Tag: Science Mission Directorate

2023 NASA International Space Apps Challenge Announces 10 Global Winners

NeRD

5 min read 2023 NASA International Space Apps Challenge Announces 10 Global Winners This Earth observation was captured during a day pass by the Expedition 40 crew aboard the International Space Station on September 2, 2014. European Space Agency Astronaut Alexander Gerst Ten teams from around the world have been named the Global Winners of the 2023 NASA International Space Apps Challenge. The Challenge is the largest annual global hackathon, and gives participants the opportunity to engage with real world problems we face on Earth and in space. The 2023…

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Hubble Sights a Galaxy with ‘Forbidden’ Light

NeRD

2 min read Hubble Sights a Galaxy with ‘Forbidden’ Light This NASA Hubble Space Telescope image features a bright spiral galaxy known as MCG-01-24-014, which is located about 275 million light-years from Earth. ESA/Hubble & NASA, C. Kilpatrick This whirling image features a bright spiral galaxy known as MCG-01-24-014, which is located about 275 million light-years from Earth. In addition to being a well-defined spiral galaxy, MCG-01-24-014 has an extremely energetic core known as an active galactic nucleus (AGN) and is categorized as a Type-2 Seyfert galaxy. Seyfert galaxies, along with quasars, host one of…

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Approval to Exceed GSA Lodging for LPSC 2024

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2 min read Approval to Exceed GSA Lodging for LPSC 2024 This letter from SARA is to issue a waiver for NASA grantees attending LPSC 2024 allowing them to be reimbursed out of their grants for their actual lodging, although it’s expected to be above the approved GSA amount. This waiver does not supersede the travel policy of your institution if it is more restrictive. Note: I have specified grants (including cooperative agreements). This may also apply to those traveling on NASA contracts, but they should communicate with their contracting…

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Armstrong Flight Research Center: A Year in Review

NeRD

4 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) It was an abundant year of innovation, exploration, and inspiration for NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. NASA Armstrong continues to demonstrate America’s leadership in aeronautics, Earth and space science, and aerospace technology. Our researchers, engineers, and mission support teams continually seek to revolutionize aviation, add to mankind’s knowledge of the universe, and contribute to the understanding and protection of Earth. The video above shows many of our achievements, below are a few special moments. The X-59…

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NASA Signs Memorandum of Agreement for Space Weather

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Nicola Fox, associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate (left), signs the Memorandum of Agreement for Space Weather alongside Ken Graham, assistant administrator for NOAA’s Weather Services (right). This quad-agency agreement will further research and operations of space weather to improve space weather predictions and preparedness while also mitigating its impacts. NOAA / Robert Hyatt On Dec. 7, 2023, Nicola Fox, associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, signed on behalf of the agency the Memorandum of Agreement for Space Weather Research-To-Operations-To-Research Collaboration. This quad-agency agreement is between NASA, the…

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NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope Returns to Science Operations

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3 min read NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope Returns to Science Operations Hubble orbiting more than 300 miles above Earth as seen from the space shuttle. NASA Updated, Dec. 8, 2023 NASA restored the agency’s Hubble Space Telescope to science operations Friday, Dec. 8. The telescope had paused science observations Nov. 23 due to an issue with one of its gyros. The spacecraft is in good health and once again operating using all three of its gyros. Hubble’s two main cameras, Wide Field Camera 3 and Advanced Camera for Surveys, resumed…

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Erickson to Retire after Over 40 Years of Service

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3 min read Erickson to Retire after Over 40 Years of Service December 1, 2023 It is my pleasure to share information about new hires within NASA’s Science Mission Directorate (SMD) on this blog, and it is also my bittersweet duty to share information about retirements. After 40 years with NASA, Kristen Erickson – Director of NASA Science Engagement & Partnerships Division — will retire at the end of 2023. Kristen has made many contributions to the agency. Over the years she has mentored dozens of scientists and engineers to…

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Hubble Celebrates 30th Anniversary of Servicing Mission 1

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6 min read Hubble Celebrates 30th Anniversary of Servicing Mission 1 Astronaut F. Story Musgrave works in the space shuttle Endeavour’s cargo bay while the solar array panels on the Hubble Space Telescope are deployed during the final Servicing Mission 1 spacewalk. NASA In the pre-dawn hours on Dec. 2, 1993, the space shuttle Endeavour launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on a critical mission to repair NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. Hubble was designed to be serviced in space with components that astronauts can slide in and out of…

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Hubble Views a Double Cluster of Glowing Galaxies

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2 min read Hubble Views a Double Cluster of Glowing Galaxies This NASA Hubble Space Telescope image of Abell 3192 holds two independent galaxy clusters. ESA/Hubble & NASA, G. Smith, H. Ebeling, D. Coe This Hubble image features a massive cluster of brightly glowing galaxies, first identified as Abell 3192. Like all galaxy clusters, this one is suffused with hot gas that emits powerful X-rays, and it is enveloped in a halo of invisible dark matter. All this unseen material – not to mention the many galaxies visible in this image –…

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Investigations launching aboard SpaceX-29 will help humans go farther and stay longer in space

NeRD

The SpaceX-29 commercial resupply spacecraft will deliver numerous physical sciences and space biology experiments, along with other cargo, to the International Space Station. The research aboard this resupply services mission will help researchers learn how humans, and the plants needed to sustain them, can thrive in deep space. The biological and physical sciences investigations headed to the Space Station are: Plant Water Management-5 and 6 (PWM-5 and 6) NASA has grown plants on the Space Station even without the help of gravity. But microgravity does present challenges and affects Space…

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