This site has an activity to make a hand-held telescope. "The Hubble Space Telescope that's orbiting Earth right now is the size of a school bus, but you can make a model of it that you can hold in your hands!"

Orbiting around Earth at an average distance of 384,392km is our constant companion, the Moon. This and a great deal more can be learned about our closest neighbor in this article by GLOBIO

An online version of a book pertaining to task of launching rockets into space and subsequently navigating them through space. The first several "chapters" (pages) describe the influence of gravity on Earth and the barriers which it...

This illustration from the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory shows the approximate sizes of the planets relative to each other. Note that the planets are not shown at appropriate distances from the Sun.

A science simulation launches a projectile from the top of a mountain testing Newton's theory introduced in Principia.

"One Small Step, The Race To The Moon" is a clear presentation of the story of the Moon landing program that the United States conducted during the 1960's and early 1970's. After launching the presentation click on the phases of the Moon...

Describes the logic behind the development of Newton's law of universal gravitation. Beginning with Johannes Kepler and his three laws of planetary motion, content walks the reader through Newton's thought process and development of this...

The purpose of this lesson is to teach middle schoolers about how a spacecraft gets from the surface of the Earth to Mars. The lesson first investigates rockets and how they are able to get us into space. Finally, the nature of an orbit...

Through illustrated examples and interactive practice, students explore Newton's ability to relate the cause for heavenly motion (the orbit of the moon about the earth) to the cause for Earthly motion (the falling of an apple to the...

Why does the Moon always shows the same face to the Earth? Why is the Moon's rotation period the same as the length of time it takes to orbit the Earth? Why are there two tides a day? These questions and more are answered here.

Provides information about the five layers of Earth's atmosphere. Also discusses the satellites that orbit the Earth in the atmosphere.

This task models a satellite orbiting the Earth in communication with two control stations located miles apart on Earth's surface. Students determine distances between various locations and, given a rate of travel, they determine the...

A lesson plan that gives an overview of solar and lunar calendars, their history and lore. Also, of the day and the month, and their relations to the rotational period of the Earth and the orbital period of the Moon.For versions in...

Kepler's Laws 1,2,3 including eccentricity of elliptical orbits. Good for reviewing planetary motions (NYS Earth Science).

Discusses the information from the NASA spacecraft Messenger as it orbits Mercury and transmits photographs of the planet's surface to Earth.

Describes the WISE Project, which has an infrared telescope orbiting the Earth taking photographs of never before seen areas of space.

Astronaut Jerry Carr knows space. As commander of Skylab, he spent over 2000 hours in space, orbiting the Earth over 1000 times. Recounting his life story, Carr remembers the enchanting years he spent at NASA. [4:52]

The International Space Station is roughly the size of a six-bedroom house and weighs more than 320 cars- it's so large that no single rocket could have lifted it into orbit. Instead, it was assembled piece by piece while hurtling...

[Free Registration/Login Required] An informational text about the problems caused by space junk orbiting the Earth. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in reading comprehension.

Our solar system is filled with a wide assortment of celestial bodies - the Sun itself, our eight planets, dwarf planets, and asteroids - and on Earth, life itself! The inner solar system is occasionally visited by comets that loop in...

Here you can learn all about Sally Ride, the first American woman to orbit Earth. Also, learn a fun trivia fact about Sally Ride!

This home page from NASA offers Venus images taken by Magellan and other highlights from the mission. In orbit around Venus for four years this mission provided maps of 98 percent of the surface of Venus that are more detailed than most...

Resource has text information to compare Neptune with Earth. Includes Neptune observational data, orbital data, magnetosphere, and atmosphere. Also contains an image of Neptune that can be enlarged.

This site from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration provides fun information on the subject. "people can do their jobs even better if they have very accurate images of the ground. Oddly enough, the best way to see lots of...