Web Sites for Students

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Space Exploration

Information on Current Space Program and Astronomy Events

• NASA - Homepage for NASA with daily news.
• Space.Com - News of space exploration, astronomy, UFO's, and TV science fiction.
• News from Sky and Telescope
• This Week's Sky at a Glance - From Sky and Telescope magazine. What to look for in the current sky.
• The European Space Agency - News of European space exploration.
• Dragon Space - News of the Chinese space program.
• The Indian Space Research Organization - News of the Indian space program.

The International Space Station

• The International Space Station - NASA news from the space station.
• Where is the International Space Station? - Map with the current position of the Space Station above earth.
• Satellite Tracking - From NASA.

Exploration of the Planets

• Solar System Exploration - news, current missions, and history of past missions from NASA.
• NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory - Great site for finding out about current space missions. There is news, a calendar, missions to learn more about the solar system, and a site for kids.
• Cassini: The Voyage to Saturn
• Titan - A great site about Saturn's moon Titan by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
• NASA's Messenger Spacecraft - Exploring Mercury.
• Exploration of Mars
  • The Phoenix Mars Lander
  • Google Mars - This is a great site. You can explore Mars without leaving home.
  • The Mars Exploration Rover Mission
  • Mars Express - European Space Agency explorer now heading toward Mars.
  • Mars Exploration - The Mars exploration program from the NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
  • Mars Odyssey - 2001 - The official NASA site. Launched in 2001, Odyssey is still in orbit around Mars.
  • Mars Global Surveyor - Launched in 1996. Its mission is completed now.
  • Mars Pathfinder - Successful landing and exploration on Mars in 1997.
• Project Galileo : Journey to Jupiter - Use this site to learn about the exploration of Jupiter and its moons. This mission lasted 14 years.
• NASA for Middle School Students
• NASA for Kids

The Moon

• Lunar Exploration - Past, current and future missions to explore the moon. From NASA.
• SMART-1 - European Space Agency lunar mapping satellite.

The Sun

• The Sun-Earth Connection - NASA program to study the sun.
• Genesis Mission - Genesis launched in 2001 to study the solar wind.

Other Information on Space Exploration

• Deep Impact - NASA investigation of the structure of a comet.
• Planet Quest - NASA's search for other planets in other solar systems.
• How Stuff Works: Space - Lots of information here on space and astronomy.
• Encyclopedia Austronautica - Lots of information about the history of space exploration.

Astronomy

• Amazing Space - Information about astronomy and lots of online activities.
• Stars and Constellations - Great sky maps and photographs
• Star Journey - Sky chart from the National Geographic magazine.
• Sun Gazer - You can't look at the sun outdoors, but you can look at it on this website. It has great pictures, videos, and some podcasts.
• Astronomy Picture of the Day - A new picture every day along with a brief description written by an astronomer.
• The Eight Planets - Information on the planets and their moons.
• Google Sky - Google's pictures of the universe.
• Welcome to the planets - NASA best pictures of the planets.
• The Astonomy Workshop - Java applets are used to let you view rotation of planets and moons. You can also calculate orbits and the time it will take to travel to planets.
• The NASA Eclipse Web Site - Dates of solar and lunar eclipses.
• The Web Nebulae - Pictures of galaxies, clusters, and nebulae.
• Beyond Einstein - NASA site on explorations of the structure of the universe including the Big Bang, black holes, and dark energy.
• Astronomy Basics- How to get started observing the stars from Astonomy magazine.
• At Home Astronomy - Hands-on astronomy experiments for the whole family. The site is by the Space Sciences Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley.
• How Black Holes Work - by the How Stuff Works web site.
• The SETI Institute - Search for life in outer space.
• Ancient Observatories - Native Americans were viewing sky events at observatories at Chaco Canyon and Chichen Itza hundreds of years ago.
• Careers in Astronomy
• How to Become an Astronaut

This site is maintained by Linda Bertland, retired school librarian. Please address any comments, additions, or corrections to info@sldirectory.com.