Explore the complex process of designing and building a satellite using the MAVEN mission to Mars as an example. Plans for the MAVEN satellite went through a thorough review of the concept, budget, and risk analysis before proceeding to the next step of the process. Even after the design review is a
This video segment adapted from A Science Odyssey uses models, vivid descriptions, and analogies to explain the structural integrity of matter at the atomic level. You wouldn't know it by looking at it, but the atoms that make up a solid piece of iron contain more space than stuff. How is it then th
In this video from NASA, learn about the history of defining a planet, and examine how classification changes based on new knowledge. Our understanding of the solar system has evolved since the ancient Greeks, who first used the word planetes to distinguish the objects that moved against the backdro
In the early 1900s, most geologists thought that Earth's appearance, including the arrangement of the continents, had changed little since its formation. This video segment, adapted from the "Earth Explorer" episode of Discovering Women, describes the impact the theory of plate tectonics has had on
This video segment adapted from NOVA, features cancer researcher Dr. Judah Folkman and describes his approach to proving a new idea he had about how tumors grow inside the body. His idea focuses on angiogenesis, the formation of new blood vessels. Dr. Folkman designed experiments to test his central
Learn about the discovery of conditions that would have been suitable for life on ancient Mars. In 2013, the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) science team released initial findings from its first drilled sample using the Curiosity rover. MSL scientist Joel Hurowitz describes the sedimentary rock sample
In this video segment from NOVA: "Judgment Day: Intelligent Design on Trial," paleontologist Neil Shubin recounts a fossil discovery that added another compelling piece to the body of evidence that supports evolution. Shubin's find of a well-preserved skeleton, a "fishapod," represents a transitiona
Discover the instruments that Curiosity, a rover on Mars, used to gather and analyze soil samples in this video from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. In 2012, Curiosity took its first scoop of Martian soil to test and analyze from an area called Rocknest. One of the project scientists describes how
In this video excerpt from NOVA scienceNOW, learn about an area of the brain that is involved with both language processing and the creation of stone tools. Correspondent and New York Times technology columnist David Pogue explores how tool-making (an ancient human skill that requires complex, seque
Learn about the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) mission to Mars in this video from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. Mars does not have a global magnetic field like Earth but does have patches of magnetic fields. Scientists use magnetometers to study the planet's magnetic anomalies.
This video from NASA introduces a proposed mission to study potential habitable worlds around gas giants such as Jupiter. The Europa Jupiter System Mission, a proposed joint venture between NASA and ESA (the European Space Agency), would send two spacecraft to study Jupiter and its four largest moon
Discover how scientists compare the reflected red, blue, and green light from planets in our solar system to identify Earthlike planets beyond our solar system more easily. Carolyn Crow, a member of the Deep Impact science team, describes how the amount of green, blue, and red light reflected by pla
