Author: NeRD

SpaceX’s next Dragon cargo ship launch for NASA will lift off on April 21

NeRD

NASA’s next special delivery to the International Space Station has a launch date, but it’s going to be one for early-birds. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch an uncrewed Dragon cargo ship packed with tons of supplies on Monday, April 21, from the historic Pad 39A of NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Liftoff is set for 4:15 a.m. EDT (0815 GMT), making it a predawn launch. “Along with food and essential equipment for the crew, Dragon is delivering a variety of experiments, including a demonstration of…

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Hubble Helps Determine Uranus’ Rotation Rate with Unprecedented Precision

NeRD

Explore Hubble Hubble Home Overview About Hubble The History of Hubble Hubble Timeline Why Have a Telescope in Space? Hubble by the Numbers At the Museum FAQs Impact & Benefits Hubble’s Impact & Benefits Science Impacts Cultural Impact Technology Benefits Impact on Human Spaceflight Astro Community Impacts Science Hubble Science Science Themes Science Highlights Science Behind Discoveries Hubble’s Partners in Science Universe Uncovered Explore the Night Sky Observatory Hubble Observatory Hubble Design Mission Operations Missions to Hubble Hubble vs Webb Team Hubble Team Career Aspirations Hubble Astronauts News Hubble News…

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Expedition 73 Crew Launches to International Space Station

NeRD

NASA/Joel Kowsky A Soyuz rocket launches to the International Space Station with Expedition 73 crew members including NASA astronaut Jonny Kim on Tuesday, April 8, 2025, at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The crew arrived at the space station the same day, bringing the number of residents to 10 for the next two weeks. Expedition 73 will begin on Saturday, April 19, following the departure of NASA astronaut Don Pettit and Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner, as they conclude a seven-month science mission aboard the orbiting laboratory. Throughout…

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NASA Science Supports Data Literacy for K-12 Students

NeRD

Explore This Section Science Science Activation NASA Science Supports Data… Overview Learning Resources Science Activation Teams SME Map Opportunities More Science Activation Stories Citizen Science   3 min read NASA Science Supports Data Literacy for K-12 Students Data – and our ability to understand and use it – shapes nearly every aspect of our world, from decisions in our lives to the skills we need in the workplace and more. All of us, as either producers or consumers of data, will experience how it can be used to problem-solve and…

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Sols 4505-4506: Up, up and onto the Devil’s Gate 

NeRD

Curiosity Navigation Curiosity Home Mission Overview Where is Curiosity? Mission Updates Science Overview Instruments Highlights Exploration Goals News and Features Multimedia Curiosity Raw Images Images Videos Audio Mosaics More Resources Mars Missions Mars Sample Return Mars Perseverance Rover Mars Curiosity Rover MAVEN Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Mars Odyssey More Mars Missions Mars Home 3 min read Sols 4505-4506: Up, up and onto the Devil’s Gate  This image was taken by Left Navigation Camera onboard NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity on Sol 4503 (2025-04-07 00:33:50 UTC). NASA/JPL-Caltech Written by Catherine O’Connell-Cooper, Planetary Geologist at University of New…

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We now know the shape of notorious asteroid 2024 YR4 that dominated headlines recently — it’s probably ‘suburban,’ too

NeRD

The asteroid 2024 YR4 — the one that caused a stir earlier this year due to its potential collision course with Earth — has a surprising tale to tell. A new study reports that this space rock likely hails from the central region of the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter — a cosmic “suburb” scientists don’t typically associate with asteroids that cross paths with our planet. Shortly after its discovery late last year, astronomers calculated that 2024 YR4 had a 1.3% chance (1-in-83) of impacting Earth in December…

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How to watch Jared Isaacman’s NASA chief confirmation hearing in the Senate on April 9

NeRD

American billionaire Jared Isaacman heads to Capitol Hill this week for a Senate confirmation hearing on whether he’ll take NASA’s top job, and you can watch it live online. Jared Isaacman, President Donald Trump’s nominee to serve as the next NASA Administrator, will appear before the Senate on Wednesday (April 9) during a hearing with the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. The hearing will begin at 10 a.m. EDT (1400 GMT) and you’ll be able to watch it live directly from a Senate webcast or on the NASA+ streaming…

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Black holes as batteries: Could humanity ever harness the energy of these cosmic titans?

NeRD

Humans are quite rightly fascinated by black holes, but could we ever harness them as an energy source? New research poses this question in order to explore some of the most wonderous cosmic events. Black holes are bounded by outer barriers called event horizons that prevent us from ever viewing their interiors or their hearts, singularities at which all known laws of physics collapse. This means black holes couldn’t be more mysterious. Black holes are also unlike anything found on Earth or in the solar system in another respect: their…

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Welcome to the Mission Support Directorate (MSD)

NeRD

2 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Portrait of David Mitchell, Thursday, Jan. 27, 2022, NASA Headquarters Mary W. Jackson building in Washington. NASA/Bill Ingalls David Mitchell, the Associate Administrator for MSD.    Have you ever wondered how NASA manages to achieve all the incredible missions it does, like probing the Sun and studying the history of our Universe? We do it through teamwork, one of our core values. And an essential part of NASA’s team is what we call Mission Support. Mission Support makes sure NASA’s…

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Sixty Years in Canberra: NASA’s Deep Space Network

NeRD

NASA Deep Space Station 43 (DSS-43), a 230-foot-wide (70-meter-wide) radio antenna at NASA’s Deep Space Network facility in Canberra, Australia, is seen in this March 4, 2020, image. DSS-43 was more than six times as sensitive as the original antenna at the Canberra complex, so it could communicate with spacecraft at greater distances from Earth. In fact, Canberra is the only complex that can send commands to, and receive data from, Voyager 2 as it heads south almost 13 billion miles (21 billion kilometers) through interstellar space. More than 15 billion miles…

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