We’re going interstellar for this segment of Armchair Traveler! Join The Library as we explore space both here on Earth and beyond. Human space exploration starts right here on Earth, so it makes to begin our travel here.
Hi-SEAS Mars Habitat
A lot of preparation and research takes place to make space missions a reality. One research center here in the United States is the Hi-SEAS Mars Habitat on the Big Island of Hawaii. The habitat sits about 8,200 feet above sea level and is an ideal spot to simulate planetary exploration missions. Take a tour of the habitat in the first 2 ½ minutes of the video below!
If you are a fan of podcasts, you may enjoy this conversation with Dr. Sian Proctor. Dr. Proctor talks about growing up dreaming to be an astronaut and how she got involved with Sensoria, the all-women’s Mars simulation at the Hi-SEAS habitat. Dr. Sian and her team’s research at the Hi-SEAS habitat contributes to the effort to send people to Mars. This project is especially unique because the 6-person crew was all women. You can learn more about the Sensoria project here.
Discovery space shuttle and the Hubble Control Center
The Hubble Space Telescope has been orbiting the Earth for 30 years now, but how did it get there? Join astronauts Major General Charlie Bolden and Dr. Kathy Sullivan as they walk through the Discovery, the space shuttle that delivered the Hubble into orbit in April 1990. Throughout the tour, they share memories of the mission. Click around to rotate the video for an interactive experience.
While astronauts in the Discovery shuttle steered the Hubble into orbit, scientists here on Earth were assisting with the mission at the NASA’s Space Telescope Operations Control Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Check out NASA’s 360-degree tour and learn more about the center here.
You can learn more about the Hubble Space Telescope here.
Explore The Library’s Collections
We’ve got loads of media in The Library’s collections on the topic of space, so we’ll suggest a few titles in each blog post that are good starting points if you are new to reading fiction and nonfiction books about space. We’ll also sprinkle in some movies and tv series on the topic.
Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly
Set amid the civil rights movement, the never-before-told true story of NASA’s African-American female mathematicians who played a crucial role in America’s space program. Before Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, a group of professionals worked as ‘Human Computers’, calculating the flight paths that would enable these historic achievements. Among these were a coterie of bright, talented African-American women. Segregated from their white counterparts, these ‘coloured computers’ used pencil and paper to write the equations that would launch rockets and astronauts, into space. Moving from World War II through NASA’s golden age, touching on the civil rights era, the Space Race, the Cold War and the women’s rights movement, ‘Hidden Figures’ interweaves a rich history of mankind’s greatest adventure with the intimate stories of five courageous women whose work forever changed the world.
An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth by Chris Hadfield
In An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth, Col. Hadfield takes readers deep into his years of training and space exploration to show how to make the impossible possible. Through eye-opening, entertaining stories filled with the adrenaline of launch, the mesmerizing wonder of spacewalks, and the measured, calm responses mandated by crises, he explains how conventional wisdom can get in the way of achievement-and happiness. His own extraordinary education in space has taught him some counterintuitive lessons: don’t visualize success, do care what others think, and always sweat the small stuff.
Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars.
Now, he’s sure he’ll be the first person to die there.
After a dust storm nearly kills him and forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded and completely alone with no way to even signal Earth that he’s alive—and even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone long before a rescue could arrive.
Chances are, though, he won’t have time to starve to death. The damaged machinery, unforgiving environment, or plain-old “human error” are much more likely to kill him first.
But Mark isn’t ready to give up yet. Drawing on his ingenuity, his engineering skills — and a relentless, dogged refusal to quit — he steadfastly confronts one seemingly insurmountable obstacle after the next. Will his resourcefulness be enough to overcome the impossible odds against him?
Nova: Saving Hubble
The Hubble Space Telescope-an orbiting eye on the universe that has greatly advanced our knowledge of the cosmos-is in need of repairs never intended to be performed in orbit. Neil de Grasse Tyson takes us to the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, where our camera crew is given special access to the astronauts training for one of the most complex missions ever attempted.