In honor of the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11 this July, the BBC World Service has produced this in-depth podcast series detailing "the dramatic, definitive story ... about the men and women who reached for the moon." 13 Minutes to the Moon explores the lead-up to the first human visit to the moon through interviews with the scientists, programmers, engineers, and astronauts involved in the...

Apollo to the Moon is a display at the National Air & Space Museum of the Smithsonian, dedicated to telling the history of human exploration of the moon by the United States. The Web site places the history of space travel within the context of the political environment, including the Cold War. The Space Race with Russia and the beginning of NASA are also discussed in detail, along with the...

Philip Plait, a professor at the physics and astronomy department at Sonoma State University, explores many popular myths and misconceptions about astronomy at this amusing and educational website. Students and educators can learn which ideas promoted by television, news, movies, and the general public are false and, more importantly, why they are false. Amateur astronomers can talk with others...

Tentatively set for a July 2003 launch, the Smart-1 spacecraft will host Europe's first lunar mission. A news article from the BBC outlines the objectives of this pioneering mission. The Smart-1 is incorporating many new technologies and testing them for the first time in space. One of the most notable is the ion thruster, but several other novel items used in the Smart-1, if successful, will end...

In 1971, hundreds of tree seedlings germinated aboard NASA's Apollo 14 mission to the moon. A few years later, they were planted around the nation, often with much fanfare. However, no one kept a systematic record of these plantings, and as a result, the whereabouts of most of the trees remains a mystery. Visitors can read or listen to an account of the history and current status of them at this...

Educators in a variety of settings may want to check out this collection of resources assembled by the National Informal STEM Education (NISE) Network to help commemorate the 50th anniversary of the moon landing. In this well-organized collection, readers will find links to five websites created by NASA and the Lunar Planetary Institute specifically for this anniversary, as well as links to nine...