Top 5 Best NASA Websites

NASA logo, sometimes called
the "NASA meatball"

I don't know about you, but I love NASA.   I think what the scientists, engineers, and educators do there is important and I hope you do, too.  But maybe you don't.  And maybe you don't know much about them.  Here are descriptions of some of my favorite NASA websites.  These are not in any specific order, but together represent some of the best science websites on the internet.

TOP 5 BEST NASA WEBSITES

1. NASA Goddard Scientific Visualization Studios:

http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/

NASA Goddard
Scientific Visualization Studio
Webpage

This is probably the NASA website I use more than any other.  The Scientific Visualization Studios or SVS is made up of a team of scientists and artists that take NASA data and turn it into beautiful images and videos.  This is an archive of thousands of images and videos produced by NASA.  When I need new images or videos for a planetarium show or presentation, this is the place I go.  Although the front page does have a few categories to browse through, the site is mostly just a search engine that may bring up a couple hundred items for each search.  Many people will find this site a bit intimidating, but I assure you that your time here is well spent.  There is so much to learn.

2. NASA Visualization Explorer App

http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/nasaviz/index.html

NASA Visualization Explorer

If I had an ipad, this would be one of the first apps I would get.  This is a FREE application available for ipads or usable online.  It is currently not available for any other platforms, but at some point it should be.  This app presents many of NASA's cool visualizations, like the ones on the SVS page, but is very user friendly.  The SVS team adds a new article twice a week.  Check it out!!!

3.  NASA Earth Observatory

 http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/

NASA Earth Observatory
website

Many people don't know this, but NASA does a ton of research on the Earth.  Seeing the Earth from space offers wonderful opportunities for science.  Not only did NASA design the weather satellites that provide the information you see on the Weather Channel, but they  take all types of measurements of the Earth's atmosphere, land, oceans, and even biology.  This site is a great place to find high quality and accessible visualizations.

4.  NASA Global Climate Change Website

http://climate.nasa.gov/index.cfm

NASA Global Climate
Change Website

NASA's Global Climate Change website is fantastic.  Trying to figure out what is going on with climate change can be a frustrating experience, but the information and design of this site make it a lot easier.  Climate Change is a topic that we should all be educating ourselves about.  This site has information for kids, adults, and teachers.  Please check it out.

5.  NASA TV

http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html

NASA TV website

NASA TV!  What more needs to be said.  Now you can stay caught up on NASA's missions and discoveries 24 hours a day.