Author: NeRD

GLOBE, NASA, and the Monsignor McClancy Memorial High School in Queens, New York

NeRD

Explore This Section Science Science Activation GLOBE, NASA, and the Monsignor… Overview Learning Resources Science Activation Teams SME Map Opportunities More Science Activation Stories Citizen Science   4 min read GLOBE, NASA, and the Monsignor McClancy Memorial High School in Queens, New York When students actively participate in scientific investigations that connect to their everyday lives, something powerful happens: they begin to see themselves as scientists. This sense of relevance and ownership can spark a lifelong interest in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), paving the way for continued education…

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NASA Measures Moonlight to Improve Earth Observations

NeRD

The airborne Lunar Spectral Irradiance (air-LUSI) instrument is moved across the hangar floor by robotic engineer Alexander McCafferty-Leroux ,from right to left, co-investigator Dr. John Woodward, NIST astronomer Dr. Susana Deustua, air-LUSI chief system engineer Dr. Kathleen “Kat” Scanlon, and members of the ER-2 ground crew at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, in March 2025. NASA/Genaro Vavuris Flying high above the clouds and moon-gazing may sound like a scene from a timeless romance, but NASA did just that in the name of Earth science research. In March…

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Have We Been to Uranus? We Asked a NASA Expert: Episode 56

NeRD

2 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Have we ever been to Uranus? The answer is simple, yes, but only once. The Voyager II spacecraft flew by the planet Uranus back in 1986, during a golden era when the Voyager spacecraft explored all four giant planets of our solar system. It revealed an extreme world, a planet that had been bowled over onto its side by some extreme cataclysm early in the formation of the solar system. That means that its seasons and its magnetic field…

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Linear Sand Dunes in the Great Sandy Desert

NeRD

In northwest Australia, the Great Sandy Desert holds great geological interest as a zone of active sand dune movement. While a variety of dune forms appear across the region, this astronaut photograph features numerous linear dunes (about 25 meters high) separated in a roughly regular fashion (0.5 to 1.5 kilometers apart).

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Station Nation: Meet Nick Kopp, SpaceX Dragon Flight Lead 

NeRD

Nick Kopp is a Dragon flight lead in the Transportation Integration Office at Johnson Space Center in Houston. He is currently leading NASA’s efforts to prepare, launch, and return the agency’s 32nd SpaceX commercial resupply services mission. He works directly with SpaceX and collaborates with NASA’s many internal, external, and international partners to ensure the success of this and other cargo missions to the International Space Station.  Read on to learn about his career with NASA and more!  Nick Kopp’s official portrait. NASA/Bill Stafford The time and effort spent building,…

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NASA’s SpaceX 32nd Resupply Mission Launches New Research to Station

NeRD

4 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) NASA and SpaceX are launching the company’s 32nd commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station later this month, bringing a host of new research to the orbiting laboratory. Aboard the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft are experiments focused on vision-based navigation, spacecraft air quality, materials for drug and product manufacturing, and advancing plant growth with less reliance on photosynthesis. This and other research conducted aboard the space station advances future space exploration, including missions to the Moon and Mars,…

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Launch of Amazon’s 1st Kuiper internet satellites delayed by bad weather

NeRD

Amazon may be a whiz at fast online deliveries, but the massive company will have to wait to launch the first satellites of its new space internet constellation after bad weather thwarted a liftoff on Wednesday night. A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket attempted to launch 27 of Amazon’s first Project Kuiper internet satellites to orbit from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on April 9, but persistent clouds near the pad violated launch rules, ULA officials said. “It is confirmed that we will not continue with the Amazon…

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SpaceX to launch new Intuitive Machines moon lander, lunar satellites in 2027

NeRD

Intuitive Machines may have crashed its latest moon lander on the lunar surface, but that’s not keeping the company down for long. The Houston-based company has picked SpaceX to launch IM-4, its fourth moon lander, on a Falcon 9 rocket in 2027 alongside two relay satellites for a NASA lunar communications network. The news comes just weeks after the company’s IM-2 moon lander crashed near the moon’s south pole, and as the firm continues work on its third moon lander (yes, it’s called IM-3), which is expected to launch in…

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NASA’s Juno Back to Normal Operations After Entering Safe Mode

NeRD

3 min read NASA’s Juno Back to Normal Operations After Entering Safe Mode NASA’s Juno flies above Jupiter’s Great Red Spot in this artist’s concept. NASA/JPL-Caltech The spacecraft was making its 71st close approach to Jupiter when it unexpectedly entered into a precautionary status. Data received from NASA’s Juno mission indicates the solar-powered spacecraft went into safe mode twice on April 4 while the spacecraft was flying by Jupiter. Safe mode is a precautionary status that a spacecraft enters when it detects an anomaly. Nonessential functions are suspended, and the…

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