Tag: Goddard Space Flight Center

Hubble Zooms into the Rosy Tendrils of Andromeda

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2 min read Hubble Zooms into the Rosy Tendrils of Andromeda NASA, ESA, M. Boyer (Space Telescope Science Institute), and J. Dalcanton (University of Washington); Image Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America) Clusters of stars set the interstellar medium ablaze in the Andromeda Galaxy about 2.5 million light-years away. Also known as M31, Andromeda is the Milky Way’s closest major galaxy. It measures approximately 152,000 light-years across and, with almost the same mass as our home galaxy, is headed for a collision with the Milky Way in 2-4 billion…

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Aaron Vigil Helps Give SASS to Roman Space Telescope

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The stars in the big Wyoming skies inspired Aaron Vigil as a child to dream big. Today, he’s a mechanical engineer working on the Solar Array Sun Shield (SASS) for the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope at Goddard. Name: Aaron VigilTitle: Mechanical EngineerFormal Job Classification: Aerospace Technology, Flight StructuresOrganization: Mechanical Engineering, Engineering and Technology Directorate (Code 543) Aaron Vigil is a mechanical engineer at Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. Photo courtesy of Aaron Vigil What do you do and what is most interesting about your role here at Goddard? How…

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Hubble Reaches a Lonely Light in the Dark

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2 min read Hubble Reaches a Lonely Light in the Dark NASA, ESA, C. Gallart (Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias), A. del Pino Molina (Centro de Estudios de Fisica del Cosmos de Aragon), and R. van der Marel (Space Telescope Science Institute); Image Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America) A splatter of stars glows faintly at almost 3 million light-years away in this new image from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. Known as the Tucana Dwarf for lying in the constellation Tucana, this dwarf galaxy contains a loose bundle of…

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NASA’s EXCITE Mission Prepared for Scientific Balloon Flight

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5 min read NASA’s EXCITE Mission Prepared for Scientific Balloon Flight Scientists and engineers are ready to fly an infrared mission called EXCITE (EXoplanet Climate Infrared TElescope) to the edge of space.  EXCITE is designed to study atmospheres around exoplanets, or worlds beyond our solar system, during circumpolar long-duration scientific balloon flights. But first, it must complete a test flight during NASA’s fall 2024 scientific ballooning campaign from Fort Sumner, New Mexico.  “EXCITE can give us a three-dimensional picture of a planet’s atmosphere and temperature by collecting data the whole time the world orbits…

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Hubble Rings in a New Galactic View

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This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image reveals the galaxy LEDA 857074. ESA/Hubble & NASA, I. Chilingari The subject of this NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image is situated in the Perseus Cluster, also known as Abell 426, 320 million light-years from Earth. It’s a barred spiral galaxy known as MCG+07-07-072, seen here among a number of photobombing stars that are much closer to Earth than it is. MCG+07-07-072 has quite an unusual shape for a spiral galaxy, with thin arms emerging from the ends of its barred core to draw a near-circle around its…

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NASA Funds Research Projects Advancing STEM Career Development

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Credit: NASA NASA has awarded $6 million to 20 teams from emerging research institutions across the United States supporting projects that offer career development opportunities for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) students. This is the third round of seed funding awarded through the agency’s MOSAICS (Mentoring and Opportunities in STEM with Academic Institutions for Community Success) program, formerly the Science Mission Directorate Bridge Program. The program seeks to expand access to NASA research opportunities in the science and engineering disciplines, as well as to NASA’s workforce. “The STEM workforce continues…

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Regina Caputo Charts the Future of High-Energy Astrophysics

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Research astrophysicist Regina Caputo puzzles out how the universe works by studying the most extreme events in the cosmos. ​​Name: Regina CaputoTitle: Research Astrophysicist Organization: Astroparticle Physics Laboratory (Code 661) Regina Caputo is a research astrophysicist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. She focuses on technology development and support for gamma-ray telescopes. Photo credit: NASA/David Friedlander What do you do and what is most interesting about your role here at Goddard? I’m a research astrophysicist in the particle astrophysics lab at Goddard. I’m really interested in the most…

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NASA to Launch 8 Scientific Balloons From New Mexico

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4 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) A scientific balloon is inflated for the Salter Test Flight before being released during NASA’s 2023 fall balloon campaign. The test flight returns for the 2024 campaign in Fort Sumner, New Mexico, carrying several smaller payloads. NASA/Andrew Hynous NASA’s Scientific Balloon Program has kicked off its annual fall balloon campaign at the agency’s balloon launch facility in Fort Sumner, New Mexico. Eight balloon flights carrying scientific experiments and technology demonstrations are scheduled to launch from mid-August through mid-October. The…

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NASA Tests Deployment of Roman Space Telescope’s ‘Visor’

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In this clip, engineers are testing the the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope’s Deployable Aperture Cover. This component is responsible for keeping light out of the telescope barrel. It will be deployed once in orbit using a soft material attached to support booms and remains in this position throughout the observatory’s lifetime. Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center The “visor” for NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope recently completed several environmental tests simulating the conditions it will experience during launch and in space. Called the Deployable Aperture Cover, this large…

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Hubble Spotlights a Supernova

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2 min read Hubble Spotlights a Supernova This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image reveals the galaxy LEDA 857074. Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, R. J. Foley This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image features the galaxy LEDA 857074, located in the constellation Eridanus. LEDA 857074 is a barred spiral galaxy, with partially broken spiral arms. The image also captured a supernova, named SN 2022ADQZ, shining brightly on the right side of the galaxy’s bar. Several evolutionary paths can lead to a supernova explosion. One is the death of a supermassive star. When…

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