Submit Questions for Lunar Science Conference

The first NASA Lunar Science Conference will be held at NASA Ames Research Center July 20th-23rd. Here is your chance to ask questions via YouTube video..much like the CNN presidential debates! We invite you to join the discussion by submitting a video.

Extended Deadline - Send your name to the Moon with LRO!

Have you ever wanted to go to the Moon, but didn't have the money? What about going for free? If you haven't yet signed up to send your name to the Moon, you still have time! Due to overwhelming response from people around the world, we have decided to extend the deadline to send your name to the Moon!

You have until July 25th to send in your name and get your certificate! Don't forget to tell your friends and family too.

Pluto Gets a New Designation

It was just two years ago when the International Astronomical Union (IAU) demoted Pluto from a planet to a dwarf planet. This caused some havoc to many people who grew up knowing Pluto was the ninth planet. Besides having to start teaching children the 'new' Solar System, textbooks and activities would have to be rewritten to indicate its new title as a transneptunian dwarf planets or a dwarf planet.

A dwarf planet was described as: "a celestial body that (a) is in orbit around the Sun, (b) has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape2 , (c) has not cleared the neighbourhood around its orbit, and (d) is not a satellite."(http://www.iau2006.org/mirror/www.iau.org/iau0603/index.html).

Once again the IAU has changed Pluto's designation. Pluto is notw a Plutoid. "Plutoids are celestial bodies in orbit around the Sun at a distance greater than that of Neptune that have sufficient mass for their self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that they assume a hydrostatic equilibrium (near-spherical) shape, and that have not cleared the neighbourhood around their orbit. Satellites of plutoids are not plutoids themselves, even if they are massive enough that their shape is dictated by self-gravity." (http://www.iau.org/public_press/news/release/iau0804/)

At this time there are only two objects designated as Plutiods. The first is Pluto, and the other is Eris. The dwarf planet Ceres, located between Mars and Jupiter, is not considered a Plutiod. As more dwarf planets are discovered, they may too join the ranks of Pluto and Eris as a Plutiod.

Visit NASA at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival!

Meet NASA employees and learn about all that NASA does at the 2008 Smithsonian Folklife Festival. The Festival will be on the National Mall during June 25-29 and July 2-6 from 11:00am-5:30pm each day. NASA will feature exhibits and family-friendly activities on space science, earth science, human spaceflight, robotics, observatories, food in space, space art, the space shuttle, the international space station, launch and mission control, propulsion, future missions, aeronautics, and a lunar outpost. The Festival organizers are encouraging cultural conversations between visitors and NASA staff. This is an excellent opportunity to find out about NASA careers or to ask that burning question you have about Mars or the Moon!

Each NASA Center is participating, including our own Goddard Space Flight Center. Goddard will feature exhibits and activities on the MESSENGER mission to Mercury, the Hubble Space Telescope, the James Webb Space Telescope, Landsat imagery, UV radiation, the ozone, magnetism, astrophysics missions and science, and heliophysics missions and science, including an opportunity to safely view the Sun through a telescope!

In addition to NASA, the country of Bhutan and the food, music, and wine of Texas will also be featured. The Festival is free to attend, so we hope to see you there!