Science Sunday: Exoplanets!
It seems like nearly every week there’s a new announcement that astronomers have found another exoplanet, a planet orbiting a different star. Sometimes that planet is a Hot Jupiter, sometimes it’s a Super-Earth, sometimes it’s a planet made entirely of diamond or burning ice. Exoplanets are weird, incredibly diverse, and always fascinating. But there are …
Miss NASA Beauty Pageant: Queen of Outer Space
Mindy posted this picture from a mysterious “Miss NASA” beauty pageant on our Tumblr the other day. She is wearing a tiara and interacting with a Dalek-like machine. Although it is unclear whether she was just told to touch it and vaguely smile into the distance. According to Artifacting, who …
Awesome Sauce Music Friday! Throw Them Up Like the Canada Arm Edition
Oh my Zeus, Internet. What have you done? First, you somehow made “Gangam Style” by K-Pop star PSY a sensation. (OK, I’ll admit it’s kinda catchy.) Now, students at the NASA Johnson Space Center have done their own version. According to the YouTube page, the musical parody is: …a volunteer …
Awesome Sauce Music Friday! Crane Lower that Rover Edition
Hello, and welcome to this week’s edition of Awesome Sauce Music Friday! We here at Teen Skepchick are still reeling from the incredible engineering feat that is the landing of the Curiosity rover on the surface of Mars. (I mean, really! It’s so awesome!) So we’re using today’s music post …
Red (Planet) Rover, Come On Over
On August 5th, something incredible is waiting to be known. NASA’s newest Mars rover, Curiosity, will attempt a landing on the Red Planet. The organization’s scientists and space enthusiasts round this blue planet will be gnawing at their nails, as every bit of information we get will be coming with a …
Yuri’s Night
Tonight is Yuri's Night. Fifty-two years ago today, Russian, Yuri Gargarin, was launched into out of Earth's atmosphere–the first person to look down on this pale blue dot from outer space. Years later, scientists, astronomy buffs, and generally cool people gather together to celebrate the monumental occasion. Celebrations take place …
Space shuttle, I hardly knew ye
If all goes according to plan, the Atlantis will become the last space shuttle to come screaming back through the atmosphere to land on the Earth’s surface. So, that’ll be that. I remember when I heard that NASA was suspending human space flight and retiring the shuttle program. My rationality …
Pop Quiz: The Space Shuttle
Baring trouble with the weather, the last NASA space shuttle will launch on Friday. I don’t know about you, but when I was young, the space program was what initially got me interested in science. It has everything! Danger, adventure, beauty, possible aliens. Honestly, what’s not to love? And space …