Author: NeRD

Nilufar Ramji: Shaping Johnson’s Giant Leaps Forward 

NeRD

A first-generation college graduate, Nilufar Ramji was blazing trails long before arriving at NASA. With her multifaceted expertise, she is helping shape the messaging behind humanity’s return to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.  Ramji is currently on detail as the co-executive producer for NASA’s live broadcasts, ensuring the agency’s missions and discoveries are clearly and effectively communicated to the public. Through her work, she expands understanding of what space exploration means for all—and why it matters.  Official portrait of Nilufar Ramji. NASA/Josh Valcarcel Before stepping into her acting role, Ramji…

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Sols 4529-4531: Honeycombs and Waffles… on Mars!

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 4 min read Sols 4529-4531: Honeycombs and Waffles… on Mars! NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity captured this image of its current workspace, containing well-preserved polygonal shaped fractures, with waffle or honeycomb patterns. The rover acquired this image using its…

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Searching for Spherules to Sample

NeRD

Explore This Section Perseverance Home Mission Overview Rover Components Mars Rock Samples Where is Perseverance? Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Mission Updates Science Overview Objectives Instruments Highlights Exploration Goals News and Features Multimedia Perseverance Raw Images Images Videos Audio More Resources Mars Missions Mars Sample Return Mars Perseverance Rover Mars Curiosity Rover MAVEN Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Mars Odyssey More Mars Missions Mars Home 2 min read Searching for Spherules to Sample Subsurface spherules: This image of the Hare Bay abrasion patch was acquired by the WATSON camera on Sol 1480 (April 19,…

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NASA’s Artemis 2 moon rocket gets 2nd stage even as Trump tries to scrap Space Launch System (photos)

NeRD

The Artemis 2 megarocket set to launch NASA’s next astronauts to the moon in 2026 is almost completely assembled. The giant Space Launch System (SLS) rocket continues to grow inside the NASA’s Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB). Technicians at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC), in Florida, stacked the rocket’s second stage onto the launch vehicle Thursday (May 1). The Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (ICPS) is responsible for carrying the Orion spacecraft and crew the rest of the way into orbit around the Earth, and then sending them on their way to…

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20 years ago, ‘Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith’ hit theaters… but 2 weeks earlier, the tie-in game had already spoiled the ending

NeRD

The year is 2005. I’m eagerly awaiting Revenge of the Sith, the Star Wars chapter that completes Anakin Skywalker’s journey. I don’t know that Episode VII will happen ten years later, so for me, this could be the final Star Wars movie I’ll get to see in theaters. There’s a twist, though; the tie-in video game adaptation arrives roughly two weeks before Episode III hits theaters, and it ruins the whole plot. What went wrong? Nothing, actually, as George Lucas didn’t care about spoilers getting out well in advance of…

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What time is it on the moon? US House space committee wants a standard lunar clock

NeRD

We are one step closer to getting a lunar time zone this week, as a bill passed out of the US House Science, Space and Technology committee directs the administrator of NASA to develop a way to coordinate and measure time on the moon. The bill is titled The Celestial Time Standardization Act (or HR 2313), and was passed out of committee by a voice vote on Tuesday (April 29). It now goes to the full House for a future floor vote. If it passes the House (and then the…

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Scientists chased a falling spacecraft with a plane to understand satellite air pollution

NeRD

A dramatic aircraft chase of a falling spacecraft has provided new insights into the fiery processes that accompany the atmospheric demise of retired satellites. The measurements will help scientists better understand how satellite air pollution affects Earth’s atmosphere. In early September last year, a team of European scientists boarded a rented business jet on Easter Island to trace the atmospheric reentry of Salsa, one of the European Space Agency‘s (ESA) four identical Cluster satellites. The aircraft was fitted with 26 cameras to capture the brief occurrence in different wavelengths of…

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Sols 4527-4528: ‘Boxwork Ahoy!’

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 2 min read Sols 4527-4528: ‘Boxwork Ahoy!’ NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity acquired this image looking directly west and showing a first ground view of the boxwork structures the rover is driving toward. The boxwork structures are visible in…

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10 must-have ‘Star Wars’ books and novels coming soon to your galaxy

NeRD

Close down the airlocks and batten all hull hatches for a veritable meteor storm of new “Star Wars” books coming to us over the next year. These magnificent titles were recently announced at the official Lucasfilm Publishing panel “Stories From a Galaxy Far, Far Away” during this past month’s Star Wars Celebration Japan 2025. Physical media is making a major comeback these days, whether it’s remastered premium vinyl soundtracks of your favorite films or special edition 4K UHD Blu-ray releases of indie gems and Hollywood classics. Star Wars fanatics are…

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What would it be like living on Tatooine from ‘Star Wars’? This exoplanet orbiting twin suns could tell us

NeRD

A Tatooine-like world with a key difference from the desert planet in “Star Wars” has been serendipitously discovered orbiting not two stars, but a pair of brown dwarfs. What’s more, this wacky planet doesn’t orbit around the brown dwarfs’ equator, but instead up and down over their poles. In the “Star Wars” universe, Luke Skywalker famously came from the planet of Tatooine, which had two suns and double sunsets. Tatooine is in a circumbinary orbit, which means that it doesn’t orbit one star, but instead orbits both stars of a…

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