NATIONAL SPACE DAY

National Space Day dedicates the first Friday in May to the extraordinary achievements, benefits, and opportunities in the exploration and use of space. The goal of the observance is to promote math, science, technology, and engineering education in young people, The hope is to inspire them to pursue a career in science, especially a career in space-related jobs.

Careers in space involve a wide range of specialties. Going to space requires many working parts, and that’s not just the parts that go into space. All kinds of engineers build the equipment, computers and make the computations.

Accountants and public relations manage the books and the press. Meteorologists, chemists, physicists, and biologists analyze data and doctors monitor the health of the astronauts. As preparations are underway, photographers and writers record the events.

While we’ve only been exploring space for less than 60 years, we continue to learn so much. Imagine all the roles in space you can fill. While we’ve named a few here, how many more careers can you name? Do you know which one is yours?

NATIONAL SPACE DAY HISTORY

In 1997, Lockheed Martin Corporation created National Space Day as a one-day event. In 2001, due to its extreme popularity, former astronaut and senator John Glenn expanded Space Day to International Space Day.

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HOW TO OBSERVE #NationalSpaceDay

Teachers, students, space-related organizations, groups, and agencies hold celebrations, demonstrations, and educational programs each year. The day has grown rapidly in recent years and is celebrated worldwide as International Space Day. Join an event near you. Other ways to celebrate include:

  • Build a model rocket and launch it.
  • Watch your favorite launch. Is it the Hubble Space Telescope, Apollo 11, or SpaceX Falcon 9?
  • Look for the International Space Station as it orbits the Earth.

Get involved by sharing your knowledge and skills, too! Host an event and share your experiences. Share your favorite space pictures using #NationalSpaceDay

NATIONAL FIND A RAINBOW DAY

Each year on April 3rd, National Find A Rainbow Day challenges us to look to the sky and find a colorful ray of hope cast across it. 

There are people that see rainbows as an artistic masterpiece in the sky, to others it is a sign of hope and to many a sign of promise.

It can be all three; beauty, hope and promise.    

Jill Magnus

A spectrum of light in the form of a multicolored arc, appearing in the sky, is caused by both reflection and refraction of light in water droplets in the Earth’s atmosphere. These rainbows always appear directly opposite of the sun.  The light is refracted (bent) when it enters a droplet of water, then is reflected inside on the back of the droplet and refracted again when leaving it.

Red is the color that is visible on the outer part of a rainbow and violet on the inside of a primary rainbow. Children learn in science class the mnemonic ROYGBIV to help them to remember the sequence of colors in a rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet. Many forms of airborne water can cause rainbows including, rain, mist, spray, and dew.  

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HOW TO OBSERVE #FindARainbowDay

Find yourself a rainbow or use the garden hose or a prism to make one yourself.
Families, students, and classrooms, create a rainbow from the colorful hearts on this printable. There’s at least one for every color in the rainbow. Take out your color crayons and finish what we’ve started. Then cut them out and put them in a cheerful, sunny window to brighten the day of someone passing by. 


Use #NationalFindARainbowDay to post on social media.