Tag: General

Spaceflight effects tumor-bearing fruit fly hosts and their parasites

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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…

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Johnson Celebrates AA and NHPI Heritage Month: Britney Tang

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When you think about personal property, your home, clothes, and electronic devices probably come to mind. For NASA, personal property comprises government-owned government-held assets ranging from laptops to spacecraft and space station components. Managing the financial records for these assets is the responsibility of the Property Accounting Team, which includes Personal Property Accountant Britney Tang. Tang sits within the Accounting Services Office of Johnson Space Center’s Office of the Chief Financial Services Officer (OCFO). She works with her colleagues to determine which NASA-held assets must be tracked over time versus…

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NASA, Sierra Space Deliver Dream Chaser to Florida for Launch Preparation

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Dream Chaser Tenacity, Sierra Space’s uncrewed cargo spaceplane, is processed inside the Space Systems Processing Facility (SSPF) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Monday, May 20, 2024. The spaceplane arrived inside a climate-controlled transportation container from the agency’s Neil Armstrong Test Facility in Ohio. Final testing and prelaunch processing will be completed inside the high bay of the SSPF ahead of Dream Chaser’s inaugural launch atop a ULA (United Launch Alliance) Vulcan rocket from nearby Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.   Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett As part of NASA’s efforts to…

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Astronaut Exercise

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Science in Space: May 2024 Future missions to the Moon and Mars must address many challenges, including preventing loss of bone and muscle tissue in astronauts. Research on the International Space Station is helping to address this challenge. Without Earth’s gravity, both bone and muscle atrophy, or become smaller and weaker. Early on, scientists realized that exercise is a critical part of maintaining healthy bones and muscles in space, just as it is on Earth. From simple elastic bands on early missions, exercise hardware has become increasingly advanced. Current equipment…

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NASA Around the World: Interns Teach Virtual Lessons in Kenya

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2 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Video Credit: NASA/Dennis Brown, TechLit Africa When it comes to inspiring the next generation, NASA interns know no bounds. Interns at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland taught students 7,600 miles away in Mogotio, Kenya, but thanks to technology, they didn’t travel a single mile. Collaborating with TechLit Africa — a non-profit organization that teaches digital skills in Kenyan rural primary schools — interns shared virtual lessons on robot simulation, artificial intelligence, and drawing and modeling applications. Nelly Cheboi,…

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What Is… Earth’s Atmosphere?

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10 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) The sun’s last rays illuminate Earth’s atmosphere in this photograph of an orbital sunset from the International Space Station as it soared 261 miles above the Pacific Ocean off the northern coast of Japan. The layers are clearly visible as thin bands extending from the surface out into space. NASA When we talk about the Earth’s Atmosphere, what do we mean? Imagine a layer cake, wrapping around the Earth. That is essentially what the Earth’s atmosphere is like: layers…

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Station Science 101 | Research in Microgravity: Higher, Faster, Longer

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5 Min Read Station Science 101 | Research in Microgravity: Higher, Faster, Longer NASA astronaut Megan McArthur services donor cells inside the Kibo laboratory module’s Life Science Glovebox for the Celestial Immunity study. Credits: NASA The International Space Station provides unique features that enable innovative research, including microgravity, exposure to space, a unique orbit, and hands-on operation by crew members. Microgravity The space station provides consistent, long-term access to microgravity. Eliminating the effects of Earth’s gravity on experiments is a game-changer across many disciplines, including research on living things and…

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NASA Glenn Looking to Lease Facilities

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3 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) NASA Glenn Research Center’s iconic Flight Research Building (hangar). Credit: NASA/Jef Janis As NASA advances its aviation and spaceflight missions, its facilities and infrastructure need to evolve along with them. NASA centers, including Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, must find ways to reduce the cost of maintaining assets they aren’t currently using. Toward this goal, NASA Glenn is offering opportunities to lease assets it no longer uses. These Enhanced Use Lease (EUL) agreements will allow space, aeronautics, and other related…

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NASA Invites Social Creators for Launch of NOAA Weather Satellite 

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The mission insignia of NOAA’s Geostationary Operation Environmental Satellite-U (GOES-U) mission is pictured in front of the satellite in a vertical position on Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2024, at the Astrotech Space Operations Facility near the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Part of a collaborative NOAA and NASA program, GOES-U is the fourth in a series of four advanced geostationary weather satellites. Data from the GOES satellite constellation – consisting of the GOES-R, GOES-S, GOES-T and GOES-U spacecraft – enables forecasters to predict, observe, and track local weather events that…

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