Already a member? Login Now!
USERNAME


PASSWORD




Forgot Password? Click here

 

3 great ways to use Student News Net!

SNN invites you to sign up for a subscription for our award winning site, with access to great stories and educational features. Obviously we are proud of our accomplishments, but we really want to share the truly engaging stories and custom features for the classroom and beyond.

As an ad-free site, SNN relies on subscriptions to enable it to produce this award winning educational website. Where else can you get daily updates of engaging stories and current events backed up by interdisciplinary activities and extra features?

 
Slog: verb – to work diligently for long hours slogged, slogging, slogs
(The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition, ©2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company)
Slog Intro
There are billions and billions of bits of information available on the Internet. But have you ever had over one million search results staring at you on your screen and still felt as if you had no idea how to complete an assignment? What source is credible? Is it a primary source reference? What does the text mean? How current is the information? SNN has developed SLOG-ITT to help you find and - Share Lots Of Great Information Through Technology.
 
SNN SLOGS
Hungry Pests
 
Rosetta Orbiter & Philae Lander Update
 
Ebola Virus
 
The International Space Station, ISS
 
What is propaganda?
 
NFL footballs - Made in America
 
The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown
 
Rosetta Orbiter & Philae Lander
 
CONNECTION TO CAREERS
SNN crosses paths with many fascinating and interesting people as we develop content. Often a story on a current event develops into a second story with more details on career paths. Read all about them below! 
Homer Hickam: aerospace engineer, author and - Rocket Boy
Oct. 13, 2014 - Homer Hickam hails from Coalwood, West Virginia, a small city in coal mining country. Homer sought a path out of Coalwood and found it by looking to the skies and his friends.

Join in Monday, Nov. 24 from 10:30 - 10:45 a.m. ET for a live SNN SLOG-ITT session with comet scientists from the European Space Agency who will be answering students' questions. The 30-minute session is archived and can be viewed on the SLOG-ITT page.
EXTRA! EXTRA! WRITING PRACTICE
Practice Your Writing Skills by summarizing what you've learned by reading, sharing and participating in this SLOG.
Extra! Extra! Writing Practice - Click Here

CHAT & COLLABORATE

Rosetta Flight Control Team engineers answer questions from students on Nov. 24, 2014: From the left: Daniel Scuka, ESA moderator of session, Tiago Francisco (Portugese), Armelle Hubault from France and Matthias Eiblmeier from Germany. 

Direct link: http://new.livestream.com/ESA/events/3613286
SNN SLOG - Rosetta Mission (European Space Agency, ESA)
Philae probe lands on Comet 67P after ten-year journey
What does it take to land a probe on a comet 500 million kilometers from Earth? It takes many scientists with deep knowledge of astronomy, chemistry, physics, math and geology working together through the European Space Agency, ESA. The Rosetta spacecraft, carrying 11 science experiments, launched on March 2, 2004. Its primary goal is to learn more about the Solar System’s origin. The Rosetta spacecraft arrived near Comet 67P on August 6, 2014. The Philae probe, carrying 10 instruments, separated from the Rosetta spacecraft and landed on the comet on Nov. 12, 2014. Upon landing, it bounced twice and landed three times finally coming to rest in a corner surrounded by rocks. Philae completed its first mission sending data to Rosetta and then to Earth. But Philae is in the shadows so its solar panels are not generating electricity to recharge its batteries. Philae had about 60 hours of primary battery power but there is hope it will reboot as the comet moves toward the Sun. The Rosetta orbiter will continue to orbit the comet for about one year. Its closest approach to the Sun will occur on August 13, 2015. The mission will end on December 31, 2015.
Primary Source References Notes & Information from Experts
  1. Rosetta mission (European Space Agency, ESA) 
  2. What are comets?
  3. Rosetta Timeline    
  4. Rosetta Blog   

“Our ambitious Rosetta mission has secured another place in the history books: not only is it the first to rendezvous with and orbit a comet, but it is now also the first to deliver a probe to a comet’s surface.”  (Jean-Jacques Dordain, ESA Director General)
Technical Vocabulary
  1. Comet Nucleus: solid, middle part of a comet; also called a “dirty snowball” – Comet 67P is about 4 kilometers (2 miles) wide.
  2. Comet Coma: atmosphere around comet (gases that have been heated by Sun)
  3. Perihelion: closest point to the Sun (Comet 67P ~ 185 million kilometers)
  4. Aphelion: farthest point from the Sun (Comet 67P ~ 850 million kilometers)
  5. Hibernation: dormant, inactive state
  6. Comet 67P – also called Comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko after the Russian scientists who found the comet in 1969
Multimedia
ESA scientists receive confirmation that Philae landed on Comet 67P on Nov. 12, 2014. (Photo: ESA/J.Mai) Rosetta’s Twelve-Year Journey in Space (Timeline)

Demonstration of Rosetta and the Philae Lander by an ESA astronaut on the International Space Station

The Philae Lander as it approached Comet 67P for landing on Nov. 12, 2014. (Photo: ESA/Rosetta/Philae/ROLIS/DLR)

 

ESA: Once Upon A Time: Preparing for Comet Landing
Picture taken by the Philae Lander as it approached Comet 67P for landing. Note one of Philae’s landing legs in top right of the photo. (Photo: ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA)  
 
SNN Logo