The Grandest Canyon - When the Propulsions are forced to watch a slide show of the Petersen's vacation to the Grand Canyon, they're inspired to take their own trip to Mars to explore Valles Marineris-the largest canyon in the Solar System! Curriculum: Mars has deeper canyons than our own Grand Canyon on Earth. The deepest canyon in our solar system exists on Mars, called Valles Marineris. A Visit to the Planetarium - Sean and Sydney take Jet to the DSA to see a show at the Planetarium. But things take a fun turn when Jet decides to upgrade the show with some Bortronian technology and sings a song explaining how to find Earth in the Milky Way galaxy! Curriculum: Our sun is actually a bright star out on a spiral arm of the Milky Way Galaxy, which is made of billions of other stars, and our galaxy is just one of billions of galaxies.

A Visit from Uncle Zucchini - Celery's brother, Zucchini, and his pet, Moonbeam, decide to visit the Propulsions, but get lost along the way. The kids have to figure out where on Earth he is. As it turns out, Uncle Zucchini never made it to Earth, but has landed on a place that sort of resembles Earth - Titan, Saturn's largest moon! Titan has Earth-like features such as oceans, mountains, and an atmosphere. Curriculum: Titan is Saturn's largest moon, and the second largest in the solar system. Titan has lots of conditions that make it similar to Earth, including an atmosphere with clouds and a golden haze, and liquid oceans. Mindy's Weather Report - Mindy and Sunspot, watching a weather report broadcast on FACE 9000's screen, learn of a huge storm system on Saturn. When the other kids hear about it, they mistakenly assume the storm is somewhere local. Mayhem ensues as the misinformation spreads and everyone rushes around to prepare, while Mindy meanwhile "broadcasts" her own weather report from Jet's house. Curriculum: Earth is not the only planet with storms! Although we have big hurricanes here that typically last up to a week, Saturn is home to a hexagonal group of hurricanes locked into place around Saturn's north pole, that may have been going on for hundreds of years.

Jet pitches an idea for the annual Boxwood Terrace Christmas Pageant, and not only is it accepted, he gets to direct it! He casts Sean, Sydney, Mindy, and Sunspot as characters in the play, and hires Mitchell Petersen to help him find this elusive thing called "Christmas Spirit." / Jet is looking for the Spirit of Christmas, something intangible that Sean and Sydney can't quite define. Mitchell wants to belong to the group, but doesn't know how to do it. Both kids get their answer in a heartfelt conclusion.

It's Mothers Day, and Jet wants to do something special for Celery, who just wants to finish her book. She suggests a day where Jet finds his own missing things. Jet agrees it would be the perfect gift, but first he needs her to fly them to Mars, so he can find his missing robot, Jet 2, that he left there! It's the first windy day of spring at Boxwood Terrace, and the kids are all trying out their new kites - all but Sean, who's stuck in his room with a cold. Sunspot joins Sean and helps him work out engineering problems so he can entertain himself - and even fly a kit from his room!

Each kid brings their personal project up to the tree house, and each contributes to a huge mess. Now they can't do anything in the tree house because it's too messy, but none of them want to clean up the other's mess. They have to learn to share the responsibility and clean it together. When Mindy tells Jet that clouds are made of cotton candy, and defends this idea because she heard a friend say so, Sean and Sydney set out to show her how to separate fact from fiction through research! Celery takes them up into the clouds to see for themselves.

It's Mothers Day, and Jet wants to do something special for Celery, who just wants to finish her book. She suggests a day where Jet finds his own missing things. Jet agrees it would be the perfect gift, but first he needs her to fly them to Mars, so he can find his missing robot, Jet 2, that he left there! It's the first windy day of spring at Boxwood Terrace, and the kids are all trying out their new kites - all but Sean, who's stuck in his room with a cold. Sunspot joins Sean and helps him work out engineering problems so he can entertain himself - and even fly a kit from his room!

Each kid brings their personal project up to the tree house, and each contributes to a huge mess. Now they can't do anything in the tree house because it's too messy, but none of them want to clean up the other's mess. They have to learn to share the responsibility and clean it together. When Mindy tells Jet that clouds are made of cotton candy, and defends this idea because she heard a friend say so, Sean and Sydney set out to show her how to separate fact from fiction through research! Celery takes them up into the clouds to see for themselves.

Jet takes the kids on a saucer tour all around the Earth to discover all the ways that water can be found. They visit Antarctica to look at the ice, and then compare that extreme to the icy surface of Jupiter's moon Europa. / Sydney wants to enter a Commander Cressida story contest, but can't think up a good enough story. The other kids help, and they come up with a story about lassoing a comet to bring water to Venus, and then Mars.

"What's a Satellite?" - An Earth-orbiting "telecom" communications satellite breaks down, and satellite TV service in Boxwood Terrace stops working. Three people can't watch their favorite shows and consequently get very upset. Jet decides to fly up to space and see what the problem is with the satellite, and hilarity ensues. Curriculum: A satellite is an artificial object that has been intentionally placed into orbit. Satellites are used for a large number of purposes. Communications satellites receive signals from Earth and bounce them back to other locations, for everything from GPS to cell phone service to TV shows. Satellites are usually semi-independent computer-controlled systems. "Satellite Selfie" - The kids learn that they can use links to different websites to see a satellite view of their house. Mindy notices that Jet's house is not in the image. That's because these images are from sometime over the past 2 years, and not live images from space. With Dr. Rafferty's help, the kids identify the next time a satellite will pass over their neighborhood, and try to gather for a "space selfie" next to Jet's house. Curriculum: Satellites are objects that humans have placed into orbit around the Earth. Many have cameras in them. Some of these satellite cameras look "up" at the outer areas of space, and some look "down" at the Earth - they can even see our houses and cars!

"Sunday Drive" Parts 1 & 2 - After the Propulsions download their new version of their saucer dashboard operating system, things are out of whack. Their test drive to Mars - usually a simple trip - is complicated by the new dashboard. They zip to Venus and Saturn instead... and then finally land on Mars, so they think. They're actually in an Earth desert, Mars-like at first (hot, red soil, lack of water), but soon they realize where they are. A desert vs. Mars comparison is made. Before heading home, the family decides that the old, dependable saucer operating system works just fine for them. Curriculum: An Earth desert and a Mars desert have some similarities, but are also very different. A comparison is made between the two, including life or lack thereof, temperature, water, and soil.

"Space Junk" - After learning about space junk, the kids are determined to help do their part to clean up their "space neighborhood." They meet up with Uncle Zucchini, a long-time galaxy garbage man! Using Bortronian technology, they start a cleanup. During the course of the day, our kids learn that recycling is necessary both on Earth and in space! Curriculum: The outer space region around Earth swarms with millions of pieces of man-made space junk that create potential hazards. Objects as small as 4 inches can be seen by radar or optical telescopes on Earth. Cleaning the debris is a challenge. Trips to larger objects could remove them from orbit, but that's expensive. Another proposal is using lasers to provide a path-changing push that wouldn't damage the object. "Scientific Sean" - Jet is fascinated by Earth paper airplanes when he watches Sean casually fold one. Jet suggests that the kids challenge each other to build the plane that will fly the farthest, and still carry the payload of a message. Sean wants to use the Scientific Method to solve the distance/size issues. CURRICULUM: The Scientific Method is a simple set of rules that scientists use the world over, to make sure that they are doing their experiments correctly and in a way that they can repeat. But great science comes from both the application of this simple set of rules AND from imagination and inspiration.

Sunspot needs to climb one more mountain to join an elite space climbing club - and the mountain happens to be Mt. Sharp, on Mars! Jet convinces the kids to fly to Mars with Sunspot and join the mountain climbing expedition. With all the Earthie kids away for the day, Jet and Sunspot are left to their own devices. They notice neighbor Mitchell digging for buried treasure in his yard, and decide to make and bury their own treasure, then make a map that Mitchell can find and follow to their homemade treasure!

"Space Junk" - After learning about space junk, the kids are determined to help do their part to clean up their "space neighborhood." They meet up with Uncle Zucchini, a long-time galaxy garbage man! Using Bortronian technology, they start a cleanup. During the course of the day, our kids learn that recycling is necessary both on Earth and in space! Curriculum: The outer space region around Earth swarms with millions of pieces of man-made space junk that create potential hazards. Objects as small as 4 inches can be seen by radar or optical telescopes on Earth. Cleaning the debris is a challenge. Trips to larger objects could remove them from orbit, but that's expensive. Another proposal is using lasers to provide a path-changing push that wouldn't damage the object. "Scientific Sean" - Jet is fascinated by Earth paper airplanes when he watches Sean casually fold one. Jet suggests that the kids challenge each other to build the plane that will fly the farthest, and still carry the payload of a message. Sean wants to use the Scientific Method to solve the distance/size issues. CURRICULUM: The Scientific Method is a simple set of rules that scientists use the world over, to make sure that they are doing their experiments correctly and in a way that they can repeat. But great science comes from both the application of this simple set of rules AND from imagination and inspiration.

Sunspot needs to climb one more mountain to join an elite space climbing club - and the mountain happens to be Mt. Sharp, on Mars! Jet convinces the kids to fly to Mars with Sunspot and join the mountain climbing expedition. With all the Earthie kids away for the day, Jet and Sunspot are left to their own devices. They notice neighbor Mitchell digging for buried treasure in his yard, and decide to make and bury their own treasure, then make a map that Mitchell can find and follow to their homemade treasure!

The kids observe the full Moon at night and wonder why it seems to have a "face." They research why the light and dark splotches seem to make a face, and ultimately decide to fly to the Moon's surface so they can see for themselves what the light and dark splotches are made of. The kids are digging again down by the Lake, and dig up a part of an old rocket. This leads Sydney to tell another "Lone Star" story, this one about how long ago, when Boxwood Terrace was called "Boxwood Territory," early astronomer Lone Star engineered and built the first rockets. This inspires the kids to engineer and build their own "foot rocket."

Ice Moon Enceladus - Sean sets up a sno-cone stand to help raise money to send a spaceship to Mars. But it's the hottest day of the year and he quickly runs out of ice, and he can't find any nearby. Then Jet has an idea where they can go to get some ice-Saturn's ice moon, Enceladus! Curriculum: Enceladus is a small moon of Saturn that contains a liquid ocean underneath an outer layer of ice. It has "ice volcanoes" that shoot geyser-like jets of water vapor into space. Some of the water vapor falls back as "snow" and the rest escapes, which supplies most of the material making up Saturn's E ring. What Goes Up... - Jet builds a mini-flying saucer in his garage and wants to test it, but to succeed, he has to learn what gravity is and how it works. Curriculum: Gravity is an invisible pulling power that every object has-planets, moons, stars, and YOU. Gravity pulls all objects in the universe toward one another. The bigger and heavier an object is (the more mass it has), the more gravity it has.

"Total Eclipse of the Sunspot" - While Mindy, Jet, Sean, and Sydney are trying to use a solar panel to improve their energy efficiency, they notice that Sunspot is acting strange. It turns out that Sunspot was aware of an impending eclipse and was trying to alert the kids to the fact that the Sun would be darkened for a while. Curriculum: A solar eclipse is a type of eclipse that occurs when the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth, and the Moon fully or partially blocks the Sun. In a total eclipse, the disk of the Sun is fully obscured by the Moon. It's important not to look directly at the Sun during an eclipse, but you can watch it through the use of a box viewer. "Sean's Year in Space" - Sean is excited by NASA's "Year in Space" program on the ISS, and decides to try to live for a year in the tree house without ever coming down. The kids keep interrupting him, and finally, after only a short afternoon of trying, he comes down for dinner. Curriculum: The International Space Station, or ISS, is home to several astronauts at a time, who come and go in small capsules like the Soyuz. At this point, astronauts are even staying for a year at a time to study what happens to humans who live in micro-gravity for extended periods, so we can learn what will happen to us on long space voyages, like a trip to Mars.

The kids and Sunspot attempt to build the tallest tower ever on the Moon, hoping to beat Jet's cousin's record. While building, the Moon's surface shakes. Huh? The Earth kids are amazed to learn that the Moon has quakes, and Jet is just as amazed to learn that Earthquakes exist. After learning about the causes of moonquakes, the kids attempt to build a Moonquake-proof structure. / Sean and Sydney are planning to take Jet to the DSA Open House the upcoming weekend. The Earth kids are nervous that he will get in front of a crowd of strangers and forget to keep the secret that he's an alien from Bortron 7. After a hilarious outburst from Jet, the kids are motivated to try to "train" him to behave less like an alien from outer space, and more like a "regular Earthie kid." Jet's doing well until he ends up using his Bortronian jet-pack to fly up to rescue the DSA weather balloon when it's about to get away in some bad weather.

Date Night - When Jet realizes that it's the anniversary of Carrot and Celery's first date, he wants to recreate that first picnic they had on one of Bortron 7's moons. The kids all get involved to help create the perfect date night. Curriculum: It's hard to have a picnic anywhere in the Solar System besides Earth - here we're not too near or too far from the Sun, so the temperature is just right, plus we have liquid oceans and a breathable atmosphre. Anywhere else, you'd definitely have a hard time enjoying a picnic outdoors. Face on the Fritz - When the kids are trying to build a new pet house for Sunspot and FACE 9000 gives them mixed-up directions, they learn that it is time for FACE 9000 to get upgraded. In the meantime FACE 9000's "substitute," the "DATA-BOX," is an old Earth computer from the early 1980s. The kids need to learn how to give instructions in the way computers understand, putting them in charge of using technology in an active way. When FACE 9000 comes back, they have learned to appreciate him, as well as to be more independent thinkers. Curriculum: Technology has advanced greatly since the days of the giant computers that guided man to the moon in 1969. However, even though technology is very useful, it is still a tool, not an end in itself, and people still need to know how to monitor and program it.

The kids and Sunspot attempt to build the tallest tower ever on the Moon, hoping to beat Jet's cousin's record. While building, the Moon's surface shakes. Huh? The Earth kids are amazed to learn that the Moon has quakes, and Jet is just as amazed to learn that Earthquakes exist. After learning about the causes of moonquakes, the kids attempt to build a Moonquake-proof structure. / Sean and Sydney are planning to take Jet to the DSA Open House the upcoming weekend. The Earth kids are nervous that he will get in front of a crowd of strangers and forget to keep the secret that he's an alien from Bortron 7. After a hilarious outburst from Jet, the kids are motivated to try to "train" him to behave less like an alien from outer space, and more like a "regular Earthie kid." Jet's doing well until he ends up using his Bortronian jet-pack to fly up to rescue the DSA weather balloon when it's about to get away in some bad weather.

Date Night - When Jet realizes that it's the anniversary of Carrot and Celery's first date, he wants to recreate that first picnic they had on one of Bortron 7's moons. The kids all get involved to help create the perfect date night. Curriculum: It's hard to have a picnic anywhere in the Solar System besides Earth - here we're not too near or too far from the Sun, so the temperature is just right, plus we have liquid oceans and a breathable atmosphre. Anywhere else, you'd definitely have a hard time enjoying a picnic outdoors. Face on the Fritz - When the kids are trying to build a new pet house for Sunspot and FACE 9000 gives them mixed-up directions, they learn that it is time for FACE 9000 to get upgraded. In the meantime FACE 9000's "substitute," the "DATA-BOX," is an old Earth computer from the early 1980s. The kids need to learn how to give instructions in the way computers understand, putting them in charge of using technology in an active way. When FACE 9000 comes back, they have learned to appreciate him, as well as to be more independent thinkers. Curriculum: Technology has advanced greatly since the days of the giant computers that guided man to the moon in 1969. However, even though technology is very useful, it is still a tool, not an end in itself, and people still need to know how to monitor and program it.

Jet's robot Jet 2 needs new wheels if he's going to be able to rove over the surface of Mars. Jet and the kids try a bunch of different wheels, without success. In the end, they borrow the wheels from Mitchell's scooter, so Jet 2 can successfully navigate on Mars. The kids enter their karts in the big kid-kart derby, but this year they all have to design solar powered karts. Jet learns how solar panels work, and how batteries save up the energy so you can race even when clouds cover the Sun.

The kids get information from Dr. Rafferty and then travel to outer space to confirm the amazing fact that there is no sound in outer space... even though Jet is convinced he's heard sounds all over the solar system. / After Mindy laments the fact that she's still only 4 and still can't go to space with the other kids, Sydney, Jet, Sean, and Sunspot plan a full makeshift, cobbled together "Day in Space" right there in Jet's yard. Mindy's day ends on a nearby hilltop where they all watch a real, amazing, actual space event - the Leonid Meteor Showers shooting across the sky!

After an afternoon on the Moon, Celery, Jet, and Sunspot discover, as they fly to Earth, that they have mistakenly left Carrot on the Moon! Then the saucer malfunctions and they receive news of a possible solar storm headed their way. In a nail-biter, Jet and Sunspot do a mid-outer space repair job - as per Celery's instructions -with Carrot comically adapting to the Moon environment. In the end, the saucer is fixed, Carrot is rescued, and the solar storm heads in the opposite direction of the Moon. / When a loud thunderstorm hits the neighborhood one evening, the Propulsions are woken up. They gather in the kitchen as the noisy storm rages on, and Jet is too excited to get back to sleep. Carrot, Celery, and Sunspot are sympathetic - they're in the same boat! During the night they all learn about Earth storms as compared to storms on other planets. And then they all try to get Jet to fall back asleep, a seemingly impossible task. They use more and more absurd methods, until Celery has a conventional Earthie solution: sing a lullaby.

Sydney shows Jet and Sean a cool experiment - dropping different items from the same height to see which reaches the ground first. That reminds Sean of a video he watched of an astronaut on the Moon dropping a hammer and a feather from the same height. They reach the ground at the same time. And the reason is atmosphere - or lack of it - on the Moon. Jet laughs - really? Wait, what's atmosphere? Well, the kids know the best way to find out - into the wagon/saucer! Our kids and Celery fly to the edge of the Earth's atmosphere to learn what it does... and then go to the Moon. Is the atmosphere around the Moon the same as the Earth's? And what happens when our kids do the hammer-feather drop on the lunar surface? / Sydney brings Jet and Sean to the DSA to visit her mom, DR. AMY SKELLEY, and check out her work. Dr. Skelley is a robotics engineer who makes outer space robotic and gadget dreams a reality.

Mindy has to go to bed when the Sun goes down, but she's having such a fun day with her friends. She asks Jet and the others to help her keep the Sun from going down. The older kids humor Mindy and try to help "slow down the Sun." All their efforts make Mindy so sleepy that she decides to go home and sleep. Sydney and Jet are having a hard time explaining to Mindy that the Sun doesn't move - the Earth is moving around the Sun, so the Sun seems to move. Then Sean comes over dressed as his science hero Galileo, getting ready to do a school report. Mindy asks "Galileo" to explain why the Sun seems to move, and Sean practices for his report by explaining how the planets move, in character as Galileo!

Sydney shows Jet and Sean a cool experiment - dropping different items from the same height to see which reaches the ground first. That reminds Sean of a video he watched of an astronaut on the Moon dropping a hammer and a feather from the same height. They reach the ground at the same time. And the reason is atmosphere - or lack of it - on the Moon. Jet laughs - really? Wait, what's atmosphere? Well, the kids know the best way to find out - into the wagon/saucer! Our kids and Celery fly to the edge of the Earth's atmosphere to learn what it does... and then go to the Moon. Is the atmosphere around the Moon the same as the Earth's? And what happens when our kids do the hammer-feather drop on the lunar surface? / Sydney brings Jet and Sean to the DSA to visit her mom, DR. AMY SKELLEY, and check out her work. Dr. Skelley is a robotics engineer who makes outer space robotic and gadget dreams a reality.

Mindy has to go to bed when the Sun goes down, but she's having such a fun day with her friends. She asks Jet and the others to help her keep the Sun from going down. The older kids humor Mindy and try to help "slow down the Sun." All their efforts make Mindy so sleepy that she decides to go home and sleep. Sydney and Jet are having a hard time explaining to Mindy that the Sun doesn't move - the Earth is moving around the Sun, so the Sun seems to move. Then Sean comes over dressed as his science hero Galileo, getting ready to do a school report. Mindy asks "Galileo" to explain why the Sun seems to move, and Sean practices for his report by explaining how the planets move, in character as Galileo!

"Beep and Boop's Game" - The kids help Dr. Rafferty and Bergs get Mars Rover BOOP over a ravine on the red planet by simulating actions in the DSA "Mars Yard" using BEEP (Boop's sister)! Trial and error leads to success. Along the way, the kids learn just how scientists communicate with far away rovers - through satellites above Mars. The kids then solve a new mystery set up by Bergs, figuring out that Beep and Boop are communicating about... a game of Mars/Mars Yard tic-tac-toe they're playing! Curriculum: A good amount of communication between Mars and Earth goes through satellites. Rovers send images, along with instrument and status data, back to Earth. Extrapolating from the data, the scientists send commands to the rover, which can take 4-24 minutes to be received due to the distance. Rovers are often on their own, carrying out commands and sending image data to overhead satellites. The rover's commanders may tell it to move toward a new rock, grind a rock, analyze a rock, take photos, or gather other data with other instruments. "Constellation Prize" - When Mindy thinks she's found her own star, the other kids explain how stars are labeled and identified by constellations. Mindy eventually learns that she hasn't found a new star, but that she CAN create her own version of a constellation by connecting patterns in the sky. Curriculum: A constellation is a group of stars that make an imaginary shape in the night sky. In different parts of the world, people have made up different shapes out of the same groups of bright stars, like a game of connect-the-dots. In the past, constellations were useful for navigating at night and for keeping track of the seasons. They are now useful for identifying parts of the sky astronomers are studying. Because all the stars are at different distances, the constellations would look totally different to inhabitants of another planet orbiting another star.

Solar System Bake-off! - Mindy and Carrot are entering a cooking competition and are making desserts representing the different planets of the Solar System. But they hit a bump when they can't remember if Saturn is cold on the inside and hot on the outside... or the other way around. Jet, Sydney, and Sean fly with Celery out to Saturn to find out before the competition begins, so Mindy and Carrot can finish their entry in time! Curriculum: The planets in our solar system can be divided into two categories -- terrestrial (inner planets) and gas (outer planets). Saturn is a gas planet that seems to have a hot solid inner core of iron and rocky material surrounded by an outer core probably composed of ammonia, methane, and water. Kid-Kart Derby - Jet builds an electric engine from scratch for the annual soapbox derby competition, but Mitchell, determined to win the derby, is suspicious that Jet is using some alien technology. Curriculum: An ion drive engine is a very fuel-efficient engine for space vehicles. Ion beams are capable of propelling spacecraft at up to 10 times faster than ships propelled by chemical rockets.

"Which Moon is Best?" - Sean wants to be the first to walk on a moon, like his hero Neil Armstrong. When Sydney points out that 12 astronauts have already walked on our Moon, Sean thinks that rather than be the 13th to walk on OUR moon, why not be the first to walk on ANOTHER moon in our solar system? Sure, but which moon? The kids decide to compare the frozen moons Europa, which orbits Jupiter, and Enceladus, which orbits Saturn. They get help from Carrot and Celery, who fly them to each one, and Sean gets to walk on them. Curriculum: The gas giants Jupiter and Saturn each have around 60 moons - each of them unique. Interestingly, each gas giant has a frozen ice moon that contains a warmer liquid ocean under the surface: Jupiter's moon Europa, and Saturn's moon Enceladus. Each moon has its own similarities and differences. "Detective Mindy" - When Mitchell's mother declares the kitchen counter a "black hole" because she can't find her sunglasses and she's sure she left them there, Mitchell takes up the case of the black hole kitchen counter. As he's investigating, one by one, all the other kids get involved in his process. As they learn about what a black hole really is, Mitchell discovers that science holds enough mysteries to keep him busy for many years. Curriculum: Black holes are strange little holes in space that are like vacuum cleaners that use gravity (instead of suction) to suck things in. A black hole is what remains when a massive star dies. They send out no light and have very strong gravity. Once a planet or star has been sucked into the black hole, it cannot escape, and compresses to a very small size.

It's evening at the cul-de-sac, and the kids are looking at two asteroids through Sean's telescope - one is light-colored and one is dark. Meanwhile, Mitchell's dog Cody seems to have run away because he doesn't like the black sweater Mitchell put on him. The kids learn about how, just like asteroids, some things are easier to see in the dark than others, like a white card is easier to see than Cody's black sweater. This amount of brightness is called "albedo." The kids go to their local beach to surf, but notice that the beach looks completely different from the last time they stood there. There's way more sand, and the ocean is far away! They decide to be detectives and study what has happened, and learn that the larger and smaller beach is caused by the tides - the rising and falling of the ocean.

Asteroids, Meteors, and Meteorites - Sean is determined to beat his mystery competitor at a video game of "Astro-Tracker." When Face 9000 tells the kids about the Asteroid Belt, Sean realizes that the best way to learn about asteroids is to see them for himself. Celery flies them out to space, and the kids learn the difference between an asteroid, a meteor, and a meteorite. Worried at first, Sean learns that only the rare asteroid (called a meteorite) makes it all the way to Earth, so he decides that he'll become really good at "Astro-Tracker" to prepare for the future when he can be on a team of scientists who track rogue asteroids. Curriculum: Asteroids are small solar system bodies that orbit the Sun. Asteroids are similar to comets but do not have a visible coma (fuzzy outline and tail) like comets do. A meteor is a small asteroid that burns up as it passes through the Earth's atmosphere. A meteorite is a piece of asteroid that survives falling through the Earth's atmosphere and collides with the Earth's surface. Mindy's Meteorite Stand - When Mindy and Sunspot are digging in the yard, they discover a unique rock that Mindy is convinced is a meteorite. The kids conduct a series of tests to find out and amazingly the rock passes each test. "Meteorite fever" grips the neighborhood, as Mindy sets up a stand so people can see her meteorite, and bring her rocks to assess. In the end, a DSA scientist confirms that Mindy's rock actually isn't a meteor... but, wait, the random rock Mindy's sitting on is! Curriculum: Meteorites are pieces of space rocks (asteroids) that break up when they hit the Earth's atmosphere and fall in small pieces. Meteorites are older than any rock from Earth, and share certain characteristics: density (high), attraction to a magnet, and rust.

"Which Moon is Best?" - Sean wants to be the first to walk on a moon, like his hero Neil Armstrong. When Sydney points out that 12 astronauts have already walked on our Moon, Sean thinks that rather than be the 13th to walk on OUR moon, why not be the first to walk on ANOTHER moon in our solar system? Sure, but which moon? The kids decide to compare the frozen moons Europa, which orbits Jupiter, and Enceladus, which orbits Saturn. They get help from Carrot and Celery, who fly them to each one, and Sean gets to walk on them. Curriculum: The gas giants Jupiter and Saturn each have around 60 moons - each of them unique. Interestingly, each gas giant has a frozen ice moon that contains a warmer liquid ocean under the surface: Jupiter's moon Europa, and Saturn's moon Enceladus. Each moon has its own similarities and differences. "Detective Mindy" - When Mitchell's mother declares the kitchen counter a "black hole" because she can't find her sunglasses and she's sure she left them there, Mitchell takes up the case of the black hole kitchen counter. As he's investigating, one by one, all the other kids get involved in his process. As they learn about what a black hole really is, Mitchell discovers that science holds enough mysteries to keep him busy for many years. Curriculum: Black holes are strange little holes in space that are like vacuum cleaners that use gravity (instead of suction) to suck things in. A black hole is what remains when a massive star dies. They send out no light and have very strong gravity. Once a planet or star has been sucked into the black hole, it cannot escape, and compresses to a very small size.

Asteroids, Meteors, and Meteorites - Sean is determined to beat his mystery competitor at a video game of "Astro-Tracker." When Face 9000 tells the kids about the Asteroid Belt, Sean realizes that the best way to learn about asteroids is to see them for himself. Celery flies them out to space, and the kids learn the difference between an asteroid, a meteor, and a meteorite. Worried at first, Sean learns that only the rare asteroid (called a meteorite) makes it all the way to Earth, so he decides that he'll become really good at "Astro-Tracker" to prepare for the future when he can be on a team of scientists who track rogue asteroids. Curriculum: Asteroids are small solar system bodies that orbit the Sun. Asteroids are similar to comets but do not have a visible coma (fuzzy outline and tail) like comets do. A meteor is a small asteroid that burns up as it passes through the Earth's atmosphere. A meteorite is a piece of asteroid that survives falling through the Earth's atmosphere and collides with the Earth's surface. Mindy's Meteorite Stand - When Mindy and Sunspot are digging in the yard, they discover a unique rock that Mindy is convinced is a meteorite. The kids conduct a series of tests to find out and amazingly the rock passes each test. "Meteorite fever" grips the neighborhood, as Mindy sets up a stand so people can see her meteorite, and bring her rocks to assess. In the end, a DSA scientist confirms that Mindy's rock actually isn't a meteor... but, wait, the random rock Mindy's sitting on is! Curriculum: Meteorites are pieces of space rocks (asteroids) that break up when they hit the Earth's atmosphere and fall in small pieces. Meteorites are older than any rock from Earth, and share certain characteristics: density (high), attraction to a magnet, and rust.

Comet Fever - The neighborhood is having a star gazing party when Mindy discovers what may be a new comet. While Celery takes Jet, Sean, and Sydney out to space to get a close-up look at the comet, Carrot and Mindy decide to surprise the others and make their very own comet in the backyard using ingredients from home! Curriculum: A comet is an icy body that releases gas or dust. Comets are often compared to dirty snowballs. Occasionally a comet streaks through the inner solar system, creating quite a show! Asteroid Patrol - When Sean learns that asteroids are floating around the solar system (potentially), he decides to set up a homemade asteroid watch-station in the treehouse, and gets all the other kids involved. Eventually, Sean's mother and her colleague at the DSA help Sean and the others understand how scientists monitor the skies for asteroids, a job that Sean doesn't need to do all by himself. Curriculum: Asteroids are mostly found in the Asteroid Belt. Occasionally an asteroid can break away from the gravity of the Asteroid Belt and intersect with the orbit of the Earth. When a small asteroid enters the Earth's atmosphere, it becomes a meteor and burns up.

Carrot is about to turn 250 Bortronian years old, and the kids have set up a backyard circus to help him celebrate. They all notice that Earth's gravity makes it hard to perform their circus stunts, so they take the whole circus to the Moon, where its 1/6th gravity makes all their stunts much easier! It's Earth Day, and the kids are preparing posters for the big community celebration at the DSA. They decide to research their posters by traveling all around the Earth in Jet's family saucer and observing all the things that make Earth so special.

Mindy Pet-sits Sunspot - Sean, Sydney, Jet, and Carrot head out to view the Northern Lights. Mindy, upset she can't go, gets a boost - Sunspot stays back and agrees to let her be his pet-sitter. As the group in the saucer searches for, yet can't find, the Northern Lights, Sunspot and Mindy work on a backyard project - making their own amazing backyard "Northern Lights" display! Curriculum: Northern lights (aka, aurora borealis) are a natural, awesome phenomenon. The origin of the aurora begins when a cloud of gas is ejected from the Sun's surface. When it collides in Earth's atmosphere with oxygen and nitrogen, it produces dazzling auroral light. Treehouse ISS - When the kids realize that they all want to use the treehouse at the same time for different activities, arguments break out. Mindy tries to help by creating a schedule for each kid to use the treehouse alone. In the end, the kids realize they need each other's company and ideas in order to be successful in their own projects. In resolving their problem, the kids learn to think like the scientists on the International Space Station, who have to find a solution to the problem of getting along while doing different projects in a small space. Curriculum: The International Space Station (ISS) program is a great global human achievement in international cooperation. Countries work in partnership to support the experiments of scientists on the ISS, including observing space, growing plants in micro-gravity, and recording observations.

Sean is planning his first sleepout under the stars with his Space Scouts troop, but the weather is threatening, and it looks like his sleepout will be rained out. The kids get help from Mitchell , building a weather observation station to make a weather prediction, and visit the DSA for further help by tracking the weather with satellites. A total eclipse of the Sun is coming to Boxwood Terrace! The kids prepare a Total Eclipse song and dance to perform at the DSA, where the whole town is gathered for the event. Meanwhile, Sunspot attempts to explain the eclipse to all the local animals so they won't think it's night and sleep through it.

While making a cake, Carrot and Mindy find they are one are short one ingredient, so they head to the store. But Carrot accidentally pushes a wrong button on the wagon's newly-updated control panel, and they take off into outer space! Using a diagram, methodical experimentation, and record keeping, Mindy and Carrot figure out how to properly fly the saucer back home, where they finally finish the cake. Mindy has a problem: now that she's been to space with the bigger kids, she realizes how much there is out there to see! How can she decide where to explore next? Sydney asks her mom, Dr. Skelley, who presents them with the very first edition of Commander Cressida comics! In reading the comic book, Mindy comes to appreciate that she, like Commander Cressida, can explore space "one adventure at a time."

Carrot is about to turn 250 Bortronian years old, and the kids have set up a backyard circus to help him celebrate. They all notice that Earth's gravity makes it hard to perform their circus stunts, so they take the whole circus to the Moon, where its 1/6th gravity makes all their stunts much easier! It's Earth Day, and the kids are preparing posters for the big community celebration at the DSA. They decide to research their posters by traveling all around the Earth in Jet's family saucer and observing all the things that make Earth so special.

While making a cake, Carrot and Mindy find they are one are short one ingredient, so they head to the store. But Carrot accidentally pushes a wrong button on the wagon's newly-updated control panel, and they take off into outer space! Using a diagram, methodical experimentation, and record keeping, Mindy and Carrot figure out how to properly fly the saucer back home, where they finally finish the cake. Mindy has a problem: now that she's been to space with the bigger kids, she realizes how much there is out there to see! How can she decide where to explore next? Sydney asks her mom, Dr. Skelley, who presents them with the very first edition of Commander Cressida comics! In reading the comic book, Mindy comes to appreciate that she, like Commander Cressida, can explore space "one adventure at a time."

The kids can't play shadow tag because the Sun keeps going behind clouds. Mindy wants the sun to be out all the time! Face 9000 tells them about a system with not one, but three suns! That sounds like a place where there would be shadows all the time. Celery takes them to visit in the family saucer. Sean becomes an amateur magician called the Great Seanzo, dazzling the other kids with magnet tricks. Jet becomes fascinated by magnets, and they all explore the various things magnets can do, culminating in a magic magnet show for Carrot.

When a strange bird lands in Jet's yard, the kids learn it is a migrating Snow Goose who is using Jet's yard as a temporary stopping-off place. Several more Snow Geese arrive, and the kids set up an "observation station" to make notes about their migrating habits. Sean accidentally drops his beloved Neil Armstrong action figure into a large crack in the ground in the woods behind his house. The kids all work together to engineer some kind of robotic arm to reach down into the crack and rescue Neil!

As the kids get ready for Valentines Day by making their own valentines out of paper, Mindy continues to feel sad that little, frozen Pluto is so far out at the edge of the solar system. When Sydney shows Mindy a newly-downloaded, full-color image of Pluto as seen by the New Horizons spacecraft, Mindy is intrigued by Pluto's "heart" of ice. Mindy once again feels that Pluto deserves our love, since it's no longer considered a planet, but is orbiting out there at the edge of our solar system, like a big frozen Valentine. She asks Sydney to bring her own little hand-made Valentine to Pluto on her behalf. Sydney leads an expedition of the kids to Pluto to bring Mindy's Valentine, experience the frozen dwarf planet themselves, and bring back their report to Mindy. / Sydney is directing the kids in a backyard movie, making her version of a Commander Cressida story about the formation of a star. The other kids all have parts, but Sunspot has the lead - as the star! The kids' movie coincides with the celebration of a star being born near (a.k.a. 10 light years away from) Bortron 7!

"Diggin' Earth" - The kids try to dig into the Center of the Earth (a la Commander Cressida), but after finding out that the center is much too hot and the layer of Earth leading up to it is solid rock, they re-vamp their plans. They decide to become the kids to dig down the deepest into the Earth. Learning about the layers of the Earth inspires Jet to make an Earth Layer Cake. Curriculum: Earth's structure consists of molten nickel-iron core, magma mantle, and crust. The reason we can't easily dig down through to the core is because the Earth's crust is 10-30 miles thick! And made of really hard rock. Inside of that is the mantle. The core is nickel and iron, the heaviest stuff, which gravity pulls to the center. In fact, it gets so hot in the core that even the nickel and iron melt. "Mindy's Mystery" - Mindy can't sleep one night, having been kept awake by a sweet, strong smell from outside. Sydney, Sean, Jet, and Sunspot become detectives and try to crack the case of the sweet smell. At the same time, Mitchell is investigating what kept him up last night - a very bright "annoying" light. In the end, there's a common source - the sweet smell was from a nocturnal flower, the Moonflower, which only blooms at night, after sundown. And the bright light was from the Moon! Curriculum: Moonflowers are nocturnal bloomers. After sunset as the Moon rises, these huge white flowers bloom, emit a very sweet smell, and glow in the moonlight. In the morning, they close their fragrant blooms. Moonflowers' scent attracts the night moths that feed on their nectar. Moonlight doesn't originate on the Moon. The Moon (like the planets) shines by reflected Sunlight. The Sun, of course, only lights up 1/2 of the Moon - the half that is facing the Sun.

"Tiny Blue Dot" - A rollicking, song-filled recap of the Propulsion family's mission to Earth - as intergalactic travel writers, they really know their way around the Milky Way, and know the difference between a lovely, livable "Goldilocks Planet" like Earth, and the other, way less-livable planets! Curriculum: The Earth is a very rare and wonderful planet in the vastness of space, with its ideal size, its distance from its sun, its breathable atmosphere, liquid oceans, and ability to sustain life. "Earth Camping" - Mr. Petersen and Mitchell go camping with Carrot and Jet. The two dads have opposite approaches to setting up tents and preparing food, but when the dads get off track during a hike, the boys help them all find their way back using the compass, and the skills they've learned from their dads (turns out the kids were paying attention all along!). Curriculum: We can find our place outdoors by understanding how to find direction - north, south, east, and west. The Sun rises in the east and sets in the west. A compass uses the Earth's magnetic field to find which way is north (the small magnet inside the compass is drawn by the Earth's magnetism to point to the north pole).

As the kids get ready for Valentines Day by making their own valentines out of paper, Mindy continues to feel sad that little, frozen Pluto is so far out at the edge of the solar system. When Sydney shows Mindy a newly-downloaded, full-color image of Pluto as seen by the New Horizons spacecraft, Mindy is intrigued by Pluto's "heart" of ice. Mindy once again feels that Pluto deserves our love, since it's no longer considered a planet, but is orbiting out there at the edge of our solar system, like a big frozen Valentine. She asks Sydney to bring her own little hand-made Valentine to Pluto on her behalf. Sydney leads an expedition of the kids to Pluto to bring Mindy's Valentine, experience the frozen dwarf planet themselves, and bring back their report to Mindy. / Sydney is directing the kids in a backyard movie, making her version of a Commander Cressida story about the formation of a star. The other kids all have parts, but Sunspot has the lead - as the star! The kids' movie coincides with the celebration of a star being born near (a.k.a. 10 light years away from) Bortron 7!

"Tiny Blue Dot" - A rollicking, song-filled recap of the Propulsion family's mission to Earth - as intergalactic travel writers, they really know their way around the Milky Way, and know the difference between a lovely, livable "Goldilocks Planet" like Earth, and the other, way less-livable planets! Curriculum: The Earth is a very rare and wonderful planet in the vastness of space, with its ideal size, its distance from its sun, its breathable atmosphere, liquid oceans, and ability to sustain life. "Earth Camping" - Mr. Petersen and Mitchell go camping with Carrot and Jet. The two dads have opposite approaches to setting up tents and preparing food, but when the dads get off track during a hike, the boys help them all find their way back using the compass, and the skills they've learned from their dads (turns out the kids were paying attention all along!). Curriculum: We can find our place outdoors by understanding how to find direction - north, south, east, and west. The Sun rises in the east and sets in the west. A compass uses the Earth's magnetic field to find which way is north (the small magnet inside the compass is drawn by the Earth's magnetism to point to the north pole).

"So Many Moons" - When Mindy is concerned that the possible addition of a younger sibling to her family might be a challenge, Jet says imagine having a family with more than 60 siblings! That's what it's like for the 67 moons of Jupiter. Curriculum: Kids may think that a planet would only have one moon, maybe two. But the larger outer planets, the gas giants, have many moons - Jupiter and Saturn leading the count with more than 60 moons each! What's more, the moons of Jupiter are not all just round, gray rocks - they are extremely varied, from volcanic Io, covered with volcanic activity; to Europa, with an icy surface covering an underground ocean; to Ganymede, a moon so large it's actually bigger than the planet Mercury! "Project Pluto" - When Mindy is excited about presenting her kid model of Pluto for school show and tell, the other kids don't want to disappoint her by breaking the news to her that Pluto is not a planet. Curriculum: Pluto is no longer considered a planet; astronomers in the scientific community re-classified Pluto as a planetoid. It is one of five "planetoids," or "dwarf planets. There are three criteria a celestial body must meet in order to be considered a planet: it must orbit the Sun, have enough mass, and "clear the neighborhood."

Sunspot begins acting strangely, and Jet fears that he is sick. Carrot and Celery examine him, and decide that he's acting strange because of a large sunspot on the Sun. The only way to cure him is to bring him to the Sun, and get him close to the huge sunspot. Mindy wants to have a sleepover outside with her friend Lillian, but it's winter and too cold to sleep outside under the stars. Sean points out that they are under the light of a star all the time - our Sun! Mindy learns that our Sun is a star, just like the tiny ones we see at night.

"Sunspot and the Great Red Spot" - Sunspot is determined to get to Jupiter to meet his fellow pet aliens, other members of the Red Spot Club. The Club is thousands of years old. They meet annually at an exact time to observe and celebrate the Red Spot. But, mechanical problems with the family wagon/saucer may thwart the trip. The kids and Celery do everything they can to get Sunspot to Jupiter and his Red Spot Club meet-up. Curriculum: The Great Red Spot is an enormous, high-pressure storm akin to an Earth hurricane that has been raging on the surface of Jupiter for at least 400 years. "Uncle Zucchini Babysits" - Uncle Zucchini finally gets to Earth for a visit, just as the Propulsion parents are called away on a work assignment. Uncle Zucchini volunteers to watch the kids. In the process of helping the kids coax Sunspot into taking a bath, Uncle Zucchini learns about the three states of water (solid, liquid, and gas). Curriculum: What is water and how does it change from one form to another? Water exists in three different states: solid, liquid, and gas. Clouds, snow, and rain are all made up of some form of water. Temperature and pressure can change water from solid (ice) to liquid (wet) to gas (vapor).

When Astronaut Ellen Ochoa comes to visit the DSA and review an engineering project, she runs into the kids, who are running Sean's lemonade stand to raise money for a rocket to Mars. They end up hanging out with her before her DSA meeting. They solve an engineering problem together, which inspires Ellen to use the same solution with the engineering project at the DSA.

Sean's nervousness about flying out to visit the remote Neptune is soothed by Jet's suggestion - an improvised, fun "Neptune tune." It works as our kids, Sunspot, and Celery fly to the faraway eighth planet! / When the kids discover that they've missed all 63 of Jet's Bortronian birthdays, they decide to celebrate the one-year anniversary of him landing on Earth instead... with an "Earthday birthday" surprise party!

The kids can't play shadow tag because the Sun keeps going behind clouds. Mindy wants the sun to be out all the time! Face 9000 tells them about a system with not one, but three suns! That sounds like a place where there would be shadows all the time. Celery takes them to visit in the family saucer. Sean becomes an amateur magician called the Great Seanzo, dazzling the other kids with magnet tricks. Jet becomes fascinated by magnets, and they all explore the various things magnets can do, culminating in a magic magnet show for Carrot.

When Astronaut Ellen Ochoa comes to visit the DSA and review an engineering project, she runs into the kids, who are running Sean's lemonade stand to raise money for a rocket to Mars. They end up hanging out with her before her DSA meeting. They solve an engineering problem together, which inspires Ellen to use the same solution with the engineering project at the DSA.

Jet, Sydney, Sean, and Sunspot join Celery as she competes against her brother, Uncle Zucchini, in an "Earthie-style race with a winner"! The race is tight until Celery uses the kids' proposed secret "strategy" - a "gravity assist" off of Jupiter, to increase their saucer speed, and win! / Jet uses his Bortronian skills to test his first experimental Time Machine so he and his Earthie friends can go back to an exact time - 3 minutes earlier - in order to see a spectacular moment in a meteor shower that they missed. A mistake happens the first time, so he keeps trying to go back in time to fix the first mistake, but more mistakes keep happening and snowball into hilarity.

Carrot is about to turn 250 Bortronian years old, and the kids have set up a backyard circus to help him celebrate. They all notice that Earth's gravity makes it hard to perform their circus stunts, so they take the whole circus to the Moon, where its 1/6th gravity makes all their stunts much easier! It's Earth Day, and the kids are preparing posters for the big community celebration at the DSA. They decide to research their posters by traveling all around the Earth in Jet's family saucer and observing all the things that make Earth so special.

Mindy's mom has gradually been giving Mindy permission to go a little bit farther in the neighborhood on her own, and Mindy is trying to map out exactly what her boundaries are. Sean compares her "Mindyspere" to the helisophere-the boundaries of the Sun's influence. The kids get Celery to fly them out past the heliosphere into true interstellar space. Back on Earth, they make their own Voyager 1 (out of a wagon) and take Mindy to the outermost edges of the Mindysphere! / Sydney knows a lot about Boxwood Terrace's early history, and she tells Jet stories about a local pioneer who went by the nickname "Lone Star." He got that name because he was an early astronomer who liked the hills of Boxwood Terrace for their excellent views of the night sky, and built the first Observatory on the hill that now sits at the center of the Deep Space Array. As Jet imagines Sydney's story of Lone Star, the kids turn the story into a Western-flavored musical.