NASA Launches Snap It! Computer Game to Learn About Eclipses

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NASA Launches Snap It! Computer Game to Learn About Eclipses

On April 8, 2024, a total solar eclipse will be visible to over 30 million people across North America. To help kids learn about solar eclipses, NASA is launching Snap It! An Eclipse Photo Adventure.

The Snap It! game – designed for kids ages 7 and up – lets players help out the Traveler, an enthusiastic character who loves to explore the universe. The Traveler has previously learned about black holes and is now visiting Earth to learn about eclipses. 

Solar eclipses occur when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun. The total solar eclipse later this year will completely block the Sun’s light from reaching parts of eastern and southern North America, bathing the landscape in darkness. Through taking photos of the Sun and decorating postcards, the goal of this game is to learn about eclipses and objects that transit, or pass in front of, the Sun. The game can be played on any computer using an internet browser.

Play the game and share your #SnapIt postcards with friends and family: https://go.nasa.gov/SnapIt

By Mara Johnson-Groh
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.

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Carolina Rudisel, oficial de Protocolo

“Nunca me hubiera imaginado que estaría aquí en la NASA. Soy inmigrante. Originalmente era ciudadana mexicana. De hecho, nací en México, pero mis padres vinieron a Estados Unidos [y obtuve mi tarjeta de residencia] cuando tenía dos años de edad. … Mis padres llegaron con una visa de trabajo, por lo que éramos trabajadores migrantes [cuando yo] crecía.

“… Fue una crianza difícil, así que sabía lo que me deparaba la vida si me quedaba en [mi] pueblito. Sabía que me quedaría estancada, ya que incluso ahora, mirando hacia atrás, algunas de las personas que conocí todavía están estancadas. Entonces, decidí que ingresaría al ejército porque sabía que necesitaba hacer un cambio radical. Y así fue como ingresé al ejército, y mi vida dio un giro completo. … Allí fue donde conocí a mi marido. Hemos estado juntos por 32 años y casados por 29 años.

“… [Antes de ingresar] al ejército… estaba en el lado equivocado de la ley. Estaba literalmente de pie frente a un juez que tenía mi destino en sus manos. … Mi reclutador estaba en mi audiencia, así que hicimos un trato con el fiscal y me dejaron ir con una multa. Pero mi vida pudo haber sido completamente diferente. Así que sabía que un cambio radical era absolutamente necesario para mi vida.

“… Avanzando unos años: Ingresé al ejército, salí y terminé pasando la mayor parte del tiempo en el extranjero. Viví en Japón; de hecho, nuestros dos hijos nacieron en Japón. Vivimos en Japón, Rusia, Sri Lanka, Bélgica y nuestro último puesto fue en Londres.

“… Trabajaba para la Oficina del Agregado de Defensa, y mi compañera de trabajo estaba en la Marina y me dijo: ‘¡Hay un trabajo en la NASA en el norte de California! Eres de California, ¿verdad?… Deberías postularte’. Y [pensé]: ‘De ninguna manera es posible’. Sabes, soy una persona de negocios, mi experiencia está en los negocios. Era analista de presupuesto financiero. Y entonces, pensaba: ‘De ninguna manera’. Ella [dijo]: ‘Deberías postularte. ¡Postúlate, postúlate! Lo peor que podrían decirte es que no’. Y yo pensé: ‘¿Sabes qué? Tienes razón’. Me postulé, llegué a la NASA [y] de hecho comencé aquí como secretaria del director del centro.

“… Intento decirle a la gente que no se trata de desde dónde se empieza, ni de los errores que se hayan cometido. Es lo que haces con ellos. Y puedes cambiar no solo por ti misma, sino [también] para que otros puedan verte cambiar y [sepan] que todo es posible”.

– Carolina Rudisel, oficial de Protocolo, Oficina del Director, Centro de Investigación Ames de la NASA

Crédito de la imagen: NASA / Brandon Torres
Entrevistadora: NASA / Michelle Zajac

Read this Faces of NASA feature in English here.

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Michelle Zajac

NASA Sets Science Webinar Coverage for Space Station Resupply Mission

In preparation for NASA’s SpaceX 30th commercial resupply mission, the agency will stream an International Space Station National Lab science webinar at 1 p.m. EST Friday, March 8, to discuss the hardware, technology demonstrations, and science experiments headed to the space station.

NASA will provide coverage of the webinar on the agency’s website.

SpaceX is targeting no earlier than mid-March to launch its Dragon cargo spacecraft on top of a Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

The science webinar will include the following participants:

• Heidi Parris, associate program scientist, NASA’s International Space Station Program
• Davide Marotta, science program director for in-space biomedicine, ISS National Laboratory
• Marc Elmouttie, research group leader, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization
• Paula Grisanti, CEO, National Stem Cell Foundation
• Kris Kuehnel, managing director, Space Exploration Operations, Airbus U.S. Space & Defense
• Michelle Lucas, founder and CEO, Higher Orbits
• Hema Ramkumar, founder and CEO, Oculogenex
• Jordan McKaig, graduate student, Georgia Institute of Technology

To participate in the event, members of the media must register for access by 12 p.m., March 8 at:

https://bit.ly/3T1CBi9

SpaceX’s Dragon will deliver new science investigations, supplies, and equipment for the international crew, including tests of technologies to monitor sea ice, automate 3D mapping, and create nanoparticle solar cells.

Cargo resupply by U.S. companies increases NASA’s ability to conduct more investigations aboard the orbiting laboratory. Those investigations lead to new technologies, medical treatments, and products that improve life on Earth. Other U.S. government agencies, private industries, and academic and research institutions can also conduct microgravity research through our partnership with the International Space Station National Laboratory.

Humans have occupied the space station continuously since November 2000. In that time, 279 people and a variety of international and commercial spacecraft have visited the orbital outpost. It remains the springboard to NASA’s next great leap in exploration, including future missions to the Moon under the Artemis campaign, and ultimately, human exploration of Mars.

For more information about commercial resupply missions, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/commercialresupply

-end-

Julian Coltre
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
julian.n.coltre@nasa.gov

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Tiernan P. Doyle

Texas Students to Hear from NASA Astronaut Aboard Space Station

The San Antonio River Authority and students from the Advanced Learning Academy in San Antonio, Texas, will have an opportunity Friday, March 8, to hear from NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara aboard the International Space Station.

The space to Earth call will air live at 12:30 p.m. EST March 8, on NASA+, NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency’s website. Learn how to stream NASA TV through a variety of platforms including social media.

In preparation for the event, students and their families will participate in a star party hosted by the San Antonio Astronomical Association. Students are working on numerous science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) projects related to astronomy, astronautics, and space technology that will be showcased at Advanced Learning Academy on the day of the event. The River Authority and academy, along with event partners Scobee Education Center at San Antonio College, Southwest Research Institute, and the Science Mill, Johnson City, Texas, will facilitate hands-on STEM activities with the participating K-12 students. In addition, more than 50 school groups and partners representing four Texas counties (Bexar, Wilson, Karnes, Goliad) in the River Authority’s jurisdiction will also host an education downlink viewing party. 

Media interested in covering the event must RSVP no later than 9:30 a.m. Friday, March 8, to Nicole Marshall at nmarshall@sariverauthority.org or 210-302-3252.

For more than 23 years, astronauts have continuously lived and worked aboard the space station, testing technologies, performing science, and developing the skills needed to explore farther from Earth. Astronauts living in space aboard the orbiting laboratory communicate with NASA’s Mission Control Center in Houston 24 hours a day through the Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) Near Space Network.

Important research and technology investigations taking place aboard the International Space Station benefits people on Earth and lays the groundwork for future exploration. As part of Artemis, NASA will send astronauts to the Moon to prepare for future human exploration of Mars. Inspiring the next generation of explorers – the Artemis Generation – ensures America will continue to lead in space exploration and discovery.

See videos and lesson plans highlighting research on the space station at:

https://www.nasa.gov/stemonstation

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Gerelle Dodson
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
gerelle.q.dodson@nasa.gov

Sandra Jones 
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
sandra.p.jones@nasa.gov

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Roxana Bardan

Senior Communications Specialist Alana Johnson

“Where I grew up [on my family farm] 100% shaped who I am. In fact, my son and I were talking about high schools and how big his is. His high school population is double the population of the town I grew up in. I had 20 kids in my graduating class, and three of them were foreign exchange students. He asked me, ‘Do you wish you would have gone to a bigger school like us?’ And I said, ‘Actually, no, I don’t.’ I loved where I grew up. I absolutely cherish what it instilled in me, and that’s something I carry with me all the time.

“The earliest lesson was that you are part of something much bigger than yourself. Everybody has an important role in what they’re doing, no matter how small. I remember when we were bringing in the corn. Right now, everybody buys it, but I didn’t buy corn until maybe college because it was a whole family thing. We went and picked the corn. The little kids would shuck it, pulling off all the silk. The grown-ups would shave it off the cob and then push it off to the side, and then the older kids would bag it up into plastic bags. And then everybody went home. It was always about a team. You can be the youngest person or the lowest-ranking person, but you always bring something important to that table.

“Everywhere I’ve been since I got commissioned [as an Air Force officer], my very first office in 1997, I hang an aerial picture of our farm on my wall because it’s [a reminder to] remember where you came from, remember home, and don’t get too big for your britches. No matter what, I could be part of something huge, and I look at that picture and say, ‘I have always been part of something much bigger than myself.’ All the little, tiny moments in life that build upon themselves trace back to that family farm for me.”

– Alana Johnson, Senior Communications Specialist, NASA Headquarters

Image Credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky
Interviewer: NASA/Tahira Allen

Check out some of our other Faces of NASA. 

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Tahira S. Allen