Churchill Science

I am leaving for Iceland tonight for a weeklong expedition with Earthwatch called Icelandic Glaciers. You can click on the picture to learn more about the expedition.

After I’m done being a volunteer scientist, I’ll be spending a few days visiting some really neat places in Iceland. I’ll try to take as many photos and videos as I can!

Happy 40th Anniversary to Apollo 11. Forty years ago today, we landed humans on the Moon for the very first time.

It’s the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing on the Moon. Click on the picture to visit wechoosethemoon.org, an interactive website that is tracking the mission as though it were happening right now. It features audio, photos, and videos.

After June 20th, the site will stay up and you will be able to click through the entire mission from start to finish.

During yesterday’s launch, the space shuttle suffered some damage. Some foam tiles, which protect the shuttle from burning up when it enters Earth’s atmosphere, have fallen off or were scuffed. So far, as this news report says, NASA doesn’t know how much damage there is. There are also different options for fixing the damage if it turns out to be a big problem.

Try rubbing your hands together very fast – you can feel the heat building up. This is what happens when a flying object like a spaceship lands on a planet or moon with an atmosphere. The ship rubs against the air in the atmosphere and a LOT of heat is built up. This is because of a force called friction. It’s super-important to have a heat shield so that the ship won’t burn up. A few years ago, the space shuttle Columbia was destroyed because of damage to its heat shield.

After a month of delays, the space shuttle is on its way to the International Space Station. First there were technical problems, then weather delays, including lightning strikes on the launch pad. The shuttle is delivering a module for the station.

Free Spirit! Video from JPL
For the past two months, one of the Mars rovers has been stuck in some loose sand. This video shows scientists testing out different ways that they could try to get the rover out and moving again. It’s really important for them to test things out before actually trying it, or they could end up getting the rover stuck for good! It’s hard to drive, especially when you’re millions of miles away!

Want to learn more about the rainforest? Try out the Rainforest Alliance’s cool interactive game, Jewels of the Earth. Once you’ve placed all the living things into the correct layer, you can click on them to access more information. Or just sit back and listen to the rainforest sounds!

Ever wondered what a volcano erupting would look like if you could fly over the top of it? This short video was taken from the International Space Station as it passed over the Sarychev Volcano on an island that is part of Russia:

It’s cloudy all around the volcano, but the gas was so hot that it cleared a hole. That is how astronauts aboard the space station were able to get a clear view.