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
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 MoreNASA’s Dragonfly Tunnel Visions
5 min read NASA’s Dragonfly Tunnel Visions Dragonfly Team Utilizes Unique NASA Facilities to Shape Its Innovative Titan-bound Rotorcraft Dragonfly team members review the half-scale lander model after it underwent wind tunnel testing at NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. Pictured are (from left) Art Azarbarzin, Juan Cruz, Wayne Dellinger, Zibi Turtle, Chuck Hebert, Ken Hibbard, Bernadine Juliano and Bruce Owens. Johns Hopkins APL/Ed Whitman With its dense atmosphere and low gravity, Saturn’s moon Titan is a great place to fly. But well before NASA’s Dragonfly rotorcraft lander soars…
Read MoreThe Space Life Sciences Training Program at Ames Research Center
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…
Read MoreHubble Examines Entrancing Galaxy in Eridanus
2 min read Hubble Examines Entrancing Galaxy in Eridanus NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope’s view of NGC 685 in the constellation Eridanus, the River. NASA, ESA, and J. Lee (Space Telescope Science Institute); Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America) Hubble is sharing a brand new galaxy image every day through October 7, 2023! Visit our website daily, or follow along on X, Facebook, and Instagram. NGC 685 takes center stage amid faintly twinkling stars on an inky black background. This galaxy is clearly a barred spiral galaxy with its bright…
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