Amateurs worldwide explore the final frontier together.
Nasa’s latest Mars orbiter, Maven, arrived at the red planet yesterday where it will begin its mission to learn how Mars loses its atmosphere to space. But Maven also has a mission here on Earth: to inspire a new generation of scientists and engineers.
Read MoreObserving With Nasa lets you control a robotic telescope to capture your own images of planets, comets, and distant galaxies. Not just a fun way to make pretty astronomy pictures, Observing With Nasa lets teachers, parents, and informal educators introduce the science of astronomy to middle and high school students.
Read MoreEarth observation - using satellite images to study our own planet - isn’t just for spies any more. The European Space Agency wants more people to use orbital data to improve European economies and societies, but getting the most out of the images requires skills that most people don’t learn in school.
Read MoreSierra Nevada Space Systems and BioServe Space Technologies have agreed to expand professional microgravity research in orbit (h/t to Digital Journal). That agreement may lead to more microgravity research opportunities for primary and secondary school students.
Read MoreThe South Carolina State Museum will open Windows to New Worlds, a $21 million expansion focused on space and astronomy. South Carolina’s first astronaut, Apollo 16 lunar module pilot Charles Duke donated many of the artifacts on display. An on-site observatory, as well as a 55-foot planetarium dome will give the public a unique view of our universe and enhance the state’s science education.
Read MoreEarlier this month I wrote about how pro-am teams from India and Australia are conducting Mars analog research in the Mars Society of Australia’s Arkaroola Mars Robot Challenge. The 16-day expedition concluded on July 20. Here are some highlights from the expedition diary and other sources:
Read MoreTechDemoSat completes its initial in-orbit tests, bringing the student-designed Lucid cosmic ray detector one step closer to letting high school students around the world conduct their own space science research.
Read MoreNext January high school students will take over robots on the International Space Station. Throughout the Fall, teams of students will compete in European and American coding contests as part of the 2014 Zero Robotics High School Tournament. The contest lets students see how their coding skills can make a difference in the real world... and beyond.
Read MoreOn July 18th teams student rocketeers met at the Farnborough Air Show to compete in the International Rocketry Challenge. France won this year's contest while the US took second and the UK placed third.
Read More15 student research projects rode the Antares rocket to Nasa's International Space Station where astronauts will conduct experiments designed by primary and secondary school students. The STEM education program is part of the Student Spaceflight Experiment Program.
Read MoreThanks to Moore’s Law you can build a basic Sputnik-style satellite for as little as $250. Amateur satellite-making will revolutionize the 21st Century space industry much the same way personal computers changed the 21st Century computer industry. The only question is: who will be the Bill Gates and Steve Jobs of space?
Read MoreFor the first time Texas middle school students can take part in the Zero Robotics Middle School Summer Program and have a chance to program robots on the International Space Station.
Read MoreColleton Today featured the South Carolina 6th graders who will send an experiment to the International Space Station later this year. The five girls will study the effect microgravity has on the spoilage of milk. Read the article for more details about their research and how Colleton County Middle School is raising the money so its students can explore space. This isn't the first time the press covered the students' experiment. Check out earlier coverage.
The students got the opportunity because their school district took part in the Student Spaceflight Experiment Program. Thanks to the SSEP, hundreds of middle and high school students around the world get a chance to conduct microgravity research on the space station.
The Cherokee Ledger-News wrote about Creekview High School’s Aeronautics Team.
Read MoreThree A-level students won an award for their research into the effect of weather on cosmic ray observations.
Read MoreThe Mission Possible project at Virginia's St. Thomas More Cathedral School will send a satellite built by Pre-K to 8th grade students into space.
Read MoreOver 100 Croatian students took part in the Balloon Stellar Stratosphere competition
Read MoreLocal press highlighted the middle school students from South Carolina and Texas who will send microgravity experiments to the International Space Station this Fall.
Read MoreA Los Angeles Times story only tells part of the story about the California high school students using balloons to conduct science.
Read MoreAfter their summer vacation six students from Ocean City High School will watch their experiment travel to the International Space Station. Thanks to the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program, the six girls will study how the E. coli bacteria grows on lettuce while in microgravity - an important consideration for astronauts on future space stations, Moon bases, and Mars missions who will need to grow their own food. Getting food poisoning on Earth is one thing. In space…. The Press of Atlantic City interviewed the students and teachers who explained how they developed their application and how the experiment will work.
Spoiler: no astronauts will be harmed in the course of this experiment.
Amateurs around the world explore the final frontier. They make small steps, not giant leaps, but these makers, coders, astronomers, and citizen scientists are helping the pros explore Earth, the Solar System, and the Universe beyond.
You can explore space, no spacesuit required. Amateurs around the world build satellites, study planets orbiting other stars, and take part in crowdsourced citizen science projects. Educators use hands-on space projects to inspire their students to study science and mathematics. And these are real projects - middle school students have experiments running on the International Space Station right now!
I created this website to share the many ways normal people like you and me join humanity's next great adventure. Take a look around. Let me know what you think. What projects do you want to hear more about?
-Chris
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