AstronomyTeacher

Astronomy - See the Moon turn red -

Pete Conrad Spirit of Innovation Award - Wirefly X PRIZE CUP

Meteor Shower Peaks This Weekend: "Summer's annual meteor shower promises to put on a dazzling show when it peaks this weekend %u2014 provided you're far from city lights. With no moon in sight to interfere with the Perseid meteor shower, skygazers can expect to spot streaking fireballs late Sunday into dawn Monday regardless of time zone. Astronomers estimate as many as 60 meteors per hour could flit across the sky at the shower's peak."

SPACE.com -- Astronomers Witness Whopper Galaxy Collision : "A major cosmic pileup involving four large galaxies could give rise to one of the largest galaxies the universe has ever known, scientists say.
Each of the four galaxies is at least the size of the Milky Way, and each is home to billions of stars.
The galaxies will eventually merge into a single, colossal galaxy up to 10 times as massive as our own Milky Way."

NSTA :: News Story


NSTA member Barbara R. Morgan believes students learn best by “doing and being actively engaged.” Now Morgan, a former Idaho elementary science teacher, is preparing to be actively engaged in space exploration as one of five NASA mission specialists aboard space shuttle Endeavour, now scheduled to launch on August 8. Endeavour’s 11-day mission, designated STS-118, will continue assembly of the International Space Station. In addition to leading in-orbit educational activities, Morgan’s duties will include operating the shuttle’s and station’s robotic arms during spacewalks and other activities and overseeing the transfer of 5,000 pounds of supplies and equipment between the shuttle and station. She will also be on the flight deck to assist with re-entry. She says she looks forward to “doing the job of an astronaut with the eyes, ears, heart, and mind of a teacher.”
Morgan, 55, has waited 22 years to board a shuttle—although she asserts that she has spent the time working, not passively waiting. In 1985, she was chosen as the backup candidate for the NASA Teacher in Space Program and trained with Christa McAuliffe, the teacher who perished in the space shuttle Challenger accident. Since then, Morgan has worked with NASA’s Education Division on such tasks as public speaking, educational consulting, and curriculum design. In 1998, NASA selected her to become the first Educator Astronaut: a teacher...

Read more by following the link.

This is the registration page to participate in the latest teacher from space activity, involving testing space exposed seeds and seeds kept on earth as a control. This is very similar in concept to the Space Exposed Experiment Designed for Students (SEEDS) that NASA ran in the 1980s.

NASA -
Join the Challenge

BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Queen star hands in science PhD: "Queen guitarist Brian May has handed in his astronomy PhD thesis - 36 years after abandoning it to join the band.

May recently carried out observational work in Tenerife, where he studied the formation of 'zodiacal dust clouds'.

The subject forms the basis of a 48,000-word thesis for Imperial College, London, where 60-year-old May studied before becoming a rock star."