How to Appreciate NASA’s Work Today

It has been nearly 40 years since Apollo 11 landed Neil Armstrong on the moon and longer since the first American Alan Sheppard shot out into space. However, NASA remains a beneficial public program. Follow these steps to stay alert to NASA's new developments.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Internet connection

1. Watch TV. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration has two television channels on which they play programs from their stations, one for the media another for the public. The public channel may be accessed online via nasa.gov.

2. Be familiar with NASA’s current heroes. Peggy Whitson is the first female commander of International Space Station (ISS) currently in orbit (Dec. 5, 2007).

3. Be familiar with NASA’s current events. NASA has been preparing all year to launch the space shuttle Atlantis on December 6, 2007. The crew members will be delivering a European-build module, Columbus, to be attached to ISS. You can also check their schedule of events updated frequently on nasa.gov.

4. Travel with NASA. A team of researchers from NASA, the US Geological Survey and the British Antarctic Survey have created a new interactive map of Antarctica that offers 10 times greater detail of the frozen continent. Perfect for Antarctica researchers or the curious, this map is available on their website for the public to navigate.

5. Learn about global warning with NASA. The Landsat Image Mosaic of Antarctica or LIMA has allowed scientists, and now you, to observe the precarious early effects of global warming such as melting of ice caps.

Resources

• http://nasa.gov

[40skydiver]

on 10/25/2008 Good idea for an article. The Discovery Channel aired a 4 part NASA series. It was great. You can still catch it with On Demand cable.

[Haoie]

on 8/20/2008 I wish there'd be more emphasis on space exploration, especially manned.