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…
Read MoreTag: Science Mission Directorate
NASA Signs Memorandum of Agreement for Space Weather
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…
Read MoreNASA’s Hubble Space Telescope Returns to Science Operations
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…
Read MoreErickson to Retire after Over 40 Years of Service
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…
Read MoreHubble Celebrates 30th Anniversary of Servicing Mission 1
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…
Read MoreHubble Views a Double Cluster of Glowing Galaxies
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 –…
Read MoreInvestigations launching aboard SpaceX-29 will help humans go farther and stay longer in space
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…
Read MoreWelcome to Nicky Notes: Release of NASA Science Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility Annual Report
2 min read Welcome to Nicky Notes: Release of NASA Science Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility Annual Report November 2023 I am pleased to welcome you to this new blog series – what my team affectionally calls, “Nicky Notes.” Through this platform, I hope to regularly share updates about all of the exciting work we do in the Science Mission Directorate, while offering some more candid reflections. My first post is dedicated to a topic near and dear to me – our efforts in the Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility…
Read MoreHubble Tangos with a Dancer in Dorado
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…
Read MoreSix Rules for Surviving in a Government Organization
8 min read Six Rules for Surviving in a Government Organization An interview of Dr. Paul Hertz, a senior leader in the Science Mission Directorate By: Anna Ladd McElhannon, Summer 2022 Intern, Office of the Chief Scientist Dr. Paul Hertz is a leader of NASA and had served as the Astrophysics Division Director since 2012 until 2022. Throughout his career, he remained a well‐respected and admired leader who accomplished things that an undergraduate physics student like me could only dream of. We met for the first time on a summer…
Read More