Smartler - Smartler

On Tuesday, September 15th, at 5 p.m. ET, astronauts Serena Auñón, Cady Coleman, Samantha Cristoforetti, plus NASA chief scientist Ellen Stofan will be stopping by Skunk Bear HQ – and I’ll be asking them your questions live on Periscope and SnapChat (user: nprnews)!

Submit your questions here or tweet #NPRSpaceJam.

Cady Coleman has been to space three times, once spending 158 days aboard the International Space Station. While on earth, she set several endurance and tolerance records when she participated in tests of new equipment. She plays flute in Bandella, a musical group made up of astronauts. Here, I’ve depicted her zero-gravity hair-do.

Serena Auñón hasn’t been to space … yet. She was selected in 2009 as a member of the 20th NASA astronaut class. She has a bachelors degree in electrical engineering, a doctorate in medicine, and a masters in public health.

Samantha Cristoforetti is the first Italian woman in space, the woman who has stayed in space the longest (199 days) and the first person to brew espresso in space. She’s a fighter pilot in the Italian Air Force and speaks fluent Italian, English, Russian, German, and French.

Ellen Stofan is the Chief Scientist of NASA, advising the administrator on all things scientific. She is especially interested in the geology of other planets.

Reblog If You Can Take Off Your Bra Without Taking Your Shirt Off.

Wildest Dreams (Piano Instrumental)

Credit to Molotov Cocktail

Geologist Andrés Ruzo first heard about the boiling river as child, but it was always thought of as mythical. It was considered “a place of spirits.” But when Ruzo’s aunt insisted a boiling river existed in Peru, he set out to find it. Now, Ruzo is the first scientist to be given the blessing of the local shaman to study the boiling river. Ruzo talks about the mysterious nature of the boiling river on the latest episode of the TED Radio Hour.

For more amazing images and posts about how Astronomy is Awesome, check us out!

http://astronomyisawesome.com/

As always, please feel free to ask questions and we love it when you reblog!

#astronomy #space #nasa #hubble space telescope #nebula #nebulae #galaxy

The laws that keep space from spiraling out of control into a political war zone

Where Your Elements Came From

(via APOD; Image Credit: Cmglee (Own work) CC BY-SA 3.0 or GFDL, via Wikimedia Commons )

The hydrogen in your body, present in every molecule of water, came from the Big Bang. There are no other appreciable sources of hydrogen in the universe. The carbon in your body was made by nuclear fusion in the interior of stars, as was the oxygen. Much of the iron in your body was made during supernovas of stars that occurred long ago and far away. The gold in your jewelry was likely made from neutron stars during collisions that may have been visible as short-duration gamma-ray bursts. Elements like phosphorus and copper are present in our bodies in only small amounts but are essential to the functioning of all known life. The featured periodic table is color coded to indicate humanity’s best guess as to the nuclear origin of all known elements. The sites of nuclear creation of some elements, such as copper, are not really well known and are continuing topics of observational and computational research.

“This Love” - Taylor Swift (Piano & String Version) by Sam Yung.

credit to the owners