We gave you a chance to try your hand at some new quizzes. Then, we asked the question, "Will We See a Blue Moon on July 31?"
2004 Space News - Eyes on the Sky
Launched from Kennedy Space Center on Oct. 15, 1997, the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft reached Saturn in July 2004. Cassini-Huygens is an international collaboration between three space agencies. Seventeen nations contributed to building the spacecraft. The Cassini orbiter was built and managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. We brought you some Saturn Pictures from Cassini.Some folks got a great fireworks display during the Perseids Meteor Shower. Unfortunately, all I saw were clouds.
As the new school year approached, we presented our Back to School Gift List. We all got a gift when Cassini discovered two new moons around Saturn. Then, another treat as 5 new moons were discovered around Neptune.
August 30 celebrated the anniversary of Guy Bluford's historic flight as the first African-American in space.
September had us looking up again as a report surfaced that Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) researchers may have found a promising signal, but shortly thereafter, astronomers were denying the report. Meanwhile, other scientists hoped to map the entire known universe as a theory unfolded on how meteorites may have spawned life on Earth.
2004 Space News - An Earthly Disaster
Hurricane Francis struck Kennedy Space Center causing damage, but the worst blow NASA received was when the Genesis Spacecraft crashed in the Utah desert. Fortunately, scientists were able to recover much of the data from the craft as an investigation got underway.
We told you how you could experience zero gravity like an astronaut and print your own astronomy and space posters. Next we looked back at Project Mercury and the Mercury 7 Astronauts, further back to the origins of Harvest Moon, and even further back at the origins of Stonehenge. Next, Mars emerged from behind the Sun and the twin rovers went back to work. Finally, we reviewed the life of one of the early Greek astronomers, Aristarchus of Samos.