2002 Articles...
12/29/02 - After Christmas Shopping
Did you receive money as a gift for the holidays? Is it burning a hole in your pocket? Check out our Buyer's guide for some great ideas on how to spend it.
12/15/02 - About Space Station
Join our resident astronauts Buzz & Sally aboard the About Space Station for some great adventures. Discover fun and learning activities.
12/08/02 - Bark At The Moon
A
short history of the canine cosmonauts. Learn about the dogs in space.
12/01/02 - Space Firsts
Discover
who did what and when in the history of space exploration.
11/30/02 - Space Frequently Asked
Questions
Find answers to frequently asked questions about space and find
out how to have your questions answered as well.
11/27/02 - What Is Astronomy?
There are different definitions of Astronomy. The study of our universe is not new, astronomy is the oldest science. People have been looking up, trying to explain the universe for as long as there have been people.
11/23/02 - About Astronomy & Space
For The Class
Astronomy & Space For The Class, powered by NASAexplores, an education initiative from NASA, provides free weekly K-12 educational articles and lesson plans on NASA projects. Not just science, but also mathematics, language arts, geography and more.
11/20/02 - Twin Black Holes: Never Seen
Before
For the first time, we have proof two supermassive black holes exist in the same galaxy, thanks to NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory. Orbiting each other they will merge several hundred million years from now resulting in a catastrophic event.
11/13/02 - Edge of Space Sweepstakes
One lucky US Resident will win a trip to the edge of space and back. This sweepstakes offers the winner a supersonic flight at Mach 2.5 aboard a MiG-25 that will climb to 85,000 feet. The winner will see blackness of space and curvature of the earth.
11/08/02 - Top
10 Astronomy & Space Urban Legends
Considering the fascination that outer space holds for so many of us, it's not surprising that speculation and rumors abound. Here are your About Astronomy and Space Guide's top 10 Space urban legends and myths. From hoaxes to conspiracies to sex in space, here's an intriguing look at what some people believe.
10/31/02 - Astronomy History - Ptolemy
Ptolemy was an astronomer, mathematician and geographer who lived in Alexandria, Egypt, but we know very little more of his life. He classified the Greek geocentric view of the universe, and calculated the apparent motions of the planets.
10/19/02 - Take Me out To The ...
International Space Station?
Now, this is something the major league baseball coaches may want to look into, a 17,500 mile and hour fastball. At the start of the first game of the World Series in Anaheim, the 92 year old tradition of throwing out the first pitch will be accomplished "virtually" more than 240 miles away. NASA astronaut Dr. Peggy Whitson, aboard the International Space Station (ISS), will throw out the ceremonial first pitch to her battery-mate and ISS Expedition Five Commander, Russian cosmonaut Valeri Korzun.
10/18/02 - Black Holes
Imagine an object that is so dense, it's gravity so strong, that escape velocity is more than 299,792,458 meters per second. That's the speed of light. If Einstein was right and nothing can travel faster than the speed of light, then nothing could reach escape velocity here. This is a black hole.
10/11/02 - Top 10 Space Music
For all practical purposes for the general public, the Space Age started on October 4, 1957, with the Soviet launch of Sputnik-1, and peaked with American astronauts walking on the Moon in the years 1969-72. Space activity was a media mainstay during the sixties, and clearly had its influence on popular culture, including the rock music scene. Since then, public interest in the space program may have dimmed a bit, but our fascination with space, itself hasn't, as seen by many of the top films in the last quarter of the
century.
Read a little of the history of space oriented pop music and discover the top ten Space Songs.
09/27/02 - World Space Week
Begun in 1999 by the UN, World Space Week is meant not only to encourage, educate and support space exploration, but also to celebrate at the international level the contributions of space science to the betterment of the human condition.
09/13/02 - Space History - Apollo 13
13th scheduled mission, to liftoff the 13th minute after the 13th hour. A moon landing was scheduled the month's 13th day. All it lacked was a Friday to be a paraskevidekatriaphobe’s worst nightmare. Unfortunately, no one at NASA was superstitious.
09/07/02 - Astronomy History - Johannes Kepler
Johannes Kepler, the son of a mercenary soldier and an innkeeper's daughter, was born prematurely just 2 days after Christmas 1571, in Weil der Stadt in Wurttemburg. He later became a brilliant and prolific mathematician and astronomer, and creator of the Three Laws of
Planetary Motion.
08/31/02 - September 11 Attacks As Seen From Space
The effects of terrorists crashing airplanes into the World Trade Center and Pentagon on September 11, 2001 were devastating to most people around the world. But, what kind of effect did the terrorist attacks of September 11 have off the Earth?
08/23/02 - NASA Acronyms
Did you ever wonder what those strange conglomerations of letters meant? Here's your chance to find out what those NASA acronyms stand for. About Space and Astronomy presents the Guide to NASA Acronyms.
08/09/02 - Perseid Meteor Shower
April showers bring May flowers, they say, so, what does a shower in August bring? Meteors. The Perseid Meteor Shower, to be exact. Find out where these meteors came from and how to view them.
08/02/02 - The Challenger Disaster, a NASA Tragedy
Shuttle Challenger mission 51L was much like most other shuttle missions. The Space Shuttle program was begun in the 1970s, to create reusable craft for transporting cargo into space. The Challenger rolled off the assembly line as the second shuttle of the US fleet in 1982. It flew nine successful missions before that fateful day in 1986.
07/26/02 - Asteroid On Collision Course With Earth
It appears that life may be imitating art. If you watched either of the 1998 movies Deep Impact or Armageddon, you may have an idea of the future that faces Earth... Or not.
07/05/02 - Space History - Valentina Tereshkova
Valentina Tereshkova was born to a peasant family in the Yaroslavl' region of the former USSR in 1937. Yaroslavl is now a part of Russia. Follow the road to her historic flight as the first woman in space
06/03/02 - Space Man Overboard
What if the Titanic had more lifeboats? What about Apollo 13? Things have improved since that fateful trip, but there are still limitations which are holding our progress back. Find out about the next big step in rescue technology.
05/16/02 - Astronomy History - Tycho Brahe
Danish father of modern Astronomy who made precise, comprehensive astronomical measurements of the solar system and more than 700 stars. His data was superior to all other astronomical measurements made until the invention of the telescope.
05/13/02 - Astronomy History - Galileo
From genius to heretic and back again. The son of a famous musician and music theorist, Galileo was born near Pisa, Italy. He was educated by monks at Vallombrosa, then entered the university of Pisa in 1581 to study medicine. There, he found his interests changing to philosophy and mathematics and he ended his university career in 1585 without a degree.
05/03/02 - High Flying Shutter Bug
Astronaut photography of the Earth from the International Space Station has achieved spatial resolutions of less than six meters, an analysis of more than 13,000 images has shown. This means scientists can use photographs taken from the space station to study changes that are occurring in very small features on the Earth's surface.
04/26/02 - Taxing The Trekkies
The 2003 budget for NASA is just over $15 Billion. Yet, that is just a drop in the bucket to what is truly required to fund space exploration. Many of us would like to see the space program expanded, but in this age of budget cuts and tax cuts, it is not likely to happen. So, the question arises, how do we pay for all this new technology?
04/12/02 - Comet Hunter Dies
He first became interested in the stars at the early age of 15, when the Japanese discovered comet, Ikeya-Seki appeared in 1965. On Wednesday April 10, 2002, Japanese comet hunter, Yuji Hyakutake, died at the age of 51.
03/29/02 - Sign Up For
Mars
In late May, then again in early June, 2003, NASA will launch two
separate Mars Rovers. How would you like to be aboard? You can...
in a way. Find out how.
03/22/02 - The
International Space Station
With a mission to enable long-term exploration of space and
provide benefits to people on Earth, construction began on the
International Space Station on November 20, 1998. There have been
a total of four crews manning the station so far. When it is
completed an international crew of up to seven will live and work
in space between three and six months.
03/15/02 - Purdue Team
To Help Develop Life-Supporting Ecosystems In Space
It has been thirty years since man last visited the moon. One of
the obstacles which has kept us close to home has been the
problem of sustaining life for the lengths of time required for a
journey any other planet. NASA has taken a step towards solving
this problem by selecting a team to head up a Specialized Center
of Research and Training for Advanced Life Support, which will be
tasked with developing technologies to "enable long-duration
planetary missions and sustain human space colonies."