Check this resource for NASA's present, past, and future Mars' missions. Launch periods, descriptions of the mission, and related press releases are provided for each mission.

A basic overview of the dwarf planet Pluto. Links to information about the other planets and objects in our solar system are included.

A basic overview of the planet Mars. Links to information about the other planets and objects in our solar system are included.

This site provides real time data on the current orbital location of the International Space Station. Updated once per minute.

The story of America's first astronaut to orbit the earth during the Mercury Space program. After launching the program click on continue or on the numbers to learn about the story of the Mercury program and the first American to orbit...

Information on Mercury 6, the first American manned orbital space mission.

Background on the first shuttle flights in 1977.

The learning module helps students gain a deeper understanding of gravity. Some topics explored are orbits, the mission to the Moon, and the first space walk. Activities and videos are included.

Learners use water balloons and a length of string to understand how gravity and the velocity of a spacecraft balance to form an orbit. They see that when the velocity becomes too great for gravity to hold onto an object, the object...

In 1955, the US and the USSR each announced plans to launch a satellite into orbit. Thus began the race to the moon. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, the American space program and its new classes of astronauts achieved breakthroughs in...

In this unit, students learn the very basics of navigation, including the different kinds of navigation and their purpose. The concepts of relative and absolute location, latitude, longitude and cardinal directions are discussed, as well...

See amazing radar images of Earth taken from the space shuttle orbiting high above the surface. Categories include archeology, geology, volcanoes, and more! Visit the NASA/JPL Imaging Radar Program link for more images and information.

This resource offers a chronology of John Glenn from his birth in 1921 to the present, including important events from his early spaceflights, his political career, and his return to space on board the Space Shuttle Discovery in 1998.

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!"

A university-level course that looks at the structure of the solar system, the sun, the planets, and other bodies in space. Includes course readings, assignments, and study notes.

This site provides a detailed overview of the comet C/1995 01 (Hale-Bopp), the great comet of 1997. Content includes discovery, and observational and orbit information, as well as several images.

When we look up at the night sky, why do we see the Moon's appearance changing over time from a full sphere to a crescent to nothing at all? Find the answers in this interactive resource adapted from the National Air and Space Museum.

How did the moon form? Learn the answer to this and numerous other fun facts in this article from Space.com.

Picture of the Earth with an astronaut flying around in orbit.

An introduction to our solar system: the planets, our Sun and our Moon. Students begin by learning the history and engineering of space travel. They make simple rockets to acquire a basic understanding Newton's third law of motion. They...

This site from NASA provides a detailed description of events following the successful 3 Earth orbit mission of the Friendship 7 Mercury spacecraft.

An illustration showing Pluto's and the other planet's orbits around the sun.

Diagram of a comet's orbit around the sun.

Orbit of a comet