Bears Ears Education Center - Bluff, UT
August 26th and 27th
Welcome!
We are looking forward to sharing how the landscape of southeast Utah helps us better understand ourselves and our universe! Earth to Sky is a community of practice collaborative community of practice that connects NASA science with the incredible work of interpreters, park rangers, and informal educators like you.
Prior to our training, we recommend that you register for an account on the Earth to Sky website (it's free!) so that you can access resources and recordings that we will mention during the training. This webpage will be the landing spot for all the resources that we share--so don't feel like you need to keep detailed notes! You will be able to reference this page in the future. Be sure to bookmark it!
In "A Sense of Place in Space: Gazing Up in Southeast Utah," we will explore the connections between the canyons, mountains, waters, and dark skies to our cosmos. Through hands-on sessions, we'll demonstrate interpretive techniques for solar viewing and safely exploring the Sun with visitors. We will observe the Moon and discuss what we learned from the Artemis II mission on society's connection to the Moon. We'll share ideas on how to draw parallels from the ground to the sky--how this place serves as a planetary analogue for other locations within our solar system. We'll brainstorm how to integrate NASA data and resources into your storytelling. And we'll also help you build a low-tech toolkit to engage visitors with the cosmos, even on cloudy nights.
Note
There is a lunar eclipse on the evening of Thursday, August 27th. The prenumbral eclipse will begin around 8:00 pm, and there will be noticeable changes in the Moon's appearance around 8:30 pm. We will have a break in the training for those who are returning home before the beginning of the eclipse. The activities after 7:30 pm will be eclipse related and optional.
Resources
**Under Construction!**
Travel the World and Solar System
- Visually explore the past and the present of this dynamic planet from a satellite's perspective. Select from an array of stories below to learn more about Worldview (a part of NASA Earthdata), the satellite imagery, and events occurring around the world.
- Experience Earth, our solar system, nearby asteroids, the universe, and the spacecraft exploring them with immersive real-time 3D web-based apps. Start exploring your solar system now! (Great for cloudy nights!)
Visions of the Future Travel Posters
- A creative team of visual strategists at JPL, known as "The Studio," created the poster series, which is titled "Visions of the Future." Nine artists, designers, and illustrators were involved in designing the 14 posters, which are the result of many brainstorming sessions with JPL scientists, engineers, and expert communicators. Take a virtual trip to alien worlds, and maybe even plaster your office with new, futuristic space tourism posters.
Artemis II Resources
Mission Information
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Under Artemis, NASA will send astronauts on increasingly difficult missions to explore more of the Moon for scientific discovery, economic benefits, and to build on our foundation for the first crewed missions to Mars.
Lunar Living: NASA’s Artemis Base Camp Concept
- NASA’s Artemis program has sparked excitement around the world and catalyzed new interest in exploring the Moon as the agency prepares to land the first woman and next man on the lunar South Pole in 2024. After that, NASA and its growing list of global partners will establish sustainable exploration by the end of the decade.
- Stay up-to-date with the latest Artemis II content from NASA as we explore the Moon for scientific discovery and to prepare for human missions to Mars.
Photos, Audio, & Videos
- View and download mission photographs, behind‑the‑scenes videos, podcasts, and more.
Moonbound: For All Humanity Series (and more) videos
- With Artemis II on the horizon, four astronauts transition from years of training to mission-ready reality. The latest episode explores the physical and mental challenges of preparing for a crewed flight around the Moon, and the teamwork required to test new systems at the edge of exploration.
- This page hosts a growing collection of authentic sounds recorded during NASA’s Artemis campaign as humanity returns to the Moon. All audio files are free to download and cleared for use in accordance with NASA’s media usage guidelines. This library will be updated regularly as new mission audio becomes available.
- Copy, Moon Joy can be found on YouTube.
The Sun
- Have you ever wondered about what the Sun is made of? Or why do you get sunburned on even cloudy days? NASA’s new Explore the Sun toolkit brings the wonders of solar science to you, offering answers to these questions and more!
Journey Through the Heliosphere: The Sun-Earth System in Color
- This coloring book that blends art and science, making complex heliophysics concepts accessible to audiences of all ages. A significant feature of the book is its inclusion of Alaska Native languages, providing words related to the Sun and sky.
- The PUNCH Outreach program activates the theme of Ancient & Modern Sun-watching to enhance the personal relevance of NASA heliophysics for all American citizens in the US Southwest and beyond.
- Are you ready to learn more about an astonishing NASA mission to swoop closer to Sun’s surface than ever before? This is a collection of outreach activities and programs are designed help you explore, create and share the experience of Parker Solar Probe and the wonders and mysteries of our closest star, the Sun.
Cloudy Program Resources
- Practice your cloud identification skills with NUBE, a new card game from GLOBE Clouds.
Earth to Sky Presentation & Recordings
Fly Me to The Moon: Astrobiology & the Moon
- What happens when humans bring microbes to the Moon's surface? Prabal Saxena explains that humans are inherently "messy" because we carry trillions of bacteria and millions of microbes per square centimeter on our skin. He connects this research to "Leave No Trace" principles, emphasizing that sustainable lunar exploration requires understanding and tracking how human presence affects pristine environments. This presentation is designed to be accessible to interpreters without microbiology or space science backgrounds.
Bring International Observe the Moon Night to Your Audience
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Caela Barry, Science Outreach Coordinator with NASA Goddard's Solar System Exploration Division, shares how to get involved with the International Observe the Moon Night event and resources to explore with your audience! This webinar is tailored to the Earth to Sky community of place-based educators and interpreters.
- Ari Koeppel's presentation celebrates five years of NASA's Perseverance rover on Mars by weaving together three interconnected themes: using Mars as a gateway for building scientific thinking, sharing the latest discoveries from Perseverance, and connecting Martian geology with similar places on Earth. By connecting familiar Earth landscapes to Martian geology, he demonstrates how planetary science enhances our understanding of universal geological processes.
Landscapes on Other Worlds - Mountains, Volcanoes, & Sand Dunes
- Caela Barry's presentation is valuable for any interpreter or educator that works in an outdoor setting. Caela takes viewers on a tour of the solar system, highlighting similarities between landscapes found in public lands around the US and those found on other planets. Caela also provides a foundation of lunar landscape knowledge, helpful for interpreters facilitating Moon programming.
100 Things to See in the Night Sky
- Astronomer and author Dean Regas takes us on an inspiring journey through the night sky, sharing his passion for making astronomy accessible to everyone—regardless of formal training.
Listen to the National Association of Interpretation's What's Up Interpreters? podcast episode "To the Moon & Back" with Brandi Stewart, ETS Space Science Coordinator.
Activities with Your Audience
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Choosing a crew for missions to the Moon requires the right mix of skills and attributes. All four astronauts not only bring different strengths and expertise to the mission, but they also must work well together in high-pressure situations. Discuss who you would choose to go with you on a trip around the Moon. Who is driving? Who is bringing the snacks? Who is making the Moon-trip playlist?
Observe the Moon Like an Astronaut
- Visitors step into the role of Artemis II astronauts, using real NASA imagery to study the Moon’s surface, identify features, and simulate astronaut observations. This activity can easily be adapted to making observation of your site.
International Observe the Moon Night
- Each year, observers around the world come together to celebrate Earth's Moon through direct observations, hands-on activities, lunar-themed music, artwork, readings, and more.
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NASA's interactive map for observing the Moon each day of the year with tips on naked eye, binocular, and telescope observing.
Color-a-Pixel Activity - and Pre-generated Activities
- Start with an image of your choosing, and run it through the web-based activity generator tool. The tool will aggregate the original image pixels and remap the colors to the closest-fit colors in the standard 120-color Crayola crayon palette.