Daily Extra :
Astronomy & Space Word of The Day
comet: Chunk of frozen gasses, ice, & rocky debris that orbits the Sun. Its nucleus is about the size of a mountain on Earth. When it nears the Sun, heat vaporizes the icy material producing a cloud of gaseous material surrounding the nucleus, called a coma. As the nucleus begins to disintegrate, it produces a trail of dust in its orbital path & a gas or ion tail pointing away from the Sun. Comet comas can extend up to a million miles from the nucleus.
Who Was Born Today?:
1954: James F Reilly II, born in Mount Home AFB Idaho, PhD/astronaut, STS-89, sk:100
1957: Christer Fuglesang, born in Stockholm Sweden, physicist/astronaut, Mir backup
Who Died Today?:
Today in History:
1965: USSR launches Voshkod 2; Alexei Leonov makes 1st spacewalk (20 mins)
1980: Vostok rocket exploded on launch pad while being refueled, killing 50
1989: 27th space shuttle mission, STS-29 (Discovery 8), returns to Earth
1994: Space shuttle STS-62 (Columbia 16), lands