Free Spirit!

Spirit has met many challenges over 5 years on Mars, from solar panels caked with dust to a broken right front wheel. Now she faces one of her toughest challenges yet, a ‘sand trap’ filled with soft, loose sand laced with rocks. JPL engineers are working around the clock to free her by sending commands to the test rover, deliberately stuck in the sand of the JPL testing facility.

Download the “Free Spirit” updates: videos, podcasts and images that capture the dramatic efforts to free the rover and send her on to new discoveries. You can also subscribe to our RSS feed, or follow the story on Facebook.

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/freespirit/

George’s Secret Key to the Universe Week 9

Hello All!

Eric leaves Annie and George an excellent description of black holes, which is no surprise since one of the authors of our book, Dr. Stephen Hawking, is a world famous astrophysicist. He has studied black holes for many years. We are lucky to have him sharing his knowledge with us in such a fun and interesting way. Another super cool thing about Dr. Hawking is that he is sharing his newest discoveries about black holes –Hawking Radiation. Astronomers have just learned about stuff coming back out of a black hole in the last few years. They used to believe that anything that went into a black hole was lost forever!

Black holes are often the results of supernova explosions, but the charts in Chapter 26 also talk about neutron stars. A neutron star is very different from the yellow-dwarf star we call the sun. Look at the picture of the neutron star – you can see the huge cloud of dust and gasses that is surrounding it. That is what’s left of the huge star that exploded in a supernova. And the cloud is blown out in sphere around the new neutron star – sent in every direction by the powerful supernova explosion!

Almost done – Keep reading!

Jill

NASA PLAYS AUDIO "TIME CAPSULE" OF HISTORIC APOLLO 11 MISSION

HOUSTON -- NASA will provide a unique audio "time capsule" in
observance of the 40th anniversary of the first human landing on the
moon. Audio from the entire Apollo 11 mission will be replayed and
streamed on the Internet at exactly the same time and date it was
broadcast in 1969.

The audio retrospective will begin at 6:32 a.m. CDT Thursday, July 16,
two hours before the spacecraft launched. The audio will continue
through splashdown of the mission at 11:51 a.m. CDT Friday, July 24,
and recovery of the crew shortly afterward. The Web stream will
feature the communications between the astronauts and ground teams,
and commentary from Mission Control at NASA's Johnson Space Center in
Houston.

To listen to the replay, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/externalflash/apollo11_radio


For historical information about Apollo 11, visit:

http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/history/apollo/apollo11


NASA's Apollo 40th anniversary Web site provides easy access to
various agency resources and multimedia about the program and the
history of human spaceflight, including a gallery of Apollo
multimedia features. The site is online at:


http://www.nasa.gov/apollo40th

George’s Secret Key to the Universe Week 8

WOW! Eric is in big trouble – black holes are amazing and very scary… and now Eric has fallen into one! Most people think that a black hole is a hole, but actually it is an object just like a star or a planet. But, a black hole has so much gravity that even light cannot move away fast enough to escape, which makes black holes invisible to our eyes. You see, in space, the more mass something has, the more gravity it creates. So the sun has more gravity than Earth and Earth has more gravity than the moon because the sun is the biggest and the moon is the smallest. Most black holes come from supernova, the explosion of a super massive star. Then all that mass condenses down into a smaller, but extremely massive object with a HUGE amount of gravity – which we all call a black hole.

Before the black hole began to suck up Eric and George, they were talking about Eric’s quest to find a new planet like Earth – one where humans could live. Think for a second about what that would have to be like. It would have to have similar gravity, similar temperatures, and similar chemicals in the air and on the surface. Finding another planet so similar to ours is a very big challenge, but lots of people at NASA are working hard to do so.

I can hardly wait to read what happens next!

Jill

George’s Secret Key to the Universe Week 7

Welcome Back Everyone!

George gets a chance to hear a lot about Mars in this week’s chapters. Mars is a very important place for us to study because it is the most likely place we would be able to live other than Earth. In fact, NASA already has plans to build a space station on Mars. Then first manned mission to Mars is scheduled for 2035! How old will you be in 2035? Will you be able to go? Would you want to be the first explorer to another planet? The 2035 mission will take two years to complete – six months to fly there, a year on the surface and six months to fly back. Then future missions will help build the space station. What do think would be good about living on Mars and what do you think would be bad?

Along the same lines, George speaks with Eric about the looking for a new planet. Pollution and overcrowding are certainly affecting Earth in a very negative way, but should we just move to a new planet rather than fix this one? Earth is our home and we are adapted to living here. I think Eric and George’s dad would have a very interesting argument on this topic. George’s dad would definitely say we need to clean up the Earth, while Eric might say we should seek out another planet like Earth to move to. What do you think is the best answer?

Until next time!

Jill

Broccoli muffins, bullies and brainstorms—oh my! I’m not sure George chose a good title for the Science Competition—will anyone really believe him? Ringo certainly deserved to get his hand smashed in George’s lunchbox! I think he should have been punished more! During the meeting of the scientists, I thought George was incredibly brave to raise his hand and ask a question—it’s not always an easy thing to do! If you were going to be in charge of helping to design a structure that would support human life on Mars, what would you recommend? What would the buildings look like? What types of special equipment would be needed? Sketch out and label your ideas and bring them along on your next visit to DCS! And now, Eric is off on another adventure..based on an anonymous letter. I’ve got a bad feeling about this……

Laurie Duncan

Education Director

Salvation Army School Supply Drive at DCS

Salvation Army School Supply Drive
July 1, 2009- September 30, 2009
Discovery Center is partnering with the Salvation Army for the 9th year to collect donations from the community to provide local children with the school supplies needed for the upcoming school year. The drive begins July 1, 2009 and ends September 30, 2009. A barrel has been placed inside the Discovery Center lobby for supplies to be dropped off during regular hours of operation.

Discovery members will receive a free guest pass for items brought in, and non-members will receive a buy-one-get-one-free admission pass for items donated. Donated supplies must be new and in original packaging. Possible donations include:

· Back Packs
· Glue, liquid white, 8oz.
· Scissors
· Rulers
· Bags of blue, black, or red ink pens
· A box of No. 2 pencils
· Rubber eraser toppers
· Paper
· Crayons or colored pencils
· Calculators
· Tennis Shoes
· 2 or more Folders with 3 brads and 2 pockets
· Large boxes of tissue
· Protractors

The Discovery Center and Salvation Army want to help provide equal opportunities for learning. All donations will be placed directly into southwest Missouri elementary and middle schools. The drive will last through Sept. 30, 2009. For more information contact Charlotte McCoy at 471-862-9910 Ext. 713

George’s Secret Key to the Universe Week 6

Hello again!

Chapter 16 starts out talking about the eco-warrior protest. Everyone is yelling “Save our planet!” After reading this part, do you think Eric would want to be an eco-warrior? Do you want to be one? What are some things you could do to help save our planet? At my house, we recycle lots of the things we used to throw in the trash, and we just bought an electric lawn mower so we wouldn’t use as much gas. I don’t know if I would ever go to a protest like George’s Dad, but I want to do everything I can to help our planet be healthy and clean!

Dr. Greeper is super creepy in our reading this week, but he talks about one of my very favorite subjects – exoplanets. Look back at the chapter in chapter 18. Dr. Greeper explains that there are planets around other stars in the galaxy. In fact, astronomers have found more than 200 of them! Most of them are like Jupiter or Saturn. No one has found one like Earth yet, but NASA has a special telescope in space right now looking for a planet like ours. The Kepler mission was launched just a few months ago, and astronomers believe it will find planets similar to Earth. What do you think about that? Would you want to travel to another planet? And see if there were other people or creatures there?

Keep Reading!

Jill

George’s dad would probably have enjoyed this music video called “Take Aim at Climate Change.” http://passporttoknowledge.com/polar-palooza/whatyoucando/taacc/

Does your family do anything to recycle waste, or protect our natural resources? What strange things are happening in Dr. Reeper’s home? I certainly don’t like the sound of things there—and I can’t begin to imagine what it smelled like! No wonder he was wearing a gas mask when he opened the door!

Laurie Duncan

Education Director

Fish Blog Installment 3

So, you may be wondering, where did goldfish come from? The history of the goldfish started in China around 1276 A.D. when a natural mutation in the color of the Crucian Carp resulted in a gold carp instead of the normal gray carp. Mutations are changes in the genetic makeup of an organism. There are many factors that influence mutations including environmental factors, mistakes in DNA replication, disease, and sometimes just spontaneous unexplainable events in the cell. The cells of an organism are constantly duplicating and if one little protein of one little mechanism isn’t working properly the whole process can be shut down or create a product that strays from the original. Not all mutations can be seen, in other words, some mutations don’t show up in the organism’s phenotype (as discussed in a previous installment). In the case of the creation of goldfish, a natural mutation occurred in the carp that led to a change in color. In order to carry on this color to later generations of carp the Chinese selectively bred for this new golden color. (Make sure to read the next installment to learn about selective breeding!)

Now, back to history…The Tang Dynasty was famous for keeping beautifully colored goldfish in big ponds, and according to legend the Emperor of China banned anyone but the royal family from keeping these newly bred carp called goldfish. Additional varieties of goldfish began to appear in China and in 1502 A.D. goldfish were introduced to the Japanese. The fish became very popular and new versions of goldfish were created including the ryukin.



In 1611 A.D. goldfish reached Europe where additional diverse types of goldfish were bred including the celestial which has no dorsal fin and eyes facing upward.


In 1874 goldfish were exported to America where the tigerhead and the bubble eye goldfish were bred. For those who know their history, you may recall that in the 1870s the California gold rush brought a massive influx of foreign immigrants looking for work in the United States, including those from China.

Therefore we can conclude that all goldfish, no matter what shape or size, are related and are of the same species descended from the Crucian Carp. Just like a bulldog and a poodle are dogs and can mate, so different varieties of goldfish are carp and can also mate. Additionally, Koi are also related to carp but since they are a different genus of fish Koi are not goldfish. Koi and goldfish can be compared to horses and donkeys, in that they can breed but their offspring are sterile and have a very boring appearance.

Goldfish continue to be a very popular pet even today. If their environment is kept clean and treated they can live for several years. Goldfish can be very flexible when it comes to quality of water, temperature of water, and the food they eat. Besides how easy it is to take care of them, they are fascinating to watch. No wonder they have such a long history!

Laramie
Life Science Assistant
“Resident Fish Expert”