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.

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.
• Kepler - A mission to search for habitable planets.
• 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.
• The New Horizons Mission - a mission to flyby Pluto in 2015.
• Exploration of Mars
  • Curiosity - Mars Science Laboratory which is now exploring the surface 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.
• 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.
• NASA Spacesuits - Learn why spacesuits are very important, and look at the suits that NASA hos used.
• Cape Cosmos - Here you find out about the role that women and African Americans played in the space program, and about the difficulties which they faced in finding equal opportunities. The story is told by astronaut Mae Jemison.
• Encyclopedia Austronautica - Lots of information about the history of space exploration.

Astronomy

• Hubble Site - What is going on in the sky tonight? Videos, podcasts, star maps and more
• The Constellations - pictures and outlines of the constellations.
• Constellations - Information on the best known constellations from StarDate.
• Star Journey - Sky chart from the National Geographic magazine.
• 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.
• 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.
• Black Holes: Gravity's Relentless Pull - A good introduction to black holes.
• How Black Holes Work - by the How Stuff Works web site.
• How the Big Bang Theory Works - How did the universe begin?
• 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.