Hi Kate! What Did You Learn From Your Heart Cells Experiment? Sounds So Interesting!

Solar System: Things to Know This Week

Our social media accounts will help you explore our world, the solar system and beyond.

1. The Flagship Fleet

Start with our flagship accounts, where you can keep up with all the latest news and be a part of the conversation.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/nasa

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NASA/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nasa/

Tumblr: http://nasa.tumblr.com/

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/nasa/

2. Your Galactic Neighborhood 

 Follow our Planetary Science Division to keep up with all the hardworking robots exploring the wild frontiers of our solar system.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/NASASolarSystem

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nasasolarsystem

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nasasolarsystem/

3. Mission Space

From the sun to Pluto and points in between, many NASA missions share their science on a variety of social platforms.

Twitter: https://www.nasa.gov/socialmedia#missions

4. NASA’s History

Need some nostalgia in your feed? Learn the history of our exploration of our home planet, our solar system and beyond.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/NASAhistory

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NASAHistoryOffice

5. Kids in Space

Find fun stuff for kids, parents and anyone who likes space and Earth science, including games, hands-on projects and fun facts.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/nasaspaceplace

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nasaspaceplace

6. The Big Picture

Our photographers take their cameras to some interesting places around the planet. 

Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasahqphoto/

7. Star Watch

This is a great way to follow our missions that study the sun, Earth and space itself as elements of a interconnected system.

Twitter https://twitter.com/NASASunEarth

8. NASA People

Want to know what it's like to work for us? Learn about the science and adventures of astronauts, scientists and engineers exploring space.

View the List: https://www.nasa.gov/socialmedia#people

9. NASA Earth

Our planet is changing, and NASA Earth is on it, using the vantage point of space to increase our understanding of Earth and improve lives.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/nasaearth

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nasaearth

10. Craving More?

Visit us at: https://www.nasa.gov/socialmedia

 for a listing of the agency’s current social media accounts. 

Discover more lists of 10 things to know about our solar system HERE.

Follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com

The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope’s flight harness is transferred from the mock-up structure to the spacecraft flight structure.

Your Body is Wired Like a NASA Space Telescope. Sort Of.

If our Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope were alive, its nervous system would be the intricate wiring, or “harness,” that helps different parts of the observatory communicate with one another. Just like the human body sends information through nerves to function, Roman will send commands through this special harness to help achieve its mission: answering longstanding questions about dark energy, dark matter, and exoplanets, among other mind-bending cosmic queries. 

Roman’s harness weighs around 1,000 pounds and is made of about 32,000 wires and 900 connectors. If those parts were laid out end-to-end, they would be 45 miles long from start to finish. Coincidentally, the human body’s nerves would span the same distance if lined up. That’s far enough to reach nearly three-fourths of the way to space, twice as far as a marathon, or eight times taller than Mount Everest! 

An aerial view of the harness technicians working to secure Roman’s harness to the spacecraft flight structure.

Over a span of two years, 11 technicians spent time at the workbench and perched on ladders, cutting wire to length, carefully cleaning each component, and repeatedly connecting everything together.  

Space is usually freezing cold, but spacecraft that are in direct sunlight can get incredibly hot. Roman’s harness went through the Space Environment Simulator – a massive thermal vacuum chamber – to expose the components to the temperatures they’ll experience in space. Technicians “baked” vapors out of the harness to make sure they won’t cause problems later in orbit.  

Technicians work to secure Roman’s harness to the interior of the spacecraft flight structure. They are standing in the portion of the spacecraft bus where the propellant tanks will be mounted.  

The next step is for engineers to weave the harness through the flight structure in Goddard’s big clean room, a space almost perfectly free of dust and other particles. This process will be ongoing until most of the spacecraft components are assembled. The Roman Space Telescope is set to launch by May 2027. 

Learn more about the exciting science this mission will investigate on X and Facebook. 

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space! 

What is the weirdest thing you had to account for when building the perseverance rover?

Questions coming up from….

@monicagellar: Is it open for international students?

@Anonymous: How should high school students get involved?

@Anonymous: Can I apply if my subjects are physics and chemistry in college

@unsuspicious-nobody: Do you have plans to repeat this/do something similar for students in the future?

Countdown to Launch of Landsat 9

We’re launching Landsat 9 — the ninth in a series of satellite missions from NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) that have been collecting images of our planet for almost 50 years. Follow along as we count down to launch!

A normal launch countdown starts at 10, but for Landsat 9, we’re jumping in with L-9!

There are 9 million images in the USGS/NASA Landsat archive! They’re all available for free, for use by scientists, data managers, and anyone else who’s interested. You can even download them!

Landsat 9 won’t be orbiting alone. Working together, Landsat 9 and Landsat 8 will completely image Earth every 8 days! This helps us track changes on the planet’s surface as they happen in near-real-time.

Landsat sees all 7 continents! From Antarctic ice to growing cities to changing forests, Landsat measures land — and coastal regions — all around the globe.

Working in space is really hard. Landsat 6 never made it to orbit, an important reminder that failures can be opportunities to learn and grow. Shortly after the unsuccessful launch, engineers got to work on Landsat 7, which is still collecting data today — 22 years later.

We have 5 decades of Landsat observations, the longest continuous record of Earth’s land surfaces in existence! While building the original Landsat in the 1970s, it would have been hard to imagine that this mission would still be providing crucial data about our planet today.

For each color band collected, Landsat 9 will see 4 times the shades of light as the previous Landsat mission! With more than 16,000 different intensities detected, Landsat 9 will be able to see crucial details on our planet’s surface.

Our eyes detect 3 colors of light: red, green, and blue — and Landsat does too! But Landsat 9 also detects wavelengths that can be combined to measure things our eyes can’t, like crop stress, coral reef health, fires, and more.

There are 2 instruments on Landsat 9! The Operational Land Imager 2 collects light, and works kind of like our eyes — or cameras — to make data-rich images. The Thermal Infrared Sensor 2 measures temperature, helping monitor plant health, fires, and more.

The Landsat program is the result of 1 amazing partnership! For more than 50 years, we’ve worked with the U.S. Geological Survey to design, build, launch, and manage Landsat satellites.

Two agencies working together makes for the longest continuous record of Earth’s surfaces. Now, let’s launch this satellite!

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space!

Our Eight Favorite Things About This Weekend’s Student Launch

We’re ready for another year of sky-high fun, literally, as student teams launch nearly 50 high-powered rockets during the 16th annual Student Launch, April 16, near NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

Hundreds of students from high schools, colleges and universities across 22 states have spent the past several months designing, fabricating and testing single-stage rockets and autonomous ground support systems. So, what makes this event so great? Start here to find out as we list our eight favorite things.

1. A Mile-High Target

Setting goals is a part of life, and so, too, is this competition. Teams will attempt to launch their rocket to an altitude of one mile, or 5,280 feet. That'll earn the maximum number of altitude points of 5,280. But, if teams go over or under, there's a penalty. Teams lose 2 points for every foot over and 1 point for every foot under.

2. Return of the Mars Ascent Vehicle Challenge

Back for a second consecutive year – the MAV challenge runs parallel with Student Launch -- requiring teams to design an autonomous system capable of retrieving and storing a mock Martian sample into their rocket. Sponsored by the Centennial Challenges program – our citizen prize program -- MAV focuses on designing rockets for future sample return missions to Mars.

3. Why, Yes, It Really Is Rocket Science

Static stability margin, thrust-to-weight ratios and ammonium perchlorate composite propellants may seem like a foreign language, but it’s just everyday lingo for these young rocket scientists. In addition to designing and fabricating a rocket, students hone skills by completing electrical wiring and operating computer-aided software for launching rockets and analyzing payloads.

4. Putting Rocketry Skills to the Test

During launch week, we host a “Rocket Fair,” where each team gives a technical presentation about their rocket and any autonomous systems, to hundreds of engineers and team members from NASA, corporate sponsor Orbital ATK of Promontory, Utah, and the media. Doing so provides students an opportunity to gain valuable feedback from real rocket scientists and engineers.

5. Hard Work Pays Off, Literally

Yes, a year’s worth of bragging rights are on the line, but so, too, is some cold, hard cash. Orbital ATK offers an overall cash prize of $5,000 to the highest-ranking college/university team to meet the Student Launch objectives. Plus, the MAV challenge offers a share of $50,000 for completion of its objectives.

6. Safety, Safety and More Safety

Teams complete a lengthy series of comprehensive flight and safety reviews, all overseen by our staff, engineers and scientists. Multiple reviews are scheduled throughout the 8-month-long design process, as well as during the launch week at Marshall Space Flight Center. These reviews mirror the engineering design lifecycle used by our workforce.

7. Celebrate Good Times

After the smoke clears from rocket launches, teams gather for a well-earned evening of celebration. The awards banquet -- held at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama, and funded by Orbital ATK -- recognizes teams with awards including Best Design, Altitude, Safety and more.

8. Teams Make Dreams Come True

More than just a friendly competition, Student Launch and MAV Challenge provide long-lasting life experiences outside of the classroom. Students benefit from working as a team, applying STEM skills and overcoming technical obstacles -- all aspects related to the success of our work. 

The MAV Challenge and Student Launch are open to the public and will stream live on line at: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nasa-msfc

For more details, rules, photos from previous events, and links to social media accounts providing real-time updates, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/education/studentlaunch

For more information about the Centennial Challenges MAV Challenge, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/winit

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com

What is so special about the solar eclipse to you??

Huh, that’s a very good question and I probably answer it differently each time I get asked it. I love the fact that in totality you can see the solar atmosphere and get a chance to see the magnetic field structure of the Sun. This is something that you can’t normally do. I also love the idea that we’re going to be able to test a bunch of ionospheric models with the help of citizen scientist! This again is a very unique opportunity! But probably the thing that seems so special about this particular eclipse is seeing how excited everyone is about it! Most days I sit in my office working on my science (which I think is the best science and most interesting thing in the world- but I’m probably biased about that) and not too many other people in the world are all that excited about it. But with the eclipse, I get to share how cool this science is, and it’s amazing to see everyone get involved! 

Zoom to the Moon! Astronauts will blast off to the Moon in the Orion spacecraft with NASA’s Space Launch System, the world’s most powerful rocket ever built. Help #AstronautSnoopy launch into deep space, farther than any human or bird has ever gone before. https://www.nasa.gov/feature/peanuts-toys-and-books-commemorate-50th-anniversary-of-apollo/

Known as the Horsehead Nebula – but you can call it Starbiscuit.

Found by our Hubble Space Telescope, this beauty is part of a much larger complex in the constellation Orion.

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com.

This composite image shows a coronal mass ejection, a type of space weather linked to solar energetic particles, as seen from two space-based solar observatories and one ground-based instrument. The image in gold is from NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory, the image in blue is from the Manua Loa Solar Observatory’s K-Cor coronagraph, and the image in red is from ESA and NASA’s Solar and Heliospheric Observatory.

Our constantly-changing sun sometimes erupts with bursts of light, solar material, or ultra-fast energized particles — collectively, these events contribute to space weather. A new study shows that the warning signs of one type of space weather event can be detected tens of minutes earlier than with current forecasting techniques – critical extra time that could help protect astronauts in space. 

Credits: NASA/ESA/SOHO/SDO/Joy Ng and MLSO/K-Cor