Kids Real Life Science Lesson - Space Shuttle Discovery Lands Tonite

by Janis Brett Elspas

It seems like yesterday that I was watching the live television broadcast of America's first landing on the moon in the late 1960s. I am still just as fascinated by today's shuttles and the International Space Station and thought this was worth sharing.

Here's an opportunity that's too good to pass up as a real live science lesson for kids and adults alike -- if you live in an around Southern California you may be able to experience it live. If you live elsewhere, you should definitely take advantage of all the info I have compiled on this mission here in the name of education. There's something for everyone from toddlers to senior citizens to learn.

Due to questionable weather at Kennedy Space Center (remembered to many of us as Cape Canaveral from when we were kids)the Space Shuttle Discovery is targeted to land on the 219th orbit around the earth, arriving at Edwards Air Force Base tonight in Southern California (September 11, 2009) at 5:53 pm PST/8:53 EST

I live about 75 miles from Edwards AFB in California but, unfortunately, will not be able to go out to the Antelope Valley to watch the landing live. I will let you know, though, if we hear a sonic boom here in Los Angeles as the Shuttle re-enters the atmosphere for landing. Wherever else you are in the world, it will be interesting to read comments to this post from you readers (children and parents), letting us all know what you see and hear related to the landing.

There's quite a bit of interesting stuff on the Internet today that my kids and I are learning from. All of this information is easy for the non-astronaut general public to understand.

Some Suggested Space Shuttle Discovery Resources to Check Out:

1) NASA's details about Discovery's expected landing
2) You can also follow the actual landing from the official NASA Landing Blog
3) There are also some excellent resources for homeschool families and traditional school teachers and their students here

Let us hope and pray that the Shuttle arrives safely!

Looking forward to hearing your comments to this post.