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From stars and meteor showers to fireflies and owls, the night is full of awe-inspiring sights. Depending on where you live though, enjoying these sights can be hard due to light pollution. Follow along April 5 - 12 as we virtually celebrate International Dark Sky Week with videos, blog posts, and activities you can do at home. Each day we will be exploring a different aspect of light pollution and how we can all make a difference to protect the night.

We hope you can join us for our next virtual Super Stellar Friday on April 2nd at 7pm as the Spark Academy of Advanced Technologies’ VEX Robotics Team shares their robot; design, construction, and refine process; and their experience in competition! This event is free and open to the public, but registration is required.

Thanks to our educator Yeric Valentino, we are now happy to offer our virtual exhibit Alan Shepard: First American in Space and Shipwright in Spanish. Click here to see the English version. English version by Sarah Nappo, posted on April 9, 2020.

In case you didn’t have a chance to join us for Super Stellar Friday last week, here is the link to the recording- lots of amazing images and fascinating information!

On a cold day, it’s nice to stay inside and rest- now you can up the chill factor by making and then watching your own LAVA LAMP! Check out this video from 3M, follow their instructions, and then sit back and relax :)

As we wait on the edge of our seats for Perseverance to reach Mars and start a new chapter of exploration there, we thought it would be fun to remember some of the other rovers who have opened our eyes to the red planet. (*note that we are only showing the rovers here- there have been and still are other fantastic landers on Mars!)

It’s cold and wet outside- no good sledding today :( But we can still have fun with science inside! If you have a balloon and some common kitchen ingredients and utensils, you can do some chemistry magic following this 3M Science at Home video!

Get ready for our next virtual Super Stellar Friday event on March 5th at 7pm- Mystery & Majesty of Saturn’s Rings!

Captivating people for more than four hundred years, Saturn’s rings have long held many mysteries. Where did they come from? What are they made of? Why are they so big? Why don't other planets have rings like this? Thanks to studies and imaging from the Cassini Mission to Saturn, scientists were able to improve decades old theories to better answer these questions and more. Join Tufts graduate student and McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center intern Amanda Leith as we embark on a journey across our solar system to discover the secrets of the rings.

This program is free and open to the public, but registration is required- click here to sign up!

February is Black History Month—let’s celebrate now (and throughout the year), by learning about some Black leaders, visionaries, and innovators in the STEM fields, as well as some organizations that are working to help historically underrepresented groups achieve their academic and career goals in science!

On February 5th we celebrated the 50th anniversary of Apollo 14 and Alan Shepard landing on the Moon with a virtual driving tour of locations in the state connected to that story. In case you missed all the fun, here are the video links:

In December 1972 Apollo 17 returned from its lunar mission and since then no humans have been back to the Moon. As the next step in lunar and space exploration, NASA announced the Artemis Program which will develop new technologies for space, collaborate with other nations and commercial partners, and return humans to the Moon by 2024.

As part of our celebration of Apollo 14’s 50th Anniversary, we’re posting information on Alan Shepard, the Apollo Program, and NASA.

On January 31, 1971 Apollo 14 launched carrying Commander Alan Shepard, Lunar Module Pilot Edwin Mitchell, and Command Module Pilot Stuart Roosa. Their mission was to journey to the Moon, land the Antares Lunar Module in the Fra Mauro Crater, explore more of the Moon’s surface, and conduct experiments on the surface and in orbit.

In case you missed it, check out Yeric’s Gravity Dance steps (plus some fun information about low/no gravity environments)- part of our celebration of Apollo 14’s 50th Anniversary!

While Alan Shepard and Edgar Mitchell were landing on and then exploring the Moon, another astronaut, Stuart Roosa, was watching, waiting, and conducting experiments aboard the command module in orbit around the Moon.
As part of our celebration of Apollo 14’s 50th Anniversary, we’re posting information on Alan Shepard, the Apollo Program, and NASA.

While Granite Staters might first think of Alan Shepard when they think of Apollo 14, he was not the only astronaut to walk on the Moon during that mission. Edgar Mitchell was the pilot of the lunar module and spent 9 hours working on the Moon with Alan Shepard on February 5 & 6, 1971.

As part of our celebration of Apollo 14’s 50th Anniversary, we’re posting information on Alan Shepard, the Apollo Program, and NASA.