Tag Archives: NASA JPL

Alaska Wetlands

Did you know that Alaska has almost 175 million acres of land classified as wetlands? That’s almost half of Alaska! That’s also nearly two thirds of the wetlands in all of the United States. Muskegs are a specific kind of bog where only sphagnum moss, black spruce, Sitka spruce, dwarf birch and some other shrubs can grow. One way that we can track these vast wetlands is via satellite. The NASA JPL has images and data available about wetlands in Alaska (and the rest of the globe) available online.

alaska_wetlands
Source: The Alaska Almanac: Facts about Alaska, 34th Edition

360º Panorama of NASA JPL Mission Control

This is a 360º panorama of one of the Mission Control rooms at NASA JPL (Jet Propulsion Lab). I visited JPL in August and was thrilled to be in the rooms where history has been made. Click through and use your mouse to rotate the room to see everything. Notice the Deep Space Network relays (look for the little satellite dishes)? That’s us talking to Mars (and other planets) and getting messages in reply. Pretty cool, huh?

More pics and behind-the-scenes tidbits soon!