Who Studies Space and How?

The resources provided in this section will help students discover the nature of the fields of astronomy and space exploration, as well as gain familiarity with some astronomers.

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Space Day http://www.spaceday.org/index.html

Resources at this web site are designed to help schools observe Space Day and promote interest in space sciences. On the students’ page, Games for kids offers matching games that use images of planets and nebulae, thus providing good visual reinforcement. Teachers can click on Teachers/Event Planner for five lesson plans and other resources, including print interviews with former astronauts. MSP full record

Boeing Integrated Defense Systems: International Space Station http://www.boeing.com/defense-space/space/spacestation/index.html

This page introduces the International Space Station Project. Students can click on subheadings on the left side of the page to see images and find out more about things such as the assembly sequence and the science conducted on board, including bioastronautics, earth science, fundamental biology, physical sciences, and space product development. MSP full record

How Stuff Works: How Space Shuttles Work http://science.howstuffworks.com/space-shuttle.htm

The workings of a space shuttle—launch, orbit, life aboard a shuttle, and return to earth—are detailed here. Students can learn about the extensive preparations and examine the technology behind the shuttle program, as well as the mission it was designed to carry out. Information is also provided on the history of the space shuttle. Diagrams, full-color photos, highlighted terms, and supplementary definitions assist students in understanding scientific terminology. A printable version of this information is available on the site. MSP full record

The Meaning of Color in Hubble Images http://hubblesite.org/gallery/behind_the_pictures/meaning_of_color/index.php

This resource describes how Hubble produces visible images. Taking color pictures with the Hubble Space Telescope is much more complex than taking color pictures with a traditional camera. For one thing, Hubble doesn't use color film—in fact, it doesn't use film at all. Rather, its cameras record light from the universe with special electronic detectors. These detectors produce images of the cosmos not in color but in shades of black and white. MSP full record

CICLOPS http://ciclops.org/index.php

The CICLOPS (Cassini Imaging Central Laboratory Operations) site contains a flight log, updates, and images from the Cassini mission to the outer planets. NASA is releasing new pictures almost every day on the web site. MSP full record

Looking at the Sky Through a Glass Ceiling: Women in Astronomy http://www.exploratorium.edu/origins/hubble/people/supernovas.html

This article looks at the involvement of women in astronomy by focusing on three pioneers from the 1900s and three modern-day astronomers. The three pioneering women are Henrietta Swan Leavitt, Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, and Jocelyn Bell Burnell. Each woman's most notable contribution to astronomy is described. The three featured contemporary astronomers participate in the Hubble Space Telescope project. They each supplied paragraph-long answers to the question: What is it like to be a woman in astronomy today? For five of the six featured astronomers, a link connects to a fuller description of their work. MSP full record

Famous Astronomers and Astrophysicists http://cnr2.kent.edu/~manley/astronomers.html

D. Mark Manley, a professor at Kent State University (Ohio), provides short introductions for nearly 100 famous astronomers and astrophysicists from the Classical Period to the present. By searching either chronologically or alphabetically, users can find out about a given astronomer’s major successes as well as birth year and place. A link to more in-depth information is provided for each scientist listed. Most of the links also present a picture of the scientist. MSP full record

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Copyright August 2007 — The Ohio State University. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 0424671. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.