Marcia Bartusiak— Gamma rays from deep space were discovered by accident in the early 1970s. A group of United States satellites called Vela (“watch” or “vigil” in Spanish) had been put into orbit to make sure nations around the world were complying with the 1963 nuclear test ban treaty. Sifting
Marcia Bartusiak— Walk into an open field on a clear, moonless night. Overhead, sparkling stars are sprinkled across the sky. All of them seem equidistant from you—and no one else—and you are lulled into imagining yourself at the center of the universe. For nearly five hundred years, astronomers have struggled to
Jon Willis— Galileo entered Jupiter orbit on December 8, 1989, just one day after the drama and revelations of the descent probe. Although Galileo was a Jupiter orbiter, the proximity of Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto offered the opportunity for multiple flybys of the Galilean satellites. During its eight-year mission to Jupiter, Galileo completed thirty-five
Marcia Bartusiak— Early last year, the field of astrophysics announced one of its biggest discoveries. A cosmic phenomenon that Albert Einstein had predicted a century earlier was at last detected directly. Two massive black holes collided, their spectacular merger generating huge ripples—gravitational waves—in the very fabric of space-time. After spreading
Valerie Neal— In the 1960s, Americans were clear about the reasons to embark on travel across the vast new ocean of space. More than once, President John F. Kennedy presented a clear and compelling rationale, best distilled in a speech delivered at Rice University on September 12, 1962. Near the
Monique Laney— In recent years, high-tech industry CEOs have become increasingly vocal about their desire for immigration reform. Most of them argue that they cannot find enough native workers with the right skill set for the jobs their companies have to offer, so they want to see changes in immigration policies
John Gribbin— When I started out in astronomy, the Big Bang theory was just becoming accepted as a good description of the Universe in which we live. But there was one big problem with it. Nobody knew how old the Universe was. The age of the Universe is related to
For those old enough to remember, the 40th anniversary of the moon landing brings back memories of “One small step,” lunar bootprints, and the first grainy photos of an American flag flown some 240,000 miles from home. But the photos sent back from the Apollo missions were not only of
There are lots of great ways to celebrate Earth Day. Bike to work, recycle, or show off your green thumb and plant a tree, like our commander-in-chief. But, in our minds, there’s no better way to celebrate Mother Earth than learning more about her through a good book. When it