NASA’s Universe of Learning: Explore Exoplanets with ViewSpace

NASA’s Universe of Learning creates and delivers science-driven, audience-driven resources and experiences designed to engage and immerse learners of all ages and backgrounds in exploring the universe for themselves. As one example, the NASA’s Universe of Learning program is uniquely able to provide informal learning venues with a direct connection to the science of NASA astrophysics via the ViewSpace platform. ViewSpace is a free, web-based collection of dozens of digital interactives and hundreds of videos highlighting the latest developments in astronomy and Earth science. This free content is developed by a team of scientists, educators, and communication specialists to ensure that content is accurate, up-to-date, engaging, relevant, and accessible to a wide audience.

Interactives and videos deliver content for a range of themes, including exoplanets and exoplanetary systems. The videos cover the breadth of introductory exoplanet science from detection to formation to atmospheric analysis to common myths and fallacies. Thematic interactives provide a hands-on exploration of how transits are used to detect exoplanets, demonstrate the diversity of exoplanet atmospheres, and show how orbital distance influences planetary conditions.

During this presentation we will share the ViewSpace platform with a focus on the exoplanet offerings, explain how Subject Matter Experts are critical in creating content for ViewSpace, and how we are addressing audience needs and using evaluation to support a dedicated user base across the country.

ViewSpace is part of the NASA’s Universe of Learning program. The competitively-selected program represents a unique partnership between the Space Telescope Science Institute, Caltech/IPAC, Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and Sonoma State University, and is part of the NASA Science Mission Directorate Science Activation program.