Space Place (http://spaceplace.nasa.gov) is a website that's all about outer space and the scientists who study it. The website helps kids learn about outer space in fun ways. At Space Place, there are games, hands-on activities, interesting stuff to read and short videos – all free.
Space Place has something for everyone. Learn about everything from black holes and wild space weather to the reasons for seasons here on Earth. Find information about outer space, the Sun, the Solar System, our Earth and the scientists and technology that make discovery of all these things possible.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the US government organization responsible for the American space program, has created Space Place so that kids can easily explore space science. Many kids think that it's only astronauts who study outer space, but that's not true. In one section of the site (http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/space-place-live/en/) there are interviews with real scientists and engineers who work on amazing space and Earth missions. Those interviews show some of the outstanding careers for people who study Earth, the planets, stars, our universe and beyond.
For instance, an astrophysicist is a scientist who studies how stars work, starting with our own star, the Sun. A geochemist is a chemist who studies rocks, including rocks that come from outer space. A space engineer could work as part of a team building a satellite. An astronomer studies celestial bodies in space, such as planets, moons and stars. A cosmologist thinks even bigger - studying the universe, how it's formed and what's happening to it.
After you get to know the people who study space, try some space studies of your own. Learn what it would take to build your own space craft or draw a map of an object that you can't see. All these activities can really make a kid hungry so take a trip to the kitchen to make some Moon cookies or an asteroid that you can eat. While you're munching your treats, in the Space Place galleries, take a look at the photos of astronauts, rockets, spacecraft, solar system images and Earth images. There's even a photo of desert dunes in Saudi Arabia taken from the Terra satellite. Sand dunes look very unusual when seen from outer space.
