First we thought that 3D printing was just a pipe dream, the stuff of science fiction. Now, we know it to be very real with numerous innovations to follow. This recent report from the National Materials and Manufacturing Board's Division of Engineering and Physical Sciences suggests that 3D printing in space will soon be a reality. Published in July 2014, this 100-page report contains a range of...

"The Astromaterials Acquisition and Curation Office at the Johnson Space Center is tasked to curate NASA's current and future collections of extraterrestrial samples." The website divides the collections into six categories: Rocks and Soils from the Moon, Meteorites from Antarctica, Stratospheric Dust, Solar Wind, Space-Exposed Hardware, and Stardust Mission Samples. Besides learning how to...

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory has undertaken the Autonomous Sciencecraft Experiment (ASE) to "demonstrate the potential for space missions to use onboard decision-making to detect, analyze, and respond to science events, and to downlink only the highest value science data." The website features ASE updates, publications, and a list of the potential impacts of this research. Users can discover...

Through the use of Macromedia Flash Player, this NASA website revisits the key NASA space exploration events and missions of 2004. Users can view videos illustrating the Vision for Space Exploration and articles describing the advances to help make the vision a reality. The website discusses the redesigning of the Shuttle External Fuel Tank and its significance in flight missions. Visitors can...

At this website, the National Public Radio (NPR) offers the latest Space-related news, research, and events. The fascinating articles include links to external websites and related stories, numerous images, useful graphics, and the ability to email the story to friends. Users can search through archived articles as well. For those who like to listen while they work, NPR offers audio for all the...

This NASA website promotes its recently established Science Mission Directorate, which is "closely involved in the Vision for Space Exploration through its support of science that both enables, and is enabled by, NASA's exploration activities." The website breaks down the Directorate's initiatives into three categories: Earth-Sun System, Solar System, and Universe. Visitors can find fantastic...

The NOAA Space Weather Now website provides non-technical information and an assortment of images detailing current space weather. Visitors can find summaries describing auroras, plots of current auroral ovals on the poles, and viewing information for the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. The Real-Time Solar Wind Pages furnish dynamic plots of data, geomagnetic activity test product information,...

Sponsored by Science@NASA and created by Dr. Tony Phillips, Spaceweather.com offers fascinating "news and information about the Sun-Earth environment." Visitors can find out the current space weather conditions such as the solar wind, interplanetary magnetic field, and x-ray solar flares. The website offers the latest data on near-Earth asteroids and NOAA forecasts of the probability for solar...

Wayne Hu at the University of Chicago provides this online tutorial to educate students about the basic principles and concepts related to the cosmic microwave background. Through a series of colorful slides, users are introduced to concepts such as cosmic expansion, gravitational instability, seeing sounds, and music of inflation. Visitors can find pdf files for old and updated talks about the...

Three planets that are larger than Jupiter have been found orbiting the star Upsilon Andromedae. Astronomers from four research institutions have confirmed this observation. This site provides information about the Upsilon Andromedae Planetary System.