We’re spending this week looking at planets! Today, we’ll learn a little about the development of models of the solar system and Kepler’s Laws of Planetary Motion, and then we’ll simulate how planets move around the Sun by making our own gravity well.

Why do planets orbit around the sun? In this blog post, learn about two different models of the solar system: heliocentric and geocentric. Learn what model is accepted and proved today and demonstrate how the planets revolve around the sun using a fun and simply activity you can do at home!

You may think of outer space as a vast, empty void—but space is full of objects! Both within and beyond the bounds of our solar system, there are countless stars, nebulae, asteroids, comets—and, of course, planets. But what IS a planet, anyway? Why was Pluto “demoted” from a true planet to a dwarf planet, and what makes a planet different from other objects in space?

In this module, we’ll look at the official definition of what makes a planet, and put the current criteria into historical context by reviewing some of the ways that astronomical understanding has evolved throughout history. This content is most appropriate for middle- and high-schoolers, based on reading level.

We’re spending this week looking at planets, so let’s get to the heart of the matter: planet cores. Although there are common elements in all of the planet cores in our solar system (we think...), there is a lot of variety out there, too. And a planet’s internal structure has a big impact on what happens around the planet, too.

This week we’re looking at different aspects of flight and ways that we can explore those at home.

This week’s STEM challenge: folding a paper cargo plane. Using a sheet of paper, you want to fold a paper airplane that will glide ten feet (i.e. you can’t just throw it that distance) while carrying as much weight as possible.

Join Discovery Center Educator and Astronomy Instructor Dave McDonald tonight, June 5, 2020, at 7:00 PM, as he reveals answers to the most asked questions about the Summer Solstice in a live Zoom presentation: Unveiling the Mysteries of the Solstice.

This week we’re looking at different aspects of flight and ways that we can explore those at home.

Like most animals, birds have evolved so that their bodies match their behavior—flying birds have hollow bones and light beaks, rather than heavy, bony jaws, to reduce weight, powerful wing muscles to create thrust in flight, and lightweight, smooth feathers to reduce drag. But birds come in all shapes and sizes, and each species of flying bird has specific adaptations for the type of flight they do most.

Today, learn about how different wing shapes affect how a bird flies and then make a flapping bird puppet to simulate how a bird’s wings move through the air!

Parachutes are important because they create drag on a falling object. All object fall to the ground at the same rate. If a human jumped out of an airplane without a parachute, they would hit the ground at too fast a rate to survive. Parachutes collect the air as the person falls to create more drag and slow the person down as they head towards the ground. In this activity you will make your own parachute and test your design to see if it falls safely to the ground.

This week, our Distance Learning offerings are focusing on different aspects of flight. Join one of our museum educators as she reads Planes Fly! by George Ella Lyon, with illustrations by Mick Wiggins!

This week we’re looking at different aspects of flight and ways that we can explore those at home. We’ll start with lift and how air flow helps things like planes get off the ground.

You may have watched a bird flying across an open area and noticed that sometimes the bird flaps its wings and other times it glides with wings stretched out. The flapping helps the bird move forward faster, while the gliding tends to involve more motion up and down in the air column. Airplanes use the same method for flying- engines move the plane forward while the wings influence movement up and down. So, how does a plane get off the ground?

Using a few office supplies and recyclables, we can simulate the physics required to land on the Moon. So here’s this week’s STEM challenge: using three index cards, two pieces of cardboard (each about 4 inches by 5 inches), some tape, and a small cup (you can make this yourself, if necessary), create a landing module that will safely land an astronaut (here, represented by a marshmallow, ping pong ball, or other small, light object) on another planet.

Our physical space is still closed to visitors, but we can bring the universe to you…Join us Friday, July 3 at 7:00 PM as we explore Pythagoras’ contributions to geometry in our monthly Virtual Super Stellar Friday event series!

This week’s focus is life in space—and today, we’re designing our own mission patch. Mission patches are worn by the astronauts and people affiliated with a particular space mission. Each patch has a unique design, which includes a picture relating to the mission and usually the crew members’ names. Since 1965, patches have been created for all NASA manned missions, as well as many crew-less expeditions.

Now that you’ve been accepted to participate in the first-ever crewed mission to Mars, you’ll need to design your own patch for this historic mission! Download & print our patch template, or start from scratch on blank paper. Let your creativity run wild, and share your work when it’s complete!

In sci-fi space films and tv shows we often see plants grown for food, research, or décor, and plants are so common in our daily lives that it’s easy to assume that they would be our companions as we explore and live in space. But plants face their own challenges to survival in zero gravity.

This week we’re learning all about life in space, and today we’re talking about one of NASA’s projects aboard the International Space Station: the High Definition Earth Viewing system. Learn about the goals of this experiment, watch it’s live stream, and then try your hand at identifying locations on Earth by how the seen from an astronaut’s point of view!

Today’s upcoming SpaceX Dragon-2 rocket launch is momentous for two reasons: it’s the first time NASA has ever launched astronauts into orbit on a private spacecraft, and this is the first launch of astronauts from U.S. soil in nearly a decade.

In the spirit of anticipation and ground-breaking, join one of our museum educators as she reads Go for the Moon: A Rocket, A Boy, and The First Moon Landing, by Chris Gall!

Today is the day! At 4:33PM today NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley, will launch the SpaceX Falcon 9 and Crew Dragon and head towards the International Space Station. This launch is especially significant because it will be the first commercially operated crewed rocket launch ever and be the first human launch from American soil in almost 10 years! The crew will launch from pad 39-A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida- the same pad that Apollo 11 astronauts launched from in 1969 for humans first landing on the Moon.