In a remarkably brief period of time, humans have developed technology that allows space travel to become a reality. Rockets have been built, energy systems designed, and planetary forces understood. In the activities described in this article, students investigate space travel by designing their own rockets and manipulating variables to determine…

Discusses recent research on cratering and meterorite impact on astral bodies. (MR)

People have gazed up at the cosmos for thousands of years and wondered about the wanderers of the heavens: the planets. The past 20 years have been the golden age of planetary exploration because of many expeditions, most notably the Voyager and other unmanned space craft. This document is a summary of the information known about the planets of…

This reference surveys resources of astronomical information including books and articles about the solar system, Mercury, Venus, Earth, the Moon, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, Asteroids, Comets, and Meteors. Also included is a list of seven available slide sets about the solar system. (CW)

Presents basic information on the planet Venus answering questions on location, size, temperature, clouds, water, and daylight. A weather forecast for a typical day and revelations from radar experiments are also included. (DH)

New findings about the planet, Saturn and its environs, as collected by Pioneer 11 are detailed. Topics discussed include: the composition of the planet's interior, the search for new satellites, and the planet's magnetic field. (BT)

Reflectance Spectroscopy is one of several remote sensing techniques used to study the surfaces and atmospheres of solar system objects. It provides first-order information on the presence and amounts of certain ions, molecules, and minerals on a surface or in an atmosphere. This report is a consolidation of written material generated at a 3-day…

Presents recent findings obtained by the Voyager 2 mission on Uranus. Updates information on the planet's moons, rings, atmosphere, and magnetic field. Illustrations and diagrams of selected aspects of Uranus are included. (ML)

Discusses the missing water on Mars. Describes five experiments simulating conditions on Mars: (1) behavior of dry ice; (2) low-pressure vacuum; (3) freezing point depression; (4) water in hydrated minerals and clay; and (5) properties of carbon dioxide. (YP)

Presents a brief review of man's study of the planets from early visual observations to present day investigation by interplanetary spacecraft. (SL)

The Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) has been designed to take advantage of the two-way transportation capability of the space shuttle by providing a large number of economical opportunities for science and technology experiments that require modest electrical power and data processing while in space and which benefit from postflight…

Surveys resources of astronomical information. Includes bibliographies of books and articles on the solar system in general as well as all of the bodies that occur in the solar system. Lists slide sets available from the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. (CW)

This classroom kit, designed by curriculum developers working with teachers and scientists from the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Institute, helps teachers guide students in the exploration of life through the multidisciplinary sciences of paleontology and exobiology. It reflects the real-life methods of science: making…

Reports on some of the discoveries over the last quarter century regarding quasars including spectra and energy sources, formation and evolution, and cosmological probes. Describes some of the fundamental mysteries that remain. (CW)

Describes the use of spectroscopy and the redshift to measure how far an object is by measuring how fast it is receding from earth. Lists the most distant quasars yet found. Tables include "Redshift vs. Distance" and "Distances to Celestial Objects for Various Cosmologies." (CW)