Andrew Fraknoi – Astronomy Lectures – Astronomy Education Resources

NASA’s Perseverance rover, which has been exploring the Jezero crater on Mars since 2021 has just logged 26 miles of total travel, the equivalent of a marathon. This crater was chosen as the destination for the rover, with its advanced sensing instruments, because at one end there is a clear river delta and the crater itself was at one time believed to be under water. And indeed, as the rover has explored the terrain, it continues to gather more and more evidence that the red planet had a much…

Sunday, June 21 is not only father’s day, but also the summer solstice — the longest daytime (and shortest nighttime) of the year, for the Northern Hemisphere. Two things to celebrate! Few people know that the reason we have seasons — that the length of daylight varies throughout the year — is that billions of years ago, in the violent early days of our solar system, Earth got hit by a roving mini-planet. Like many accident victims, the Earth could not straighten out, and has orbited the Sun…

I hope you are allowing the trip four humans are taking around the Moon to distract you a bit from all the problems we are facing down here on Earth! Artemis II is mostly designed to test the engineering of the Orion spacecraft and all the systems that keep humans alive.  The science-fiction writer in […] The post The Lunar Tourist Attraction the Artemis Astronauts Will be Looking For appeared first on Andrew Fraknoi - Astronomy Lectures - Astronomy Education Resources.

I am tickled to report that The Worlds Within magazine has just published my science-fiction story “Who Speaks for Earth.”  It concerns a Congressional hearing about a future President, who had to bomb a radio telescope owned by a religious group that insisted on answering an alien message Earth received without consulting anyone else. You […] The post My Science Fiction Story “Who Speaks for Earth” Just Published; Free Link appeared first on Andrew Fraknoi - Astronomy Lectures - Astronomy Ed...