• People

This week we celebrate the “Renamers” 

• Climate Pledge Arena
• Disney
• Hidden Figures
• Ken Burns
• Lady A
• NASA
• The Chicks
• Tiana

We wanted to call attention to all the people who are taking action to right the wrongs of the past by changing the names of well-known things in recognition of what we must do to be a more just society.  Here are just a few: NASA – for renaming its main office the “Mary W. […]

• Cosmos

Elon Musk’s Big Bets on Space X Launch and EV Batteries

• batteries
• Dragon Capsule
• Elon Musk
• EV
• NASA
• Saturn 9 rocket
• Space Shuttle
• Space X

Elon Musk’s company Space X is behind the latest NASA chapter, in which the Dragon Capsule launched by the Falcon 9 rocket will deliver astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley in style (wearing Tesla emblazoned custom-made Space X pressure suits) to the international space station – liftoff is set for today 4:33 pm ET. 

Why This Matters:  When it comes to the future, for better or worse, we are in Elon Musk’s hands, even as he argues to rapidly re-open the economy.

• Cosmos

One Stunning Space Thing: Hubble Turns 30 With This Iconic Image

• conservation
• environment
• Hubble Telescope
• NASA
• space

The Hubble Space Telescope has revolutionized modern astronomy by taking scientists and even the space-loving public on an incredible journey of exploration and discovery.  The images it sends us are iconic and have given us an eye into the cosmos. And to think it was sent to space decades before the invention of Instagram!  Thomas […]

• Cosmos

One Far Out Thing: Astronaut Provides Tips on Social Distancing From Space

• astronaut
• international space station
• NASA
• space
• The Late Show

The Late Show host Steven Colbert is really going the extra mile to help us improve our social distancing.  To get advice on how to do it well, he sought out an expert — NASA Astronaut Jessica Meir, who has spent the last 200 days on the International Space Station.  She will get to try […]

• Air

The Impact of the Oil Price War On Methane Flaring Is Uncertain

• flaring
• greenhouse gas emissions
• methane gas
• NASA
• natural gas

With oil prices plummeting to 18-year lows, oil and gas companies are scaling back by cutting workers, halting infrastructure investments, and drastically reducing oil and gas production. But will the natural gas industry finally get their outrageous methane leaks under control?

Why This Matters:  Methane is the most potent greenhouse gas in terms of its short term impact.  The Trump Administration made flaring methane even easier.

• Cosmos

Curious About Mars? Check Out These Pics From NASA’s Mars Rover Curiosity

• Curiosity
• Mars
• NASA
• Rover

Talk about some cool selfies!  Check out these photos that the Mars Rover took of itself and the Red Planet on February 26th.  According to CNN, the Rover made history by powering up its steepest hill to date, the Greenheugh Pediment, which is at a 31-degree tilt.  On the way up, the Rover’s drivers paused […]

• Cosmos

One Cool Thing: The New Mars Rover Is Aptly Named Perseverance

• #Perseverance
• Mars
• NASA
• Rover

NASA asked school children nominate names for the new Mars rover and the agency announced the winner, Perseverance, late last week from among 28,000 nominations.  Alex Mather, a seventh-grader from Springfield, Va., submitted the winning entry and said he was inspired by a NASA Space Camp visit where he saw a giant model of a […]

• Cosmos

One Cool Thing: NASA Needs YOU — To Name Its New Rover

• Mars
• NASA
• Rover

There is an important election happening right now!  You can vote to name NASA’s next Mars rover.  The Agency held an essay contest and invited students from around the country to propose a fitting name for NASA’s Mars 2020 rover and write a short essay about it.  The nine finalists are: Endurance, K-4, Oliver Jacobs […]

• Cosmos

Not Wanting to Miss a Thing, ESA is Officially On-Board to Blast Asteroids with NASA

• AIDA
• asteroid
• DART
• ESA
• NASA
• space

The European Space Agency has officially joined NASA on a mission to bust near-Earth asteroids through the AIDA space mission.

Humanity-destroying space objects aren’t just out of 90’s action flicks…

• Cosmos

One Cool Thing: Mercury Transiting the Sun in 4K

• mercury
• NASA
• the Sun

ICYMI, on Monday the planet Mercury made one of its rare appearances transiting the Sun.  It won’t do that again until 2032, and that one won’t be visible in the U.S.  It was super hard to see, but NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) had several special cameras filming it and on Wednesday they released a […]

• Cosmos

One Spooky Thing: NASA’s Halloween-Themed Celestial Images

• NASA
• space

  This spooky season is out of this world! The above image isn’t a jack-o-lantern but rather an image that NASA captured of our sun. According to NASA, the face is the result of active regions of the sun burning more brightly than others. And the image below, though it looks a bit like an eerie, […]

• Cosmos

One Shrinking Thing: The Ozone Hole

• CFC
• NASA
• ozone hole

Video: NASA We know you weren’t losing sleep over this (unlike say the climate crisis), but there is a bit of good news this week.  NOAA and NASA announced that the ozone hole measured its smallest size ever for this time of year — typically when it is its largest.  The hole, which exists above […]