Posts in “Space” Category

NASA's decommissioned space shuttle Discovery took a victory lap over Washington, D.C., today on the back of a Boeing 747. The shuttle was traveling to its new home at the National Air and Space Museum in Dulles, Virginia. Discovery flew by several iconic buildings as it passed over the the city, including the Washington Monument and the White House.



Discovery's first space voyage was on August 30, 1980. The shuttle flew 39 space missions over the next 30 years. Its last mission was a trip to the International Space Station.

See more pictures from Discovery's last flight on National Geographic News.

See space shuttle pictures on National Geographic Kids.

Watch a video about space shuttle history on National Geographic Kids.


Photograph courtesy Glenn Benson, NASA

Tomorrow night, the planets Venus and Jupiter will be very close to each other in the night sky--3 degrees apart, which is about the width of two fingers held at arm's length. These two planets are the brightest ones visible to the eye. When planets line up in the sky, it is called a conjuction. Although the planets may look like they are close together, they are really more than 448 million miles apart from each other.

Read more about the conjunction of Venus and Jupiter on National Geographic News.

See planet pictures on National Geographic Kids.


Photograph by Laurent Laveder, TWAN

National Geographic is teaming up with NASA and Angry Birds to create a book called Angry Birds Space that will be a companion book to a new Angry Birds game. The book will be available starting on March 20 and the game also called Angry Birds Space will be out on March 22! In an update to the familiar gameplay, players will have to deal with zero gravity, different space objects, and more.

(AD) Find out how to get your copy of National Geographic Angry Birds Space.

How will the game stack up against real space? Find out on National Geographic News Watch.

See pictures of different planets on National Geographic Kids.

Can't wait to go into space? Explore the solar system with Nat and Geo in Pluto's Secret.

A strong solar flare from an active region of the sun caused a dramatic display of the aurora borealis (northern lights) and aurora australis (southern lights). The solar flare sent a cloud of gas and charged particles called a coronal mass ejection, or CME, at the Earth. The flare's collision with the Earth's magnetic field causes the brilliant light displays.

The sun has a cycle 11 years long. We are now in the part of the cycle where the sun's activity is higher. Scientists predict that we will continue to see this kind of intense auroras as the sun's activity increases, reaching what is known as solar maximum next year.

See more pictures of this week's auroras on National Geographic News.

See pictures of the sun on National Geographic Kids.


Photograph by Thilo Bubek

The yearly Geminid meteor shower will be dazzling tomorrow night, so ask your parents if you can stay up to check it out! The shower's peak on the night of December 13 to the early hours of December 14 is expected to be a brilliant one, filled with colorful shooting stars. "The best times are probably before the moon rises, when it will be dark still," said Geza Gyuk, an astronomer at the Adler Planetarium in Chicago, Illinois. The bright moon will make the fainter meteors harder to see.

Read more about the Geminid meteor shower on National Geographic News.

Want more stargazing? Find out how to have your own star party on National Geographic Kids.


Photograph by Jonathan Blair, Corbis

Astronomers say three space rocks found near Pluto might actually be new dwarf planets. Astronomer Scott Sheppard and his colleagues used the reflectivity of the space rocks to determine their size. However, because the space rocks are so far away, scientists are not sure if they are spherical (which means they would need to be to be named dwarf planets). There are currently five dwarf planets: Pluto, Eris, Ceres, Haumea, and Makemake.

Read more about the three "new Plutos" on National Geographic News.

Why is Pluto no longer considered a planet? Play Pluto's Secret and solve the mystery!

Space shuttle Atlantis landed this morning, ending its mission and bringing the 30-year-old shuttle program to a close. The retired space shuttles Enterprise, Discovery, Endeavor, and Atlantis will be displayed in museums around the United States.

See pictures from the final space shuttle mission on National Geographic News.

Learn about the space shuttle program on National Geographic News.

See space shuttle pictures on National Geographic Kids.

Explore space in the Pluto's Secret game on National Geographic Kids.

Photograph by Joe Skipper, Reuters

Space shuttle Atlantis lifted off this morning, beginning the last mission of the shuttle program. The program began when space shuttle Columbia flew into space in 1981, and Atlantis flew its first mission in 1985. To mark the final flight, Atlantis crew members are planning to take a flag from the first 1981 shuttle mission to the International Space Station, where it will stay until the first commercial flight to the station. The astronauts will also be taking an iPhone, marking the first time the iPhone has traveled into space.

Learn more about this mission as well as past ones on NASA's space shuttle page.

Read more about the objects that astronauts will take with them on NASA's website.

See pictures of space shuttles on National Geographic Kids.

Photograph courtesy Kim Shiflett, NASA

NASA's space shuttle Endeavour concluded its final mission Wednesday. The launch was the last for the Endeavour, which had been in service since 1992. The shuttle made 25 flights and was in service for 19 years. "It's sad to see her land for the last time," mission commander astronaut Mark Kelly told NASA mission control, "but she really has a great legacy."

See photos of Endeavour's last flight.

Photograph courtesy NASA

On April 12, 1962, cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin from the Soviet Union (now called Russia) became the first human to fly in space. He orbited around Earth in the spacecraft Vostok 1, which was entirely controlled by engineers on the ground. According to Cathleen Lewis of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, when Gagarin returned to Earth he said: "When I orbited the Earth, I saw how beautiful our planet is. We must protect and preserve this beauty and not destroy it."

See more pictures of Gagarin on National Geographic News.

See photos of moon exploration on National Geographic Kids.


Photograph by Rolls Press/Popperfoto/Getty Images