Month: March 2024

March-April 2024: The Next Full Moon is the Crow, Crust, Sap, Sugar, or Worm Moon

NeRD

29 Min Read March-April 2024: The Next Full Moon is the Crow, Crust, Sap, Sugar, or Worm Moon A full moon rises over Utah. Credits: NASA/Bill Dunford The next full moon is the Crow, Crust, Sap, Sugar, or Worm Moon; the Paschal Moon; Purim; the Holi Festival Moon; Madin Poya; the Pothole Moon; a Micromoon, and a Partial Lunar Eclipse. The next full moon will be on Monday morning, March 25, 2024, appearing opposite the Sun in Earth-based longitude at 3 AM EDT. This will be on Sunday evening from…

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Planet Sizes and Locations in Our Solar System

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1 min read Planet Sizes and Locations in Our Solar System The eight planets and dwarf planet Pluto. NASA Our solar system has eight planets, and five officially recognized dwarf planets. Which planet is biggest? Which is smallest? What is the order of the planets as we move out from the Sun? This is a simple guide to the sizes of planets based on the equatorial diameter – or width – at the equator of each planet. Each planet’s width is compared to Earth’s equatorial diameter, which is about 7,926…

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‘Them space drugs cooked real good:’ Varda Space just made an HIV medicine in Earth orbit

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On Feb. 21, after some seven months in space, Varda Space Industries’ W-1 capsule successfully returned to Earth, carrying with it a unique payload: the HIV/AIDS medication ritonavir.  Varda Space seeks to autonomously manufacture pharmaceuticals in microgravity, a strategy that could ultimately reduce the cost of life-saving drugs — and, according to a new preprint paper, the company is one step closer to achieving that goal. The W-1 mission sought to test the feasibility of making therapeutics in space, testing Varda’s hardware off Earth for the first time. During its time…

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NASA Awards Safety, Mission Assurance Engineering Contract

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NASA has selected Science Applications International Corporation of Reston, Virginia, for safety and mission assurance support at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, and White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico. The Safety and Mission Assurance Engineering Contract III (SMAEC) is an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract with the ability to issue cost-plus-award-fee and fixed price task orders. The contract begins June 1 with a five-year base period, followed by two one-year options, with possible extensions of services through November 2031. The total maximum value of the contract is approximately $494 million. The…

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Meet the Two Women Leading Space Station Science

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The International Space Station provides researchers access to the unique features of low Earth orbit: long-duration microgravity, exposure to space, and a one-of-a-kind perspective of our planet. These special attributes enable scientists to conduct innovative experiments that can’t be done anywhere else. Employees in the International Space Station Research Integration Office at NASA’s Johnson Space Center help enable and execute the research opportunities only available on board the space station with a wide variety of researchers. They also look out for and coordinate new partnerships with international partners, academic organizations,…

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Langley Celebrates Women’s History Month: The Langley ASIA-AQ Team

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13 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) In honor of Women’s History Month, we caught up with the ASIA-AQ team on the other side of the Earth and asked the women from Langley about their inspirations and challenges as scientists. The ASIA-AQ (Airborne and Satellite Investigation of Asian Air Quality) mission is an international cooperative field study designed to address local air quality challenges. ASIA-AQ will contribute to improving the integration of satellite observations with existing air quality ground monitoring and modeling efforts across Asia. Langley’s…

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Unveiling the Sun: NASA’s Open Data Approach to Solar Eclipse Research

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3 min read Unveiling the Sun: NASA’s Open Data Approach to Solar Eclipse Research A total solar eclipse is seen on Monday, August 21, 2017 above Madras, Oregon. A total solar eclipse swept across a narrow portion of the contiguous United States from Lincoln Beach, Oregon to Charleston, South Carolina. A partial solar eclipse was visible across the entire North American continent along with parts of South America, Africa, and Europe. NASA/Aubrey Gemignani As the world eagerly anticipates the upcoming total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024, NASA is preparing…

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NASA’s Artemis IV: Building First Lunar Space Station

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NASA and its partners are developing the foundational systems needed for long-term exploration at the Moon for the benefit of all with NASA’s Artemis campaign. Following the Artemis III mission that will land the first people near the Moon’s South Pole, astronauts on Artemis IV will live and work in humanity’s first lunar space station, Gateway, which will enable new opportunities for science and preparation for human missions to Mars. The mission will bring together an intricate choreography of multiple launches and spacecraft dockings in lunar orbit, and will feature…

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International Space Station Program Deputy Chief Scientist Meghan Everett

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“One of my cornerstone pinnacles [is], ‘Show up to work [and] life with integrity and intent.’ So, accomplish your goals with integrity, intent, and a mission. Stick to that and have the confidence to do that, and be OK with messing up and failing, and have fun with those things.” — Meghan Everett, International Space Station Program Deputy Chief Scientist, NASA’s Johnson Space Center

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I Am Artemis: Mat Bevill

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Mat Bevill, the associate chief engineer for NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) Program, stands in front of a four-segment solid rocket booster that powered the space shuttle at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.  NASA/Brandon Hancock Significant events in history keep finding Mat Bevill. As the associate chief engineer for NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) Program, Bevill assists the program chief engineer by interfacing with each of the element chief engineers and helping make critical decisions for the development and flight of the SLS mega rocket that will…

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