50th Anniversary of the Moon Landing!

 

 

Do you remember where you were on these historic dates, July 16, 1969 and July 20, 1969? I am sure that Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong know exactly where they were!

July 16, 1969 Apollo 11 launched from Cape Canaveral Florida with Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins on board, beginning their historic flight to the moon.

July 20, 1969, 4 days later, Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin became the first humans to ever land on the moon and Neil Armstrong was the first person to walk on the moon! While taking a step onto the moon, Neil Armstrong said the famous quote that was heard around the world, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” These 2 days in history, will never be forgotten.

What science learned about the moon will also never be forgotten. The astronauts also returned to Earth with the first samples from another planetary body. Lunar rocks, core samples, pebbles and sand from the lunar surface were brought back to Earth. Scientists studied these items to learn more about the Moon, the Earth and the inner solar system.

Scientists have always been curious about space and what was out there. Children are curious as well and seem to be interested in learning everything they can about space and planets.  What if, alongside our team of professionals, students would be guided through the learning process, becoming real scientists performing real experiments!

High Touch High Tech, Science Made Fun has been around for 25 years and has been committed to moving STEM education forward within our community. HTHT  is a proud supporter of the Science, Technology, Engineering & Math initiative that is taking our Nation by storm. We encourage educators to ‘think outside of the box’ & challenge their students to find the science that surrounds us each day. This has made us an invaluable resource & trustworthy tool for teachers across the country.

Some of the Space Programs that we offer are:

Flight Command

Mission Control

Follow that Planet

Zoom to the Moon

Staggering through the Stars

These are just a few of the many space programs that we have. Whether your looking for preschool, elementary programs, afterschool programs or even Birthday Science Programs, we can accommodate your science needs!

Check out our website for more information or you can reach us at 800.444.4968 or by email us at info@ScienceMadeFun.net

 

High Touch High Tech, Science Made FUN

Hands-on FUN experiments for ages 3-12!

We come to you!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Limelight School Of The Week…..

 

GRADE:    Pre-School

TEACHER:  Ms. Fox

PROGRAM:  Shoot For The Stars

SCIENTIST:  Meteor Martin

 

This week’s LIMELIGHT SCHOOL OF THE WEEK IS……Duke Memorial Weekday School, Durham, NC

 

Hello Scientists.  I hope everyone has had a wonderful and Scientifically great week.  The last few months have been soooo busy with all the new schools and lessons that have been going on here at High Touch High Tech of RDU and surrounding areas.  I have met tons of new friends and some truly incredible teachers.  One of these just so happens to be Duke Memorial Weekday School in Durham, NC.

While at Duke Memorial, I had the pleasure of working with some amazing Preschools who had the opportunity to learn about and explore outer space while we “Shoot for the Stars.”  These children blew me away with their knowledge of what you can find in outer space and even that “Shooting stars are really Meteors” WOW! That was great.

These kids were fantastic little astronauts as we learned about stars, constellations and shooting starts.  They took tuns, waited patiently as I distributed the materials and shared as well as any other class that I have worked with.  Hats off to Mrs. Fox and the rest of the teachers.  I can’t wait to have the chance to work with you all again

As a side note, one of the little boys was walking out of the room with who I found out to be his brother.  I asked if they were twins and the little boy said, “Yes, but we don’t have the same birthday.”  So, I leave you with that little tiny brain teaser and until next time, this is “Meteor” Martin Blasting off!!! 😊

Spotlight on STEM Careers: Aerospace Engineer

Aerospace Engineer

 

Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: Aeronautical engineering and Astronautical Engineering. Avionics engineering is similar, but deals with the electronics side of aerospace engineering. Aeronautical engineering was the original term for the field. As flight technology advanced to include craft operating in outer space, the broader term “aerospace engineering” has come into common use.

Aerospace engineering may be studied at the advanced diploma, bachelor’s, master’s and a Ph. D. levels in aerospace engineering departments at many universities, and in mechanical engineering departments at others. A few departments offer degrees in space-focused astronautical engineering. Some institutions differentiate between aeronautical and astronautical engineering. Graduate degrees are offered in advanced or specialty areas for the aerospace industry. A background in chemistry, physics, computer science and mathematics is important for students pursuing an aerospace engineering degree.

Click here for this informative and educational web page for more information on Aerospace Engineer’s.

 

Fun Fact Friday!

 

Space– Space is the boundless three-dimensional extent in which objects and events have relative position and direction. There are many things we don’t know or understand about space. So, we are going to give you a few fun facts! You can also check out of Fun Fact Friday website for more fun facts! https://sciencemadefun.net/blog/category/fun-fact-friday/

Then, go to our website and check out the great space experiments that you can try! http://sciencemadefunwnc.net/experiments.cfm

 

 

 

 

1. The term “astronaut” comes from the Greek word astron which means “star” and nautes which means “sailor”.

2. Did you know the longest space orbit in history lasted 17 1/2 days!

3. Modern Rocket engines that are used to place satellites and manned spacecraft into orbit use the same principals as the first rockets made by the Chinese?

4. All of Space is completely silent!

5. Mercury and Venus are the only two planets that do not have a moon

 

Picture Source: Pixabay.com
Source: https://www.google.com/
Source: https://www.thefactsite.com/2012/01/100-random-facts-about-space.html

Cassini spacecraft is ready for its grand finale!!!

The Cassini Spacecraft is about to fly through the undiscovered space between Saturn’s rings and the planet. For the first time in history Cassini will be taking pictures and collecting data about Saturn’s interior, its mysterious storms, the age of its rings and the length of its day. Cassini launched into space on October 15th, 1997, entered Saturn’s orbit on July 1st, 2004, and has been orbiting the planet for last 13 years.

The Cassini’s grand finale started earlier this week when it flew past Saturn’s moon, Titan, for the very last time. The trajectory that the spacecraft is on will lead to it’s demise when it hits Saturn’s atmosphere.

Check out some of the images captured by Cassini during its orbit of Saturn here:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/cassini-spacecraft-saturn-orbit-rings-images-pictures-photos-nasa-unmanned-mission-a7703496.html#gallery 

Check out NASA’s video to visualize Cassini in action!

The Scoop on Earth 2.0

 

Image Source: Pixabay.com

Yesterday, July 24, 2015, NASA made a statement saying that they believe that the Kepler spacecraft may have found Earth’s bigger, older cousin. The Kepler spacecraft  is a space observatory launched by NASA to discover Earth-like planets orbiting other stars. It was named after the Renaissance astronomer Johannes Kepler and launched on March 7, 2009.

Earth 2.0 is known to NASA as Kepler-452b. Astronomers believe that Kepler-452b might be small and cool enough to host liquid water on its surface – and might therefore be hospitable to life. So far, Kepler-452b is the closest resemblance that astronomers have found to our home. According to BBC News “Kepler-452b, orbits a parent star which belongs to the same class as the Sun: it is just 4% more massive and 10% brighter. Kepler-452b takes 385 days to complete a full circuit of this star, so its orbital period is 5% longer than Earth’s.”

What do you think? Is Kepler-452b or Earth 2.0 a habitable place for life? Tell us your thoughts!

Congratulations New Horizons, You’ve Finally Made It!

Image Source: Pixabay.com

NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft probe has made the first visit to Pluto, speeding past at 14km or 8.7 miles per second!!

New Horizons’ flyby of 2,370km-wide Pluto is a key moment in the history of space exploration. This was a historic mission because it marks the fact that every planet in that system – from Mercury through to Pluto – has now been visited at least once by a space probe!

For more information on this historic mission please visit: http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-33524589

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/how-big-is-pluto-new-horizons-settles-decades-long-debate

http://www.foxnews.com/science/2015/07/13/it-showtime-for-pluto-prepare-to-be-amazed-by-nasa-flyby/

Black Hole 12 Billion Times Size of the Sun!

Image Source: Pixabay.com

Astronomers say they have have discovered a black hole so big that it challenges the theory about how  black holes grow. Scientists said this black hole was formed about 900 million years after the Big Bang. But with measurements indicating it is 12 billion times the size of the sun, the black hole challenges a widely accepted hypothesis of growth rates. So what exactly is a black hole? Well NASA describes it as

“A black hole is anything but empty space. Rather, it is a great amount of matter packed into a very small area — think of a star ten times more massive than the Sun squeezed into a sphere approximately the diameter of New York City. The result is a gravitational field so strong that nothing, not even light, can escape.”

The black hole was discovered by a team of global scientists led by Xue-Bing Wu at Peking University, China, as part of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, which provided imagery data of 35 percent of the northern hemisphere sky.

In a media release, the University of Arizona said that the black hole powered “the brightest quasar of the early universe.” NASA describes quasars as “the brilliant beacons of light that are powered by black holes feasting on captured material, and in the process, heating some of the matter to millions of degrees.”

“This quasar is very unique,” the University of Arizona quoted lead researcher Wu as saying. “Just like the brightest lighthouse in the distant universe, its glowing light will help us to probe more about the early Universe.”

Sources:

[1]- http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/26/world/space-black-hole-new/

[2]- http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2015/02/26/389250817/astronomers-discover-a-supermassive-black-hole-dating-to-cosmic-dawn

[3]- http://www.nbcnews.com/science/space/astronomers-find-supermassive-black-hole-12-billion-times-size-sun-n312781

Mickey Mouse Discovered on Mercury!

Mickey Mercury or Mercury Mouse?

The space probe Messenger has traveled far closer to the sun without being destroyed than most satellites probably could.  Its purpose is to study one of the strangest planets in the solar system, the Sun’s closest neighbor Mercury.  Part planet and part comet, Mercury has been a fascinating study for NASA scientists, and Messenger has managed to take over 100,000 images of the strange planet, but no image is stranger than this.  NASA’s Messenger satellite has captured an image of Mickey Mouse on the surface of Mercury.

NASA calls the shape an ”accumulation of craters over Mercury’s long geologic history,” but I think we all know differently.  Messenger is the first spacecraft to ever orbit the planet closest to the sun, and it had to specially designed to maintain its position on Mercury given the planet’s slow rotation status and the incredible amount of heat the satellite has to endure being so close to the sun.