January 10, 2018

I'm sorry that I haven't been posting much lately, but I'm back! I had a burst of inspiration so get excited for the fun posts I have planned! (Seriously, earlier today I was tearing up looking at something that you'll hopefully get to see very soon)

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Facing 165° south, it was interesting to note the shifts in the positions of the Moon, Mars, Jupiter, and Spica since my previous observations, which were all generally at the same time. On November 28th, Jupiter was much closer to the horizon, Mars and Spica were almost next to one another, and there was no Moon (see picture below). This change is due to the differences in the orbits of the planets around the Sun. In this observation, Mars did not appear as red as it does other days. The Moon was in the waxing crescent phase. Also, the coloring of this picture does not do the sky justice- the sunrise was a much more vivid orange.

This Day In Space History: August 27

1962

Mariner 2 is launched from Cape Canaveral - the first to fly by Venus, after its twin mission had failed. Read about the mission here: https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraftDisplay.do?id=1962-041A

1984

https://www.worldspaceflight.com/bios/teacher.php
President Ronald Reagan announces the Teacher in Space program, “directing NASA to begin a search in all of our elementary and secondary schools and to choose, as the first citizen passenger in the history of our space program, one of America’s finest—a teacher. All of America will be reminded of the crucial role that teachers and education play in the life of our nation. I can’t think of a better lesson for our children and our country.” After a thorough process, Christa McAuliffe, a teacher from New Hampshire, was selected among thousands of applicants. Unfortunately, a failure with the shuttle Challenger occurred in just 73 seconds, resulting in a loss of all seven crew members. This most tragic disaster is one that all Americans will remember.

                                                                                   fun fact: rumor has it my middle school had sent a small science experiment on this mission!!

1985

https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/archives/sts-51I.html

Third time's a charm! After being delayed again for weather-related reasons on the 25th (from its original 24th), STS 51-I is finally launched - although still delayed, but only by three minutes.

2003

https://mars.nasa.gov/allaboutmars/nightsky/mars-close-approach/archive/

A first since 60,000 years ago, Mars and Earth are their closest distance until the year 2287. The Red Planet approaches Earth at 34,646,418 miles apart. A variety of space agencies are taking advantage of the relative closeness and sending spacecraft to Mars this year.

For a complete list of today’s Space History, see  http://www.astronautix.com/a/august27.html