General

Welcome Future Martians! You can now send your name to Mars on a microchip aboard InSight for its March 2016 mission. The deadline to submit your name is September 8, so don’t forget to sign up! There are three essential questions that have been driving Mars exploration. Is there water on Mars? Is or was Mars ever capable […]

Heriberto (Heri) Soto joined Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in 1990 working as a Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) System Engineer, and since Heri has held different technical positions at the Center like working as a Materials Engineer (Failure Analyst) for the KSC NASA Materials Science Laboratory, working for the International Space Station and Payloads Directorate […]

NASA education specialists John Weis and Susan Currie discuss the importance of their partnership with Destination Imagination this week. The first astronaut who will set foot on Mars is currently a student anywhere from kindergarten through high school, according to Susan Currie, NASA education specialist at Marshall Space Flight Center. Currie said NASA plans to […]

Did you know that NASA wasn’t always called NASA? That’s right! NASA used to be NACA, or the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics. NACA was formed in 1915, followed by the establishment of what is now NASA Langley Research Center in 1917-or what I like to call the mothership of NASA, since it was the first […]

31,536,000 seconds. 525,600 minutes. 8,670 hours. 365 Days. No matter how you break it down, one year is a long time. Then, put yourself in a 3-4 bedroom house (about 425 cubic meters of habitable space) with five other adults, no showers, no washing machines, and only two toilets for that amount of time.  Feeling […]

The moon, Mars, and beyond—for decades humans have been fascinated by the potential of space travel. After nearly 50 years of space exploration, humanity is looking for the next great leap in the future of human spaceflight. Until recently, space programs were run by the government and focused on low-Earth orbits. Humans landed on the […]

It’s National Hispanic Heritage Month, a great time to celebrate culture and emphasize to students that NASA is for them! NASA has some amazing astronauts, engineers, scientists and technicians that serve as inspiration to all. Just a few examples include NASA’s first Hispanic Astronaut, Dr. Franklin Chang Díaz, former NASA astronaut José Hernández, son of a migrant […]

As the global climate changes, there are real, measurable consequences. Satellite missions at NASA collect data on the health of our planet and how it changes over time. NASA has measurable evidence that there are places on this planet that get too much rain and places that are getting too little. The problem of extensive flooding […]

Our solar system is a marvel. It houses millions upon millions of objects and perhaps the greatest marvel of all—life on Earth. With the fast-approaching reality of sending astronauts to Mars, it’s more important than ever to understand our solar system—and what lies beyond it. The Solar System Our solar system includes the sun and everything […]

Recruiting and retaining high-quality STEM teachers is a challenge for teacher education programs nationwide. This video provides an overview of the issues and offers suggestions for meeting the challenge. Key points discussed in this video: The demand for STEM jobs is increasing. U.S. has one of the lowest ratios of STEM to non-STEM bachelor’s degrees in […]

If there is one way to inspire students to pursue STEM fields, it is by appealing to their inner child, that part of them that wishes to explore and discover new and wonderful things. Couple that with an opportunity to work at NASA (which is considered one of the best places to work) and students will […]

It is no secret that STEM jobs are high in demand and will continue to grow over the next several decades. However, what is needed is a wide variety of approaches that will enable educators to engage and entice students to pursue STEM fields to meet this growing demand. According to the Bureau of Labor […]

Looking up at the sky you might see an unusual object flying by that grabs your attention. It’s definitely a plane. No, wait, it looks like the top half of that plane was ballooned out somehow, creating a craft that looks like it couldn’t even fly! But it is flying! How is that possible? That is […]

News from NASA usually evokes imagery of constellations, space stations, and massive black holes swallowing galaxies. This time, though, NASA’s news has more to do with our oceans here at home. As global warming continues, it is becoming more and more pressing for us to understand exactly how our coral reefs are being affected. With this […]

3-2-1 Tech Off: Transferring Technology Advances for 40 Years! What do you think of when you think of NASA?  Maybe it’s men walking on the moon, the space shuttle helping to build the International Space Station, rovers on Mars, or winglets on airplanes.  While those are all true, there are numerous items that incorporate NASA […]

Demonstrations of the HoloLens, Microsoft’s entry into the virtual reality field, have convinced a number of teachers that it will change STEM education. Professors of medicine, archeology and art history at Case Western Reserve University are testing the new technology and their reactions are unequivocally positive. What is HoloLens? The HoloLens is a device able […]

South by Southwest’s education expo will be held on March 7-10 in Austin, Texas. The education expo brought close to 6,000 students, parents, and educators together last year. SXSWedu is a part of the South by Southwest network. This includes the annual music and arts festival of the same name. The education expo has a varied […]

Concept Attainment Model It is tempting to simply share a new concept with your students through lecture. Instead however, you could make the lesson more engaging by using the concept attainment model. This would allow them the opportunity to practice inductive thinking to arrive at the concept through analyzing yes attributes and no attributes related […]

I admit it. I have trouble sitting still. I also spent a part of my life studying neurophysiology. Recently I read an article in the Washington Post written by Alexis Wiggins entitled “Teacher spends two days as a student and is shocked at what she learned.” I mentored teachers and principals in my years in […]

STEMCON 2015, Credit: STEMCON The 3rd Annual STEM Conference takes place on April 8, 2016 at the FirstMerit Convention Center of Cleveland, Ohio. This conference is held to promote better ways of teaching and involving students in STEM. Statistics show that throughout the country students are lacking the necessary skills for today’s workforce, especially when it […]

The USA Science and Engineering Festival is a culmination of events supporting the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) field for the next generation. This year’s festival has been going on since January of 2015. The 2015/2016 festival culminates with 2-day Grand Finale Expo April 16-17, 2016 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in […]

Why NASA is Embracing the KERBAL Space Program Interested in how to engage elementary students in STEM education through technology? There are many apps that can help. I would like to know which ones you have tried in a school or home setting and what were your results? What are your pro’s and con’s about […]

A water bear, or moss piglet or tardigrade, is a tiny animal that lives among mosses, and has a unique ability to survive some of the harshest conditions on earth. They are able to survive extreme temperatures as low as -328 °F and up to 304 °F, freezing and thawing, changes in salinity, lack of […]

According to many experts, students’ learning is optimized when the students take an active rather than passive role in the learning process. This video blog shows that a formatted chain of activities can make the students’ learning process in-line with Kolb’s Experiential Learning Theory of four-stage learning cycle. In addition, several examples of the activities […]

CSUN work on NASA MEI explores how NGSS standards promotes K-12 teacher scientific literacy and advancement of understanding of the principles of global warming and climate change. Over the past year, PIs Susan Belgrad and Norm Herr have worked with educational partners at NASA JPL (David Seidel and Dr. Ota Lutz) to prepare engaging events […]

In these days of high stakes testing and standards adoptions it can be difficult to see space (pun intended) for NASA in your busy curriculum. I promise you that there are ways to bring in NASA resources and not lose your mind. The following are some suggestions for you to consider as you prepare for […]

Can we grow food on Mars? This is an essential question as the journey to get humans to Mars continues. There have been several exciting developments over the past few months and years, none more so than the testing of vegetable growth in simulated Martian soil. The Experiment NASA’s Kennedy Space Center is partnering with […]

The age of robotics has long been dominated by hard metals and clunky objects. In recent years, however, scientists and engineers have begun to develop softer and even “squishy” robots, as they experiment with different materials and systems for their design and function. One such development is the robotic stingray, created by researchers at Harvard […]

What if you could program a computer without using any coding? What if you could program it the way you might teach your dog to roll over? With a technology called machine learning this has become possible. What is Machine Learning? Machine learning was defined in 1959 by Arthur Samuel, creator of one of the […]

In the post The Truth About the Apollo Lunar Samples we were introduced to the “lefty” and “righty” qualities of amino acids, on earth and in space. We learned why the Apollo Lunar Samples taken decades ago were found to have small quantities of amino acids that paralleled those found on Earth. But we did not […]

The Greenland Ice Sheet covers roughly 80% of the country, and is over 2,400 kilometers long from top to bottom. Being the second largest ice sheet in the world after the South Pole’s Antarctic Ice Sheet, it is a key area to study for insights into climate change. Mapping Greenland Matters Using multiple technologies in […]

Scientists at Imperial College London recently discovered that there could be a new form of light. The scientists suggest that light photons can be bound to a single electron, thus combining both properties. How are Photons of Light Created? To get right into the technical details, light photons are produced when electrons orbiting the nucleus […]

Growing Up With Hurricanes “Hurricanes” is an exciting STEM topic that brings real NASA data for real learning into your classroom. Hurricanes have fascinated me since I was a child. Growing up and living near the Gulf of Mexico, hurricanes were always a part of my life each summer. As a child, hurricanes were “fun”. […]

Doing surgeries involving artificial blood vessels is nothing new. But surgeries with regenerative blood vessels? That’s unheard of. The need Congenital heart defects (CHD’s) effect about 1% of all newborns in the United States (source). Often these children need to have surgery to replace or re-structure their blood vessels, and replacement pieces of vessels can […]

Astronomers at NASA’s Hubble Telescope have once again seen evidence of possible water vapor plume eruptions on Jupiter’s moon Europa. Known as a mostly icy moon, Europa is a target for future water testing for evidence of life beyond Earth with these kinds of observations. Europa As we know, Jupiter is the fifth planet from […]

JPL and NASA This year at the Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL) we celebrated our 80th year of scientific research.  Long before JPL was a NASA site we were working on flight technologies, but didn’t get brought into the fold until the space race began.  In 1958, JPL launched the first U.S. satellite, Explorer 1, and […]

Not much lives in the sand, you say? Actually, sand contains millions and millions of algae organisms called diatoms. They are a highly productive and vital food source for other organisms near water. But how do these organisms survive being constantly turned over, buried with no oxygen, and resurfaced again? The Study Researchers at Monash […]

In this video you will see an example of a NASA activity that can be used to illustrate different mathematical representations with the purpose of attaching meaning to the words and quantities – this way, developing mathematical and literacy skills simultaneously.  Research related to mathematics education for students in the stages of developing English language […]

NASA’s Cassini spacecraft is currently in the middle of a relatively new orbit of the planet Saturn, which it has been studying since 2004. Cassini is passing high over the northern hemisphere of the planet, and then taking sweeping runs alongside its rings - the closest any craft has ever been to the rings. November […]

I recently had the opportunity to go with other employees of NASA Ames Research Center to view the recently released movie Hidden Figures, which highlighted the critical role three African-American women played in the early stages of the space race with the Soviet Union. A key theme of the movie, beyond the technical prowess of […]

It’s not often that we get to hear directly from top experts in the engineering field. And it is even less often that we have the opportunity to spend a day with the top female scientists and engineers working for NASA. Luckily for us, National Engineers Week is coming up. And even better, February 23rd […]

Since late 2016, NASA has been able to do it through a new addition to their NOAA GOES-16 satellite – a lightning tracker that can give insights to weather forecasters and emergency response teams before the storms hit. The tool itself is called the Geostationary Lightning Mapper, or GLM for short. Positioned along the equator […]

As a federal agency, NASA prides itself on providing internship opportunities that are unique, innovative, and full of excitement.  We are always in search of discovery and exploration of the next big technology break through.  NASA houses several programs designed to secure the next generation of explorers: whether on the Journey to Mars, the Asteroid […]

As the school year winds down and students look forward to a little time off, I often get parents and teachers asking me what there is to keep young minds actively thinking like scientists. While there is a plethora of academic, science-themed camps available, they mean a bit of schedule juggling and, usually, a bit […]

With a growing demand for plastics, high waste disposal numbers and a growing population, renewable sources are a must to keep a healthy environment. Recycling steps may have already been put in action in many places around the world but plastic items are still a big part of land pollution. It is predicted that by […]

An eclipse, whether solar or lunar, happens when the Sun, Moon, and Earth align with each other. A solar eclipse, like the one on August 21, 2017, is when the Sun’s light will be blocked by the Moon. A lunar eclipse is when the Moon passes behind the Earth into its shadow. As the Sun’s […]

On October 15, 1997, the Cassini orbiter and its attached Huygens probe launched on a seven-year journey to Saturn. The Cassini mission was a collective effort of NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Italian space agency, Agenzia Spaziale Italiana (ASI). Along the way, the spacecraft collaborated studies of Jupiter for six months in […]

STEM in the classroom can be enhanced by adding the “A” from “Arts” to make STEAM. STEAM creates full, cross-curricular learning. Galileo said, “Mathematics is the language of the universe.” To expand on this, we can also add: Science is the translation Engineering puts it all together Technology makes it real Arts bring it to […]

Nature, throughout millions of years of evolution, has figured out a way to adapt to every environment. This has made it as complex and marvelous as we know it today. From all the different shapes of plant leafs to a dog’s ability to read human expressions or, from a bird’s beak to the smallest insects. This is the […]

Since the early 1960s, The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has been developing and disseminating free educational resources for Kindergarten through Twelfth Grade educators. These resources are usually attached to a mission or science objective relevant to NASA at the time of their creation. In recent years, NASA has made a move from a […]

Have you ever wondered how many other Earths can there be in the vast universe? Given the idea that in our Milky Way alone there are 100 billion stars, one would think that there must be many planets out there like our Earth. Well, the short answer to that question is, scientists are still looking. […]

For the first time, atmospheric rivers have been studied in a global scale by NASA and several partners. Their findings give us a profound understanding of their global impact on floods, droughts and the areas affected by these phenomena. What Are Atmospheric Rivers? “Atmospheric rivers are relatively long, narrow, short-lived jets of air that transport water […]

First discovered in 1930 by Clyde Tombaugh, our knowledge of Pluto has come a long way. From its orbit, composition, its five satellites and, most recently, all the data gathered from the New Horizons spacecraft visit, what we continue to discover about the dwarf planet continues to amaze scientists. Timeline Long after its discovery more […]

Although beautiful when photographed from space, hurricanes are violent storms that form around the Equator. Their structure is always the same but what makes a hurricane destructive are its fast winds as it moves through water and reaches the coast. The scientific term for these storms is Tropical Cyclone, though depending on its location they […]

Nitrogen is a naturally occurring element that is essential in most of the compounds that allow life to exist. Plants use it to grow and humans use it in many things like fertilizers, steel manufacturing, cooling and to refine oil. A new study found what might be a new source of nitrogen. Almost 78 percent […]

As a third grader in rural Georgia, I remember listening as President John F. Kennedy delivered his famous speech on September 12, 1962, stating, “We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard; because that goal will serve to […]

This spring has been an exciting time for NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) personnel. Fresh off its Centennial Year celebration, “A Storied Legacy, A Soaring Future,” the Center witnessed a significant step into NASA’s future with mass properties testing of the nation’s next deep-space manned crew capsule, Orion. What are mass properties, you ask? Mass […]

M1, also known as the Crab Nebula, has been observed for centuries. Early drawings show how the nebula appeared in the sky in the early 1800s and modern telescopes like the Hubble and Chandra X-ray Observatory, have taken us deep into the clouds of M1 to see its pulsar star. The Crab Nebula is located […]

Just a few weeks ago, NASA’s InSight Mars lander launched from California, in hopes of getting the first in-depth look at the “heart” of Mars: its crust, mantle and core. In other words, it will be the Red Planet’s first thorough checkup since it formed 4.5 billion years ago. NASA usually launches interplanetary spacecraft from […]

On June 4, 2018, NASA AMES Research Center (ARC) security guards took extra time checking in visitors. This time instead of a quick flash of the badge of one or two people in a vehicle, security guards had to step onto a large bus and give clearance to over 50 Educators participating in the MUREP […]

As countless educators from around the country plan and organize vacation plans, a group of committed educators from San Marcos C.I.S.D. prepare to engage in a unique summer camp that aims to develop, inspire, and nurture the next generation of aerospace-engineers and mathematicians. Earlier this month, NASA STEM EPDC facilitated an intensive day and a […]

Gamma-Ray Bursts are the single, most violent events in the universe! Ironically these are one of the hardest events in the universe for us to witness. The discovery of these was purely coincidental and after their research, we now know so much about them and how rare they are to spot. How were Gamma-Rays Discovered? […]

Research has identified a number of best practices (Darling-Hammond et al., 2009; Guskey & Yoon, 2009; Rhoton & Wohnowski, 2005; NCCTQ, 2011) in providing professional development to teachers and educators. BEST Educators professional development should be based on the following six practices: BE OF SUFFICIENT DURATION The duration of professional development should be significant and […]

For years scientists have trained many species of animals to solve puzzles, to count and even, communicate. Scientists have observed them in their natural habitat and in the lab, testing how they interact, learn and comprehend new information. One example is Koko the gorilla who learned sign language and was able to communicate back with her […]

Social learning is a powerful way to motivate students, develop learning skill and, the interest in the subject. It improves comprehension and reinforces understanding through dialogue. Teaching and technology have, in recent years, merged more seamlessly to make learning easier for kids. In a recently published study by the University of Wisconsin-Madison, researchers built a […]

Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. It’s an icy gaseous planet, discovered in 1781, mistaken by a comet and finally two years later accepted as a planet. After decades of observations and only one close visit by a spacecraft, Uranus still shared one new fact about its atmosphere. Uranus in visual light. This […]

NASA is months away from setting a new course in Human Space Flight History. The Commercial Crew Program, a partnership between Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner and Space X’s Crew Dragon are leading the way for the return to flight of US astronauts from US soil. NASA Kennedy Space Center is leading the way in these efforts. […]

In July of 1958, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act into law, which transformed the National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics (NACA) into today’s National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The nation had been galvanized into action by the surprise launch of Sputnik I on October 4, 1957. With Cold War […]

After a decades-long search, new research has found more clues about the celestial body closest to Earth: our Moon. New research has found conclusive evidence of water in the form of ice on the Moon’s polar regions. While there’s water everywhere on Earth, not the same can be said for other bodies in our solar […]

Finished in 2011, the International Space Station is a critical source of data for space agencies across the globe. Regular expeditions have gone to the ISS to conduct critical research to gain insights into life in space. A recent mission, Expedition 56, was the fifty-sixth manned crew to the ISS. This expedition was part of […]

The Moon is the closest celestial body to Earth, and yet we have so little information about it. NASA plans to change this with an ambitious new plan. In addition to studying the Moon itself, the space agency plans to set up the Moon to be an eventual outpost for deep space exploration. Although deep […]

There are so many mysteries in space. However, the Earth itself is host to so many unanswered questions as well. One mystery lies just shy of the Earth, in the tumultuous area where our atmosphere ends and space begins. The ionosphere is part of the Earth’s upper atmosphere. It’s critical to study for space exploration […]

The NASA FAMA Central Texas for Minority Youth is a partnership of Texas State University and three regional school districts including San Marcos CISD, Lockhart ISD, and Hays CISD that provides integrated year-round STEM programming to underrepresented student populations. The goal and objective is to build interest, skills and knowledge necessary for K-12 students to […]

After four years of debate, NASA announces Mars 2020 rover landing site. Although today we know Mars as a desolate red planet, it wasn’t always this way. Mars had a molten core that generated a magnetic field for a billion years. The planet once was warm and covered in liquid seas. There’s a chance that […]

The Cassini spacecraft explored our solar system for 20 years. During this time, the spacecraft took nearly half a million photos. Its mission? To further humanity’s understanding of the Saturn system. Cassini was a mission of firsts. It was the first landing humanity ever accomplished on a moon other than our own. It was the […]

The InSight lander successfully landed on Mars November 26, 2018. Since that time, InSight has already made history in a slew of scientific firsts. Although it’s still early days for InSight’s two-year mission, the robotic lander is already collecting groundbreaking data. What is InSight? InSight is an acronym for “Interior exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy, […]

Many objects and bodies travel through our solar system. Planets, comets, the Kuiper Belt—our solar system is full of bodies for study. However, of these bodies, scientists on the OSIRIS-REx mission are particularly interested in asteroids. These floating mounds of rock and minerals have the potential to impact deep space exploration for decades to come. […]

Volcanoes aren’t just on volcanic islands. From the ocean floor to the icy poles of the Earth, volcanoes are an important force of nature. While active volcanoes are incredibly destructive, they’re essential to life on Earth. Volcanoes actually made life on Earth possible in the first place. But Earth isn’t the only celestial body in […]

The beautiful thing about the Universe is that it holds so many mysteries. Mankind is always exploring and learning more information about the Universe, which often leaves us with more questions than answers. In late 2018, the Hubble Space Telescope made a monumental discovery: the location of a new galaxy beyond the reaches of the […]

The Sun is one of the most definitive bodies in our galaxy. A constant in the Earth’s history, the Sun makes life possible on our blue planet. But even though much of our life revolves around the Sun, we know little about it. Distance, gravity, and incredible heat make it a challenge to study the […]

Nearly 50 years ago, humanity achieved what seemed impossible. Human presence graced the surface of Earth’s moon. At the height of tremendous social, political, and cultural change, the Apollo 11 lunar landing became the first manned mission to land on the moon and a marked a monumental milestone in human history by displaying the possibilities […]

In March of 2019, social media lit up with the promise of the first all-female spacewalk. Unfortunately, the spacewalk fell through due to spacesuit issues, but it captivated the public. In the months since, people have been wanting to know more about spacewalks on the International Space Station (ISS). There have been over 200 spacewalks […]

Did you know that life exists in space? According to a recent study by NASA, there are plenty of micro-organisms aboard the International Space Station, or ISS. NASA asked astronauts to collect samples on the ISS to catalog the bacteria and fungi growing in the microgravity environment. Although the ISS has been in operation for […]

Congress’s ambitious Space Policy Directive-1 gave NASA a challenge: work with American companies to put our astronauts back on the Moon by 2024. This is no small feat. Through the new Artemis program, NASA is approved to grant $2.6 billion in contracts to American companies over the next 10 years. NASA is partnering with private […]

Mars is 33.9 million miles away from Earth. It takes months to journey between the two planets, which means all mission components have to last. While NASA is using robotic landers and instruments to study Mars before human exploration, robots come with their fair share of problems. On Earth, you can take your broken computer […]

As NASA prepares to put humans on the Moon once again by 2024, the organization knows it needs a little help. That’s why NASA is partnering with private, commercial entities to speed up the timeline, decrease costs, and improve innovation. The Artemis program will put humans on the Moon by 2024, but a lot of […]

The Sun is the center of our solar system. We orbit around the Sun and rely on this massive star to provide life-giving energy to Earth. But as much as the Sun is a part of our lives, we know very little about it. That’s why NASA created the Parker Solar Probe, a specialized craft […]

We learn about the planets and solar system as early as elementary school, but our understanding of the Universe is constantly growing. As much as we don’t know about our own solar system, the Universe holds even more mysteries—light years away from our home here on Earth.  For decades, NASA researchers have looked for exoplanets, […]

Lewis and Clark explored the great American wilderness from 1804 to 1806. The duo was responsible for mapping much of the unknown western half of the American territory, paving the way for exploration and settlement.  In 2019, we’re looking up, not west, to find the next great frontier. As NASA ramps up preparations for the […]