Training effectiveness depends on conducting a thorough needs assessment. Traditional needs assessment methods are insufficient for today's business environment characterized by rapid pace, risk, and uncertainty. To overcome the deficiencies of traditional needs assessment methods, a narrative-based unstructured interview approach with subject…

The Apollo missions brought back 382kg of Moon rock. The financial cost of getting these rocks was historically eye-watering so, understandably, NASA is choosy about who gets to play with them. Many go to scientists for laboratory investigation, but some have been set aside for loan to schools and the public. Luckily, the UK was allowed some,…

In college, I was surprised by the excitement of those in the student union who were hovering over the headlines in the local newspaper: "Russia Launches the First Satellite...'Sputnik.'" Russia had won the "race to space." How could Russia, where the majority of the population had only learned to read and write in…

The advancement of modern societies is fueled by mathematics, and mathematics education provides the foundation upon which future scientists and engineers will build. Society dictates how mathematics will be taught through the development and implementation of mathematics standards. When examining the progression of these standards, it is…

A 30-year contribution of the Space Shuttle Program is the evolution of NASA's social actions through organizational learning. This study investigated how NASA learned over time following two catastrophic accidents. Schwandt's (1997) organizational Learning System Model (OLSM) characterized the learning in this High Reliability…

Space has fascinated and intrigued humans of all ages since time immemorial, and continues to do so today. The natural curiosity is engaged when looking up into the sky, notice patterns among celestial objects such as the Sun, Moon, and stars, and wonder. Scientific understanding of those patterns has progressed immensely over the span of human…

On December 2-3, 2014, the Space Studies Board and the Board on Science Education of the National Research Council held a workshop on the NASA Science Mission Directorate (SMD) education program--"Sharing the Adventure with the Student." The workshop brought together representatives of the space science and science education communities…

Dr. Mae Jemison is the world's first woman astronaut of color who continues to reach for the stars. Jemison was recently successful in leading a team that has secured a $500,000 federal grant to make interstellar space travel a reality. The Dorothy Jemison Foundation for Excellence (named after Jemison's mother) was selected in June by the Defense…

Astrobiology is the study of the origin, evolution and distribution of life in the universe. It seeks to answer two important scientific questions: how did we get here and are we alone in the universe? Scientists begin by studying life on Earth and its limits. The discovery of extremophiles on Earth capable of surviving extremes encourages the…

Artificial satellites are easily observed most nights when the weather is fine. The website called "Heavens Above" at www.heavens-above.com will help locate these satellites flying over one's location. It also includes how bright they will appear. The direction of travel of each satellite in the night sky also indicates the type of satellite. For…

The development of software for spacecraft represents a particular challenge and is, in many ways, a worst case scenario from a design perspective. Spacecraft software must be "bulletproof" and operate for extended periods of time without user intervention. If the software fails, it cannot be manually serviced. Software failure may…

The stars closest to Earth are not particularly remarkable or exciting. They are average stars typical of the spiral arms of our Milky Way galaxy. In fact, until recently, most astronomy and Earth science textbooks ignored all but the largest of them to focus on distant, more exotic objects like red supergiants or black holes. The recent discovery…

Kepler's laws of planetary motion are acknowledged as highly significant to the construction of universal gravitation. This paper demonstrates different ways to derive the law of equal areas for the Earth by general geometrical and trigonometric methods, which are much simpler than the original derivation depicted by Kepler. The established law of…

This article looks at how space can provide a context for the teaching of STEM subjects. It explores how space fits with the new curriculum, and outlines what resources are available for teachers from the National STEM Centre eLibrary. In November 2015, the UK sends its first official astronaut into space, Tim Peake. His mission can provide a…

Gravity affects everything we do. Only in very recent years have we been able to carry out experiments in orbit around the Earth and see for the first time how things behave in its absence. This has allowed us to understand fundamental processes better and to design new materials using this knowledge. (Contains 6 figures.)