Douglas Space and Science Foundation Inc - Blog

Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope: Why it will change astronomy forever

Mon, 31 Aug 2026 06:00:00 GMT

This absolute monster of a telescope has been in the headlines of many news articles recently. Why? What makes this telescope so impressive and revolutionary? Well, although both the Roman and Hubble space telescopes will have similar resolutions, the Roman space telescope will have a field of view at least a hundred times larger than Hubble's. To us, this definitely sounds impressive, but not life-changing, so let me explain why it will truly change astronomy for us forever.

Dark matter and dark energy are both "dark" because we don't know anything about them: they don't interact with the electromagnetic spectrum. We only know that both dark matter and dark energy exist because we can see their effects on the matter we can see. By using the Roman Space Telescope, we will now see more matter than ever before, which will advance our studies in both dark matter and dark energy.

Photographer:NASA/Sydney Rohde (Rocz)

If that doesn't impress you, take a look at the NASA-released topics that the Roman Space Telescope will dive into:

Exoplanets
Dark energy
Dark matter
Near infrared
Baryon Acoustic Oscillations

Type Ia Supernovae
Weak Lensing
General Observer Program
Observation Surveys

This video gives us a trailer not only for what the Roman Space Telescope is, but also for what NASA plans to do with it.

Video credits: NASA / Photographer:Sophia Roberts

All in all, the Nancy Grace Telescope will be one of the biggest advancements in astronomy we've had in a long time. Not because it will answer one big question, but because it will give us a surplus of evidence that may answer hundreds of questions we've had for years.

NEW!!! Junior High Workshops (7-9)

Mon, 17 Aug 2026 06:00:00 GMT

We are so excited to offer workshops for junior high students this year! STAR Camp workshops support Utah's learning standards for earth science, engineering, computer science, art, and CCA. A class is about 45-75 minutes and costs $100 per class. Here are the many topics your kids can learn about:

Engineering Design
Computer Science
3D Art and Design
Mission to the Moon

Leadership
Service
Teamwork
Problem Solving

Are you wanting an interactive presenter on a leadership or STEM topic you don't see here? Submit a request! We develop new classes & programs often.

If you are wanting to submit a field trip request, do so directly by clicking here, or view more information along with a request link here! Any questions or comments? Leave them below or contact us.

ARTEMIS: Everything You Need To Know

Mon, 10 Aug 2026 06:00:00 GMT

Photo credits for each image, respectively: Image Credit: NASA/Jim Ross, Image Credit: NASA, Image Credit: NASA, Image Credit: NASA/Jim Ross, Image Credit: NASA

If you've been paying attention to the news at least a little bit, you know there's been a lot of talk about the Artemis missions. Hearing "NASA just released the Artemis III crew!!" or "the Artemis III Orion Crew and Service Modules Joined!" can feel random and out of place if you don't know the full story.
This post goes over the most important points of NASA's Artemis mission to keep you in the loop.

Overview

The "Artemis" program is the program that NASA began with the goal of reestablishing a "foothold" on the Moon for the first time in 1972 -- and staying there. The Artemis name comes from the ancient Greek goddess of the hunt, wilderness, wild animals, and chastity, as well as a protector of young girls and childbirth. Artemis is also the twin sister of Apollo; if that name seems familiar, it's probably because Apollo is the name of the missions that took us to the Moon the first time. Pretty neat, huh?

Because NASA has already proved that they can put people on the Moon, this time around they have bigger goals, which include:

land the first woman and person of color on the Moon
establish a permanent human outpost at the lunar south pole
build a foundational framework for commercial space exploration to eventually launch crewed missions to Mars

Image Credit: Photo Credit: Kelsey Young

Mission goals

Image Credit: NASA/Cory Huston

Artemis I - Yes, this was in the past; yes, it's still important to know. This was essentially NASA's first test of the Space Launch System (SLS): the most POWERFUL rocket ever built (maybe I'll do a whole blog about the SLS soon)! Although they launched the SLS, there was no crew on board. This mission was a test to see if the rocket itself worked exactly the way it was supposed to, before risking human lives. Once launched, the SLS eventually left more and more of itself behind until only the Orion spacecraft was left to go to the Moon and back over the course of 25 days. The most critical test was the re-entry of the Orion spacecraft, where the heat shield had to withstand nearly 5,072° F (2800° C). Artemis I ended in complete success, with NASA declaring both the rocket and spacecraft safe for crew!

Artemis II - This is the mission where things start getting exciting! Artemis II is essentially Artemis I, but with a crew! The crew for this mission was Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen. Some exciting milestones made in this mission were the first person of color to leave low Earth orbit (LEO): Victor Glover; the first Woman to travel to the Moon: Christina Koch; and the first Canadian in deep space: Jeremy Hansen. The SLS once in orbit. Artemis II will also help gather crucial information about radiation to protect future crews.

Photographer:NASA/Ben Smegelsky

Photographer:NASA/John Kraus

Artemis III - The current Artemis III mission was originally going to be what Artemis IV is now. The reason for the change is that NASA is waiting for private companies (like SpaceX) to finish building lunar landers and spacesuits, which they're supposedly way behind on. Instead of letting the SLS -- a multibillion-dollar rocket -- and Orion capsule gather dust in a garage, NASA decided to turn Artemis III into a practice round and push the actual Moon landing to Artemis IV. Artemis III will complete various objectives in LEO to demonstrate and test critical systems that are required for future landings.

Artemis IV - This mission continues the excitement by landing the first people on the Moon since 1972! A key difference between this mission and the Apollo missions that also landed on the Moon, is that the Artemis III mission is targeting the South Pole as the landing site. This is because scientists believe that water ice exists in permanently shadowed craters. If the prediction is correct, then this water could be converted into drinking water, oxygen, and even rocket fuel, which would make long-term lunar habitation possible. The terrain on the south pole is incredibly rough and steep compared to where the Apollo missions landed, so it will be extremely challenging. Eventually, two astronauts will stay on the Moon for about a week conducting experiments and collecting samples, while the other two stay in Orion. After that week, the astronauts will launch back to Orion and return to Earth. This mission is supposed to help us reach the milestones of both the first woman and the first person of color to walk on the Moon, which is incredibly exciting!!

Secondary Creator Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

Credit: Astrobotic/Intuitive Machines/Firefly

Artemis V - The info on this mission is a little vague, as not much has been publicly released that has also been set in stone. What we do know is that NASA intends to begin building its Moon base with the Artemis V mission!! NASA plans to use the standardized configuration of the SLS rocket to do this, and hopes to launch this mission in 2028. NASA also has the future plan of sustaining a cadence of one mission per year thereafter- how exciting!

Photographer: NASA/Brandon Hancock

Although many dates and plans have been changed or postponed, the Artemis missions -- whenever they happen -- will be one of the most important missions that will go down in history.

Author

Hi! I'm Nicole Aguayo Bernal and the Marketing Director for STAR Camp! As a two-time ISEF finalist with a deep love for astrophysics, I’m thrilled to share my passion with the blog! Follow along as I lead our digital community at the Douglas Space and Science Foundation, sharing cosmic deep-dives, NASA updates, and hands-on science you can try at home!

New Marketing Director :D

Mon, 03 Aug 2026 06:00:00 GMT

Me with my Astronaut training team presenting our patch :D I'm the team leader in the middle

Hello everyone! My Name is Nicole Aguayo Bernal, and I've been promoted -- from "fired" (summer camp season ended ): ) team leader -- to the new Marketing Director for STAR Camp/Douglas Space and Science Foundation! I'm super excited to be posting advertisements, blogs, and social media posts for STAR Camp!!

Just to introduce myself a little bit... I've adored the time I've spent at STAR Camp, which is why I'm so excited for this position tee-hee. In 2025, I was a Spring break team leader, and just this last summer (2026) I was a team leader as well! A little bit about me: I currently attend Roy High School, where I am involved in various academic clubs, play tennis and lacrosse for my school, and am working to graduate with my associate's in Spanish and Localization. Outside of school, I love painting, drawing, reading, and playing both the piano and guitar. I’ve especially loved working on my astrophysics-focused science fair project, which gave me the opportunity to attend ISEF for two years running! I’m incredibly grateful to step into this new role as Marketing Director and am so excited to share the same love and curiosity I have for astronomy right here on the STAR Camp blog!

Now for the blog... You can look forward to deep-dives into fascinating astronomy topics (or at least fascinating to me), hands-on science experiments you can try at home for all ages, essential stargazing updates, and other breaking science news straight from sources like NASA! I also want this to be an interactive space! If you have a science topic you're curious about or ANYTHING, let me know in the comments!! I'd love to post about anything and everything!

I'm extremely excited to grow this community! See you on Mondays!

Author

Hi! I'm Nicole Aguayo Bernal and the new Marketing Director for STAR Camp! As a two-time ISEF finalist with a deep love for astrophysics, I’m thrilled to share my passion with the blog! Follow along as I lead our digital community at the Douglas Space and Science Foundation, sharing cosmic deep-dives, NASA updates, and hands-on science you can try at home!

Spotlight on Madison!

Mon, 11 May 2026 12:57:54 GMT

I have worked for STAR Camp for 2 years now, and I am sooo excited to be a staff assistant this year! I have loved not only getting to teach kids about space and science, but also being able to help campers have fun while building confidence in themselves. In my spare time I love any and all kinds of art, (music, theatre, drawing, crochet, beading, felting, sculpting, animation, all of it :D) I know this summer is going to be amazing and can't wait for it to begin!

Spring Science for the End of April

Mon, 27 Apr 2026 12:58:08 GMT

We surely do love our planet. In the spring, the sun comes out, the blossoms bloom, and animals emerge from their winter homes. That means we can do so much observational science! Here are a few easy activities you can try at home that will teach you about light, animals, and plants.

How Many Colors in a Rainbow
Materials
A shallow glass baking pan
Water
White paper
Red paper
Blue paper
An outdoor table or chair

Process
1. Fill your pan about half full with water.
2. Take it outside and place it on the table so that one end is sticking out over the table edge. Make sure it doesn't fall off the table! You can use something or someone to anchor the pan onto the table.
3. Place your white paper on the ground where the sun is shining through your pan.
4. Slowly angle your paper until a small rainbow forms. Experiment with the angle until you can get the largest possible rainbow. What colors do you see? What order are they in?
5. While holding your paper so that you can see the rainbow, gently place your blue paper on top of the white paper. What happens to the colors?
6. Remove the blue paper and replace it with the red paper. What happens now?
7. Switch back and forth between the white, blue, and red papers and observe how the rainbow changes.

What am I observing?
You created a mini rainbow. Rainbows are caused by reflection and refraction of light.

Refraction refers to how light bends when it passes through different materials. When the sunlight shines through the water, like the water in your glass pan, the light bends. White light, like sunlight, is made up of all of the visible colors of light. All of the colors bend during refraction, but because of their different wavelengths, they bend at slightly different angles. When the light reaches your paper, you see all the different colors reflected.

With the white paper, you probably saw all of the colors clearly because white paper reflects white light. When you used the blue paper, some of the colors likely appeared a little crisper. Generally, the blue dye on the paper absorbs red light, allowing green and blue light to be reflected. Since many visible colors are made up of green and blue light, the rainbow you saw on the blue paper likely looked similar to the rainbow you saw on the white paper.

The red paper likely changed the rainbow's appearance significantly. The red dye absorbs blue and green light, and only reflects red light. Removing blue and green likely left a mostly orange and red rainbow on the paper.

Model Moving Pollen
Materials
3 colors of chalk powder
3 cotton balls
3 small cups
Cotton swabs
Water

Process
1. Place each powder into a different cup, along with one cotton ball per cup.
2. Dip a cotton swab in water.
3. Roll the cotton swab along each cotton ball.

What is happening?
Pollen is a light, sticky powder that flowers need to make seeds. In this activity, the chalk powder represents pollen, the cotton swab represents hair on animals, and the cotton balls represent plants. As bugs and other animals touch a plant, they pick up pollen on their bodies, legs, and antennae. When they move to other plants, they shed some of the pollen, helping the plants to propagate!

Grow a Bean in a Jar
Materials
A broad bean seed
Jar
Kitchen towel or napkin
Water

Process
1. Swirl a small amount of water around the jar.
2. Fold your napkin and place it in the jar.
3. Place the bean seed in the jar resting on the napkin.
4. Spray some water on the bean every few days. The bean should start to grow roots in a few days.

What's going on here?
What you are observing is a process called germination. The water causes the seed to break dormancy and initiate growth. Bean seeds are relatively easy to germinate, as they don't need much more than water and oxygen. Other seeds may also require sunlight, specific temperatures, scarification (a weakening of the coat), or stratification (chilling)!

Happy Earth Week!

Mon, 20 Apr 2026 14:19:11 GMT

We are so excited for Earth Week! Of all the planets, Earth is definitely one of our favorites. We've collected a few sustainability-themed activities that you can try at home. Enjoy, and don't forget to reduce, reuse, and recycle!

Build a Pizza Box Solar Oven
Materials
Pizza box (the larger the better)
Pen or pencil
Ruler
White school glue
Black paper
Utility knife
Aluminum foil
Plastic wrap
Shipping tape
Wooden skewer or pencil
Sunlight, a warm day (above 75 degrees) and no wind

Process
1. Draw a square on the top of the pizza box's lid that is about one inch inward from each edge.
2. Use the ruler as a straightedge, and, using the utility knife, cut along each side of the square you just drew except for the side that runs along the hinge of the box. Cut all the way through the cardboard on those three sides. Fold the flap back slightly along the attached side.
3. Line the inside of the cardboard flap with aluminum foil. Fold the edges of the foil over the flap to help hold the foil in place. Glue the foil onto the flap, keeping it as smooth as possible.
4. Cover the opening made by the flap with a layer of plastic wrap. Attach the plastic wrap to the edges using the shipping tape. Make sure there are no holes in the plastic wrap and that its edges are completely closed.
5. Line the inside of the box with aluminum foil so that, when the box is closed, the entire interior is coated with foil. Glue the foil in place.
6. Glue or tape a sheet of black paper to the bottom of the box in the center. This will act as your solar oven's heat sink.
7. Use a wooden skewer or pencil to prop the solar oven's lid up at about a 90 degree angle from the rest of the box.
8. To cook a s'more in your solar oven, place a marshmallow and a piece of chocolate between two pieces of graham cracker. Place the prepared s'more on a small square of aluminum foil, and put it inside the solar oven on top of the black sheet of paper. Put the solar oven in full, direct sunlight for at least 30 minutes, with flap of the oven facing the sun.

What's happening here?
Solar ovens use light and heat emitted from the sun to cook food. They are designed to absorb more heat than they release. Lining the box with aluminum foil allows sunlight to be reflected off of the foil and into the box. The plastic wrap creates a greenhouse effect, allowing sunlight to pass into the box while retaining heat. The black paper works as a heat sink, absorbing direct and reflected sunlight to become warm enough to heat up food placed on top of it.

Explore Climate Change with Before and After Pictures
NASA satellites take images from high above the Earth, and are able to capture the effects of climate change from a unique perspective. Check out some of these incredible images here.

Are Rooftop Gardens a Good Idea?
Materials
Two shoeboxes, photo storage boxes, or half-gallon size cardboard milk cartons.
Sod
Exacto knife
A sunny spot outside on a hot day
Thermometer
Clock or timer

Process
1. Place one of the box's lids (or side of a milk carton) on the sod. Using the exacto knife, carefully cut around the lid to get a piece of sod the same size as the lid. Place the cut-out sod piece on top of the box.
2. You should now have one box with sod, which will represent your rooftop garden house, and one without, representing a house without a rooftop garden.
3. On a hot, sunny day, put the thermometer in the box with sod on it, close the box, and take it outside.
4. Place the box in a sunny spot. Leave it there for 30 minutes.
5. When 30 minutes have passed, open the box and quickly read the temperature.
6. Put the thermometer in the shade near the box. After it has adjusted to the shade, read the temperature.
7. Repeat these steps with the box that doesn't have sod on it.

What's happening here?
Rooftop gardens are a possible way to diminish the urban heat island effect. Rooftop gardens generally absorb heat and insulate buildings better than tar and gravel roofs. While both boxes were probably warmer than the temperature in the shade nearby, the box with the sod should have been relatively cooler inside compared to the other box.

Unsung Heroes from STEM History

Mon, 23 Mar 2026 13:41:17 GMT

Historically, women have not always been given the recognition they deserve for their contributions to science. Here are some amazing women, whose work continues to impact STEM today. (function(jQuery) {function init() { window.wSlideshow && window.wSlideshow.render({elementID:"379743185904954836",nav:"none",navLocation:"bottom",captionLocation:"bottom",transition:"fade",autoplay:"1",speed:"5",aspectRatio:"auto",showControls:"true",randomStart:"false",images:[{"url":"1/3/4/8/134807970/el [...]

St. Patrick's Day Science

Mon, 16 Mar 2026 15:33:24 GMT

Happy St. Patrick's Day! We thought we would celebrate with a little leprechaun science magic. Try this out and let us know how it goes!

Shamrock Launcher
Materials:
Short pencil or popsicle stick
Thin rubber bands (2)
Cardboad tube (2 empty toilet paper tubes or empty paper towel tube cut in half)
Packing tape or other strong tape
Scissors
Cotton balls (green ones, for St. Patrick's Day flair)
Single hole punch

Process:
1. Cut down the side of one of the toilet paper tubes lengthwise.
2. Squeeze the roll so that it becomes narrower, about half the original diameter, then tape it to hold it in place.
3. Punch two holes opposite one another, half an inch away from the end of the skinny tube. Or, if you are using a popsicle stick instead of a pencil, use scissors to make narrower holes the same shape as the popsicle stick.
4. Carefully push your pencil or popsicle stick through the holes.
5. On the second toilet paper tube, cut two slits into one end of the tube, about 1/4 inch long and 1/2 inch apart.
6. Cut two more slits on the same end of the tube, directly across from the first two.
7. Carefully loop one rubber band through the slits on one side, so that it hangs from the cardboard piece in the middle. Put a piece of tape over the slits to reinforce the carboard tab.
8. Loop the other rubber band through the slits on the other side of the tube. When you are finished, the tube should have a rubber band hanging from each sitde.
9. Holding the rubber band tube so that the rubber bands are at the top, slide the narrower tube into the wider one, with the pencil end at the bottom.
10. Carefully loop each rubber band end around the pencil. Hold you launcher so that the pencil is at the bottom. Place a cotton ball on the top, resting inside the narrower tube.
11. Tilt the launcher down, but not so far that you drop the cotton ball. Pull back on the pencil and release!

You used two types of energy in this activity. As you drew back on the pencil, you added potential energy to the system. When you released the pencil, the potential energy became kinetic energy!

Artemis II Update

Mon, 23 Feb 2026 14:12:03 GMT

If you've been following along, you'll know that the Artemis II mission did not launch during the first launch window in early February of this year. The second window was for early March, but it is looking like the rocket will not be launching yet. Engineers have encountered an issue with the flow of helium to the rocket's upper stages.

To address the issue, the SLS (Space Launch System) and the Orion spacecraft need to be rolled back to the Vehicle Assembly Building. NASA expects this to be a relatively quick issue to fix, so the next possible launch window will be the beginning of April.

The Artemis II crew has been in quarantine leading up to the launch window. They were released form quarantine on Feb. 21.