NASA Facts

Coca-Cola was the first soft drink to be consumed in outer space.

In the “Forrest Gump” novel that the movie is based on, Forrest goes into space with NASA. Upon return, he crash lands on an island full of cannibals. He only survives because he beats the head cannibal at chess everyday.

During photosynthesis, plants emit light humans can’t see, but NASA can see that light from space - and they've even made maps of it!

In the 1960s, neuroscientist John Lilly conducted NASA-funded experiments where researcher Margaret Howe Lovatt lived with a dolphin named Peter for months, attempting to teach him to vocalize English words.

The ashes of the man who discovered Pluto are currently en route to dwarf planet, scheduled to arrive on the 14th of July, 2015.

The inventor of the Super Soaker squirt gun was a NASA Scientist who also helped develop the Stealth Bomber and the Galileo mission to Jupiter.

NASA-funded research led to the discovery that certain algae could produce DHA and ARA, omega fatty acids now added to over 90% of infant formulas worldwide.

The dwarf planet Ceres, located in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, baffled scientists when NASA's Dawn spacecraft photographed mysterious bright spots on its surface in 2015. The gleaming patches sparked wild theories—from ice volcanoes to alien bases—before researchers discovered they were actually salt deposits left behind by briny water seeping up from an underground ocean.

Nancy Carlson bought a plain bag at a government surplus auction for $995. It turned out to be Neil Armstrong's Apollo 11 lunar sample bag - still containing actual moon dust from the first landing. NASA demanded it back. A federal judge ruled Carlson was the legal owner. She sold it at Sotheby's for $1.8 million. The moon was in the clearance bin.

Jupiter produces lightning bolts up to 1,000 times more powerful than anything on Earth, generated by towering clouds of ammonia and water that don't exist anywhere else in the solar system. NASA's Juno spacecraft discovered that ammonia vapour melts high-altitude ice crystals on Jupiter, creating an exotic 'antifreeze' cloud system that generates these extreme electrical discharges.

After returning from the Moon, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins were required to fill out a standard US Customs declaration form. Under "cargo" they listed moon rock and moon dust samples, and when asked about any condition that might spread disease, the answer was "TO BE DETERMINED." The form was filed at Honolulu Airport on July 24, 1969 - the same day they splashed down.

Lonnie Johnson, a NASA engineer, invented the Super Soaker by accident - a burst of water shot across his bathroom during a heat pump experiment. The toy went on to sell nearly $1 billion. When Johnson discovered Hasbro had underpaid his royalties for years, he took them to arbitration and won $72.9 million.