Penny4NASA

Carl Sagan’s ‘Pale Blue Dot’ photo was captured by the Voyager 1 spacecraft 28 years ago on Valentine’s Day.

Happy Valentines Day!

Carl Sagan once said, “When you’re in love, you want to tell the world.”

On July 29, 1958, President Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics & Space Act.

On July 29th, 1958, less than a year after Sputnik 1 was launched into orbit, President Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act establishing NASA as a civilian space agency. The new agency absorbed the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, including its budget, resources and personnel. Prior to the formation of NASA, space exploration was considered to be largely a military enterprise. NASA would begin operations on October 1, 1958.

20 years ago today, the Mars Pathfinder rover, Sojourner, landed on the Red Planet.

Named for abolitionist and women’s rights activist Sojourner Truth, NASA’s Sojourner rover landed on Mars on July 4, 1997. Unlike previous landing systems that used conventional rockets to decelerate, the Sojourner rover used a parachute and a system of airbags to slow down before the rover dropped roughly 100 feet to the planet’s surface. This system comprised of the Pathfinder lander, which was renamed the Carl Sagan Memorial Station after successfully delivering the rover. Sagan, a major proponent of the exploration of Mars, passed away shortly after the Mars Pathfinder mission launched on its way to the Red Planet.

Sojourner then set about its mission to analyze nearby rocks on the surface. Compositional analysis revealed that silica was found in higher concentrations in rocks than the surrounding area. Being found in igneous rocks, such a presence of silica was a hint that Mars may have had a more interesting geological history than was previously thought. Sojourner also sent pictures of the Martian surface back to NASA, while Pathfinder took photographs of the Martian sky. Among the photos from Sojourner were images showing rounded pebbles and conglomerate rocks indicating that different types of soil had been mixed in the past—evidence of a formerly water-rich planet.

Originally scheduled to operate for 7 sols (1 sol is about 40 minutes longer than a day on Earth), Sojourner had the possibility of extending its mission to 30 sols. In total, Sojourner operated for 83 sols before communications were lost on September 27, 1997. In that time, it covered just over 100 meters of the Martian surface.

Learn more about Sojourner here: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/why-no-one-under-20-has-experienced-a-day-without-nasa-at-mars

On this day in 1968, Yuri Gagarin, the first human in space, died never having gotten to see man touch the surface of another world.

In 1961, cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first ambassador of our planet to enter the vastness of space. Vostok 1 was the first manned spaceflight of the early space race, and Gagarin completed one orbit of Earth before landing safely 108 minutes later.

While flying weightless above Earth’s surface, Yuri Gagarin witnessed a spectacular view of home — forests, deserts, and great plains were surrounded by expansive oceans. Upon viewing the thin blue line of the atmosphere, Gagarin became the first of our inquisitive species to see our planet as it truly is — a vibrant, geologically active world circling a star. Unfortunately, Yuri died seven years later during a jet crash in 1968, never having gotten to see man touch the surface of another world.

Read about 50-year history of Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 39A, SpaceX's plan to colonize Mars and the highly anticipated debut of their Falcon Heavy rocket in the latest issue of RocketSTEM.

NASA Discovered A Record Number Of Earth-Like Planets Orbiting Another Star

NASA announced that the agency’s Spitzer Space Telescope has discovered a system of seven Earth-sized planets orbiting another star. Three of the planets fall well within their host star’s habitable zone and may host water at their surface. The findings were published Wednesday in the journal Nature.

Carl Sagan’s ‘Pale Blue Dot photo was captured by the Voyager 1 spacecraft 27 years ago on Valentine’s Day.

Happy Valentines Day!

Carl Sagan once said, "When you're in love, you want to tell the world."

“Nobody can take those footsteps I made on the surface of the moon away from me.” - Gene Cernan

Apollo astronaut Eugene Cernan, the last man to walk on the surface of the Moon, passed away on Monday surrounded by family at the age of 82. The family of Eugene Cernan stated he was suffering from ongoing health issues, however, additional details regarding his cause of death were not immediately available.

Gene Cernan: Born March 14th, 1934 - Died January 16th, 2017 “Curiosity is the essence of human existence and exploration has been part of humankind for a long time. The exploration of space, like the exploration of life, if you will, is a risk. We’ve got to be willing to take it.” These words were uttered by Gene Cernan, the commander of Apollo 17 and the last person to ever walk on the moon. Since NASA was founded in 1958, the organization has contributed in massive ways towards technological, economical, and inspirational progress. Over the nearly 60 years of NASA’s life, a plethora of amazingly talented scientists and engineers were drawn towards a career in STEM fields after being inspired by Gene Cernan and the other Apollo and Gemini astronauts. It’s the human spirit of exploration that drives the world’s greatest technologists to invent the future. Today we honor Gene Cernan's legendary life, but long term -- we want to see to it that the US annual budget allocation for NASA reflects the hugely important role that technology, economy, and inspiration brings to our society.

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The Largest Supermoon In 68 Years Appears Tonight

Skywatchers will have an opportunity to witness the biggest and brightest supermoon in a generation on Monday when the full moon makes its closest approach to Earth in more than 68 years.

Happy Halloween from all of us at Penny4NASA!