As sunlight penetrates Earth’s atmosphere, its light is scattered by gases and particles and becomes visible as blue hues are more dominant than others. Though its plot may be predictable and its characters recognizable, The Sky Blues succeeds in providing an inclusive queer narrative with clear beats and authentic teenage characters – it should definitely…
After Mariner 10, it took until 2004 for another spacecraft to orbit Mercury: the MESSENGER mission (MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry and Ranging). MESSENGER successfully completed an exhaustive map of Mercury’s surface as well as confirmed water ice in polar craters. Europe and Japan’s joint BepiColombo probe is gearing up for its seven-year journey to…
Christa McAuliffe was America’s first schoolteacher to travel into space. On Jan. 28, 1986, as the space shuttle Challenger lifted off for orbit 73 seconds later, its crew cheered loudly when it suddenly disintegrated and exploded in fiery destruction. This tragedy fundamentally altered NASA’s space operations; it ended plans to send civilians as passengers into…
At sea, in a faraway corner of the Pacific Ocean lies an extraordinary graveyard of spacecraft known as “The Spacecraft Cemetery”. Here can be found hundreds of decommissioned satellites and other spacecraft that were carefully guided here once their lifespans ended. To minimize the chance that debris might accidentally land in an urban center, this…
Most space missions require rockets to be launched at high speeds to overcome Earth’s gravity and reach their destination. All launch vehicles, with the exception of partially reusable space shuttles, are expendable launch vehicles (ELV). Propellers make up the bulk of a rocket’s mass; fuel and oxidizer must combine to power its flight upward. What…
Discover fascinating facts about Mars with this engaging worksheet! Including reading passage, questions, a word search game and even an unmistakable hidden message! Mars, the fourth planet from the Sun, can be easily seen as a reddish light point in the night sky. This planet features mountains, valleys, and polar ice caps with its thin…
Flowers are beautiful, fragrant, and draw pollinators insects to pollinate them, serving also to disseminate seeds across their environment. Pollen grains that land on the stigmas of other flowers of the same species germinate to form a tube that descends through style and into ovary where male reproductive cells, known as gametes, unite with female…
France is well known for its sophisticated culture and world-class education system. However, France also boasts some unusual customs and stories that may come as a shock. Name your pig Napoleon was once illegal! Additionally, France boasts 12 time zones and may come as a shocker! 1. The longest book in the world is written…
Voyager spacecraft are our greatest ambassadors into space. Now exploring beyond our solar system’s boundaries, both probes have enough fuel left over to continue transmitting scientific information until 2025. The Voyagers were designed to take advantage of an unlikely alignment among outer planets that enabled them to study two, four and eventually all their unique…
