The Last Cuentista Text Set by Meghan McCormick

Comets!

mcm324 — 2024-04-09 16:51:02 UTC

At the start of The Last Cuentista, we learn a comet is about to crash into Earth (ahhhhhh!). Learn a bit more about comets here!

Cuentos

mcm324 — 2024-04-09 16:53:16 UTC

Some background on Cuentos, or folktales, that will be important in our novel!

Eyes on the Stars

mcm324 — 2024-04-09 16:57:10 UTC

People have been dreaming about space for a long time, but these dreams of space required navigating discrimination here on earth.

Retinitis Pigmentosa

mcm324 — 2024-04-09 17:03:00 UTC

Our main character has a specific type of vision loss. Learn more about it here. Don't worry if you don't understand everything, but pay attention to what this might mean for Petra.

What can she see?

What challenges might she face in space because of her vision?

More about Comets

mcm324 — 2024-04-09 17:04:48 UTC

Carl Sagan

mcm324 — 2024-04-09 17:06:33 UTC

Learn more about Carl Sagan, the scientist for whom the planet Sagan is named. Why do you think Barba Higuera names a planet after him?

Disabilities in Space

mcm324 — 2024-04-09 17:08:19 UTC

Science Fiction (Genre Background)

mcm324 — 2024-04-09 17:09:52 UTC

RadioLab: The Right Stuff

mcm324 — 2024-04-09 17:10:54 UTC

Since the beginning of the space program, we've always expected astronauts to be fully abled athletic overachievers who are one-part science-geek, two-parts triathlete—a mix the writer Tom Wolfe famously called “the right stuff.”

But what if, this whole time, we’ve had it all wrong?

NASA History of Halley's Comet

mcm324 — 2024-04-09 17:11:58 UTC

Halley is often called the most famous comet because it marked the first time astronomers understood comets could be repeat visitors to our night skies. Astronomers have now linked the comet's appearances to observations dating back more than 2,000 years.

Model Citizen (CW: graphic violence)

mcm324 — 2024-04-09 17:15:31 UTC

Here is a short video that imagines a dystopia in a place called "Autodale." Pay attention to similarities between this story and other dystopias you've read this year.

Colonization of Mars

mcm324 — 2024-04-09 17:18:34 UTC

Petra and her family are headed to Sagan- here's where we stand (circa 2017) on the colonization of other planets.

RadioLab: Space

mcm324 — 2024-04-09 17:48:39 UTC

More information about the Voyager Mission

Songs on The Golden Record

mcm324 — 2024-04-09 17:49:16 UTC