Get ready to be dazzled by the true spectrum of solar beauty. From fiery reds to cool blues, explore the vibrant hues of the Sun in a mesmerizing color order. These images were taken in a wavelength of extreme ultraviolet light to clearly see any activity on the surface of the Sun — giving scientists a wealth of data for solar studies.
@teamadamsperret: Congrats on your PhD!! When people ask what you do, what's your reply?
@Anonymous: How does it feel, working in NASA?
@moonlighy: How did you find your love for this job?
@redbullanddepression: what the prettiest star in the sky in your opinion? also, you are a great role model as a queer woman who is attending university next year to major in aerospace engineering!!!
Curious about how to send research to the International Space Station or how to get involved with NASA missions as a college student? Ask our experts!
Through our Student Payload Opportunity with Citizen Science, or SPOCS, we’re funding five college teams to build experiments for the International Space Station. The students are currently building their experiments focusing on bacteria resistance or sustainability research. Soon, these experiments will head to space on a SpaceX cargo launch! University of Idaho SPOCS team lead Hannah Johnson and NASA STEM on Station activity manager Becky Kamas will be taking your questions in an Answer Time session on Thurs., June 3, from 12-1 p.m. EDT here on our Tumblr! Make sure to ask your question now by visiting http://nasa.tumblr.com/ask.
Hannah Johnson recently graduated from the University of Idaho with a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering. She is the team lead for the university’s SPOCS team, Vandal Voyagers I, designing an experiment to test bacteria-resistant polymers in microgravity. Becky Kamas is the activity manager for STEM on Station at our Johnson Space Center in Houston. She helps connect students and educators to the International Space Station through a variety of opportunities, similar to the ones that sparked her interest in working for NASA when she was a high school student.
Our scientists and engineers work with SPOCS students as mentors, and mission managers from Nanoracks help them prepare their experiments for operation aboard the space station.
The Vandal Voyagers I team has nine student members, six of whom just graduated from the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering. Designing the experiment served as a senior capstone project.
The experiment tests polymer coatings on an aluminum 6061 substrate used for handles on the space station. These handles are used every day by astronauts to move throughout the space station and to hold themselves in place with their feet while they work.
In this image, NASA astronaut Sunita Williams, Expedition 32 flight engineer, appears to touch the bright Sun during the mission's third spacewalk outside the International Space Station. Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Aki Hoshide is visible in the reflection of Williams' helmet visor.
Today, April 12, is the International Day of Human Space Flight—marking Yuri Gagarin's first flight in 1961, and the first space shuttle launch in 1981.
As we honor global collaboration in exploration, we're moving forward to the Moon & Mars under the Artemis Accords.
Michael S. Hopkins was selected by NASA as an astronaut in 2009. The Missouri native is currently the Crew-1 mission commander for NASA’s next SpaceX launch to the International Space Station on Nov. 14, 2020. Hopkin’s Crew-1 mission will mark the first-ever crew rotation flight of aU.S. commercial spacecraft with astronauts on board, and it secures the U.S.’s ability to launch humans into space from American soil once again.
Previously, Hopkins was member of the Expedition 37/38 crew and has logged 166 days in space. During his stay aboard the station, he conducted two spacewalks totaling 12 hours and 58 minutes to change out a degraded pump module. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Illinois and a Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering.
He took some time from being a NASA astronaut to answer questions about his life and career! Enjoy:
What do you hope people think about when
you launch?
I hope people are thinking about the fact that we’re
starting a new era in human spaceflight. We’re re-opening human launch
capability to U.S. soil again, but it’s not just that. We’re opening low-Earth
orbit and the International Space Station with commercial companies. It’s a lot
different than what we’ve done in the past. I hope people realize this isn’t
just another launch – this is something a lot bigger. Hopefully it’s setting
the stage, one of those first steps to getting us to the Moon and on to Mars.
You served in the U.S. Air Force as a flight
test engineer. What does that entail?
First off, just like being an astronaut, it involves a lot of training when you
first get started. I went to the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School and spent a
year in training and just learning how to be a flight test engineer. It was one
of the most challenging years I’ve ever had, but also one of the more rewarding
years. What it means afterwards is, you are basically testing new vehicles or
new systems that are going on aircraft. You are testing them before they get
handed over to the operational fleet and squadrons. You want to make sure that
these capabilities are safe, and that they meet requirements. As a flight test
engineer, I would help design the test. I would then get the opportunity to go
and fly and execute the test and collect the data, then do the analysis, then
write the final reports and give those conclusions on whether this particular
vehicle or system was ready to go.
What is one piece of life advice you wish
somebody had told you when you were younger?
A common theme for me is to just have patience. Enjoy the ride along the way. I
think I tend to be pretty high intensity on things and looking back, I think
things happen when they’re supposed to happen, and sometimes that doesn’t
necessarily agree with when you think it should happen. So for me, someone
saying, “Just be patient Mike, it’s all going to happen when it’s supposed to,”
would be really good advice.
Is there a particular science experiment you enjoyed
working on the most while aboard the space station?
There’s a lot of experiments I had the opportunity to participate in, but
the ones in particular I liked were ones where I got to interact directly with
the folks that designed the experiment. One thing I enjoyed was a fluid
experiment called Capillary Flow Experiment, or CFE. I got to work directly
with the principal investigators on the ground as I executed that experiment.
What made it nice was getting to hear their excitement as you were letting them
know what was happening in real time and getting to hear their voices as they
got excited about the results. It’s just a lot of fun.
Space is a risky business. Why do it?
I think most of us when we think about whatever it is we do, we don’t think
of it in those terms. Space is risky, yes, but there’s a lot of other risky
jobs out there. Whether it’s in the military, farming, jobs that involve heavy
machinery or dangerous equipment… there’s all kinds of jobs that entail risk. Why
do it? You do it because it appeals to you. You do it because it’s what gets
you excited. It just feels right. We all have to go through a point in our
lives where we figure out what we want to do and what we want to be. Sometimes
we have to make decisions based on factors that maybe wouldn’t lead you down
that choice if you had everything that you wanted, but in this particular case
for me, it’s exactly where I want to be. From a risk standpoint, I don’t think
of it in those terms.
Can you describe your crew mate Soichi Noguchi in one
sentence?
There are many facets to Soichi Noguchi. I’m thinking about the movie Shrek.
He has many layers! He’s very talented. He’s very well-thought. He’s very
funny. He’s very caring. He’s very sensitive to other people’s needs and
desires. He’s a dedicated family man. I could go on and on and on… so maybe like
an onion – full of layers!
Star Trek or Star Wars?
I love them both. But can I say Firefly? There’s a TV series out
there called Firefly. It lasted one season – kind of a space cowboy-type show.
They did have a movie, Serenity, that was made as well. But anyway, I
love both Star Wars and Star Trek. We’ve really enjoyed The Mandalorian.
I mean who doesn’t love Baby Yoda right? It’s all fun.
How many times did you apply to be an astronaut? Did
you learn anything on your last attempt?
I tried four times over the course of 13 years.My first three attempts, I
didn’t even have references checked or interviews or anything. Remember what we
talked about earlier, about patience? For my fourth attempt, the fact is, it
happened when it was supposed to happen. I didn’t realize it at the time. I
would have loved to have been picked on my first attempt like anybody would
think, but at the same time, because I didn’t get picked right away, my family
had some amazing experiences throughout my Air Force career. That includes
living in Canada, living overseas in Italy, and having an opportunity to work
at the Pentagon. All of those helped shape me and grow my experience in ways
that I think helped me be a better astronaut.
Can you share your favorite photo or video that you
took in space?
One of my favorite pictures was a picture inside the station at night when
all of the lights were out. You can see the glow of all of the little LEDs and
computers and things that stay on even when you turn off the overhead lights.
You see this glow on station. It’s really one of my favorite times because the
picture doesn’t capture it all. I wish you could hear it as well. I like to
think of the station in some sense as being alive. It’s at that time of night
when everybody else is in their crew quarters in bed and the lights are out
that you feel it. You feel the rhythm, you feel the heartbeat of the station,
you see it in the glow of those lights – that heartbeat is what’s keeping you
alive while you’re up there. That picture goes a small way of trying to capture
that, but I think it’s a special time from up there.
What personal items did you decide to pack
for launch and why?
My wedding bands. I’m also taking up pilot wings
for my son. He wants to be a pilot so if he succeeds with that, I’ll be able to
give him his pilot wings. Last time, I took one of the Purple Hearts of a very
close friend. He was a Marine in World War II who earned it after his service
in the Pacific.
Thank you for your time, Mike, and good luck on your historic mission! Get to know a bit more about Mike and his Crew-1 crew mates Victor Glover, Soichi Noguchi, and Shannon Walker in the video above.
Watch LIVE launch coverage beginning at 3:30 p.m. EST on Nov. 14 HERE.
NASA Spotlight: Christina Hernandez, NASA Mars 2020 Rover Instrument Engineer
“I was in love with the beauty of space. It was my introduction to appreciating the beauty of complex, chaotic things—black holes, giant gas planets, or killer asteroids—that got my imagination riled up.“ -Christina Hernandez
Christina Hernandez, a space enthusiast and self-proclaimed nerd, is an aerospace engineer at our Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California where she works as an instrument engineer on our newest rover mission – Mars2020. The Mars2020 rover is a robotic scientist that is launching to the Red Planet next year. If you would like to launch to the Red Planet as well, you can Send Your Name to Mars along with thousands of other people! Christina’s job is to make sure that the instruments we send to the Martian surface are designed, built, tested and operated correctly so we can retrieve allll the science. When she isn’t building space robots, she loves exploring new hiking trails, reading science fiction and experimenting in the kitchen. Christina took a break from building our next Martian scientist to answer some questions about her life and her career:
If you could go to Mars, would you? And what are three things you’d bring with you?
Only if I had a round trip ticket! I like the tacos and beach here on Earth too much. If I could go, I would bring a bag of Hot Cheetos, a Metallica album, and the book On the Shoulders of Giants.
If you could name the Mars2020 rover, what would you name it and why?
Pilas, a reference to a phrase my family says a lot, ponte las pilas. It literally means put your batteries on or in other words, get to work, look alive or put some energy into it. Our rover is going to need to have her batteries up and running for all the science she is going to be doing! Luckily, the rover has a radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG) to help keep the batteries charged!
What’s been your most memorable day at NASA?
It’s been seeing three of the instruments I worked on getting bolted and connected to the flight rover. I’ll never forget seeing the first 1’s and 0’s being exchanged between the rover compute element (RCE), the rover’s on-board brain, and the instruments’ electronics boxes (their brains). I am sure it was a wonderful conversation between the two!
It’s a long journey to get from Earth to Mars. What would be on your ultimate road trip playlist?
Metallica, The Cure, Queen, Echo and the Bunnymen, Frank Sinatra, Ramon Ayala, AC/DC, Selena, Los Angeles Azules, ughhhh – I think I just need a Spotify subscription to Mars.
What is one piece of advice you wish someone would’ve told you?
Take your ego out of the solution space when problem solving.
Do you have any secret skills, talents, or hobbies?
I love reading. Each year I read a minimum of 20 books, with my goal this year being 30 books. It’s funny I increased my goal during what has definitely been my busiest year at work. I recently got into watercolor painting. After spending so much time connected at work, I started looking for more analog hobbies. I am a terrible painter right now, but I painted my first painting the other day. It was of two nebulas! It’s not too bad! I am hoping watercolor can help connect me more to the color complexities of nature…and it’s fun!
What’s a project or problem that you would love the ability to tackle/work on?
I would love to work on designs for planetary human explorers. So far, I have focused on robotic explore, but when you throw a “loveable, warm, squishy thing” into the loop, its creates a different dimension to design – both with respect to operability and risk.
Thanks so much Christina! The Mars2020 rover is planned to launch on July 17, 2020, and touch down in Jezero crater on Mars on February 18, 2021.
Wonder what it’s like to fly for NASA Earth science expeditions? Ask our research pilot anything!
This January, we’re kicking off five new airborne Earth science expeditions aimed at studying our home planet from the land, sea and air. Here’s your chance to hear what it’s like from the cockpit!
Research pilot Dean “Gucci” Neeley will be taking your questions in an Answer Time session on Friday, January 10 from 12-1pm ET here on NASA’s Tumblr! Find out what it’s like to fly research aircraft that use the vantage point of space to increase our understanding of Earth, improve lives and safeguard our future! Make sure to ask your question now by visiting http://nasa.tumblr.com/ask!
Dean’s call sign Gucci came from flying KC-10 “Gucci Boys” before being hired to fly U-2 aircraft. Some say he spends too much time/money on his hair, clothes, cars. 😂
He played drums in two rock bands in the 80s and 90s; Agent Orange and the Defoliants; The Mod Sky Gods.
He spent his years in the Air Force as a reconnaissance squadron commander, wing chief of safety, stealth fighter squadron director and bomber in multiple worldwide aerial combat campaigns.
Dean holds a Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering and a Master of Aeronautical Science degree.
Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com.