Author Archives: Angela Harris

NASA’s Astrobiology Program

Astrobiologists at NASA use data from many NASA missions to study the possibility of life on other worlds. Here are a few ways they use data from other missions to support the NASA Astrobiology Program:  Chandra X-ray Observatory   The Chandra X-ray Observatory is a telescope that detects emission from extremely hot regions of space (exploded […] Continue reading

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nASA’s OSIRIS-REx Mission

The sample return capsule from the OSIRIS-REx mission OSIRIS-REx was NASA’s mission to collect a sample from the asteroid Bennu. In September 2023, OSIRIS-REx returned to Earth to drop off material from Bennu.  OSIRIS-REx continued on a new mission, OSIRIS-APEX. The objective of the new mission is to study Apophis, which the spacecraft will reach […] Continue reading

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Hubble and the TRAPPIST-1 System

An artist’s illustration of the TRAPPIST-1 planetary system  One thing from this unit I found interesting was learning about extrasolar planets. The Hubble Space Telescope was the first to detect an exoplanet’s atmospheric conditions and collect data about its makeup. In 2000, Hubble was used to study the exoplanet 209458 b which was the first […] Continue reading

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What Americans Think of Space

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying NASA’s Crew-5 Dragon spacecraft In 2023, the Pew Research Center surveyed over 10,000 American adults to understand Americans’ views of space issues.  Here are a few of Pew’s findings :  Pew also asked respondents how they would rate priorities for NASA’s space efforts. The survey listed the nine priorities […] Continue reading

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NASA’s MAVEN mission

The MAVEN spacecraft NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution spacecraft (MAVEN) is studying Mars’s atmosphere. MAVEN was launched in November 2013 and arrived and arrived at Mars in September 2014. The MAVEN mission is helping scientists learn about how Mars loses its atmosphere and how/when the planet lost its water.  MAVEN is an orbiter spacecraft […] Continue reading

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A tidal bore worth traveling for

Mont Saint-Michel at high tide Chapter 4 of the textbook explained how the Moon and the Sun affect ocean tides. We learned that the timing and height of tides at a given location depends on its latitude, the orientation of the coastline, and the depth and shape of any channel the tide has to flow […] Continue reading

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Historical astronomers in context

Isaac Newton: Isaac Newton was born in December 1642 and died in March 1727. Newton made important contributions to the study of astronomy. One of Newton’s first accomplishments was the invention of integral calculus, which was an important foundation of mathematics for his astronomical discoveries. Newton’s experiments with prisms and sunlight led to the discovery […] Continue reading

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The farmers’almanac

In elementary school, my library teacher always had the Farmers’ Almanac for the year on her desk. The Farmers’ Almanac has a forecaster who works under the pseudonym Caleb Weatherbee. Weatherbee’s predictions are based on a formula that takes many things into account including the Moon phases. Every fall, my classmates and I looked forward […] Continue reading

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Introductory Post

This is a picture of my hometown Annapolis, Maryland!  Continue reading

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