What You Need to Know for NASA’s InSight Landing on Mars Nov 26

By on Nov 14, 2018 in NASA Missions | 0 comments

Mars is getting another visitor very soon and its name is InSight. It’ll be landing on Mars on November 26th, 2018. Maybe you’ve heard a little about this mission or maybe you’re new to it. Let’s take a look at what this mission is and everything you need to know for the landing. What is InSight’s Main Mission?This new lander’s mission stands for Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations (InSight). It will help us answer what is under that hood of Mars or more specifically what’s going on in the core of Mars. It’ll give more insight (no pun intended) on what early formation of Mars looked like 4.5 billion years ago. The lander will not only investigate Mars but also have the first CubeSats trailing right behind. These little cute cubes will answer the question is it possible for miniaturized satellites survive the trip in space to...

3 Awesome Facts about Ganymede: Jupiter’s Largest Moon

By on Nov 2, 2018 in Moons | 0 comments

Ganymede is one of the most fascinating moons out there in the solar system. Ganymede is Jupiters largest moon and in fact the solar system’s largest moon. It’s covered in craters caused by space debris hitting it constantly. Honestly, I don’t want to spoil all the fun facts so let’s jump into the 3 awesome facts! 1. Ganymede has a magnetic field that only a few planets have in the solar system Imagine you’re on Earth and you see a beautiful aurora light up the sky as the colors dance around. Now imagine you’re on a moon that is much smaller and more intimate. Suddenly you see an aurora that mesmerizes you as you look at it through your helmet. A magnetic field is incredibly important and much more than letting us experience auroras. They protect life from the solar winds and energetic particles that slam into the planets and moons. A magnetic field...

Alyssa Carson: Journey to Becoming a Future Mars Astronaut

By on Sep 9, 2018 in Interview | 4 comments

Alyssa Carson is one of the most impressive people you’ll meet. She’s 17 years old and has a dream to be a future Mars astronaut. That isn’t even my favorite part. Alyssa has numerous accomplishments already, and the wonderful part about it is that she’s been doing it all publically. It’s one thing to look up to your heroes like Buzz Aldrin, Chris Hadfield, or Sally Ride. It’s another to see a hero’s journey right before your eyes. If you’re interested in learning more about Alyssa you can check out her site here. I have also written a post about her here and here. Quick Bio on Alyssa Carson Inspired at the age of 3 to go to Mars from a Nickelodeon show called the Backyardigans The youngest person to have graduated from the Advanced Space Academy Speaks French, Spanish, and Mandarin Youngest to be accepted and graduate Embry-Riddle’s...

Carnival of Space 577: Awesome Weekly Space Stories

By on Aug 30, 2018 in Carnival of Space | 0 comments

Hello, space fans! I am excited to host the Carnival of Space episode 577. If you’re new to this weekly curation of handcrafted space stories then let me explain. Every week a space journalist hosts the Carnival of Space and posts all the amazing posts from other space advocates in the community. It’s something UniverseToday started and has been going for years! Alright, let’s jump into the good stuff.   Universe Today – Look at all the Aerosols Pushed into the Atmosphere, from Fires, Volcanoes and Pollution. Even Sea Salt Thrown into the Air from Hurricanes Here’s a great article on NASA’s visualization of aerosols. It shows where aerosols aggregate in the atmosphere. What’s fascinating is the annotations that NASA put on this visualization. UniverseToday highlights these insightful features and dives a little deeper to understand what it...

5 NASA Inventions You Probably Didn’t Know About

By on Aug 4, 2018 in For Your Information | 0 comments

There are numerous NASA inventions that have enhanced our lives on Earth. In fact, there are so many different companies and products introduced into the public market that NASA publishes a journal called the NASA Spinoff report. It explains in further detail of what space exploration problem they were trying to solve, what was created as a result, and then its final transformation into the commercial market. One final remark before we head into each invention is that even though NASA only highlights their top 50 inventions there are over 1,600 new technologies created every year as a result of the space program.   Treating Depression through a Virtual Therapist One of the biggest issues when living in space is the number of resources available to you. We aren’t just talking about food or water, but even doctors and therapists. Living in space can be exciting, fun, and even...

Carnival of Space 552: Best Space Stories of the Week

By on Mar 10, 2018 in Carnival of Space | 0 comments

Welcome to the Carnival of Space! It’s where the best stories are curated for you weekly and hosted by different astronomy bloggers around the globe. We have an awesome line-up for you today. Let’s get right to it!   Saturn Photobombs a Picture of the Martian Moon Phobos – Universe Today Our first story comes from Universe Today where we take a look at the Mars Express mission and the story behind how it caught this amazing photobomb caused by Phobos. Check out the full article here.   Did the Milky Way Steal These Stars or Kick Them Out of the Galaxy? – Universe Today   Universe Today writes about if the Milky Way stole these stars or kicked them out of the galaxy. It’s fascinating to try and understand the evolution of our Milky Way as well as how scientists go about doing so. Check out the full story here.   A New Planetary System...

What does this look like to you?

By on Feb 27, 2018 in Mars | 0 comments

Do you know what this is? Well at first it may not look incredibly interesting, but there is something fascinating happening here. This is a “hole.” Not just any hole but a hole on Mars. What is really interesting is this is a hole found in the Southern hemisphere on Mars, and the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter took the photo. What I love is scientists have no idea what created the hole. One theory is a meteorite impact. However, if so we know most meteorite impacts on Earth, Moon, and beyond have pointy rims like you would see on a coffee cup or the ice cream containers that you would buy from the grocery store. Instead, we see a smooth rim pointing downwards. Okay, so maybe it’s a pit that sunk in? If so, how did that happen? Mars should have a few more of these at least, right? Well, we don’t see a ton of these, in fact, this is the only one we see so far. Now,...

Falcon Heavy Launches to Infinity and Beyond!

By on Feb 8, 2018 in SpaceX | 0 comments

What a big day for SpaceX! The highly anticipated Falcon Heavy launches on February 6th, 2018. What made this launch fascinating is a couple of things: It’s the first launch of SpaceX’s heavy-duty rocket that will one day bring humans to Mars and even beyond Falcon Heavy is carrying Elon’s Tesla Roadster at a payload (Elon just being fun and crazy Elon!) The spacecraft will cross Mars’ orbit Do you, also, want to watch the Falcon Heavy launch over and over again? Say no more fam! (this is my pad remote!) pic.twitter.com/2qfe2xyUH3 — Craig Vander Galien (@Craig_VG) February 7, 2018 One reason this is so interesting to me is historically NASA has always led the way for space exploration and continues to develop new technologies that solve some of the hardest problems out there. It’s not to say NASA has completely lost that but this huge. The...