January 31, 2022 On this date in 1971, Apollo 14 launched from Kennedy Space Center with a crew of Alan B. Shepard, Jr., Stuart A. Roosa, and Edgar D. Mitchell. Touchdown of the spacecraft occurred on February 5th, 1971. The crew performed 2 extravehicular activities (EVAs) during their time on the moon. After a total… Continue reading
Astronomy Fact of the Day: January 30, 2022
January 30, 2022 Although the moon’s orbit around Earth is nearly circular, when in fact it is an ellipse. This means that, although the average distance to the moon is 238,900 miles, the moon can be further or nearer to us. The furthest point in the Moon’s orbit is called apogee, where the nearest point… Continue reading
Night Sky Update: January 28 – February 5, 2022
This is the Saint Louis Science Center’s NIGHT SKY UPDATE for the week of Friday, January 21, 2022. Information updated weekly or as needed. Times given as local St. Louis time which is Central Standard Time (CST). For definitions of terminology used in the night sky update, click the highlighted text. If relying on times… Continue reading
Astronomy Fact of the Day: January 29, 2022
January 29, 2022 On this day in 1959, Alan Shepard wrote a letter to his mother and father describing the possibility of his joining the “Man in Space” program. He states that he will be driving to Washington that afternoon for a briefing on the matter. He closes the letter by asking them to not… Continue reading
Astronomy Fact of the Day: January 28, 2022
January 28, 2022 If you’re up early this morning at about 5:45 am, Venus, Mars, and a waning crescent moon are all visible in the southeastern sky. The moon is visible between Mars and the bright red star Antares. Stars will appear to twinkle, or scintillate, while planets generally do not. With both Mars and… Continue reading
Astronomy Fact of the Day: January 27, 2022
January 27, 2022 On this date in 1967, the crew of Apollo 1 — composed of Virgil I. Grissom, Ed-ward H. White II, and Roger B. Chaffee — was killed in a fire during equipment testing inside their capsule. The original mission wasn’t scheduled for launch until February 21, 1967. More information regarding the event… Continue reading
Astronomy Fact of the Day: January 26, 2022
January 26, 2022 At any point throughout the year it is possible to find the North Star, Polaris in the same location in our northern sky. Unlike other stars, it does not appear to move throughout the night. Instead, other stars appear to revolve around Polaris while it remains stationary. This happens because the axis… Continue reading
Astronomy Fact of the Day: January 25, 2022
January 25, 2022 On this date in 2004, the Opportunity rover successfully landed on the surface of Mars. Although this rover was only designed to last approximately 90 days, it remained active for nearly 15 years. Opportunity was successful in finding several pieces of evidence of past water activity on Mars. To read more about… Continue reading
Astronomy Fact of the Day: January 24, 2022
January 24, 2022 On this date in 1986, Voyager 2 successfully completed a flyby of Uranus at 9:59 PST where it came within 50,600 miles of the uppermost atmosphere. In addition to sending back images of Uranus and its moons, Voyager 2 used several scientific instruments to provide new data on the ring system, complex… Continue reading
Astronomy Fact of the Day: January 23, 2022
January 23, 2022 The moon is the only celestial body other than Earth that humans have stepped foot on. To this day, only 12 people have walked on the moon all as part of the Apollo program. However, the NASA Artemis program plans to send the next crewed mission (including the first woman) to the… Continue reading