1. The biggest and most technically advanced rover to date is on track to arrive on Mars at 1:31 am EDT on Monday, August 6. Curiosity’s primary mission is to collect and analyze rock, soil, and air samples to determine whether conditions on Mars could have ever supported life. This illustration, showing 3 previously launched rovers, originally appeared in the fall 2011 issue of Rotunda, our magazine for Museum Members.

    The biggest and most technically advanced rover to date is on track to arrive on Mars at 1:31 am EDT on Monday, August 6. Curiosity’s primary mission is to collect and analyze rock, soil, and air samples to determine whether conditions on Mars could have ever supported life.

    This illustration, showing 3 previously launched rovers, originally appeared in the fall 2011 issue of Rotunda, our magazine for Museum Members.

  2. We spotted NASA’s Space Shuttle Enterprise as it passed by the Museum this morning! This is the view from our rooftop. Photo by Rod. 

    We spotted NASA’s Space Shuttle Enterprise as it passed by the Museum this morning! This is the view from our rooftop.

    Photo by Rod. 

  3. After eight years of following the development of SOFIA (Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy) the Museum’s Science Bulletins crew got a chance to fly on the modified 747SP that once flew for Pan Am. They took off from NASA’s Dryden Aircraft Operations Facility in Palmdale, CA to film Dr. Rolf Gusten and his team at work all night. According to the crew, the flight was so smooth they didn’t even feel it when the cavity door opened so that the telescope could begin observing. If you’d like to find out more about SOFIA and what its like to fly on the 747SP, check out the Science Bulletins video: SOFIA: Stars and the Space Between. Photo courtesy of T. van Bergen

    After eight years of following the development of SOFIA (Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy) the Museum’s Science Bulletins crew got a chance to fly on the modified 747SP that once flew for Pan Am. They took off from NASA’s Dryden Aircraft Operations Facility in Palmdale, CA to film Dr. Rolf Gusten and his team at work all night. According to the crew, the flight was so smooth they didn’t even feel it when the cavity door opened so that the telescope could begin observing.

    If you’d like to find out more about SOFIA and what its like to fly on the 747SP, check out the Science Bulletins video: SOFIA: Stars and the Space Between.

    Photo courtesy of T. van Bergen

  4. Today, NASA launches its biggest, most advanced rover yet: the one-ton Curiosity, a mobile laboratory with a two-year mission to find out whether Mars has ever supported life. See a life-sized model of Curiosity in the Museum’s new exhibition Beyond Planet Earth: The Future of Space Exploration. Check out this post to see the full infographic.

    Today, NASA launches its biggest, most advanced rover yet: the one-ton Curiosity, a mobile laboratory with a two-year mission to find out whether Mars has ever supported life.

    See a life-sized model of Curiosity in the Museum’s new exhibition Beyond Planet Earth: The Future of Space Exploration.

    Check out this post to see the full infographic.