Spaceflight

ISS Video: Aurora Australis over the Indian Ocean

January 27, 2012 By Shannon Leave a Comment

This video was taken by the crew of Expedition 30 on board the International Space Station. The sequence of shots was taken January 3, 2012 from 15:01:30 to 15:08:17 GMT, on a pass from the Indian Ocean, just west of Australia, to south of Australia, west of Tasmania. The pass begins looking eastward toward southern Australia at the Aurora Australis. The crew captures the aurora just before the sun begins to come up in this short video. A few orbiting satellites pass by throughout the video as … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Astronomy, Education & Outreach, Featured, Human Spaceflight, Spaceflight Tagged With: astronaut, aurora, Aurora Australis, Expedition 30, eye candy, human spaceflight, imagery, International Space Station, ISS, NASA, outreach, photography, video

In Recognition of Excellence…

August 10, 2011 By Shannon 4 Comments

Images from three of NASA's Great Observatories were combined to create this spectacular, multiwavelength view of the starburst galaxy M82. Photo Credit: NASA

This post was updated November 6, 2011. Sometimes, the expressions "Thank you!" or "I appreciate all you do," are wholly inadequate to express gratitude to someone for the contributions they make to one's personal and professional life. Thankfully, organizations like Women In Aerospace (WIA) encourage people to nominate their heroes and role models for recognition. I had no idea if Stephanie Schierholz (@Schierholz) would even be eligible for the award this year; I was halfway through … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Education & Outreach, Human Spaceflight, NASA Tweetups, Spaceflight Tagged With: @Schierholz, aerospace, Aerospace Awareness Award, award, education, gratitude, inspiration, NASA, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, nomination, nominee, public outreach, recognition, role model, social media, Social Media Manager, Stephanie L. Schierholz, Stephanie Schierholz, thank you, WIA, Women In Aerospace

NASATweetup – Paying it Forward

July 31, 2011 By Shannon 1 Comment

Father and Son: STS-1 (1981) and STS-135 (2011)

Over the course of NASA's 30-year Space Shuttle program, many millions of people from around the world witnessed a Shuttle launch live in Florida. Families and friends camped in public parks, people flocked to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex and Astronaut Hall of Fame, tourists joined established tours to the NASA Causeway, and native Floridians simply stepped outside or took their boats/other watercraft out on launch day. People even managed to view Shuttle launches from Florida's … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Education & Outreach, Human Spaceflight, NASA Tweetups, Spaceflight Tagged With: #nasatweetup, alumni, Florida, GRAIL, gratitude, human spaceflight, inspiration, Juno, Kennedy Space Center, Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, KSC, KSCVC, NASA, NASA Tweetup, nasatweetup, outreach, social media, Space Shuttle, Space Shuttle Program, spaceflight, tweetup

Definitive Tweetup Attendee Gear List

June 14, 2011 By Shannon 1 Comment

Tweet by @danielscuka that inspired this blog post

The tweet that inspired this blog post happened to deal with one of NASA's Space Shuttle launch tweetups, in this case the one held for the final launch of Space Shuttle Endeavour (STS-134): Are you heading to a day-long or multi-day event where you anticipate using social media to document and share the experience with friends, family and followers? Perhaps you have been selected to attend a formal tweetup event, such as an upcoming NASA Tweetup, Space Camp Tweetup, NASM Pilot Day … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Education & Outreach, Geek, NASA Tweetups, Spaceflight Tagged With: #nasatweetup, Android, apps, binoculars, gear, gear list, iPad, iPhone, mobile, NASA Tweetup, nasatweetup, recommendations, tweetup

Space Waste: Debris in Space – Part I

April 16, 2011 By Shannon 3 Comments

Animation illustrating the estimated 600,000 pieces of space debris larger than 1 centimeter. Credit: ESA

When you look up at the night sky, you can see stars, planets and, occasionally, the reflected glint off the International Space Station (ISS) or another satellite as it passes over your location. What you can't see are the tens of millions of particles of space debris in orbit, including most of the nearly 16,000 objects which are 10 centimeters in diameter (baseball size) or larger. There are two types of space debris -- natural and artificial. Natural space debris includes objects such … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Commercial Spaceflight, Featured, Human Spaceflight, Military Spaceflight, Spaceflight Tagged With: anti-satellite test, asteroid, comet, debris, human spaceflight, International Space Station, ISS, micrometeoroid, orbital debris, rocket, satellite, satellite collision, space debris, space junk, space waste

Resources for NASA Launch Tweetups

March 24, 2011 By Shannon 2 Comments

Members of the media and STS-132 Tweetup participants gather near the countdown clock to watch space shuttle Atlantis lift off from Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on the STS-132 mission to the International Space Station at 2:20 p.m. EDT on May 14.

A fresh group of 150 NASA Tweetup participants is about to descend on the Space Coast for the final flight of Space Shuttle Endeavour on the STS-134 mission to the International Space Station. Endeavour is set to launch April 19 at 7:48 p.m. EDT. With just two Space Shuttle flights remaining, including STS-134, it is more important than ever that space advocates and NASA Tweetup participants share their unique experiences with the world. To help newly-minted NASA Tweetup participants, as … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Education & Outreach, Human Spaceflight, NASA Tweetups, Spaceflight Tagged With: #nasatweetup, 2009, 2010, 2011, Atlantis, Discovery, Endeavour, Florida, inspiration, Johnson Space Center, JSC, Kennedy Space Center, KSC, Mission Control, NASA Tweetup, nasatweetup, Space Shuttle, Space Shuttle Atlantis, Space Shuttle Discovery, Space Shuttle Endeavour, STS-129, STS-132, STS-133, STS-134, Texas, tweetup

What’s the Next Step?

March 10, 2011 By Shannon Leave a Comment

70 foot long vacuum tank at Glenn Research Center

A 2 minute audio podcast (MP3) about space and science outreach, SpaceUp Houston and what comes next: What's the Next Step? What are you doing to help space outreach & science education? … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Education & Outreach, NASA Tweetups, Spaceflight

Get Your SpaceUp!

February 6, 2011 By Shannon Leave a Comment

Session board for SpaceUp DC on Day 1. Credit: Cariann Higgenbotham (@Cariann)

SpaceUp is a fun, free-form conference about anything and everything related to space. SpaceUps are based on the widely successful "unconference" format where attendees, themselves, are the primary drivers of the content, structure and schedule of the conference. You don't have to be a rocket scientist, engineer, astronaut, educator, or space geek to attend, yet you will meet and gain insights from people in many of these fields at a SpaceUp conference! This weekend, February 12 & … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Astronomy, Aviation, Commercial Spaceflight, Education & Outreach, Geek, Human Spaceflight, Spaceflight Tagged With: #SpaceUpDC, #SpaceUpHOU, education, engineering, inspiration, outreach, science, space, space conference, spaceflight, SpaceUp, SpaceUp DC, SpaceUp Houston, SpaceUp San Diego, SpaceUp Washington DC, Spacevidcast, STEM, technology, tweetup, unconference

Challenger Disaster

January 18, 2011 By Shannon Leave a Comment

I wrote the following essay in March 1993, as a writing exercise for my freshman English class in college. I share it not because it's well-written, but because it accurately expresses my personal experiences on January 28, 1986--the day we lost the Space Shuttle Challenger and her crew (STS-51L). That evening, President Ronald Reagan canceled his State of the Union Address and instead addressed the nation on the Challenger disaster. I sat quietly in my sixth grade social studies … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Human Spaceflight, Spaceflight Tagged With: Christa McAuliffe, disaster, human spaceflight, memory, setback, Space Shuttle, Space Shuttle Challenger, Space Shuttle Program, STS-51L

ISS Video: Aurora Australis over the Indian Ocean

Definitive Tweetup Attendee Gear List

Space Waste: Debris in Space – Part I

Resources for NASA Launch Tweetups

What’s the Next Step?

Get Your SpaceUp!

Challenger Disaster

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