Happy Fourth of July, Space Fans! As the United States celebrates its 250th birthday, we here at Space.com got to thinking. How have things changed in space since 1776? What was the night sky like? What have we learned and where might we go in the next 250 years?
The results are what you see below. A series of stories (some serious and some less so) about the last 250 years of space exploration, NASA and American achievements in space and what lies ahead. We even took a look at what Space.com might have looked like if we were around in 1776. Take a look!
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This Week In Space podcast: Episode 217 — America in Space
On Episode 217 of This Week In Space, Rod Pyle and Tariq Malik discuss the progression of American space efforts. Since 1958, the United States has been part of the spaceflight adventure, and since the mid-1960s has led in just about any category that counts. In this episode, we review which flights launched or landed on July 4, and relive some of our very favorite US space missions of all time!
Watch the podcast for FREE here!
What did the night sky look like on the 1st Independence Day 250 years ago?
What did the evening sky look like for Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and their contemporaries on July 4, 1776? To understand the sky more fully, it helps to look at how people in 1776 tracked celestial events and what they would have expected to see overhead.
Read our full story by Skywatching Columnist Joe Rao.
Human flight was still 7 years away in 1776. Now, we're headed back to the moon
We made some halting steps over the centuries — getting kites aloft in ancient China, for example, and drawing up ambitious but unrealized flying machines during the Renaissance — but our boots were still firmly rooted on the ground when the United States of America was born on July 4, 1776.
Read how things have changed in 250 years as told by Spaceflight and Tech Editor Mike Wall.
Celebrate 250 years of America with the Estes Liberty Star model rocket
Aside from fireworks, what better way to celebrate 250 years of independence than by launching your own model rocket into the sky? The limited edition Estes Liberty Star rocket is the perfect model for the job, decked out with a blue and red styling and featuring beginner friendly assembly for an easy setup.
Our E-commerce Writer Harry Bennett has the deal.
You can get the Estes Liberty Star America 250th Celebration model rocket for $38.84 on Amazon
America 250: A star whose light headed to us in 1776
The United States' 250th birthday is right around the corner and what better way to celebrate than by looking for a star whose light began its journey to Earth around the time the Declaration of Independence was signed?
Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International licensefrom Anthony Wood.
4 night sky targets to celebrate America 250
Read about what makes Spica a 1776 star hereThe United States' 250th birthday is almost here, so why not take a break from the fireworks and explore four America-themed wonders hiding in the summer night sky?
Space science has come a long way since July 4, 1776. Here's a look back at the saga
Our Skywatching Writer Anthony Wood is our guide hereTo celebrate 250 years of the U.S. as an independent nation, Space.com takes you on a journey through some common misunderstandings of the universe through the years and the roles American scientists played in clearing up that cosmic confusion.
America 250: How has telescope technology evolved since the dawn of the U.S.?
Read about it here from Astronomy Writer Rob LeaThe past 250 years of optical telescopes have seen revolutionary discoveries and technology that the telescope's inventor, a seventeenth century spectacle-maker by the name of Hans Lippershey, maybe wouldn't have believed possible.
In 1776, the moon was a clock, a calendar and a streetlight — and it was 31 feet closer to Earth
Space.com Contributing Writer Keith Cooper has the tale hereAfter Americans declared independence on July 4, 1776, a waning gibbous moon rose in the night sky. To the people celebrating the birth of a new nation, it would have looked much the same as the moon we see today. But there was one subtle difference: 250 years ago, the moon was about 31 feet (9.4 meters) closer to Earth than it is now.
In 1776, the solar system only had 6 planets. Now, it has 8. Does it end there?
Contributing Writer Stefanie Waldek explains it all hereOver the past 250 years, the number of "planets" in our solar system has ranged from six to nine — and, briefly, even 11 — depending on what astronomers knew at the time and how they defined a
planet from Contributing Writer Samantha Mathewson.
'Rocket's Red Glare': How NASA's Artemis 2 moon mission celebrated America's 250th birthday
Read how our understanding of the planets changed hereIt doesn't get more America than giant rockets and missions to the moon. That's why NASA painted two giant "America 250" logos on the rocket that launched the Artemis 2 astronauts around the moon earlier this year.
Space.com Spaceflight Writer Josh Dinner
How NASA's 'America 250' celebrations are reaching from the sky to the moon
has the story on Artemis 2's America 250 livery hereNASA is taking the "America 250" birthday celebration to new heights. "From the earliest days of exploration, to the first steps on
webpage by Elizabeth Howell.
Stunning new NASA space telescope images reveal the universe in red, white and blue for America 250
Read how NASA is celebrating 250 years of America hereNASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory has released four stunning images of cosmic wonders, depicted in red, white and blue to coincide with the United States' 250th anniversary on July 4.
Infant stars celebrate their independence with cosmic fireworks
Space.com Managing Editor Brett Tingley has the storyNASA released this image to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the birth of the U.S. It is a fitting tribute as the protostars break away from the molecular cloud in which they formed to become fully fledged stars in their own right.
America at 500: Where will we be in space in 2276?
Read what cosmic fireworks they reveal hereWhen the U.S. was born, humanity was still seven years away from balloon-borne flight. Where might we be another 250 years from now, should the nation be fortunate enough to survive that long?
Those are some great reads, but America isn't the only "Independence Day" celebration going on this year. There is another anniversary that we celebrated this week, but it's not a country, it's a movie.
'Independence Day' at 30: Roland Emmerich & Dean Devlin talk blowing up the White House and crafting a true sci-fi classic (interview)
Read what the next 250 years might bring for America in space hereWe often talk about certain works of art ushering in or being ushered in by, but "Independence Day" ("ID4") truly broke the mold for how huge tentpole pictures were marketed three decades ago, something that still reverberates today. So, to celebrate "Independence Day" on its 30th anniversary, we connected with the dynamic creative duo of director Roland Emmerich and screenwriter Dean Devlin ("Universal Soldier," "Stargate," "Godzilla") for a jog down memory lane to remember one of the greatest sci-fi movies in history.
'Independence Day' still proves the versatility of the original 'The War of the Worlds'
Read about "Independence Day" in our exclusive interview"Independence Day" definitely isn't "The War of the Worlds". But here's the contradiction. "Independence Day" totally is "The War of the Worlds".
That's going to be a wrap for our Space.com's America 250 celebration!
Thank you all for joining us and we hope you had as much fun reading these features as we had making them. We wish you all the best if you're celebrating the Fourth of July festivities in the United States this Independence Day.
Maybe in 2276, we'll be celebrating from the moon and Mars ... or perhaps somewhere beyond
