Secondary students participate in a library scavenger hunt to find answers to questions raised by the press release containing President John F. Kennedy's telegram to Nikita Kruschev congratulating the Soviets on the first successful manned space flight. Issues for classroom discussion are also presented. (RM)

Discusses the themes used in "The Right Stuff," Tom Wolfe's story of the seven astronauts in the Mercury program. Reviews Wolfe's rhetorical and literary techniques used to enlarge reality and create a heroic mode. (DMM)

On the occasion of the publication of the fifth edition of his book "The Milky Way," the author presents information on this galaxy and his life-long interest and research in this area. (SK)

This article reviews the historical and current observational status of searches for other planetary systems, discusses the nature of the observational problem, and indicates the prospects for success in the future. (DS)

Describes the gravitational lens effect and the chance of observing it. The use of stars, galaxies, or quasars is recommended for alignment with an intervening lens mass. (Author/SA)

The goal of this activity is to solve problems encountered when preparing food for space flight. Includes student worksheets. (MKR)

Described is an overview of the Voyager 2 encounter with Neptune. Discussed are the trajectory, atmosphere, rings, satellites, magnetosphere, and future of Voyager 2. (YP)

Describes Neptune through Voyager 2 including the discovery, location, atmosphere, ring arcs, radiation, two satellites, and Voyager's goals. Provides several diagrams and pictures. (YP)

Two posters examine the 1969 Apollo moon mission. The first tracks the stages and path of the mission, suggesting that students create their own diagrams or models. The second presents a puzzle that helps student understand how many items developed for the mission are useful to today's everyday life. (SM)

Bibliographic guide of women astronomers and their work. Includes general references on women in astronomy, as well as specific women astronomers including Baliunas, Bell Burnell, Burbidge, Cannon, Faber, Fleming, Furness, Geller, Herschel, Hogg, Huggins, Klumpke Roberts, Leavitt, Maury, Mitchell, Payne-Gaposchkin, Ride, Rubin, Sitterly, Tater,…

Describes some of what a science teacher learned while participating in an amateur observing program that provided access to the Hubble Space Telescope. (ZWH)

Describes a course based on the scientific approach to the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. Explores the biological and technological aspects of the search and the social implications of possible contact. (Author/CCM)

This article talks about fulldome video, a new technology which has been adopted fairly extensively by the larger, well-funded planetariums. Fulldome video, also called immersive projection, can help teach subjects ranging from geology to history to chemistry. The rapidly advancing progress of projection technology has provided high-resolution…

This is a resource book for four major areas of study: basic astronomy, a star's life, the planets, and the atmosphere. The activities and demonstrations included can be done in a classroom setting during the day by using readily available materials. Topics covered include: refracting and reflecting telescopes, star finder, circumpolar…

This learning guide provides detailed information about exploring the planet Mars. The guide covers a variety of topics related to space exploration including: (1) the reasons for exploring Mars; (2) a history of the exploration of and thinking about Mars beginning with the Babylonians and continuing through the Viking missions; (3) the status of…