Hat’s Off To SpaceX For Releasing Footage Of Their Attempt To Safely Land Their First Stage On A Barge

Astronaut Alan L. Bean, Lunar Module pilot for the Apollo 12 lunar landing mission, holds a container filled with lunar soil collected while exploring the lunar surface. Astronaut Charles “Pete” Conrad Jr., commander, who took this picture, is reflected in the helmet visor.

Credits: NASA

Milky Way At Kilbear Provincial Park, Canada

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Apollo’s Wardrobe - Houston, Texas - 1978

via reddit

Terraforming Mars

Let’s All Look at the Moon!

Celebrating Earth’s Nearest Neighbor

Humanity has observed the nighttime sky for millennia, eyeing celestial bodies with wonder. Until the last 50 years or so, telescopes provided our best views of the sky at night. That is, until the Ranger mission broadcast the craft’s descent onto the moon live on March 24, 1965.

+Learn more about Ranger 9

+Watch the video

Our fascination with the moon continues, and since 2010 the organizers of International Observe the Moon Night (InOMN) have turned it into a worldwide, public celebration of lunar science and exploration held annually. One day each year, they invite everyone, everywhere to learn about the moon and to celebrate the cultural and personal connections. We’ll all invited and anyone can host an InOMN event. 

+Locations of InOMN Events Around the World

+ Visit International Observe the Moon Night’s site

And, we’re doing our part to let the public know more about our moon. This month’s “What’s up” video is very moon-centric.

+View JPL’s What’s Up for October

Our Night Sky Network at JPL, which bills itself as “astronomy clubs bringing the wonders of the universe to the public,” has a list of astronomy clubs and events across by area, as well as a monthly calendar.

+Learn more 

Organizations in our Museum Alliance across the country are also hosting activities. The Museum Alliance was created to be the “front door” to NASA for the world of informal education. The Alliance is a NASA-centric STEAM "community of practice" that includes informal educational organizations, namely, all those outside of the traditional K-12 school system. Our STEAM–Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math–communities include more than 1,400 professionals at more than 700 U.S. museums, science centers, planetariums, NASA Visitor Centers, Challenger Centers, observatories, parks, libraries, camps, and youth-serving organizations as partners in the Museum Alliance.  

+Learn more about the Museum Alliance

All us Earth-dwellers can tour the moon via our Moon Tours app that lets you explore the lunar surface from your mobile device. The app includes imagery from lunar orbiters and Apollo missions and is a free download for iOS and Android.

+iOS

+Android

+Check out a full range of NASA apps

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com

Trillions and Trillions

As far as astronomers know, this universe of ours is nearly 14 billion years old and 93 billion light-years across. Only objects between 10 to 12 billion light-years distant will ever be visible due to the expansion of the universe.

Recently, a new survey upped the believed galactic population from around 100 billion to TWO TRILLION.

Images: Left: NGC 1365     Credit: Jason Jennings Right: Hubble Deep Field added to the background of NGC 1365     Credit: NASA/ESA