Tag: Goddard Space Flight Center

NASA Engineer Earns Goddard Innovation Award for Sun-studying Photon Sieves

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Goddard’s Office of the Chief Technologist named engineer Steven Denis as the FY23 Internal Research and Development (IRAD) Innovator of the Year, an honor the office bestows annually on individuals who demonstrate the best in innovation. Kevin Denis Credit: NASA / Christopher Gunn Denis demonstrated persistence and innovation in developing hair-thin photon sieves to focus extreme ultraviolet light – a difficult wavelength to capture. Thin membranes matter for solar science, he said, because these sieves transmit up to seven times more light than thicker materials. Denis’s work will open new…

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Joshua Abel: Delivering Roman’s Optical Telescope Assembly On Time, On Target

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5 min read Joshua Abel: Delivering Roman’s Optical Telescope Assembly On Time, On Target Joshua Abel’s job as lead systems engineer for the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope’s Optical Telescope Assembly is “to deliver the assembly to the Roman observatory on time, within budget, and meeting all the technical requirements.” Credit: NASA / Chris Gunn Name: Joshua Abel Title: Lead systems engineer for the Roman Space Optical Telescope Assembly Formal Job Classification: Flight Systems Design Engineer Organization: Instrument/Payload Systems Engineering Branch (Code 592), Mission Engineering and Systems Analysis Division, Engineering…

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Five Ways NASA Supercomputing Takes Missions from Concept to Reality

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NASA high-end computing plays a key role in taking many agency missions from concept to application in the real world. From increasing accuracy of global weather forecasts for forecast entities (like NOAA) to warn of severe storms, to designs for future air taxis to safely fly people around urban areas, to parachute design tests for landing spacecraft on the Moon and other planets, our supercomputing resources and experts are driving science and engineering advances for the benefit of humanity. These projects and much more will be on display in the…

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Peter Griffith: Diving Into Carbon Cycle Science

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5 min read Peter Griffith: Diving Into Carbon Cycle Science Dr. Peter Griffith is the director of NASA’s Carbon Cycle and Ecosystems Office. “As a scientist, I started off in the water and then gradually moved to on top of the water, and then ultimately went up into the air and into space, at least with the instrument eyes that we have on the world,” he said. “In some respects, I was a carbon cycle scientist since before it was cool.” NASA / Angeles Miron Name: Peter Griffith Title: Director,…

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Hubble Tangos with a Dancer in Dorado

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2 min read Hubble Tangos with a Dancer in Dorado This NASA Hubble Space Telescope image features the spiral galaxy NGC 1566. ESA/Hubble & NASA, D. Calzetti and the LEGUS team, R. Chandar This vibrant Hubble Space Telescope image features the spiral galaxy NGC 1566, sometimes informally referred to as the ‘Spanish Dancer Galaxy’. Like the subject of another recent image, NGC 1566 is a weakly-barred or intermediate spiral galaxy. This means that it does not have a clearly present or a clearly absent bar-shaped structure at its center. The…

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Rita Owens: Keeper of NASA’s Digital Knowledge

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9 min read Rita Owens: Keeper of NASA’s Digital Knowledge Data systems engineer Rita Owens is deaf, and she advocates for fellow employees with disabilities. “Managers need to listen, communicate well, and be open-minded with a positive attitude toward those of us with disabilities or health conditions,” she said. Courtesy of Rita Owens Name: Rita Owens Formal Job Classification: Data Systems Engineer Organization: Data Steward, Data Stewardship and Governance Information, Data, & Analytics Services (IDAS) Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) (Detailed to IDAS/OCIO from GSFC Code 565, Engineering…

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NASA Improves GIANT Optical Navigation Technology for Future Missions

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As NASA scientists study the returned fragments of asteroid Bennu, the team that helped navigate the mission on its journey refines their technology for potential use in future robotic and crewed missions. The optical navigation team at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, served as a backup navigation resource for the OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security – Regolith Explorer) mission to near-Earth asteroid Bennu. They double-checked the primary navigation team’s work and proved the viability of navigation by visual cues. The sample return capsule from…

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NASA’s First Two-way End-to-End Laser Communications System

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5 Min Read NASA’s First Two-way End-to-End Laser Communications System NASA's ILLUMA-T payload communicating with LCRD over laser signals. Credits: NASA/Dave Ryan NASA is demonstrating laser communications on multiple missions – showcasing the benefits infrared light can have for science and exploration missions transmitting terabytes of important data. The International Space Station is getting a “flashy” technology demonstration this November. The ILLUMA-T (Integrated Laser Communications Relay Demonstration Low Earth Orbit User Modem and Amplifier Terminal) payload is launching to the International Space Station to demonstrate how missions in low Earth…

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NASA’s Webb Captures an Ethereal View of NGC 346

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3 min read NASA’s Webb Captures an Ethereal View of NGC 346 This new infrared image of NGC 346 from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) traces emission from cool gas and dust. In this image blue represents silicates and sooty chemical molecules known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs. More diffuse red emission shines from warm dust heated by the brightest and most massive stars in the heart of the region. Bright patches and filaments mark areas with abundant numbers of protostars. This image includes 7.7-micron light…

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NASA’s Roman Mission Gears Up for a Torrent of Future Data

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NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope team is exploring ways to support community efforts that will prepare for the deluge of data the mission will return. Recently selected infrastructure teams will serve a vital role in the preliminary work by creating simulations, scouting the skies with other telescopes, calibrating Roman’s components, and much more. Their work will complement additional efforts by other teams and individuals around the world, who will join forces to maximize Roman’s scientific potential. The goal is to ensure that, when the mission launches by May 2027,…

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