NASA Breaking News

03/08/10 NASA Launches Interactive Simulation of Satellite Communications
NASA today unveiled an interactive computer simulation that allows virtual explorers of all ages to dock the space shuttle at the International Space Station, experience a virtual trip to Mars or a lunar impact, and explore images of star formations taken by the Hubble Space Telescope.
03/08/10 NASA Extends Johnson Safety and Mission Assurance Contract
NASA has exercised a $60 million, one-year extension option for a contract with Science Applications International Corporation of Houston to provide support to safety and mission assurance activities at the agency's Johnson Space Center.
03/07/10 NASA Hosts First-Ever Water Sustainability Forum March 16 -18
NASA today announced its founding partnership of Launch, an initiative to identify, showcase and support innovative approaches to sustainability challenges through a series of forums.

NASA Image of the Day

Snapshot of the International Space Station
On March 13, 2008, the International Space Station passed across the field-of-view of Germany's remote sensing satellite, TerraSAR-X, at a distance of 195 kilometers, or 122 miles, and at a relative speed of 34,540 kilometers per hour, or more than 22,000 mph. In contrast to optical cameras, radar does not 'see' surfaces. Instead, it is much more aware of the edges and corners which bounce back the microwave signal it transmits. Smooth surfaces such as those on the station's solar generators or the radiator panels used to dissipate excess heat, unless directly facing the radar antenna, tend to deflect rather than reflect the radar beam, causing these features to appear on the radar image as dark areas. The radar image of the station therefore looks like a dense collection of bright spots from which the outlines of the space station can be clearly identified. The central element on the station, to which all the modules are docked, has a grid structure that presents a multiplicity of reflecting surfaces to the radar beam, making it readily identifiable. This image has a resolution of about one meter (about 39 inches). In other words, objects can be depicted as discrete units--that is, shown separately--provided that they are at least one meter apart. If they are closer together than that, they tend to merge into a single block on a radar image. Since this image was taken, the station has expanded and is more than 90 percent complete, including a full complement of solar arrays. Image Credit: DLR

Hubble Science Cards & Cosmology Information Sheet

Since 2003, Phlare's Hubble Science Cards have been bringing the incredible imagery and science of the Hubble Telescope to people around the world. Our third version of the Hubble cards was released in 2007 and for the first time was teamed with a Cosmology Information Sheet.

Forty gorgeous 3" x 5" question-and-answer cards combine the extraordinary imagery from Hubble with its equally exciting science. The cards cover star formation, galaxy formation, gravity, supernovae, ages of stars, light years, dark energy, black holes, hydrogen fusion, dark matter, the Kuiper Belt, quasars, radio jets, neutrinos, the Crab Nebula, planetary nebula, extrasolar planets, the Big Bang, star emissions, red giants and more.

The 18" x 24" Cosmology Information Sheet details how the universe was made, of what it is made and its fate. Under these categories is information on black holes, special and general relativity, dark matter, dark energy, galaxy formation and much more. The back of the sheet describes NASA's great space-based observatories (Hubble, Spitzer, James Webb & Chandra) and lists all of the observatories in the US and Canada, as well as some notable international observatories. There is also a section on Hubble's greatest scientific achievements.. This extraordinary and highly educational set will be a treasure for years to come.
(40 3" x 5" cards per deck) Made in USA

MSRP $10.99

Click on images to enlarge

Cosmology Information Sheet - foldedCosmology Information Sheet - front

 

Hubble Science Cards Eagle NebulaStages of Stars

Star EmissionsStar FormationWhirlpool Galaxy