Author: NeRD

Hubble Examines Stars Ensconced in a Cocoon of Gas

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…

Read More

This Week In Space podcast: Episode 151 — In Search of Alien Megastructures

NeRD

In Search of Alien Megastructures – With Former NASA Chief Scientist, Dr. Jim Green – YouTube Watch On On Episode 151 of This Week In Space, Rod Pyle and Tariq Malik talk with former NASA Chief Scientist Jim Green about how we can search for technosignatures that might indicate advanced civilizations in other star systems, new ideas on Mars sample return, and his fascinating experience consulting on the movie, “The Martian!” Also: this week’s robotic landings on the Moon — one successful, one partly so; what’s up with the USAF…

Read More

New ‘Starman’ documentary shines light on NASA JPL legend Gentry Lee

NeRD

Gentry Lee, the certified Hall of Famer engineer from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and distinguished science fiction author, is getting his time in the spotlight in a new documentary on his life launching at the SXSW 2025 Film Festival in Austin this weekend. Written and directed by award-winning filmmaker Robert Stone, “Starman” is an 85-minute exploration of Lee’s experience working in the arena of interplanetary exploration as the Chief Engineer for the Solar System Exploration Directorate at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, and we’ve got an exclusive clip…

Read More

For NASA astronauts on a 10-day space mission that lasted 9 months, a landing date at last

NeRD

Two NASA astronauts who launched on a short mission to the International Space Station last year that turned into a 9-month marathon finally know when they’ll be coming home. The Boeing Starliner astronauts, who launched on the spacecraft’s Crewed Flight Test on June 5, have been living aboard the International Space Station (ISS) ever since after their capsule returned to Earth without them. On Friday (March 7), NASA cleared a relief crew to launch on SpaceX Dragon next week, setting the stage for their long-awaited return to Earth. NASA astronauts…

Read More

FAA investigating SpaceX Starship Flight 8 explosion that disrupted commercial flights

NeRD

SpaceX’s latest Starship to attempt to reach space exploded nine minutes after its launch this week, leaving a trail of debris in its wake. Airports in Florida were forced to halt flights as the threat from impacts extended south to the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos Islands. Now the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is again requiring SpaceX to perform a mishap investigation into what led its eighth Starship test flight to end with a loss of the vehicle. The rocket launched toward space Thursday (March 7) from SpaceX’s Starbase facility…

Read More

Scientists discover Earth’s oldest impact crater in Australia

NeRD

Geologists have discovered the world’s oldest known impact crater; it sits in the heart of Western Australia’s ancient Pilbara region. An analysis of rock layers in the region suggests a crater at least 62 miles (100 kilometers) wide was carved after a large space rock struck Earth roughly 3.47 billion years ago, when our planet was almost completely covered in water. The discovery pushes back the record for the oldest impact crater on Earth by more than 1 billion years — the previous record holder, the Yarrabubba impact structure, also…

Read More

NASA Earns Best Place to Work in Government for 13th Consecutive Year 

NeRD

NASA’s Worm logo is displayed in front of the agency’s headquarters in Washington. Credit: NASA For the 13th straight year, NASA has earned the title of Best Place to Work in the Federal Government – large agency – from the Partnership for Public Service. The ranking reflects employee satisfaction and workplace elements across the agency while executing NASA’s mission to explore the unknown and discover new knowledge for the benefit of humanity.  “NASA’s greatest asset has always been its people – those who rise to the challenge of leading in…

Read More

Cosmic Mapmaker: NASA’s SPHEREx Space Telescope Ready to Launch

NeRD

6 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Ahead of launch, NASA’s SPHEREx is enclosed in a payload fairing at Vandenberg Space Force Base on March 2. The observatory is stacked atop the four small satellites that make up the agency’s PUNCH mission. NASA/BAE Systems/Benjamin Fry NASA’s latest space observatory is targeting a March 8 liftoff, and the agency’s PUNCH heliophysics mission is sharing a ride. Here’s what to expect during launch and beyond. In a little over a day, NASA’s SPHEREx space telescope is slated to…

Read More

NASA Receives Some Data Before Intuitive Machines Ends Lunar Mission

NeRD

Intuitive Machines’ IM-2 captured an image March 6, 2025, after landing in a crater from the Moon’s South Pole. The lunar lander is on its side about 820 feet from the intended landing site, Mons Mouton. In the center of the image between the two lander legs is the Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment 1 suite, which shows the drill deployed. Credit: Intuitive Machines Shortly after touching down inside a crater on the Moon, carrying NASA technology and science on its IM-2 mission, Intuitive Machines collected some data for the…

Read More

NASA Astronaut Tracy Dyson Speaks to Students

NeRD

NASA astronaut Tracy Dyson points to the Expedition 71 patch on her flight suit as she answers a question from students, Wednesday, March 5, 2025, at Elsie Whitlow Stokes Community Freedom Public Charter School in Washington. Dyson and fellow crewmates Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt, and Jeanette Epps served as part of Expedition 71 aboard the International Space Station.

Read More