Website from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory with history and technical details of the Mariner 10 spacecraft. The site has a number of detailed images and useful links. Image caption: "Here the Mariner 10 spacecraft is being assemb  ... more

Website from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory with history and technical details of the Mariner 10 spacecraft. The site has a number of detailed images and useful links. Image caption: "Here the Mariner 10 spacecraft is being assembled prior to its November 1973 launch. During its two-year mission, the spacecraft transmitted over 12,000 images of Mercury and Venus. The mission ended in March 1975. Mariner 10 is still orbiting the sun, even though its electronic systems have probably been destroyed by solar radiation."   less

Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) site contains NASA's highest quality solar system images, organized by the planets - Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, and others. The photos are also sorted by t  ... more

Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) site contains NASA's highest quality solar system images, organized by the planets - Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, and others. The photos are also sorted by the spacecraft that took the photo. The site is searchable by date, feature name, ID number, or spacecraft. Each image contains a small description and credits. There is also a "newest images" section.   less

Engineering Pathway's blog for July 6. Today in History - July 6, 1997 - the Sojourner Rover (above), carried by the Pathfinder spacecraft, rolled onto the Mars' surface. Launched on December 4, 1996, Pathfinder impacted th  ... more

Engineering Pathway's blog for July 6. Today in History - July 6, 1997 - the Sojourner Rover (above), carried by the Pathfinder spacecraft, rolled onto the Mars' surface. Launched on December 4, 1996, Pathfinder impacted the surface of Mars earlier on July 4, 1997 at a velocity of 18 m/s (40 mph) and then bounced into the air 15 times at a maximum height of 15 meters (50 feet), before rolling and coming to rest 1 km from the initial impact site. The lander and landing site was named the Carl Sagan Memorial Station. Pathfinder was designed, built and operated by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) for NASA. The project ended on March 10, 1998 when the lander failed to respond to communicate with controllers at JPL. The mission operated three times longer than its original 30-day planned lifetime. I was honored to have served on the Advisory Board for the Engineering Division at JPL and was impressed with their "faster, better, cheaper" approach to space exploration.   less

This NASA/JPL/Caltech website contains a mixture of space-related images and programs which will help the student visualize the solar system using computer graphics. A solar system simulator will allow the user to view any planet  ... more

This NASA/JPL/Caltech website contains a mixture of space-related images and programs which will help the student visualize the solar system using computer graphics. A solar system simulator will allow the user to view any planet or satellite. This site also contains links to maps of the solar system, space artwork, additional space stuff, and support resources.   less

"The JPL Annual Invention Challenge is a friendly, yet challenging competition open to JPL employees and contractors, their family members, and students from local middle and high schools. Each year, a different engineering challe  ... more

"The JPL Annual Invention Challenge is a friendly, yet challenging competition open to JPL employees and contractors, their family members, and students from local middle and high schools. Each year, a different engineering challenge is selected. The goal of the Invention Challenge is to show students that math, science, and engineering can be fun." Caption: Students compete in the 12th annual Invention Challenge at JPL in Pasadena Friday, December 11, 2009. (SGVN/Staff Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz/SXCITY)   less

Cornell University, NASA's JPL and Bill Nye present information on the Mars Exploration Rovers. Images, at-home experiments for kids and lesson plans compliment details of mission goals and payload. " The two powerful new Mars r  ... more

Cornell University, NASA's JPL and Bill Nye present information on the Mars Exploration Rovers. Images, at-home experiments for kids and lesson plans compliment details of mission goals and payload. " The two powerful new Mars rovers have far greater mobility than the 1997 Mars Pathfinder rover. These identical robotic explorers were originally thought to be able to trek up to 100 meters (about 100 yards) a day ("sol") across the martian surface, but on March 31, 2005 Opportunity traveled a distance of 220 meters (722 feet) in a single day. This is farther than the Sojourner rover's travel throughout its entire mission. Each rover carries a sophisticated set of instruments â?? the Athena Science Payload â?? that has allowed it to search for evidence of liquid water in the planet's past."   less

"Explorer 1 was the first satellite launched by the United States when it was sent into space on January 31, 1958. Following the launch of the Soviet Union's Sputnik 1 on October 4, 1957, the U.S. Army Ballistic Missile Agency was  ... more

"Explorer 1 was the first satellite launched by the United States when it was sent into space on January 31, 1958. Following the launch of the Soviet Union's Sputnik 1 on October 4, 1957, the U.S. Army Ballistic Missile Agency was directed to launch a satellite using its Jupiter C rocket developed under the direction of Dr. Wernher von Braun. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory received the assignment to design, build and operate the artificial satellite that would serve as the rocket's payload. JPL completed this job in less than three months. "   less

The Engineering Pathway's blog for July 4. Today in History - July 4, 1997 - Launched on December 4, 1996, Pathfinder impacted the surface of Mars on July 4, 1997 at a velocity of 18 m/s (40 mph) and then bounced into the air  ... more

The Engineering Pathway's blog for July 4. Today in History - July 4, 1997 - Launched on December 4, 1996, Pathfinder impacted the surface of Mars on July 4, 1997 at a velocity of 18 m/s (40 mph) and then bounced into the air 15 times at a maximum height of 15 meters (50 feet), before rolling and coming to rest 1 km from the initial impact site. The lander and landing site was named the Carl Sagan Memorial Station. Pathfinder was designed, built and operated by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) for NASA.   less

"NASA's Magellan spacecraft made a dramatic conclusion to its highly successful mission at Venus when it is commanded to plunge into the planet's dense atmosphere Tuesday, October 11, 1994. During its four years in orbit around Ea  ... more

"NASA's Magellan spacecraft made a dramatic conclusion to its highly successful mission at Venus when it is commanded to plunge into the planet's dense atmosphere Tuesday, October 11, 1994. During its four years in orbit around Earth's sister planet, the spacecraft has radar-mapped 98 percent of the surface and collected high-resolution gravity data of Venus. The purpose of the crash landing is to gain data on the planet's atmosphere and on the performance of the spacecraft as it descends. "   less

Since Caltech's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) manages NASA projects that probe the deep space (translunar) environment of our solar system, operations people need to have an understanding of the basics of space flight in order t  ... more

Since Caltech's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) manages NASA projects that probe the deep space (translunar) environment of our solar system, operations people need to have an understanding of the basics of space flight in order to perform effectively ate: The End-to-End Information System module is intended for JPL internal use only.) The goal of this training module is to provide an aid for identifying and understanding the general concepts associated with space flight in general and deep space missions in particular. It offers a broad scope of limited depth, presented in 17 chapters. Specific learning objectives are listed at the beginning of each chapter in terms of what you are expected to be able to do upon finishing the chapter. Includes: The Environment (The Solar System, Earth and its Reference Systems, Gravitation and Mechanics, Interplanetary Trajectories, Planetary Orbits, Electromagnetic Phenomena); Space Flight Projects (Overview of Mission Inception, Experiments, Spacecraft Classification, Telecommunications, Typical Onboard Subsystems, Typical Science Instruments, Spacecraft Navigation) and Space Flight Operations (Launch Phase, Cruise Phase, Encounter Phase, Extended Operations Phase)   less