|
|
Article: It's a big, busy solar system.(TEACHER'S toolkit)
- Article from:
- Science Scope
- Article date:
- June 22, 2007
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2007 National Science Teachers Association. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
There should be little doubt that we live in a golden age of solar system exploration. Spacecraft have visited every planet in the solar system, numerous moons, and some asteroids and comets. Currently, there is a spacecraft on the way to Mercury, one in orbit around Venus, five operating at Mars, one that just flew by Jupiter, and another in orbit around Saturn. A small armada of missions is observing the Sun and examining its interaction with Earth. And, because Earth is a planet as well, space is being used to look back at Earth with a planetary perspective. Dwarf planet Pluto will have a visitor in 2015, pieces of a comet and particles of the solar wind were just ...