Credit: ESA/NASA Although this cluster of stars gained its name due to its five brightest stars, it is home to hundreds more. The huge number of massive young stars in the cluster is clearly captured in this NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image. The cluster is located close to the Arches Cluster and is just 100 […]
Space
Episode 9: The (Mars) Schedule Makers
Dearest listeners, we’re so happy to be back with a brand new episode. Today’s guest is Shannon Mihaly, a Mission Operations engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Shannon is a science planner and mission controller for the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). Want to know how Will.i.am plays a critical* role in NASA operations? Listen and […]
Working 9 to 5 (and beyond)
June has been a bit (okay, a lot) crazy for us. Lindsay’s day job at Fox Soccer means she’s been working nonstop on the Women’s World Cup. (USA! USA!) My students have been working all year on building their own UAV, and will be down in southern Maryland at the AUVSI Student Unmanned Systems competition […]
When things go right! First images and data from SMAP
So I’m now the proud parent of one orbiting, deployed, spinning, fully functional spacecraft! The SMAP satellite is done initiating all its systems and has taken its first global soil measurement maps: Since the Earth environment where we built SMAP is very different than the space environment where we operate SMAP, we never before had […]
Episode 6: The (Space) Xplorers Club
It’s Podcast Tuesday, Scopers! We’ve got a fun episode for you all. The (Space) Xplorers Club features guest Emily Calandrelli, host and producer of Fox’s Xploration Outer Space, a show featuring the coolest aspects of the space industry. We chat with Emily about STEM outreach, interviewing astronauts, and the joys and challenges of filming a television show. Have […]
#IAmAScientistBecause: Sagan and the Pale Blue Dot
The hashtag #IAmAScientistBecause has been trending on Twitter today, and it’s making me reflect on why I became a scientist. (Well, engineer… but let’s gloss over that distinction.) Carl Sagan sums it up perfectly. If you’ve never read or heard Sagan on “The Pale Blue Dot,” check out the YouTube link, or read an excerpt below. […]
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Launch Day Nerves
You don’t know how stressful launch days are until you live through one … or in my case, three. Hundreds of us met before dawn on a golf course near Vandenberg Air Force Base and waited with anticipation as our satellite, SMAP, sat on the launch pad. We were nervous and excited and hopeful. But […]
Episode 2: A (2020) Space Odyssey
Happy Tuesday, Scopers! We’re very excited to finally share episode two, A (2020) Space Odyssey. Today’s guest is Elizabeth Cordoba, an aerospace engineer at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. She joins us for a discussion on the Mars2020 mission, satellite launches, and Matt Damon. Give it a listen, and let us know what you think.