NASA’s 10 Greatest Science Missions
10. Pioneer
Pioneer 10 and Pioneer 11, launched in 1972 and 1973, respectively, were the first spacecraft to visit the solar system’s most photogenic gas giants, Jupiter and Saturn. Pioneer 10 was the first probe to travel through the solar system’s asteroid belt, a field of orbiting rocks between Mars and Jupiter.
9. Voyager
Shortly after the Pioneers made their flybys, the Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 probes followed. They made many important discoveries about Jupiter and Saturn, including rings around Jupiter and the presence of volcanism on Jupiter’s moon, Io. Voyager went on to make the first flybys of Uranus, where it discovered 10 new moons, and Neptune, where it found that Neptune actually weighs less than astronomers thought.
8. WMAP
The Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP), launched in 2001, may not be as well-known, but it measures with unprecedented accuracy the temperature of the radiation left over from the Big Bang.
7. Spitzer
Another spacecraft with a profound effect on cosmology and astrophysics is the Spitzer Space Telescope, which observed the heavens through infrared light. This light, which has a longer wavelength than visual light, is mostly blocked by Earth’s atmosphere.
6.Spirit & Opportunity
Intended for just a 90-day mission, these workhorse Mars rovers have far outdone themselves, and are still chugging away on the red planet more than five years after landing. Spirit and Opportunity, the twin Mars Exploration Rovers, landed on opposite sides of the planet in January 2004.5. Cassini-Huygens
This joint NASA/ESA spacecraft, launched in 1997, reached its destination, Saturn, in 2004. Since then it has been in orbit around the ringed world, taking one stunning snapshot after another of the planets rings, moons and weather.4. Chandra
Since 1999, the Chandra X-ray Observatory has been scanning the skies in X-ray light, looking at some of the most distant and bizarre astronomical events. Because Earth’s pesky atmosphere blocks out most X-rays, astronomers couldn’t view the universe in this high-energy, short-wavelength light until they sent Chandra up to space.3. Viking
When NASA’s Viking 1 probe touched-down on Mars in July 1976, it was the first time a man-made object had soft-landed on the red planet. (Though the Soviet Mars 2 and 3 probes did land on the surface, they failed upon landing). The Viking 1 lander also holds the title of longest-running Mars surface mission, with a total duration of 6 years and 116 days. The spacecraft also sent the first color pictures back from the Martian surface, showing us what that mysterious red dot looks like from the ground for the first time.2. Hubble
The most-loved of all NASA spacecraft, the Hubble Space Telescope has name recognition around the world. Its photos have changed the way everyday people figure themselves into the cosmos. The observatory has also radically changed science, making breakthroughs on astronomical issues too numerous to count.1. Apollo
NASA’s best space science mission? The one humans got to tag along on, of course! Not only was sending a man to the moon monumental for human history, but the Apollo trips were the first to bring celestial stuff back to Earth and greatly advanced our scientific understanding of the moon.
So one fundamental attitude shared by Buddhism and science is the commitment to keep searching for reality by empirical means and to be willing to discard accepted or long-held positions if our search finds that the truth is different
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| — | The Dalai Lama — The Universe in a Single Atom: The Convergence of Science and Spirituality (via cwnl) |
In some respects, science has far surpassed religion in delivering awe. How is it that hardly any major religion has looked at science and concluded, “This is better than we thought! The Universe is much bigger than our prophets said, grander, more subtle, more elegant. God must be even greater than we dreamed”? Instead they say, ‘No, no, no! My god is a little god, and I want him to stay that way.’
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| — | Carl Sagan |
Trichodina pediculus (freshwater ciliates), ventral view, living specimens (1000X) (via Nikon Small World - Gerd A. Guenther)
A Gallery Of May 20 Annular Solar Eclipse Images
1. The sun sets behind a barn and windmill on Sunday, May 20, 2012, southwest of Ellis, Kansas, during a partial solar eclipse. Credit: Steven Hausler, The Hays Daily News / AP
2. An annular solar eclipse appears in the sky over Yokohama near Tokyo Monday, May 21, 2012. Credit: AP / SL
3. A view of partial solar eclipse, seen through a black film in Srinagar, India, in January 2011. Credit: Mukhtar Khan/AP/Canadian Press
4. An annular solar eclipse appears during a break in clouds over Taipei, Taiwan, Monday, May 21, 2012. Credit: Wally Santana / AP
5. An annular solar eclipse appears in Fujisawa, near Tokyo, Monday, May 21, 2012. Credit: AP
6. A partial annular solar eclipse appears through construction scaffoldings in Beijing, China, Monday, May 21, 2012. Credit: Ng Han Guan / AP
Earth’s Siblings: Inside The Planets
Click each for a neat and informative view of the neighboring planets in our Solar System.
via SPACE
Science is an exploration of the intricate, subtle, and awesome universe we inhabit.
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| — | Carl Sagan, Broca’s Brain: Reflections on the Romance of Science |
The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and all science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed.
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| — | Albert Einstein (via savanadaydreaming) |
