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NICER AMA team

#PulsarWeek: NICER Ask Me Anything! – Part 1

  • By Sara Mitchell
  • August 16, 2017
  • Comments Off on #PulsarWeek: NICER Ask Me Anything! – Part 1

On August 7, 2017, as the grande finale to #PulsarWeek, members of the recently-launched Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) mission team sat down for an hour to answer questions about the mission, pulsars, space navigation, and even more off-the-wall topics in a Reddit Ask Me Anything (AMA) event. We’ve … Continue Reading →


Dr. Jocelyn Bell Burnell

#PulsarWeek: The women who study pulsars

  • By Sara Mitchell
  • August 6, 2017
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For the past week, we have been celebrating #PulsarWeek on social media in honor of the 50th anniversary of the discovery of pulsars. For more on the discovery itself, and about some of the researchers currently studying pulsars in NASA Goddard’s Astrophysics Science Division, here’s a guest blog from Goddard … Continue Reading →


BETTII outside in August 2016

Peering into the Dusty Corners of the Universe with BETTII

  • By Sara Mitchell
  • June 8, 2017
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Sara’s note: We’re excited to tell you about one of the Goddard-built balloon-borne astrophysics missions launching this week! This is a guest post (and photos) from Dr. Stephen Rinehart. The Balloon Experimental Twin Telescope for Infrared Interferometry (BETTII) is a 8-meter long far-infrared interferometer designed to fly on a high … Continue Reading →


NICER CRS-11 launch

NICER is on its way to the ISS!

The Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) launched successfully from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center today at 5:07PM EDT! Check out this spectacular launch: NICER had plenty of company on its ride up to the International Space Station, as the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft launched with almost 6,000 pounds of cargo including … Continue Reading →


NICER payload at Kennedy Space Center

Meet NICER: NASA’s Neutron Star Explorer

  • By Sara Mitchell
  • May 31, 2017
  • Comments Off on Meet NICER: NASA’s Neutron Star Explorer

This white box may not look like much, but it contains a cutting-edge payload that will soon be headed to the International Space Station. The Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) is a NASA Explorer Mission of Opportunity dedicated to the study of neutron stars and all of their extraordinary … Continue Reading →


Calling all armchair crime-solvers!

  • By Sara Mitchell
  • March 9, 2016
  • Comments Off on Calling all armchair crime-solvers!

Stars exploding? Who would do such a thing? Join bumbling detective Eagle Quark on his 8-bit adventures at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in our new Space Forensics game! Eagle is somewhat clueless in his hunt for suspects behind the mysterious deaths of stars in the night sky… and he … Continue Reading →


Planet-forming disk - artist's conception

Try It At Home: Help Discover New Planets!

  • By Sara Mitchell
  • December 7, 2015
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When I heard the news that astronomers have made unprecedented observations of a still-forming planet around a star named LkCa 15, I was really excited. Just 25 years ago, we hadn’t found any exoplanets and weren’t sure if, when, or how we’d find something so small, faint, and distant. In … Continue Reading →


Cosmic Fireworks

Happy Fourth of July to those of you that celebrate it! We couldn’t let the date slip by without presenting a little display of cosmic fireworks. We think you’ll find they’re much quieter than the earthly kind. We start with this 3D visualization of the nebula Gum 29 with the … Continue Reading →


James Webb Space Telescope 101… in one minute!

  • By Sara Mitchell
  • December 23, 2013
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One of the things that was filmed during Coma Niddy’s visit last week was a special episode of his “SCI CODE” web series. He asked us if there was someone who could tell him the basics about the James Webb Space Telescope (no problem!)… in less than a minute (much … Continue Reading →


A visit from Coma Niddy and PBS Digital Studios!

  • By Sara Mitchell
  • December 17, 2013
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Yesterday and today, we’ve been hosting a few special guests who have come to see what’s going on at NASA Goddard and… shoot a music video! We’ve been talking to science educator/rapper Coma Niddy about a collaboration for nearly a year now, and everything finally came together to schedule a … Continue Reading →


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