“This is why [Aubrey Gemignani] and I started Faces of NASA: We wanted to make that connection. It’s not just rockets, astronauts, and telescopes. Hundreds of thousands of people come together to make these missions possible, and that’s the part that’s really interesting for me.” – Thalia Patrinos, Communications Strategist, PCI Productions, NASA Headquarters
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Three-time Spacewalker Josh Cassada to Retire from NASA
Oct. 1, 2024 NASA astronaut Josh Cassada holds a roll-out solar array as he rides the Canadarm2 robotic arm during a spacewalk in support of the Expedition 68 mission aboard the International Space Station on Dec. 3, 2022. Credit: NASA Three-time Spacewalker Josh Cassada to Retire from NASA NASA astronaut Josh Cassada retired Oct. 1, after 11 years of service to the agency across multiple programs, including 157 days in space and three spacewalks. Cassada also is a retired United States Navy captain and naval aviator with more than two…
Read MoreNASA’s SpaceX Crew-8 Concludes Space Station Scientific Mission
6 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) NASA astronauts Michael Barratt, Matthew Dominick, and Jeanette Epps and Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin are returning to Earth after months aboard the International Space Station conducting scientific experiments and technology demonstrations for the agency’s SpaceX Crew-8 mission. The four launched on March 3 aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Here’s a look at some scientific milestones accomplished during their mission: Revealing resistant microorganisms NASA astronaut Jeanette Epps extracts DNA for the Genomic Enumeration…
Read MoreThe Milky Way’s 2 biggest satellite galaxies are oddly lonely, study finds
The Milky Way’s system of small, orbiting satellite galaxies is quite unusual, a new 12-year study of other galaxies in the local universe has found. The Satellites Around Galactic Analogs (SAGA) survey is being conducted by a small group of astronomers to learn how the Milky Way and its little retinue of dwarf satellite galaxies compares to other galaxy systems. “The Milky Way’s satellite population is a unique combination of small satellites containing only older stars, and its two largest satellites, which are actively forming new stars,” says Marla Geha,…
Read MoreNASA Continues Advancing STEM for Students Through New Partnership
2 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) President and CEO of the Hispanic Heritage Foundation Jose Antonio Tijerino, left, and NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy, sign a Space Act Agreement between the HHF and NASA to collaborate and expand STEM opportunities for Latino K-12 and university students and reduce barriers to agency activities and opportunities, Monday, Sept. 30, 2024, at the NASA Headquarters Mary W. Jackson Building in Washington. NASA/Bill Ingalls During an event at NASA Headquarters in Washington Monday, the agency and the Hispanic Heritage…
Read MoreHeart tissues beat half as strongly on the ISS as they do on Earth
What effects does spaceflight have on an astronaut’s heart? This is exactly the question that prompted scientists from Johns Hopkins University to send 48 bioengineered heart tissue samples to the International Space Station, where they were monitored for 30 days and compared to identical samples on Earth. The team examined how low gravity impacts things like the cells’ strength of contraction, known as twitch forces, and any irregular beating patterns. The results were concerning — the scientists found that heart cells “really don’t fare well in space,” beating with about…
Read MoreNASA Invites Media to Preview its Museum Earth Information Center
Space for Earth is an immersive experience that is part of the Earth Information Center. Credit: NASA Media is invited to preview and interview NASA leadership ahead of the opening of the Earth Information Center at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History at 10 a.m. EDT, Monday, Oct. 7. The 2,000-square-foot exhibit includes a 32-foot-long, 12-foot-high video wall displaying Earth science data visualizations and videos, an interpretive panel showing Earth’s connected systems, information on our changing world, and an overview of how NASA and the Smithsonian study our home…
Read MoreNASA Seeks Innovators for Lunar Waste Competition
4 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) By Savannah Bullard A new NASA competition, the LunaRecycle Challenge, is open and offering $3 million in prizes for innovations in recycling material waste on deep space missions. As NASA continues efforts toward long-duration human space travel, including building a sustained human presence on the Moon through its Artemis missions, the agency needs novel solutions for processing inorganic waste streams like food packaging, discarded clothing, and science experiment materials. While previous efforts focused on the reduction of trash mass…
Read MoreVan Gogh’s ‘Starry Night’ surprisingly adheres to the laws of physics, scientists find
Vincent van Gogh’s “The Starry Night” is undoubtedly one of the most famous paintings in the world, instantly recognizable for its vibrant colors and dramatic brushstrokes that create what appears to be a sky in motion. But did you know that its night sky depiction actually follows the real laws of physics? While the scene does take liberty in terms of what our eyes witness in the sky — we don’t necessarily see eddies dancing between the stars — scientists have determined those eddies indeed adhere to the laws of turbulent flow.…
Read MoreNASA Astronaut Tracy C. Dyson to Discuss Science, Station Mission
NASA astronaut Tracy C. Dyson works on a computer inside the International Space Station. Credit: NASA NASA astronaut Tracy C. Dyson will share details of her recent six-month mission aboard the International Space Station in a news conference at 11 a.m. EDT Friday, Oct. 4, at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. The news conference will air live on NASA+ and the agency’s website. Learn how to stream NASA content through a variety of platforms, including social media. Media interested in participating in person must contact the NASA Johnson newsroom no…
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