NASA STEM Projects – NeRDs Moonbase

Launch Your Creativity with These Space Crafts!

September 27, 2024 NeRD

9 min read Launch Your Creativity with These Space Crafts! In honor of the completion of our Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope’s spacecraft — the vehicle that will maneuver the observatory to its place in space and enable it to function once there — we’re bringing you some space crafts you can complete at home! Join us for a journey across the cosmos, starting right in your own pantry. Stardust Slime Did you know that most of your household ingredients are made of stardust? And so are you! Nearly every…

Going Back-to-School with NASA Data

September 16, 2024 NeRD

4 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) As students head back to school, teachers have a new tool that brings NASA satellite data down to their earthly classrooms. The My NASA Data homepage categorizes content by areas of study called spheres and also Earth as a system. NASA/mynasadata.larc.nasa.gov For over 50 years of observing Earth, NASA’s satellites have collected petabytes of global science data (that’s millions and millions of gigabytes) – with terabytes more coming in by the day. Since 2004, the My NASA Data website has…

2025 Gateways to Blue Skies Competition

August 20, 2024 NeRD

2 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Credit from left to right: Stijn Te Strake/Unsplash, Yamaha Motor Corp USA, Maja Petric/Unsplash, Adele Payman/Unsplash The agriculture industry faces several challenges, including limited resources and growing demands to reduce agriculture’s environmental impact while increasing its climate resilience. NASA Aeronautics is dedicated to expanding its efforts to assist commercial, industry, and government partners in advancing aviation systems that could modernize capabilities in agriculture. In NASA’s 2025 Gateways to Blue Skies Competition: AgAir (Aviation Solutions for Agriculture) collegiate student teams…

Perseverance Pays Off for Student Challenge Winners

August 14, 2024 NeRD

Radioisotope Power Systems RPS Home About About RPS About the Program About Plutonium-238 Safety and Reliability For Mission Planners Contact Systems Overview Power Systems Thermal Systems Dynamic Radioisotope Power Missions Overview Timeline News Resources STEM Overview Power to Explore Contest Kid-Friendly Videos FAQ The winners of the 2024 Power to Explore Student Essay content (from left to right) Aadya Karthik, Raine Lin, and Thomas Liu. NASA/Rachel Zimmerman-Brachman As radioisotopes power the Perseverance rover to explore Mars, perseverance “powered” three winners to write essays each year till they achieved their mission…

Registration Opens for the 2024 NASA International Space Apps Challenge

July 18, 2024 NeRD

Earth (ESD) Earth Home Explore Climate Change Science in Action Multimedia Data For Researchers NASA invites a global community of innovators, technologists, storytellers, and problem solvers to register for the 2024 NASA Space Apps Challenge, the largest annual global hackathon. The annual event, held this year on October 5-6, fosters innovation through international collaboration by providing an opportunity for participants to utilize NASA’s free and open data and space-based data from space agency partners. “It takes a variety of skills and perspectives to launch a mission into space, and NASA’s…

NASA Selects Students for Europa Clipper Intern Program

May 2, 2024 NeRD

4 min read NASA Selects Students for Europa Clipper Intern Program NASA has selected 40 undergraduate students for the first year of its Europa ICONS (Inspiring Clipper: Opportunities for Next-generation Scientists) internship program, supporting the agency’s Europa Clipper mission. Europa ICONS matches students with mentors from the mission’s science team for a 10-week program to conduct original scientific research on topics related to the mission to Jupiter’s moon Europa. Artist’s rendering of NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft. NASA/JPL-Caltech The program is planned to run every year until Europa Clipper completes its prime…

Media Invited to NASA’s Student Launch Challenge in Alabama

April 10, 2024 NeRD

Hundreds of students from across the U.S. and Puerto Rico launched amateur rockets near NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, during the Agency’s 2023 Student Launch competition. Credit: NASA/Charles Beason NASA’s 2024 Student Launch challenge will bring students from colleges, universities, high schools, middle schools, and informal education groups to launch amateur rockets and payloads Saturday, April 13, starting at 8:30 a.m. CDT at Bragg Farms in Toney, Alabama, near NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville. Live streaming will begin at 8:20 a.m. CDT on NASA Marshall…

NASA Names Finalists of the Power to Explore Challenge

April 8, 2024 NeRD

3 Min Read NASA Names Finalists of the Power to Explore Challenge A word cloud generated from student essay entries. Credits: NASA/Dave Lam NASA has selected the nine finalists of the Power to Explore Challenge, a national competition for K-12 students featuring the enabling power of radioisotopes. NASA selected nine finalists out of the 45 semifinalist student essays in the Power to Explore Challenge, a national competition for K-12 students featuring the enabling power of radioisotopes. Contestants were challenged to explore how NASA has powered some of its most famous…

NASA Updates Equity Action Plan, Adds Focus on STEM Education, More

February 14, 2024 NeRD

The cover of the 2023 NASA Equity Action Plan. Credits: NASA Lee esta nota de prensa en español aquí. NASA published its 2023 Equity Action Plan Wednesday, which outlines key accomplishments in increasing equity across the agency, and new commitments to continue removing inequitable barriers and challenges facing underserved communities. “At NASA, we are committed to advancing equity to ensure our work benefits all humanity,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “The Equity Action plan deepens our long-term commitment to recognize and overcome systemic barriers that limit opportunity in underserved and underrepresented…

The Space Life Sciences Training Program at Ames Research Center

October 18, 2023 NeRD

Space Life Sciences Training Program An investment in tomorrow The Space Life Sciences Training Program (SLSTP) provides undergraduate students entering their junior or senior years, and entering graduate students, with professional experience in space life science disciplines. This challenging ten-week summer program is hosted by NASA’s Ames Research Center in the heart of California’s Silicon Valley. The primary goal of the program is to train the next generation of scientists and engineers, enabling NASA to meet future research and development challenges in the space life sciences. Summer 2023 SLSTP students…