2008 Star Party Schedule for Whiskeytown Lake, Mines Parking Lot
May 31, June 7, June 28, July 5, July 26, Aug 9, Aug 30, Sept 27, Oct 4, all are Saturdays and begin 30 minutes after sunset, weather permitting.
All dates subject to change.
NEW NASA MOON MISSION BEGINS INTEGRATION OF SCIENCE INSTRUMENTS
 Several instruments that will help NASA characterize the moon's surface have been installed on the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO. The powerful equipment will bring the moon into sharper focus and reveal new insights about the celestial body nearest Earth. More...
NASA STATEMENT ON STUDENT ASTEROID CALCULATIONS
WASHINGTON -- The Near-Earth Object Program Office at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., has not changed its current estimates for the very low probability (1 in 45,000) of an Earth impact by the asteroid Apophis in 2036. 
Contrary to recent press reports, NASA offices involved in near-Earth object research were not contacted and have had no correspondence with a young German student, who claims the Apophis impact probability is far higher than the current estimate. This student's conclusion reportedly is based on the possibility of a collision with an artificial satellite during the asteroid's close approach in April 2029. However, the asteroid will not pass near the main belt of geosynchronous satellites in 2029, and the chance of a collision with a satellite is exceedingly remote.
Therefore, consideration of this satellite collision scenario does not affect the current impact probability estimate for Apophis, which remains at 1 in 45,000.
PHOTO OF THE DAY 
Click here to
ASA Completes First Full-Scale Motor Test for Orion Spacecraft
 Image Credit: AeroJet
NASA has completed the first full-scale rocket motor test for the Constellation Program's Orion spacecraft, a test of a solid rocket that will be used to jettison the craft's launch abort system.
Now under develop-ment, Orion will be America's next human spacecraft, designed to fly to the International Space Station and be part of a space flight system to return humans to the moon. The Orion jettison motor will separate the craft's launch abort system from the Orion crew module during launch.
NASA is extending the interna-tional Cassini-Huygens mission by two years. The historic space craft's stunning discoveries and images have revolutionized our knowledge of Saturn and its moons. Full Story...
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SUMMER CAMPS OFFERED
FOR GRADES 4-8
 CAMP FLYER
 REGISTRATION PACKET HERE
GRADES 4-6
ASTRONOMY ADVENTURES June 9-13
ENGINEERING & EXPLORATION June 16-19
GRADES 5-8
ROBOTICS MINDSTORMS June 20-July 2
GRADES 6-8
ASTRONOMY ADVENTURES II June 23-27
SEND YOUR NAME TO THE MOON!
NASA invites people of all ages to join the lunar exploration journey with an opportunity to send their names to the moon aboard the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, spacecraft.
The Send Your Name to the Moon Web site enables everyone to participate in the lunar adventure and place their names in orbit around the moon for years to come. Participants can submit their information and have their name entered into a database. The database will be placed on a microchip that will be integrated onto the spacecraft. The deadline for submitting names is June 27, 2008. Submit your name here.
4D Ionosphere 
April 30th, NASA-funded researchers released to the general public a new "4D" live model of Earth's ionosphere. Without leaving home, anyone can now fly through the layer of ionized gas that encircles Earth at the edge of space itself. All that's required is a connection to the Internet. FULL STORY
NASA KIDS CLUB 
Take a Virtual Field Trip to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratories!
Behold the full Moon.
Ancient craters and frozen lava seas lie motionless under an airless sky of profound quiet. It's a slow-motion world where even a human footprint may last millions of years. Nothing ever seems to happen there. Right? WRONG! FULL STORY...
MOONDUST IN THE WIND
Unlike Earth, the firmament of the moon is directly exposed to charged particles from the sun. What happens to moondust under the onslaught of solar wind? Researchers in a NASA-supported lab are finding some surprising answers. FULL STORY
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We ended our 2007-2008 Season on May 3rd.
Keep checking for summer events and the start of the
2008-2009 Season!
PLANETS BY THE DOZEN!
A NASA-supported sky survey set to begin in 2008 could dramatically increase the number of known planets outside our solar system. You know the planets of our solar system, each a unique world with its own distinctive appearance, size, and chemistry. Mars, with its bitter-cold, rusty red sands; Venus, a fiery world shrouded in thick clouds of sulfuric acid; sideways Uranus and its strange vertical rings. The variety is breathtaking. Now imagine the variety that must exist in hundreds of solar systems. There may be worlds out there that make Venus seem hospitable and Uranus positively upright. More...
STS-124 Astronauts Wrap Up
Launch Rehearsal
The seven-member STS-124 crew participated in a full dress rehearsal of their upcoming launch at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida this morning. Part of the three-day terminal countdown demonstration test, the rehearsal called for the astronauts to be fully suited for liftoff as they simulated the final hours of the countdown. They concluded the event by practicing an emergency escape from Launch Pad 39A. More...
A SUPER SOLAR FLARE
Above: A modern solar flare recorded Dec. 5, 2006, by the X-ray Imager onboard NOAA's GOES-13 satellite. The flare was so intense, it actually damaged the instrument that took the picture. Researchers believe Carrington's flare was much more energetic than this one.
NASA Science News for May 6, 2008
In September 1859, the sun unleashed a solar flare so intense it was visible to the unaided human eye. A ferocious geomagnetic storm ensued in which Northern Lights descended as far south as Cuba, the Bahamas and Hawaii. Meanwhile, telegraph engineers disconnected their batteries and powered communications by electricity from the auroras! Could it happen again? FULL STORY
GALAXIES GONE WILD!
Photo No.: STScI-PRC08-16
Credit: NASA, ESA, A. Evans ESA/Hubble Collaboration
Astronomy textbooks typically present galaxies as staid, solitary, and majestic island worlds of glittering stars.
But galaxies have a wild side. They have flirtatious close encounters that sometimes end in grand mergers and overflowing “maternity wards” of new star birth as the colliding galaxies morph into wondrous new shapes.
Today, in celebration of the Hubble Space Telescope’s 18th launch anniversary, 59 views of colliding galaxies constitute the largest collection of Hubble images ever released to the public. This new Hubble atlas dramatically illustrates how galaxy collisions produce a remarkable variety of intricate structures in never-before-seen detail. Read more...
Image credit:
NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute
Cassini's mission originally had been scheduled to end in July 2008.
The newly-announced two-year extension will include 60 additional orbits of Saturn and more flybys of its exotic moons. These will include 26 flybys of Titan, seven of Enceladus, and one each of Dione, Rhea and Helene. The extension also includes studies of Saturn's rings, its complex magnetosphere, and the planet itself. Full story
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