International Women’s Day
Today the world celebrates International Women’s Day to commemorate the contribution of women locally and globally. We salute women who have and continue to inspire, women who have paved the way for so many who follow, role models, heroines, firsts in so many fields…
Happy Birthday, Roberta!
On this day in Sault Ste Marie Ontario, future neuro-ophthalmologist and payload specialist Roberta Lynn Bondar was born. Of course, no one knew all that at the time. Or even what those words meant. She had to learn to walk first! And to prefer…
BIRDCAST ALERTS!
NOW! BIRDCAST ALERTS to give us Real Time heads-up about migratory birds on the move. This BirdCast Alert is a project of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Colorado State University, and University of Massachusetts Amherst.
United States National Park Service Birthday!
On August 25, 1916, the United States National Park Service was created by Congress through the National Park Service Organic Act to care for all national parks, historic battlefields, and monuments throughout the country. More than 400 National Parks later… the USNPS celebrates its…
Pliny’s Play-by-Play
On August 24, 79, the first recorded explosion of Mount Vesuvius, Italy, was witnessed by the 18-year-old nephew of the Commander of the Roman Fleet. His uncle sailed with ships to rescue survivors, leaving the teen to observe the eruption from home across the…
International Day of Human Space Flight
On April 12, 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first person to travel into space. He made a 108-minute orbital flight in the fully automated Vostok 1 space capsule. Gagarin did not land in his space capsule. Vostok 1’s reentry into the atmosphere…
Catching the Wave
On February 22, 1857, German physicist Heinrich Rudolf Hertz was born. He was a student and protégé of the great Hermann von Helmholtz. Hertz began his career as a university lecturer and quickly established himself as an accomplished speaker. In his lab, Hertz demonstrated…
Our New Partnership with EcoSchools Canada
We have teamed up with EcoSchools Canada to give students across the country the opportunity to participate in the school-based Bondar Challenge and support their EcoSchools certification application. The nature photography challenge is inspired by the remarkable work of Dr. Roberta Bondar. As the…
Our Foundation’s Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic
Since March 2020 we have committed to being both responsible and responsive as we assess and address matters related to the COVID-19 pandemic with everyone’s safety in mind. In that light, staff are working from home but are accessible through their regular phone numbers…
An Eye on the Weather
On October 16, 1975, NASA launched GOES-1 – the first Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite. Over the Indian Ocean, GOES-1 achieved a specific geostationary orbit, approximately 35,785 km (22,236 mi) above the equator, following the direction of Earth’s rotation, matching its rotation period, and appearing…