 | Marisa Honomichl is Vice President of Marketing and Development at the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center in Hutchinson. The Cosmosphere houses one of the largest collections of space artifacts in the world including the Apollo 13 space capsule. The mission of the Cosmosphere is “Honoring the Past and Inspiring the Future of Space Exploration.” This is accomplished through educational programming such as space exploration camps for students in the summer. Feel free to contact the Cosmosphere for more information on their camps and programming at (800)397-0330 or visit www.cosmo.org. |
Science
2010-08-01 13:01:00
Explore our solar system!
Question: With the recent news of the Space Shuttles being retired; are there any other space projects in the future?
Answer: With all the things that NASA and the many other space organizations around the world are up to these days, it’s really hard to keep track of it all. One way to see the latest information on space discoveries from scientists around the world, in an easy to understand format, is to visit solarsystem.nasa.gov.
This recently updated website is useful for all ages and interest levels; and covers topics on the latest research and exploration into our solar system and beyond. Did you know that there are 48 deep space missions in flight right now? Well you can find out about any one of them under the missions tab on this website. In addition, you can learn about the scientists that are working on the mission, what the goals and accomplishments for each mission are, and what discoveries and images have been sent back so far from each mission.
The Cassini mission, for example, is underway and was designed to explore Saturn, its moons (it has 62 moons!), atmosphere, rings and magnetosphere. It also carried a probe to be delivered to one of Saturn’s moons called Titan. It has been in orbit since 1997 and is now on an extended mission to further study the moons and the rings around Saturn. Cassini observed geysers erupting on the moon, Enceladus, which has given scientist an idea of what our earth my have been like before life began to emerge here.
That’s just one of thousands of interesting tidbits you can find out about on this website. There is also specific information for kids and educators. I particularly love the multimedia section where you can view some spectacular images of the planets, comets, asteroids and moons that have been observed by space telescopes as well as those here on earth. So go out and visit the universe right from the comfort of your own laptop today! You’ll be amazed by what we’ve discovered already.
Marisa Honomichl is Vice President of Marketing and Development at the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center in Hutchinson. The Cosmosphere houses one of the largest collections of space artifacts in the world including the Apollo 13 space capsule. The mission of the Cosmosphere is “Honoring the Past and Inspiring the Future of Space Exploration.” This is accomplished through educational programming such as space exploration camps for students in the summer. Feel free to contact the Cosmosphere for more information on their camps and programming at (800)397-0330 or visit www.cosmo.org.
