Navigator: Washington D.C.: Fly Me to the Moon

I am fortunate to live close enough to Washington D.C. that I can focus in on one--maybe two--museums per quick, weekend trip.

The museum of choice this past weekend was the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.

Truth be told, it wasn't exactly my museum of choice (though I do find it interesting); however, once I mentioned to my six year old son that he could see the actual spacecraft that took the first U.S. astronauts to and from the moon (the Apollo 11 Command Module "Columbia" to be exact, pictured at left) the decision was made.

While there, we were able to take in Hubble 3D at the IMAX Theater -- truly mind-boggling.

For example:

- Earth is just a tiny planet (of several) revolving around a star (the sun), which is just one star of 200 – 400 billion that make up our galaxy (the Milky Way).

- Based on images obtained from the Hubble telescope, scientists currently estimate that there are 100 to 200 billion galaxies in the Universe, each of which contains hundreds of billions of stars (like our sun).

- Some scientists put the number of galaxies in the universe even higher—-as high as 500 billion.

- In other words, numerically speaking, there is a good chance that there is entire galaxy out there (galaxy meaning cluster of stars held together by gravitational attraction) for every star in the Milky Way.

Like I said: mind-boggling.

To see some amazing images from the Hubble telescope that help support these scientific claims and discoveries, watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-61z3ZlFnpQ&feature=related.

Enjoy your journey....