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A website where you can find lots of information on planets, the Solar System, asteroids and space missions!

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Watch real footage and learn all about the history of space exploration.

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The Complete History Of Space Exploration | Beyond Our Earth | Spark

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A fascinating history of space exploration from 1957 when a dog was sent to space as a test until present day space missions!

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Learn about the history of humans traveling into space.

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Learn all about the International Space Station and what kinds of things astronauts do when they are there.

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A great database for finding answers to your questions about space exploration

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Britannica School The go-to site for K-12 research. Named best digital tool for teaching and learning and best digital tool for blended learning. Request a quote – 2021 – – 2021 – – 2020 – Britannica School The go-to site for K-12 research. Named best digital tool for teaching and learning and best…

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Learn all about Mars the "red planet" with engineers and scientists from NASA!

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Robotic Space Exploration - www.jpl.nasa.gov

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See pictures and learn about the specific milestones of space exploration on a timeline.

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The History of Space Exploration: a Timeline

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Go Noodle database provides easy navigation -as I showed you in class- and has lots of entries for any topic within space exploration.

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See and learn about the exciting Apollo 11 mission and man's first footsteps on the moon.

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To the Moon... and Back? | 13 Factors That Saved Apollo 13 - Part 1 | Free Documentary History

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This is a great on-line encyclopedia to find information on your space exploration topic.

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Home Science Astronomy

Table of Contents

Apollo 13, U.S. spaceflight, launched on April 11, 1970, that suffered an oxygen tank explosion en route to the Moon, threatening the lives of three astronauts-commander Jim Lovell, lunar module pilot Fred Haise, and command module pilot Jack Swigert.

Houston, we've had a problem

Apollo 13 was launched from Cape Kennedy, Florida, by a giant Saturn V launch vehicle and only minutes later was inserted into orbit around Earth. About 2.5 hours after launch, the still-attached S IVB third stage was reignited to provide the final boost toward the Moon. The transposition maneuver (removing the lunar module, code-named Aquarius, from the S IVB adapter) was carried out efficiently, and soon Apollo 13 was coasting toward the Moon on a path so accurate that the first planned course adjustment was canceled. Later in the mission, the craft underwent a hybrid transfer maneuver to facilitate landing in the difficult Fra Mauro region of the Moon. To do this, the service module's propulsion system provided a 4.6-metre- (15-foot-) per-second velocity change designed to lower the command module's closest approach to the Moon from 389 km (242 miles) to 109 km (68 miles) and place the craft on a "non-free-return" trajectory. This meant that should no further propulsive maneuver be made during the flight, the craft would not swing around the Moon and return directly to Earth on a "free-return" trajectory but instead would miss Earth by 4,750 km (2,950 miles). However, a shift back to a free-return trajectory was within the capability of both the service module propulsion system and the lunar module descent stage propulsion system. So accurate was the hybrid transfer that a scheduled course correction was canceled.

April 12, the day after launch, passed without incident. Early on the evening of April 13, the astronauts pressurized the lunar module Aquarius, and Lovell and Haise passed from the command module Odyssey through the connecting tunnel while checking all systems for the forthcoming landing. Suddenly, as Lovell was moving through the tunnel on his way back from Aquarius to Odyssey, a loud explosion was heard. All three astronauts quickly gathered in Odyssey to study the instruments in an effort to determine what had happened. Noting that one of the main electrical systems aboard was degrading, Haise and Lovell radioed the information to mission control in Houston, quickly turning a routine flight into one of the most exciting episodes in space history.

Haise: Okay, Houston-

Lovell: I believe we've had a problem here.

Mission control: This is Houston. Say again please.

Lovell: Houston, we've had a problem. We've had a main B bus undervolt.

Within eight seconds of the explosion, pressure in one of the service module's two cryogenic oxygen tanks had dropped to zero. Together with the cryogenic hydrogen tanks, they fed the required supplies to the craft's three fuel cells, which were needed for the generation of electrical power, oxygen for breathing, and drinking water.

About an hour after the accident, mission control announced that "we are now looking toward an alternate mission, swinging around the Moon and using the lunar module power systems because of the situation that has developed here this evening." The astronauts were to move into Aquarius, which would serve as a lifeboat, while the disabled Apollo 13 swung around the Moon and headed homeward. All thoughts of a lunar landing had long since been abandoned.

Around the Moon

The anxiety for the safety of the astronauts was felt in every corner of the globe, and millions of persons remained glued to television and radio sets as the perilous journey unfolded. Still three days away from Earth, the astronauts moved into the lunar module Aquarius, which they powered up before shutting down the command module Odyssey to conserve the latter's emergency battery power for the atmospheric reentry maneuver at the end of the mission. Only the command module could pass through Earth's atmosphere; the lunar module would have to be discarded, along with the service module, before the outer atmosphere was reached. In the meantime, however, the lunar module would be their home.

When the astronauts first transferred into and activated Aquarius, Apollo 13 was about 20 hours from the Moon. Plans were made for transferring out of the hybrid trajectory and onto the free-return trajectory, a maneuver that was executed in the early morning hours of April 14. At mission control, teams of experts worked to check out all feasible maneuvers and situations in flight simulators, feeding every plan and contingency through computers. Leaders from all parts of the world voiced concern, and from Soviet Premier Aleksey N. Kosygin came the message that "the Soviet Government has given orders to all citizens and members of the armed forces to use all necessary means to render assistance in the rescue of the American astronauts." Four Soviet ships began moving toward the planned recovery area, while French and British warships also moved to the rescue. Radio contact with Apollo 13 was lost during the evening of April 14 as the craft swung behind the Moon, passing at an altitude of 264 km (164 miles) at the closest approach. (Since their trajectory had a higher lunar altitude than other Apollo missions, Apollo 13 set the record for farthest flight from Earth of 401,056 km [249,205 miles].) Soon afterward the spacecraft started along its return path home. Meanwhile, the long-since-discarded S IVB third stage crashed onto the Moon-it had followed an independent trajectory-as part of a planned experiment to cause an artificial moonquake to aid scientists in understanding the nature of the lunar interior. When the astronauts learned from Houston of the stage's impact, Swigert radioed back, "Well, at least something worked on this flight....I'm sure glad we didn't have an LM [Lunar Module] impact too!"

About two hours later the descent stage propulsion system of the lunar module was ignited for 5 seconds at 10 percent throttle, 21 seconds at 40 percent throttle, and almost 4 minutes at full throttle. This added 941 km (585 miles) per hour to Apollo 13's velocity, thereby cutting by 10 hours the length of the homeward journey and ensuring a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean south of Samoa. On board the spacecraft, oxygen stores remained sufficient, as did cooling water. The astronauts reduced their consumption of drinking water to six ounces per day and their consumption of electricity by 80 percent. However, the lunar module's lithium hydroxide cartridges that removed carbon dioxide from the air would last only about 50 hours, and those from the command module were not designed to fit Aquarius. Therefore, engineers on the ground devised a makeshift adapter scheme, radioing to Apollo 13 instructions on how to attach the cartridges from the command module to the lunar module hoses. The job was done, and Haise reported, "Our do-it-yourself lithium hydroxide canister change is complete."

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Apollo 13, U.S. spaceflight, launched on April 11, 1970, that suffered an oxygen tank explosion en route to the Moon, threatening the lives of three astronauts-commander Jim Lovell, lunar module pilot Fred Haise, and command module pilot Jack Swigert-who ultimately saved themselves.

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Read all about Voyager 1 which was launched in 1977 to study the outer planets and send information back to earth. In 2012, it reached intersteller space and is still going!

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Voyager 1 is back online! NASA’s most distant spacecraft returns data from all 4 instruments

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The spacecraft has resumed full science operations after a technical issue began creating complications in November 2023.

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Learn about the 35 years the Hubble has been in space sending amazing pictures back to earth.

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Eye on Infinity: NASA Celebrates Hubble’s 35th Year in Orbit - NASA Science

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In celebration of Hubble’s 35 years in Earth orbit, NASA released an assortment of compelling images, including a galaxy, nebulae, and Mars.

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Read and see pictures of Mars from the robotic rover called Perseverance.

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In February, 2021, a robotic rover named Perseverance landed on Mars after an eight-month journey. Like a science lab on wheels, the robot explores the red planet to help determine if life ever existed here-and help to prepare the planet for human exploration. Follow its incredible journey.

Perseverance has everything it needs to collect samples and conduct experiments, from a weather station to a robotic arm to x-ray devices to panoramic cameras. For instance, it can look for signs of past life in Martian rocks and test a method for producing oxygen from the Martian air, which future human explorers will need. The rover even has a helicopter drone strapped to its belly!

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On February 18, 2021, a robotic rover named Perseverance is scheduled to land on Mars after an eight-month journey. Like a science lab on wheels, the robot will explore the red planet to help determine if life ever existed here-and help to prepare the planet for human exploration.

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A great biography about Neil Armstrong who was the first person to walk on the moon. Available in the school library.

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An amazing true story story of four African American women whose brilliance helped NASA launch John Glenn into space. Available in the school library.

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A personal biography of the first woman in space with lots of pictures.

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A personal biography of the first woman in space with lots of pictures.

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A uniquely personal portrait of the United States’ first woman in space, illustrated with sheaves of public and private photos.

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The astronaut recounts life lessons learned from his historic Apollo 11 moonwalk in 1969 and beyond.

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A memoir by John Glenn includes lots of information on his preparation and launch into space.

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A memoir by John Glenn includes lots of information on his preparation and launch into space.

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Mr. Smith goes to NASA, then Washington, then NASA again. Decorated fighter pilot in two wars, first American to orbit the earth, US Senator, Presidential candidate, oldest man in space, it’s a wonderful life Glenn recalls in this earnest, workmanlike memoir written with Taylor (Healing Lessons, with Sidney Weaver, not reviewed). He clearly intends his amazing journey to affirm the Capraesque virtues of hard work, religion, and patriotism he learned while growing up in New Concord, Ohio. Only occasionally does he toss out hints of the flinty fighter-jock professionalism that, as surely as patriotism, pushed Glenn into space: —You believe you—re the best in the air. . . . If you don—t, you—d better find another line of work.— Glenn still resents the possibility that his anti-philandering warning to fellow Mercury astronauts (recounted with predictably more verve in Tom Wolfe’s The Right Stuff) nixed his chances of becoming the first American in space. His accounts of his campaigns and political life, including a 24-year Senate career, flare only fitfully into life, as when he depicts his friend Bobby Kennedy. The writing achieves liftoff in two instances alone: when Glenn proudly recalls wife Annie’s humor, self-sacrifice, and fortitude in dealing with her stuttering, and when he recounts his epochal space flights. He remembers the frustrating delays that preceded his 1962 Friendship 7 mission, the beauty of sunsets seen from space, the peril posed by a defective heat shield, and the national euphoria on his return to earth. In discussing his Discovery shuttle flight 37 years later, he provides fascinating details on quantum advances achieved in space travel during the interim. Despite the simple, even pedestrian writing, Glenn’s story of how he became a throwback to the heroic age of discovery is enduringly thrilling. (16 pages b&w photographs, not seen) (Book-of- the-Month Club Main Selection)

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See the stars and planets with this on-line planetarium!

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See the stars and planets with this on-line planetarium!

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A website to find information about the solar system. It provides lots of resources like charts and locations of planets, stars and other objects in space.

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A website to find information about the solar system. It provides lots of resources like charts and locations of planets, stars and other objects in space.

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By configuring your observing location we will be able to provide local information for all celestial objects and events.

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This fun website will tell you what you can see in the sky from your geographic position on any given day.

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This fun website will tell you what you can see in the sky from your geographic position on any given day.

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The wheel below shows the entire sky that is visible from Ashburn .

Expand the side bar to adjust the time and date. By clicking and dragging the wheel, you can turn it to place different green compass points at the bottom. The stars at the bottom of the wheel will then match the ones you will find above the horizon in that direction.

Object symbols

Link to this star chart

You can link directly to this view of the sky with this URL:

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All-sky charts of the night sky from In-The-Sky.org, showing what stars and planets you'll be able to see in the night sky on any given day of the year.

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A wonderful video showcasing the contributions of African Americans to the NASA space program.

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The Color of Space: A NASA Documentary Showcasing the Stories of Black Astronauts

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This brilliant and talented woman was the first African American woman in space!

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Mae Jemison: First African American Woman in Space | Biography

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On-line dictionary to help with your final project and to help with any words you come across during your research that you don't know the meaning.

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On-line dictionary to help with your final project and to help with any words you come across during your research that you don't know the meaning.

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An on-line thesaurus to help with writing up information for your final project.  This will help when you are struggling to put your thoughts into words and need to find synonyms for words.

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An on-line thesaurus to help with writing up information for your final project.  This will help when you are struggling to put your thoughts into words and need to find synonyms for words.

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Another great on-line encyclopedia with lots of information on your topic within space exploration.

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a comprehensive suite of e-learning resources designed for all ages and abilities with articles

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A comprehensive suite of e-learning resources designed for all ages and abilities with articles, videos, educator tools, eBooks, research guides and more.

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A bi-lingual children's book author and strong advocate for STEM education.

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The story of Ellen Ochoa, the first Hispanic woman in space