General – Page 12 – NeRDs Moonbase

NASA Supports California Students Aiming to Advance Technology

June 12, 2024 NeRD

2 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Brad Flick, center director at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, talks to students from California State University, Northridge, California. As part of the university’s Autonomy Research Center for science, technology, engineering, entrepreneurship, arts, humanities, and mathematics, the students displayed posters and answered questions about their technologies May 23 at the Air Force Test Pilot School auditorium on Edwards Air Force Base, California. NASA/Steve Freeman Students from a minority-serving university in California are helping solve challenges of…

NASA Ames Hosts National Wildfire Coordinating Group

June 12, 2024 NeRD

4 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) NWCG Executive Board members stand in front of giant turbines in the National Full Scale Aerodynamic Complex during their visit to Ames Research Center on May 23, 2024. USAF/Patrick Goulding On May 21-23, 2024, the National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG) visited NASA Ames Research Center, with participants representing 13 agencies and organizations. NWCG is a cooperative group focused on providing national leadership to enable interoperable wildland fire operations among federal, state, local, Tribal, and territorial partners. NASA became an…

NASA Ames Astrogram – May/June 2024

June 7, 2024 NeRD

Swarming for Success: Starling Completes Primary Mission by Tara Friesen After ten months in orbit, the Starling spacecraft swarm successfully demonstrated its primary mission’s key objectives, representing significant achievements in the capability of swarm configurations. Swarms of satellites may one day be used in deep space exploration. An autonomous network of spacecraft could self-navigate, manage scientific experiments, and execute maneuvers to respond to environmental changes without the burden of significant communications delays between the swarm and Earth. The four CubeSate spacecraft that make up the Starling swarm have demonstrated success in autonomous…

NASA’s Laser Relay System Sends Pet Imagery to, from Space Station

June 6, 2024 NeRD

Using NASA’s first two-way, end-to-end laser relay system, pictures and videos of cherished pets flew through space over laser communications links at a rate of 1.2 gigabits per second — faster than most home internet speeds. NASA astronauts Randy Bresnik, Christina Koch, and Kjell Lindgren, along with other agency employees, submitted photos and videos of their pets to take a trip to and from the International Space Station. The transmissions allowed NASA’s SCaN (Space Communications and Navigation) program to showcase the power of laser communications while simultaneously testing out a…

Our First Transformer of the Month: Matt Dosberg

June 5, 2024 NeRD

It is impossible to pinpoint a single, static definition of what makes a “Digital Transformer.” Although Matt Dosberg’s official title is Digital Transformation and IT Innovation Lead for Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), his full contributions to NASA require a lengthier description. He is the nexus for everything under the Digital Transformation (DT) umbrella at GSFC, including digital engineering, AI, data-driven programmatics, data strategy, and more. He serves as liaison to the agency-level DT team and other centers, coordinating across directorates to drive cultural change within the organization, and has…

Aerospace Trailblazer: Shirley Holland-Hunt’s Visionary Leadership Transforms Space Exploration

June 4, 2024 NeRD

From pioneering space initiatives to championing diversity and innovation, Shirley Holland-Hunt’s multifaceted leadership at NASA exemplifies the future of aerospace exploration. Her efforts have driven technological advancements and advocated for the inclusion of women and minorities in STEM fields. Holland-Hunt currently serves as the associate division chief for Houston’s Johnson Space Center Aeroscience and Flight Mechanics Division, where she drives engineering design, development, testing, and evaluation for all phases of space flight. She supports the identification and establishment of center partnerships and Space Act Agreements that drive the research and…

Artemis Generation Shines During NASA’s 2024 Lunabotics Challenge

June 3, 2024 NeRD

A team from Iowa accepts the Artemis grand prize award during NASA’s Lunabotics competition on Friday, May 17, 2024, at the Center for Space Education near the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida. Photo credit: NASA/Derrol Nail Photo credit: NASA/Derrol Nail Members of the Artemis Generation kicked up some simulated lunar dust as part of NASA’s 2024 Lunabotics Challenge, held at The Astronauts Memorial Foundation’s Center for Space Education at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida. When the dust settled, two teams emerged from Artemis Arena as the…

Every Day is Earth Day for OSI’s Environmental Program

May 31, 2024 NeRD

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video In OSI’s Environmental Management Division, we believe every day is Earth Day as we enable environmentally sound mission success through leadership of NASA efforts to comply with environmental laws and advance stewardship and sustainability. See more about what we do for the environment in the Office of Strategic Infrastructure’s (OSI) Earth Day video and nasa.gov/emd where we showcase our programs. Thank you for all you do for protecting our environment.

Space Station Research Advances NASA’s Plans to Explore the Moon, Mars

May 31, 2024 NeRD

4 Min Read Space Station Research Advances NASA’s Plans to Explore the Moon, Mars The full moon is pictured as the International Space Station orbited 254 miles above the Pacific Ocean northeast of Guam. Credits: NASA Space, the saying goes, is hard. And the farther humans go, the harder it can get. Some of the challenges on missions to explore the Moon and Mars include preventing microbial contamination of these destinations, navigating there safely, protecting crew members and hardware from radiation, and maintaining and repairing equipment. Research on the International…

Spaceflight effects tumor-bearing fruit fly hosts and their parasites

May 29, 2024 NeRD

How does spaceflight affect tumor-bearing fruit fly hosts and their parasites? Pigmentation: A side-by-side comparison of wasps shows a clear difference in the melanization of wing veins for wild-type and each mutant.Blade Shape: The kona mutant has an angular wing shape in contrast to wild-type’s rounded wing blade (vertical arrows in D–F). S. Govind. Background: Like humans, fruit flies (a model organism for spaceflight research) also exhibit immune system dysfunction in space. Despite decades of studies on fruit flies and wasps, little was known about how their immune systems interact with…