In April 2002, Mark Shuttleworth launched into space and journeyed to the International Space Station (ISS), becoming the first African in space. Follow his progress with the African in Space Project website. You’ll find news updates, profiles on the mission’s team members, daily photos and background on the experiments Mark Shuttleworth will be conducting while in space.
First African in Space
Mark Shuttleworth may be the first African, but he’s unlikely to be the last. Space Adventures hopes to promote space tourism and offers an eyewitness account of the forthcoming Russian Soyuz rocket launch.
First African in Space
http://www.spaceadventures.com/terrestrial/shuttleworth/
Find out more about the ISS from Nasa’s Human Spaceflight interactive website. It includes news updates, crew interviews, a virtual tour and a guide on how to track the station.
Space Flight
The perennially excellent Discovery.com offers fascinating content on the space station, with a gallery of launches, animations, space walks and tours. You may need to download the Flash plug-in to make the most of this site.
Discovery
British journal Astronomy Now takes a look at exactly what Space Shuttle missions are needed to assemble the ISS, with links to video footage and breaking news on the ISS. Still and video images are broadcast from the Russian Zvezda service module, providing an up-close view of work that is taking place in space.
To put things in perspective, visit Galactic Odyssey, an entry in the international Thinkquest student web design contest. It provides a helpful guide to the early pioneers of space history and rocketry.
Also providing background material, the History of Space Exploration has a timeline from 1957 to 1999 and features articles on the roles played by both the United States and Russia.
That constantly enlightening website How Stuff Works has an illustrated tutorial on what a space station looks like, what it’s like to live and work in space, and what problems are involved in establishing a space station.
Finally, SpaceStation.com is specifically aimed at teachers. It links to several handy educational resources, including a guide to acronyms and abbreviations.