RocketSTEM Issue #12 - July 2015

Follow us online: facebook.com/RocketSTEM twitter.com/rocketstem www.rocketstem.org Contents 02 www.issuu.com/rocketstem Contributing Writers Mike Barrett • Brenden Clark Chase Clark • David Clow Walter Dermody • Ben Evans Andrew Groen • Rich Holtzin Ken Kremer • Joe Maness Tony Rice • Amy Thompson Sherry Valare Contributing Photographers Mike Barrett • Ken Christison David Clow • Aubrey Gemignani Bill Ingalls • Joel Kowsky Ken Kremer • Julian Leek Elliot Severn • Dave Smith Sherry Valare • Alan Walters RocketSTEM Board of Directors Chase Clark • Brenden Clark Tim Brown • Nicole Solomon Anthony Fitch RocketSTEM • July 2015 Vol. 3 No. 3 Issue 12 (ISSN: 2326-0661) © 2015 All Rights Reserved (Classroom use permitted) RocketSTEM Media Foundation, Inc. P.O. Box 304409 Pensacola, Florida 32507 email: [email protected] RocketSTEM Media Foundation is registered with the I.R.S. as a tax-exempt charity under Section 501(c)(3) of the U.S. tax code. New Horizons has almost completed its long journey to be the first visitor to Pluto. A Car for the Moon The race to design and build a lunar rover was relentless, but ultimately successful. All of our issues are available via a full-screen online reader at: Editorial Staff Managing Editor: Chase Clark Astronomy Editor: Mike Barrett Photo Editor: J.L. Pickering Assistant Editor: Brenden Clark Arrival at Pluto 14 Al Worden We chat with the astronaut who set the bar for the most far out spacewalk ever. Stellar Clusters Learn more about these amazing groups of stars visible in the night sky. 44 08 40 Launching Kerbals KSP brings out the hidden rocket scientist inside all of us, both young and old alike. Bad Rockets Launching to space is a risky business. What happens when a rocket misbehaves? 54 Also Inside: Dwarf Planet Infographic . . . 05 Omega Centauri . . . . . . . . . . 42 Stellar Sparklers . . . . . . . . . . . 06 Falcon Disintegrates . . . . . . . 58 Apollo 15 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Launch Inferno . . . . . . . . . . . 60 The ‘Dead’ Astronaut . . . . . . 27 Russian Space Crisis . . . . . . . 66 Thrill(e) On the Rille . . . . . . . . 36 Robotic Challenge . . . . . . . IBC Rejuvenated Planets . . . . . . 38 Mars New Year . . . . . . . . . . . BC 01 www.RocketSTEM .org 01

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