NASA Seminar Series on Near-Earth Asteroids

Curious about NASA’s Grand Challenge to “discover all asteroids that could threaten human populations and find out how to deal with them?”

That Sinking Feeling

New analyses of NASA airborne radar data collected in 2012 reveal the radar detected indications of a huge sinkhole before it collapsed and forced evacuations near Bayou Corne, LA, that year.

LADEE to Continue Gathering Data Up to Planned Lunar Impact

NASA's Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) spacecraft is gradually lowering its orbital altitude to continue making science observations prior to its planned impact on the moon’s surface on or before April 21.

NASA Space Assets Detect Ocean Inside Saturn Moon

NASA's Cassini spacecraft and Deep Space Network have uncovered evidence Saturn's moon Enceladus harbors a large underground ocean of liquid water, furthering scientific interest in the moon as a potential home to extraterrestrial microbes.

Earth's Sunrises/sunsets Will Produce Red Moon During Lunar Eclipse

On April 15th, the full Moon will pass through the amber shadow of Earth, producing a midnight eclipse visible across North America.

Construction to Begin on OSIRIS-REx Spacecraft

The OSIRIS-REx mission passed a very important mission milestone this week. The mission passed what is called a "Critical Design Review" or CDR.

Summer Reading Programs

Believe it or not, summer is almost upon us! As you already know, the themes for this summer's reading program are "Fizz, Boom, Read", "Spark a Reaction", and "Literary Elements." All of these themes lend themselves to science programming!

Live Streaming of April 14-15 Lunar Eclipse

Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, CA will provide a live web stream of the total lunar eclipse on April 14-15.

Lunar Eclipes from a Different Perspective

What would a lunar eclipse look like to an astronaut on the Moon's surface?

April 15 Lunar Eclipse Resources

On April 15, the full Moon will pass through Earth’s shadow, producing a total lunar eclipse visible across North America. Lunar eclipses are perfectly safe to view, and an exciting family event.

Birth of a New Saturn Moon?

Has a new moon formed around Saturn? Possibly. NASA's Cassini spacecraft has documented the formation of a small icy object within the rings of Saturn that may be a new moon, and may also provide clues to the formation of the planet's known moons.

It's National Library Week!

It's National Library Week and, in my worst Johnny Carson impersonation, I did not know that. That is until I received an email today about it.

Make-and-take Project Allows Kids to Spot Stars with Earth-like Planets!

NASA’s Kepler space telescope been on a search for Earth-size planets, “exoplanets,” orbiting around other stars in our Milky Way galaxy. The Kepler Star Wheel shows where in the sky the Kepler telescope is pointing – along with the constellations of the night sky!  The Kepler Starwheel includes the sky positions of 17 naked-eye stars with exoplanets discovered (as of August 2012), shown as green circles.  A master for photocopying and assembly instructions are included, and can be downloaded through NASA Wavelength.

NASA Celebrates Earth Day

Celebrate Earth Day with NASA!

Goodbye, LADEE! Thanks for All the Science

Last night, NASA completed the LADEE mission with a planned impact on the Moon's surface.

NASA Spinoffs: Space in our Daily Lives

Have you ever wondered if all those NASA gizmos have any real life applications?

Cassini Spies the Ice-Giant Planet Uranus

OK. This is pretty cool. NASA's Cassini spacecraft has captured its first-ever image of the pale blue ice-giant planet Uranus in the distance beyond Saturn's rings.

Ganymede May Harbor 'Club Sandwich' of Oceans and Ice

The largest moon in our solar system, a companion to Jupiter named Ganymede, might have ice and oceans stacked up in several layers like a club sandwich, according to new NASA-funded research that models the moon's makeup.

How Does Your Garden Glow?

Science is full of serendipity -- moments when discoveries happen by chance or accident while researchers are looking for something else. For example, penicillin was identified when a blue-green mold grew on a Petri dish that had been left open by mistake.

The Incredible Shrinking Giant Red Spot!

Jupiter's trademark Great Red Spot - a swirling anti-cyclonic storm larger than Earth - has shrunk to its smallest size ever measured.

Construction to Begin on 2016 NASA Mars Lander

NASA and its international partners now have the go-ahead to begin construction on a new Mars lander, after it completed a successful Mission Critical Design Review on Friday.

NASA Mars Weather Camera Helps Find New Crater on Red Planet

Researchers have discovered on the Red Planet the largest fresh meteor-impact crater ever firmly documented with before-and-after images. The images were captured by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO).

NASA Releases Earth Day "Global Selfie" Mosaic of Our Home Planet

For Earth Day this year, NASA invited people around the world to step outside to take a "selfie" and share it with the world on social media. NASA released Thursday a new view of our home planet created entirely from those photos.

NASA Teams with Slooh to Help Protect Earth

As part of the agency's Asteroid Grand Challenge, NASA is partnering with private internet technology company Slooh to engage citizen scientists in the effort to track and characterize near-Earth asteroids (NEOs) that are potentially hazardous to human populations.

NASA Invites Public to Select Favorite Moon Image for Lunar Orbiter Anniversary Collection

NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) will celebrate five years in orbit June 18. To celebrate the anniversary and LRO's many scientific contributions, NASA invites the public to select a favorite orbiter image of the moon for the cover a special image collection.

Ocean on Saturn Moon Could be as Salty as the Dead Sea

Researchers found that Titan's ice shell, which overlies a very salty ocean, varies in thickness around the moon, suggesting the crust is in the process of becoming rigid.
Image Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI/Univ. of Arizona/G. Mitri/University of Nantes

2014 Humans in Space Art Video Challenge

Join NASA’s International Space Station Program and Humans in Space Art in a journey of exploration.  

Nominations Invited for I Love My Librarian Award

The Carnegie Corporation of New York/New York Times I Love My Librarian Award encourages library users to recognize the accomplishments of exceptional public, school, and college librarians. Administered by the American Library Association, with support from Carnegie Corporation of New York and the New York Times Company, the program seeks nominations that describe how a librarian is improving the lives of people in a school, campus, or community.

Cassini Spacecraft Reveals 101 Geysers

Scientists using mission data from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft have identified 101 distinct geysers erupting on Saturn’s icy moon Enceladus.  Their analysis suggests it is possible for liquid water to reach from the moon’s underground sea all the way to its surface.

NASA Prepares Mars Spacecraft for Close Comet Flyby

NASA is taking steps to protect its Mars orbiters, while preserving opportunities to gather valuable scientific data, as Comet C/2013 A1 Siding Spring heads toward a close flyby of Mars on Oct. 19.

NASA's Opportunity Rover Sets Off-World Driving Record

NASA's Opportunity Mars rover, which landed on the Red Planet in 2004, now holds the off-Earth roving distance record after accruing 25 miles (40 kilometers) of driving. The previous record was held by the Soviet Union's Lunokhod 2 rover.

2014 International Observe the Moon Night

In just three weeks, on 06 September 2014, the whole world will collectively admire and celebrate our moon on International Observe the Moon Night (InOMN)!

New Horizons Spacecraft Crosses Neptune Orbit En Route to Pluto

NASA’s Pluto-bound New Horizons spacecraft has traversed the orbit of Neptune. This is its last major crossing en route to becoming the first probe to make a close encounter with distant Pluto on July 14, 2015.

Our Dirty Moon

Kimberly Lord with the Cliffdale Regional Branch library in Fayetteville, NC attended It's a New Moon, an Explore training held in conjunction with the launch of NASA's LADEE mission to the Moon in September 2013. Below is a description of events Kimberly has held at her library since, using materials from the It's a New Moon training.

Science Programming at Claud H. Gilmer Memorial Library

Lisa Scroggins with the Claud H. Gilmer Memorial Library in Rocksprings, TX attended the Explore Mars training and launch of the MAVEN mission to Mars in November 2013. Lisa recently wrote to LPI describing her science programming since attending the Mars workshop and MAVEN launch.

MAVEN Ready to Arrive at Mars

NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft is nearing its scheduled Sept. 21 insertion into Martian orbit after completing a 10-month interplanetary journey of 442 million miles.

2014 Arctic Sea Ice Minimum Sixth Lowest on Record

Arctic sea ice coverage continued its below-average trend this year as the ice declined to its annual minimum on Sept. 17, according to the NASA-supported National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) at the University of Colorado, Boulder.

Send Your Name on NASA’s Journey to Mars, Starting with Orion’s First Flight

If only your name could collect frequent flyer miles. NASA is inviting the public to send their names on a microchip to destinations beyond low-Earth orbit, including Mars.

Connect with Comets in the News This Fall -- Beginning This Sunday!

What's a comet made of?  Explore this question with your sense of touch through the Comet Mystery Boxes activity! Place ice, dirt, and other common materials in mystery boxes, and invite children to reach in and explore how these materials resemble what a comet is really made of.

S'mores in Celebration of Our Sun

Celebrate our connection to the Sun during fall Solar Week, Oct. 27-31, 2014. Build a Solar Pizza Box Cooker by adding a translucent plastic cover, as well as reflective aluminum foil and a heat-absorbing black paper liner, to a clean pizza box. Just as a car parked in the Sun stays warm inside, even on cool days, this solar-powered oven uses clear materials to allow sunlight in -- and keeps heat trapped inside!  Try heating s'mores with this oven on a sunny day.

Reports Summarizing Your Needs to NASA

How can NASA's Science Mission Directorate Education and Public Outreach community better meet your needs? Many of you helped answer this question through a survey released in fall 2013!

NASA's Spot the Station

See the International Space Station! As the third brightest object in the sky the space station is easy to see if you know when to look up. Use NASA's Spot The Station service to find upcoming sighting opportunities for several thousand locations worldwide. Plus, sign up to receive notices of opportunities in your email inbox or cell phone!

NASA Science Mission Directorate Speaker’s Bureau

Astronomers, planetary scientists, heliophysicists, and Earth scientists are available to speak with audiences on a variety of topics, from black holes to the search for life, through the NASA SMD Speaker’s Bureau. (If the request is for an astronaut or a presentation about NASA’s human space exploration, rockets, or aeronautics programs, please submit the request through the NASA Speakers Bureau.)

Michael Hadfield, Corinth, NY Free Library

Michael Hatfield was one of 30 librarian and camp professionals that attended the Explore! training "Unknown Moon" in September 2013. This training was held in conjunction with the launch of NASA's Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE). Below is a summary of his experience and events his library hosted following the launch.

Nothing Short of a Planetary Revolution

Many of us grew up in an era where planets outside our Solar System were merely science fiction. Just twenty years ago, we could only speculate on the type of planets that might orbit distant stars. While we thought surely they must exist, we had never observed any. And that speculation has fueled writer’s imaginations and they created dramatic stories set on fictional worlds with fictional life forms.

Free Educational Materials - Space Racers′ Space/STEM Educator Toolkit

Space Racers® is a popular, original animated TV series that provides young children with exposure to key aspects of the science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM, curricula.

NASA Explores Pluto This Summer!

On July 14, NASA's New Horizons spacecraft will become the first mission to get up close and personal with distant Pluto and its moons.