In LA we read a book called Cosmic by Frank Cottrell Boyce. Mrs. Williams asked us to blog about some facts of NASA’s 2012 Year in Review. Here are five interesting facts I found.

• On Dec. 12 NASA’s astronomers announced that the Hubble Space Telescope had seen further back in time than ever before and had uncovered a previously unseen population of seven primitive galaxies that formed more than 13 billion years ago, when the universe was less than 3 percent of its present age.
• For use in NASA’s future missions and by the greater aerospace community, the company’s Space Technology Program is innovating, developing, testing, and flying technology. Another project NASA continues to invest in is the idea of creating new enabling robotic technologies that aid in future exploration while also having applications here one Earth, potentially helping paraplegics walk and aiding in other medical rehabilitation efforts.
  
• When the final flight of the Space Shuttle Program in 2011had landed, the other shuttles were delivered in 2012 to their new homes, where they will begin a new chapter in their careers: inspiring museum-goers of all ages to reach for the stars.
  
• Approximately 42,000 students from grades 4-9 and more than 3,200 middle school teachers nationwide were enrolled in NASA’s 2012 Summer of Innovation program which provided summer learning opportunities to students and teachers. The program helped teachers improve their ability to teach Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math, or STEM, content in the classroom. NASA’s education efforts in 2012 got a big step up when musician Will.i.am brought his talents when attending several events associated with the Curiosity landing on Mars.
  
• Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, died on Aug. 25 at age 82. Sally Ride, the first American woman in space, died on July 23 at age 61. NASA and the world lost two pioneering explorers.
  

Sources: Image- http://www.flickr.com/photos/forthebirds/, Facts- http://www.nasa.gov/externalflash/YIR12/