The Hidden Treasure at NASA’s Website

The two words which have become synonymous with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) over the years have been “innovation” and “technology.”  Yet, it’s easy to assume that the space agency has fallen upon hard times in the current austere economic environment.  It’s true that the United States hasn’t been to the Moon since 1972. It’s also true that we just launched the last of our space shuttles last year, but if you listen to NASA head Charles F. Bolden, Jr., the best is yet to come.

In a video released ahead of NASA’s Fiscal Year 13 budget submission, Bolden  and his staff share a vision of NASA which quite frankly I think everyone should sign on to.  The NASA video is here.

But NASA’s FY 13 budget submission is not the reason for this post. NASA has a lot of interesting stuff on their website that I recommend you take a look at. Start by going to http://spaceplace.nasa.gov. This site is one of the best educational sites on the web in my opinion.  And you don’t have to be a young child to get enjoyment out of the site.  Want to do a data gathering mission to Jupiter?  You’ll find that in the people and technology section.  Want to save satellites from solar storms?  Want to know if time travel is really possible?  Want to know why the sky is dark at night and why you can’t see the stars during the daytime?  This website will tell you. Want to know the next time we’ll see the planet Venus pass in front of the sun?  You’ll also find the answer to that here.  By the way, the answer is in the year 2117, so if you missed it this month, chance are very good you’ll never see it in your lifetime.

I don’t know whether or not NASA will get all the money they’re asking for in the new budget, but I do know the wealth of knowledge that they have on their website is absolutely incredible and is probably worth every penny we taxpayers paid.