Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and the Mars Science Laboratory Rover on TIME's List of Best Inventions of 2008!

The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and the Mars Science Laboratory rover are on TIME's list of the best inventions of 2008!

LRO is #3

MSL is #18

Congrats to the LRO and MSL teams!

View Tonight's Total Lunar Eclipse - The Last One Until 2010!

Tonight, February 20, 2008, will be your last opportunity to view a total lunar eclipse until December 2010. A lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth lines up directly between the Sun and Moon such that the Earth's shadow completely covers the Moon's surface. Tonight's eclipse will last for about 3.5 hours, 50 minutes of which the Moon will be in totality. During the eclipse the Moon will change color from gray to red. This is due to the glow cast on the Moon from indirect sunlight passing through Earth's atmosphere. The Moon's color during an eclipse varies based on the amounts of dust and clouds in the Earth's atmosphere. The more dust in the Earth's atmosphere, the more red the Moon will appear. The United States will be able to view the majority of the eclipse. Click on the above map above to determine your best viewing times.

To learn more about tonight's eclipse, see the NASA Eclipse Home Page and this NASA feature story. To learn more about eclipse terminology, see the Educator's Guide to Eclipses. Click here for a classroom activity on creating two scale models of the Earth-Moon system that can be used to demonstrate lunar phases and eclipses. Click here for an eclipse viewing activity for students.

Happy viewing!!!

LRO Library Workshop in Arizona!

We received notice from two participants in our Tempe Lunar Librarians workshop that they are doing a series of programs on LRO this summer. The workshops will take place July and August in Tucson at the Valencia Branch Library.

Lunar Librarians and after school program providers too!

Through our work on education and outreach on LRO, we partnered with the Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI) and their Explore: Fun with Science project. From the website: Explore! Fun with Science is designed to engage youth in space and planetary science in the library and other informal learning environments. Through video explorations, related hands-on activities, and supporting resources, children of all ages are immersed in the wonders of rockets, space colonies, our solar system, how our planets were shaped, and more!

The LRO Spacecraft as envisioned by one of the participants of our Colorado workshop held at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science May 8-9.

LPI worked with our team to create the Explore: To the Moon and Beyond with LRO module. They have the expertise in developing materials and activities for library and after-school programs, and we have the content and cool images and visualizations. Together we have conducted two-day workshops for librarians in Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, Maryland and Pennsylvania. During the workshops we include hands-on activities designed for children and have LRO scientists and engineers talk to the participants about the upcoming LRO mission.

Lava Layers activity includes creating maps and simulating drill coring.

Added mission links

I just added the links to my missions and projects. Check out the education and/or outreach sections to get an idea of the kinds of things we do.

The image at the left is the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. It's scheduled to launch late October 2008