must be eaten within the first two days of the flight or they will spoil.
2001-12-27	High Speed Shuttle Facts	The Space Shuttle does zero to 17,000 mph in 8.5 minutes.The speed of the gases exiting the Solid Rocket Booster motor is 6,000 mph — three times the speed of a high powered rifle.
2001-12-20	Deep Space 1	Deep Space 1, NASA Jet Propulsion Lab's successful mission to test 12 advanced technologies in deep space to lower the cost and risk to future science-driven missions that use them for the first time, came to an end Dec. 18, 2001. Launched in October 1998, Deep Space 1 completed its primary mission in September 1999. An extended mission to fly by Comet Borrelly was achieved despite the loss of DS1's star tracker—which helps determine the spacecraft's orientation—on Sept. 22, 2001.
2001-12-20	hat Does Aerodynamics Mean?	What is aerodynamics? The word comes from two Greek words: aerios, concerning the air, and dynamis, meaning powerful. Aerodynamics is the study of forces and the resulting motion of objects through the air. Judging from the story of Daedalus and Icarus, humans have been interested in aerodynamics and flying for thousands of years, although flying in a heavier-than-air machine has been possible only in the last hundred years.
2001-12-13	Wright Brothers Trivia Challenge	Neither Wilbur nor Orville ever married. What reason for this did Wilbur give? that he didn’t have time for both a wife and an airplane that both brothers were extremely shy that no one accepted their proposal for marriage that both brothers were extremely bad dressers Find the answer to this and other fascinating questions relating to the Wright Brothers by taking the Wright Brothers Trivia Challenge.
2001-12-13	Flags for Heroes and Families	NASA honored the victims and families of victims of the September 11th terrorist attacks during STS-108. Several American flags were flown aboard the space shuttle Endeavour. Those flags included 6,000 small U.S. flags, one U.S. flag that was recovered from the debris of the World Trade Center, a Marine Corps flag that was retrieved from the Pentagon, and an American flag from the State of Pennsylvania. Also onboard, were a large New York Fire Department flag, 23 replica New York Police Department shields, and 91 New York Police Department patches. Those items will be distributed upon Endeavour’s return to Earth.
2001-12-03	Space Shuttle Orbiter Delivery Dates	Columbia was the first Space Shuttle orbiter to be delivered to NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC), Fla., in March 1979. The orbiter Challenger was delivered to KSC in July 1982 and was destroyed in an explosion during ascent in January 1986. Discovery was delivered in November 1983. Atlantis was delivered in April 1985. Endeavour was built as a replacement following the Challenger accident and was delivered to Florida in May 1991. An early Space Shuttle orbiter, the Enterprise, never flew in space but was used for approach and landing tests at the Dryden Flight Research Center and several launch pad studies in the late 1970s.
2001-12-03	First Reusable Spacecraft	The Space Shuttle is the world's first reusable spacecraft, and the first spacecraft in history that can carry large satellites both to and from orbit. The Shuttle launches like a rocket, maneuvers in Earth orbit like a spacecraft and lands like an airplane. Each of the four Space Shuttle orbiters now in operation—Columbia, Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavour—is designed to fly at least 100 missions.
2001-11-29	'Old Glory' in Space	The legacy of flying American flags to space started in 1961 with the flight of the first American astronaut, Alan Shepard. Students from Cocoa Beach Elementary School in Florida purchased a flag from a local department store, which was later was rolled up and placed between cables behind Shepard's head inside his Freedom 7 Mercury spacecraft.
2001-11-29	Robbie Hood	Robbie Hood, an atmospheric scientist and hurricane hunter at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., is a direct descendant of a legendary Cherokee chief. John Ross, Hood's great-great-great-great grandfather and the first elected chief of the Cherokee Nation, led the Cherokees on their Trail of Tears, the Cherokee's forced relocation from the Southeastern United States to present day Oklahoma in 1838-1839.
2001-11-15	Samuel Pierpont Langley	Samuel Pierpont Langley is primarily remembered for his pioneering work on the measurement of the solar constant, and equally pioneering studies of the infrared portion of the solar spectrum. Starting in 1886, Samuel Pierpont Langley became increasingly fascinated with the prospect of heavier-than-air flight. Once again self-taught in aerodynamical principles, he launched his first steam engine-powered unmanned aircraft in 1896, with limited success, though sufficient to secure steady funding from the War Department to pursue his aircraft development efforts. In October 1903 his first manned aircraft was launched by catapult... into the Potomac river, with the young pilot Charles Manley sufficiently thrilled by the experience to try again less than three months later, unfortunately with much the same results. This last public and highly publicized failure was particularly hard on Langley, especially since a mere nine days later Wilbur and Orville Wright flew themselves off the ground and into history.
2001-11-15	Wright Flyer In Flood	After the first powered Wright Flyer of 1903 made history at Kitty Hawk, the Wrights crated it and shipped it back to Dayton where it remained in storage in a shed behind their bicycle shop, untouched for more than a decade. In March 1913, Dayton was hit by a serious flood, during which the boxes containing the Flyer were submerged in water and mud for eleven days. The airplane was uncrated, for the first time since Kitty Hawk, in the summer of 1916, when Orville repaired and reassembled the airplane for brief exhibition at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
2001-11-08	Leonid Meteor Showers	Leonid meteor storms happen when Earth passes through clouds of dusty debris shed by comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle when it comes close to the Sun every 33 years. This year our planet is heading for close encounters with four such clouds. They bubbled off Tempel-Tuttle in 1699, 1766, 1799 and 1866.
2001-11-08	John Bennett Herrington	John Bennett Herrington (Commander, USN) is expected to become the first Native American astronaut to travel in space. He is assigned to STS-113, scheduled to launch in 2002. Born September 14, 1958 in Wetumka, Oklahoma, Herrington grew up in Colorado Springs, Colorado, Riverton, Wyoming, and Plano, Texas. He is a life member of the Association of Naval Aviation, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs Alumni Association. Sequoyah Fellow, American Indian Science and Engineering Society, and has logged over 3,000 flight hours in over 30 different types of aircraft.
2001-11-01	Plucky IMP Completes 28-Year Observing Marathon	The Interplanetary Monitoring Platform (IMP 8) spacecraft has retired after 28 years on duty being buffeted by the solar wind and zapped by cosmic rays. Launched on October 25, 1973, IMP 8 was built and operated at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., and provided important space physics data as part of NASA's Sun-Earth Connection research program. Last commands were sent to the spacecraft on Oct. 28.
2001-10-25	Sputnik	History changed on October 4, 1957, when the Soviet Union successfully launched Sputnik I. The world's first artificial satellite was about the size of a basketball, weighed only 183 pounds, and took about 98 minutes to orbit the Earth on its elliptical path. That launch ushered in new political, military, technological, and scientific developments. While the Sputnik launch was a single event, it marked the start of the space age and the U.S.-U.S.S.R space race. Sputnik was the first satellite launched into orbit. For more information and to hear a .WAV file of the sounds of Sputnik's telemetry, visit the NASA History Office page.
2001-10-25	Nitrogen-Dominated Atmospheres	The three objects in the solar system that are known to have nitrogen-dominated atmospheres are Earth, Saturn's moon Titan and Neptune's moon Triton.
2001-10-18	Song Commissioned By NASA	In 1999, NASA, through the NASA Art Program, commissioned Judy Collins to write a song to honor Eileen Collins, the first woman to command a Space Shuttle. The song, "Beyond the Sky." The lyrics, available on Spacelink, conclude with the words: "And we will fly beyond the sky Beyond the stars beyond the heavens Beyond the dawn we'll carry on Until our dreams have all come true To those who fly - we sing to you Into the sky Beyond the stars We'll reach our dreams."
2001-10-11	World Space Week	In 1999 the United Nations declared October 4-10 as World Space Week. These dates commemorate the launch of Sputnik in 1957 and the 1967 Outer Space Treaty.
2001-10-11	Michael E. Lopez-Alegria	NASA astronaut and Commander, USN, Michael E. Lopez-Alegria was born May 30, 1958, in Madrid, Spain. He considers both Madrid, and Mission Viejo, California, to be his hometowns. Following his first space flight he served as NASA Director of Operations at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center, Star City, Russia. A veteran of two space flights, STS-73 in 1995 and STS92 in 2000, Lopez-Alegria has logged a total of 27 days, 43 hours, 32 minutes and 46 seconds in space, including 14 hours and 3 minutes in two space walks. Currently, he is assigned to STS-113 scheduled to launch in 2002.
2001-10-04	High Altitude Fire Fighting	NASA scientists have introduced what they believe will be the next generation of fire fighting technology. The Altus II unmanned robot plane has been adapted to circle for up to 24 hours over wildfires, beaming images and data back to computers via satellite. Originally introduced in 1998 as a high-altitude, long-duration science aircraft as part of NASA's Environmental Research and Sensor Technology (ERAST) Program, Altus II gives fire crews a real-time view of fires that can burn over hundreds or thousands of acres. It can map dozens of fires in a day with no risk to a pilot.
2001-09-27	Wright Brothers Arrive	September 25, 1903: the Wright Brothers arrive in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, to prepare for their historical flights.
2001-09-27	First Round-The-World Flight	The first round-the-world flight is completed in Seattle, Washington by three, two-seat Douglas World Cruisers of the US Army Air Service on September 28, 1924. Total Miles Flown: 25,180 Total Flight Time: 354 hourrs, 47 minutes
2001-09-20	Sonic Booms	Many people have heard a sonic boom, but few have seen one. When an airplane travels at a speed faster than sound, density waves of sound emitted by the plane cannot precede the plane, and so accumulate in a cone behind the plane. When this shock wave passes, a listener hears all at once the sound emitted over a longer period: a sonic boom. As a plane accelerates to just break the sound barrier, an unusual cloud might form. The origin of this cloud is still debated. An F/A-18 Hornet was photographed just as it broke the sound barrier; the photo shows this cloud. Large meteors and the space shuttle frequently produce audible sonic booms before they are slowed below sound speed by the Earth's atmosphere.
2001-09-13	Thunderstorms and Lightning!	At any given moment, there are 1,800 thunderstorms in progress somewhere on the earth. This amounts to 16 million storms each year! We know the cloud conditions necessary to produce lightning, but cannot forecast the location or time of the next stroke of lightning from a storm. There are lightning detection systems in the United States and they monitor an average of 25 million strokes of lightning from the cloud to ground every year!
2001-09-13	Lightning In Mythology	Early Greeks believed that lightning was a weapon of Zeus. Thunderbolts were invented by Minerva, the goddess of wisdom. Since lightning was a manifestation of the gods, any spot struck by lightning was regarded as sacred. Greek and Roman temples often were erected at these sites. In Scandinavian mythology, Thor, the thunderer, tossed lightning bolts at his enemies. Thurs-day is named for Thor. The Navajo Indians hold that lightning has great power in their healing rituals. Sand paintings show the lightning bolt as a wink in the Thunderbird's eye. Lightning is associated with wind, rain and crop growth. Even Santa Klaus gets into the act with his reindeer Donner (thunder) and Blitzen (lightning).
2001-09-06	What is remote sensing?	Remote sensing is the science and art of obtaining information about an object, area, or phenomenon through the analysis of data acquired by a device that is not in contact with the object, area, or phenomenon under investigation. It is a process of obtaining information without coming into direct contact with the object being observed.
2001-09-06	History of Remote Sensing: Galileo	Through his spyglass, in 1609 Galileo saw that there were spots on the Sun, imperfections on the Moon, and that the Milky Way was composed of a myriad of faint stars. His most stunning (and controversial!) discovery was of satellites orbiting Jupiter, dashing the concept of an Earth-centered universe with all objects revolving around the Earth. Galileo made careful observations and measurements, and recorded these in detailed descriptions and drawings: the only recording method available for nearly 200 more years.
2001-08-30	Space Shuttle Booster Facts	The two Solid Rocket Boosters generate a combined thrust of 5.3 million pounds, equivalent to 44 million horsepower or 14,700 six-axle diesel locomotives or 400,000 subcompact cars. At liftoff, the two Solid Rocket Boosters consume 11,000 pounds (5000 kilograms) of fuel per second. That's two million times the rate at which fuel is burned by the average family car. At 149 feet, 1.6 inches tall, the Solid Rocket Booster is only two feet shorter than the Statue of Liberty. But each 700-ton (63,500,000-kilogram) loaded booster weighs more than three times as much as the famous statue.
2001-08-23	Rocket Quiz	When were rockets first used? Approximately 1000 years ago By whom were rockets first used in recorded history? The Chinese first used solid-fuel (gunpowder) rockets for military purposes. What is the origin of the word "rocket"? Powder rockets were also used for fireworks, starting in Italy, where the word "rocket" originated from Italian "rocchetta," used by the historian Muratori in the 14th century (also "ruchetta," rocket).
2001-08-09	Space Rock Terms	Meteor: A light phenomenon, which results from the entry into Earth's atmosphere of a solid particle from space. Meteoroid: A solid object moving through interplanetary spaces, of a size considerably smaller than an asteroid, but considerably larger than an atom or molecule. Meteorite: Any solid particle from outer space that reaches the surface of the earth. Fireball: A bright meteor with luminosity, which equals or exceeds that of the brightest planets. Micrometeorite: A very small meteor-like particle with a diameter of less than a millimeter.
2001-07-26	"Famous Robots For 300, Please!"	Take Johnson Space Center's Robot Qwhiz.
2001-07-26	What is a ROBOT?	What is a ROBOT? Pronunciation: 'rO-bot'. Function: noun. Etymology: Czech, from robota compulsory labor. Date: 1923. a machine that looks like a human being and performs various complex acts (as walking or talking) of a human being; also : a similar but fictional machine whose lack of capacity for human emotions is often emphasized b: an efficient insensitive person who functions automatically a device that automatically performs complicated often repetitive tasks a mechanism guided by automatic controls A robot can be defined as a programmable, self-controlled device consisting of electronic, electrical, or mechanical units. More generally, it is a machine that functions in place of a living agent. Robots are especially desirable for certain work functions because, unlike humans, they never get tired; they can endure physical conditions that are uncomfortable or even dangerous; they can operate in airless conditions; they do not get bored by repetition; and they cannot be distracted from the task at hand. For more information about robots, check out Johnson Space Center's Rover Ranch.
2001-07-19	Mars Day!	July 20 marks the 25th anniversary of the Viking 1 landing on Mars. Information on the Viking missions may be found on the National Air and Space Museum site.
2001-07-19	Jimmy Doolittle	James H. Doolittle was an early aviation pioneer who recognized the importance of being able to fly completely by instruments. After earning one of the first doctorates in Aeronautics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and helping develop the artificial horizontal and directional gyroscopes, in September 1929 Doolittle completed the first flight ever made without looking out the window. In a hooded cockpit, he was able to make his final approach by lining up to a radio beacon. This flight had tremendous implications for the future of aviation, making it realistic to fly in fog, darkness, and other visibility-reducing conditions.
2001-07-12	Space Shuttle Roll Backs	Space Shuttles haven't always taken off as originally planned. "Rollback" is the term used when the Space Shuttle must be rolled back from the launch pad atop the Mobile Launcher Platform and Crawler-Transporter to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB). A variety of factors can necessitate a rollback, ranging from the threat of severe weather to the need for flight hardware repairs that cannot be performed at the launch pad. Details about Shuttle rollbacks may be found at the Kennedy Space Center Factoids page.
2001-07-12	NGC 1850	The young globular-like star cluster NCG 1850 — a type of object unknown in our Milky Way Galaxy — lies in a neighboring satellite galaxy, the Large Megellanic Cloud, in a constellation called the Goldfish or the Swordfish. This double cluster formed millions of years ago when massive stars exploded as supernovas.
2001-07-12	Hubble Space Telescope	The NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has captured an image of NGC 1850 using the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2. Hubble was designed and built by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The Hubble operations are managed for NASA by the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, MD.
2001-07-05	The Flag and NASA	First Flag On The Moon During their historic extravehicular activity (EVA), the Apollo 11 crew planted the flag of the United States on the lunar surface. This flag-raising was strictly a symbolic activity, as the United Nations Treaty on Outer Space precluded any territorial claim. Like any activity in space exploration, the Apollo flag-raising also provided NASA engineers with an interesting technical challenge. They designed a flagpole with a horizontal bar allowing the flag to "fly" without the benefit of wind to overcome the effects of the moon's lack of an atmosphere. Other factors considered in the design were weight, heat resistance, and ease of assembly by astronauts whose space suits restricted their range of movement and ability to grasp items. As NASA plans a return to the moon and an expedition to Mars, we will likely see flags continue to go "where no flag has gone before."
2001-07-05	Salute To The Flag	Eugene A. Cernan, Commander, Apollo 17 saluted the flag on the lunar surface during extravehicular activity (EVA) on NASA's final lunar landing mission. To larger versions of the image, visit the Great Images In NASA (GRIN) page.
2001-07-05	Apollo 17 Flag	Geologist Astronaut Harrison Schmitt, Apollo 17 Lunar Module pilot, is photographed next to the American Flagduring extravehicular activity (EVA) of NASA's final lunar landing mission in the Apollo series. The photo was taken at the Taurus-Littrow landing site. The highest part of the flag appears to point toward our planet earth in the distant background.Larger versions of the image may be viewed by following this link to the GRIN page.
2001-06-28	Space Pioneer John Yardley	John Finley Yardley was a leading figure in the early days of human space flight and the Space Shuttle program. "John Yardley was as responsible as any individual for getting the Space Shuttle program off the ground. He made STS-1 happen," said NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin. "His experience and leadership through NASA's early human space flight efforts paved the way for his great contributions to the Space Shuttle program. Two decades later, John's legacy lives on with each successful Space Shuttle mission." After three years in the Navy during World War II, Yardley began his aerospace career at McDonnell Douglas in 1946, working on cutting-edge human space flight projects.NASA awarded Yardley its Public Service Medal for his outstanding contributions to the Mercury and Gemini Programs in 1963 and 1966. Yardley joined NASA in 1974. At NASA, Yardley served as Associate Administrator for Manned Space Flight (later renamed Space Transportation Systems) where he led the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project and Spacelab, and was responsible for development and acquisition of the Space Shuttle, launching a new era in human space flight. Yardley returned to private industry in 1981, retiring in 1989. Mr. Yardley died Tuesday, June 27, 2001. He was 76. For further information, see the press release on NASA Spacelink.
2001-06-21	Summer Solstice	In the northern half of the world, June 21st is the first full day of summer. It is called the summer solstice. It is the longest day of the year in the northern hemisphere. In the southern hemisphere, winter is arriving. June 21st will be the shortest day of the year, and the coldest weather of the year is on its way. For more information, consult the Summer Solstice page.
2001-06-14	Earth's Circumference	When the metric system was created in the 1790s, the meter was originally specified as 1/10 000 000 of the distance between the Equator and the North Pole, so the Earth's (polar) circumference was exactly 40 000 000 m (or 40 000 km). The meter has been redefined several times, most recently in terms of the second (i.e., the unit of time) and a defined value for the speed of light (Note 1). But the Earth's circumference is still remarkably close to 40 000 km. To travel around the earth at the equator you would have to travel 360 * 60 = 21,600 nautical miles, or 24,857 miles, or 40,003 kilometers.
2001-06-07	Measurement	What is a nautical mile? As you could probably guess, sailors were the first to use nautical miles. It was designed such that one nautical miles is equal to one minute of latitude. Maps were drawn up to follow this standard and as people took to the sky this standard was still followed. Since world aviation standards still use the nautical mile, NASA still uses it. A nautical mile is equivilent to 1.1508 miles, or 6,076 feet, in the English measurement system. What is a knot? A knot is a unit of measure for speed. If you are traveling at a speed of one nautical mile per hour, you are said to be traveling at a speed of one knot. What is a statute mile? A statute mile is the unit most citizens of the US are familiar with. To convert statute miles into kilometers multiply the statute miles by 1.609347. To convert nautical miles into kilometers multiply the nautical miles by 1.8520 What is a light-year? A light-year is a unit of distance. It is the distance that light can travel in one year. Light moves at a velocity of about 300,000 kilometers (km) each second. So in one year, it can travel about 10 trillion km. More p recisely, one light-year is equal to 9,500,000,000,000 kilometers.
2001-05-31	Getting There	Driving at 75 miles per hour, it would take 258 days to drive around one of Saturn's rings. A manned rocket reaches the moon in less time than it took a stagecoach to travel the length of England. The Wright brothers first flight was shorter than the wingspan of a B-52 bomber.
2001-05-31	Number of Schools Named:	John Glenn = 10 Challenger = 30 Alan Shepard = 1 Sally Ride = 1 Virgil Grissom = 2
2001-05-24	More Fun Than Flying?	When it comes to the excitement of speed, loops, and high-gee barrel rolls, few things can match the thrill of flying in a high-performance airplane. But Charles Lindbergh, who was no stranger to daring flying, once remarked, "The thrill of [this] beats the thrill of flying." He was talking about something that gave thrills that were somewhat similar to flying. What was it? Lindbergh was talking about the Coney Island Cyclone. Built in 1927, it set the standard for classic wooden-rail roller coasters. There are other cues taken from aeronautics in roller coaster design: energy management, extensive "pre-flight" checkouts, and many coaster trajectories imitate classic barnstorming maneuvers. This comes from AeroQuiz, a weekly online quiz sponsored by NASA Glenn Research Center.
2001-05-17	Test Stands	Three test stands at Stennis Space Center's propulsion test facilities are connected by a 7.5-mile canal system used primarily for transporting liquid propellants.Three stands were originally built in the early 1960s to test the first and second stages of the Saturn V rocket that safely transported Americans to the Moon. In 1975, all three stands began testing the main engines for the Space Shuttle. Additional features of the test complex include test control centers, data acquisition facilities, a large high-pressure gas facility, a high-pressure water facility that is served by a 66-million gallon reservoir, and an electrical generation plant.
2001-05-17		The following common acronyms have special meanings for NASA: AOL Airborne Oceanographic Lidar: The Airborne Oceanographic Lidar (AOL3) is a remote sensing instrument carried onboard several different types of aircraft, usually a NOAA Twin Otter or NASA P-3B or C-130 aircraft. ATM Airborne Topographic Mapper: The Airborne Topographic Mapper is a scanning laser altimeter which has flown on the NASA P-3B aircraft and on a NOAA Twin Otter. The ATM platform incorporates the laser altimeter, GPS data, and inertial navigation packages. TOTS Transportable Orbital Tracking Station: The primary antenna systems of the Wallops Ground Station (WGS) consist of three highly automated tracking systems. These systems provide support to low earth orbiting satellites. The WGS provides an electronic interface between a spacecraft and a science user 24 hours per day, 365 days per year.
2001-05-10	Space Shuttle Facts