Solar System

NASA Gives Public New Internet Tool to Explore the Solar System.

NASA is giving the public the power to journey through the solar system using a new interactive Web-based tool. The "Eyes on the Solar System" interface combines video game technology and NASA data to create an environment for users to ride along with agency spacecraft and explore the cosmos. Screen graphics and information such as planet locations and spacecraft maneuvers use actual space mission data.

"This is the first time the public has been able to see the entire solar system and our missions moving together in real time," said Jim Green, director of NASA's Planetary Science Division at the agency's Headquarters in Washington. "It demonstrates NASA's continued commitment to share our science with everyone."

Click on a link to go to the specific page for that object. Pages include news, images and videos.

SUN - “The Sun illuminates only the eye of the man, but shines into the eye and the heart of the child” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson.

MOON - “The night walked down the sky with the Moon in her hand.” ~Frederic Lawrence Knowles.

MERCURY - “The results we obtained show that a giant impact could explain the Mercury we see today. They also highlight the fact that material can be passed between the planets—we already know of meteorites which came from Mars , but none have yet been found which came from Mercury.” ~Jonti Horner.

VENUS - “The atmosphere of Venus is so alien compared to Earth, yet it's our sister planet. We've got the same size, the same materials basically and almost the same gravity.” ~Kevin Baines.

MARS - “To see new gullies and other changes in Mars surface features on a time span of a few years presents us with a more active, dynamic planet than many suspected.” ~Michael Meyer.

JUPITER - “Gifts, believe me, captivate both men and Gods, Jupiter himself was won over and appeased by gifts.” ~Ovid.

SATURN - “Deep in the shady sadness of a vale / Far sunken from the healthy breath of morn, / Far from the fiery noon, and eve's one star, / Sat gray-haired Saturn, quiet as a stone.” ~John Keats.

URANUS - “The new discoveries demonstrate that Uranus has a youthful and dynamic system of rings and moons.” ~Mark Showalter.

NEPTUNE - “The discovery in 1846 of the planet Neptune was a dramatic and spectacular achievement of mathematical astronomy. The very existence of this new member of the solar system, and its exact location, were demonstrated with pencil and paper; there was left to observers only the routine task of pointing their telescopes at the spot the mathematicians had marked.” ~James Newman.

PLUTO - “What we know about Pluto could be printed on the back of a postage stamp. The textbooks will be rewritten when this mission is completed. The true nature of this mission is to find the answers to questions we don't even know how to ask.” ~Colleen Hartman.

ASTEROIDS - “Rubble pile asteroids are something we always figured would be out there, and suddenly, 'voila,' there was one in front of us.” ~Andy Cheng.

METEORS - “I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet.” ~Jack London.

COMETS - “Nature, to each allots his proper Sphere, But, that forsaken, we like Comets err: Toss'd thro' the Void, by some rude Shock we're broke, And all our boasted Fire is lost in Smoke” ~William Congreve.