The recent explosion of an unmanned space rocket on the way to the International Space Station also destroyed an experiment being conducted by a group of middle school students from Tennessee.

The students had hoped to measure the effects of micro-gravity on antibiotics until a failed strut caused SpaceX’s Falcon 9 to explode three minutes after its June 28 launch in Cape Canaveral, Fla.

Another group of Tennessee students also lost an experiment aboard Orbital Science Corp.’s Cygnus, an unmanned spacecraft that exploded shortly after liftoff at the flight facility on Virginia’s Eastern Shore in October 2014.

Orbital and SpaceX are the two corporations hired to haul cargo and eventually astronauts to the International Space Station.

These setbacks and the real-life STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) lessons the Tennessee students learned remind us of the great learning resources available through NASA’s website. With the New Horizons interplanetary space probe recently reaching the dwarf planet of Pluto, students are bound to become even more interested in space exploration this school year.

Five of the education resources from NASA particularly useful for Achievement House Cyber Charter School students and teachers:

1. NASA social media

NASA TV via Ustream also airs live streaming video 24 hours a day.

2. Pluto 101

With New Horizons reaching Pluto after a 10-year journey, NASA has an abundance of resources available, including a series of short videos on YouTube about the dwarf planet. Visit the main Pluto web page for classroom and student project ideas.

3. Search for education resources

For other innovative classroom ideas, search NASA’s database based on grade level, type of resource or subject. Types of resources include bookmarks, educator guides, websites, posters, brochures and video clips. Subjects include mathematics, physical science, space science, earth science, general science and history.

4. Educational opportunities

NASA offers a wide range of learning opportunities for teachers and students through webinars and live events. Students can explore careers, contests, internships, fellowships and scholarships through NASA’s one-stop shopping initiative.

5. NASA Digital Learning Network (DLN)

This free interactive video and web conferencing program is in a transition period as of June 1, 2015, but it continues to offer its top ten learning modules: “Our Planet Earth,” “The Moon,” “Humans in Space,” “Our Solar Neighborhood,” “A View from the Top,” “Our Magnificent Sun,” “Wall-E,” “States of Matter,” “Toys in Space” and “DLNIntro Module.”