May 23, 2011 - Challenge of the Decade

Published in cooperation with The Planetary Society

Spend the year in space, one week at a time

Recent Weeks

May 14, 2012 - Monkey Nebula

May 7, 2012 - Getting a Grip on INTELSAT

April 30, 2012 - Dust in the Wind

April 23, 2012 - Celebrate Astronomy Day

April 16, 2012 - Rover Rides Again

April 9, 2012 - Mercury’s Marvelous Morphology

April 2, 2012 - A Matter of Truss

March 26, 2012 - Hubble Bubble

March 19, 2012 - Rocket Pioneer Centennial

March 12, 2012 - Southern Lights on Saturn

March 5, 2012 - A New Star in Town

February 27, 2012 - Hubble Upgrade

February 20, 2012 - Sideways Supernova

February 13, 2012 - Auroras Gone Wild

February 6, 2012 - Hubble Telescope Tune-Up

January 30, 2012 - Lunar Orbiter Liftoff

January 23, 2012 - Magellan Turns up the Stereo

January 16, 2012 - Southern Sibling Sees Stars

January 9, 2012 - Hitching a Ride Home

January 2, 2012 - Transforming the Space Frontier

December 26, 2011 - These Laws Can't Be Broken

December 19, 2011 - Long and Winding Road

December 12, 2011 - Blast from the Past

December 5, 2011 - It’s Just Like Folding a Map

November 28, 2011 - A Warmer, Wetter Mars

November 21, 2011 - Spy in the Sky

Customer Comment

I love this calendar

--Alice H., Bethel, CT

Read more comments

2012 Desk Calendar

FREE U.S. Shipping
SAVE 25% to 45%
Money-back guarantee

144 full-color pages
6" x 9", spiral bound
Art-quality paper

Weekly photo essay
Daily Moon phases
Night sky events
Space trivia
Holidays
Room for notes/appts

FREE Weekly E-Mail

Customer Comment

I love the pics in the calendars, and also the info on watching the moon and the meteor showers. I always check to see what is coming up. ;-)

--Christine B., Duncannon, PA

Read more comments

The Week in Space

May 23-29, 2011

Challenge of the Decade Fifty years ago this week, President Kennedy challenged the nation to “landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to Earth” before the end of the decade. The goal was especially bold considering America’s total spaceflight experience at the time consisted of Alan Shepard’s fifteen-minute suborbital flight. Five years to the day after Kennedy’s challenge, NASA unveiled the rocket that would ultimately take astronauts to the Moon. Although not intended to fly, the AS-500-F full-scale Saturn V test vehicle was used to verify the launch facilities, train launch crews, and develop pre-launch checkout procedures. Seen here leaving the Vehicle Assembly Building for the first time, the Saturn V rollout confirmed the incredible progress that had been made in just five short years.

Image credit: NASA