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By Space Force
The U.S. Space Force made a strong showing at the Daytona 500 to recruit the next generation of service members on February 16, 2025.
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By NASA
X-ray: NASA/CXC/Penn State Univ./L. Townsley et al.; Infrared: NASA/JPL-CalTech/SST; Optical: NASA/STScI/HST; Radio: ESO/NAOJ/NRAO/ALMA; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/J. Schmidt, N. Wolk, K. Arcand A bouquet of thousands of stars in bloom has arrived. This composite image contains the deepest X-ray image ever made of the spectacular star forming region called 30 Doradus.
By combining X-ray data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory (blue and green) with optical data from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope (yellow) and radio data from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (orange), this stellar arrangement comes alive.
X-ray: NASA/CXC/Penn State Univ./L. Townsley et al.; Infrared: NASA/JPL-CalTech/SST; Optical: NASA/STScI/HST; Radio: ESO/NAOJ/NRAO/ALMA; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/J. Schmidt, N. Wolk, K. Arcand Otherwise known as the Tarantula Nebula, 30 Dor is located about 160,000 light-years away in a small neighboring galaxy to the Milky Way known as the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). Because it one of the brightest and populated star-forming regions to Earth, 30 Dor is a frequent target for scientists trying to learn more about how stars are born.
With enough fuel to have powered the manufacturing of stars for at least 25 million years, 30 Dor is the most powerful stellar nursery in the local group of galaxies that includes the Milky Way, the LMC, and the Andromeda galaxy.
The massive young stars in 30 Dor send cosmically strong winds out into space. Along with the matter and energy ejected by stars that have previously exploded, these winds have carved out an eye-catching display of arcs, pillars, and bubbles.
A dense cluster in the center of 30 Dor contains the most massive stars astronomers have ever found, each only about one to two million years old. (Our Sun is over a thousand times older with an age of about 5 billion years.)
This new image includes the data from a large Chandra program that involved about 23 days of observing time, greatly exceeding the 1.3 days of observing that Chandra previously conducted on 30 Dor. The 3,615 X-ray sources detected by Chandra include a mixture of massive stars, double-star systems, bright stars that are still in the process of forming, and much smaller clusters of young stars.
There is a large quantity of diffuse, hot gas seen in X-rays, arising from different sources including the winds of massive stars and from the gas expelled by supernova explosions. This data set will be the best available for the foreseeable future for studying diffuse X-ray emission in star-forming regions.
The long observing time devoted to this cluster allows astronomers the ability to search for changes in the 30 Dor’s massive stars. Several of these stars are members of double star systems and their movements can be traced by the changes in X-ray brightness.
A paper describing these results appears in the July 2024 issue of The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series. NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center manages the Chandra program. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory’s Chandra X-ray Center controls science operations from Cambridge, Massachusetts, and flight operations from Burlington, Massachusetts.
Read more from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory.
Learn more about the Chandra X-ray Observatory and its mission here:
https://www.nasa.gov/chandra
https://chandra.si.edu
Visual Description
This release features a highly detailed composite image of a star-forming region of space known as 30 Doradus, shaped like a bouquet, or a maple leaf.
30 Doradus is a powerful stellar nursery. In 23 days of observation, the Chandra X-ray telescope revealed thousands of distinct star systems. Chandra data also revealed a diffuse X-ray glow from winds blowing off giant stars, and X-ray gas expelled by exploding stars, or supernovas.
In this image, the X-ray wind and gas takes the shape of a massive purple and pink bouquet with an extended central flower, or perhaps a leaf from a maple tree. The hazy, mottled shape occupies much of the image, positioned just to our left of center, tilted slightly to our left. Inside the purple and pink gas and wind cloud are red and orange veins, and pockets of bright white light. The pockets of white light represent clusters of young stars. One cluster at the heart of 30 Doradus houses the most massive stars astronomers have ever found.
The hazy purple and pink bouquet is surrounded by glowing dots of green, white, orange, and red. A second mottled purple cloud shape, which resembles a ring of smoke, sits in our lower righthand corner.
News Media Contact
Megan Watzke
Chandra X-ray Center
Cambridge, Mass.
617-496-7998
mwatzke@cfa.harvard.edu
Lane Figueroa
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Alabama
256-544-0034
lane.e.figueroa@nasa.gov
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By NASA
u0022Every project I have worked has been unique, whether it be a sounding rocket, scientific balloon, or aircraft mission,u0022 said Wallops Flight Facility News Chief Keith Koehler, looking back on his 41 years at NASA. u0022The projects are numerous and great people are involved.u0022NASA/Aubrey Gemignani Name: Keith Koehler
Title: News Chief
Formal Job Classification: Public Affairs Specialist
Organization: Office of Communications, Wallops Flight Facility, Goddard Space Flight Center (Code 130.4)
What do you do and what is most interesting about your role here at Goddard? How do you help support Goddard’s mission?
As news chief, I manage media relations with local, regional, national, and international media. I also write news releases and web features, and I conduct interviews to bring the exciting activities at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility on Virginia’s Eastern Shore to the public.
What is your educational background?
I have a B.A. in journalism from Murray State University in Kentucky and an M.B.A. from Bellarmine University in Kentucky.
How did you come to work for NASA?
In 1978, while I was at Murray, I joined the NASA Langley Research Center’s Public Affairs Office (now the Office of Communications), in Virginia, as a cooperative education student, a type of internship. In 1984, I joined Wallops as the manager of the Visitor Center while I was working on my master’s. In 1987, I returned to Bellarmine full time to complete the last semester for my master’s. Later that year, after graduating, I returned to the Wallops Visitor Center. In 1990, I became the lead of the Wallops Public Affairs Office, where I have remained most of my career.
Why did you spend almost your entire career at Wallops’ Office of Communications?
When I first came to Wallops, I fell in love with the area. I grew up in the city and I love this rural area. I enjoy working with the people and the scientists from all over the world who come here to do research projects. Wallops projects usually run six months to about two years, so it’s very fast-paced with a lot of activity in many different areas.
I also met my wife Lisa, a native of the area, while at Wallops.
What are some of the most interesting projects you have worked on?
Northrop Grumman’s Antares program, which launches from Wallops, is interesting because of the positive impact the launches have on the community and their importance in getting supplies to the International Space Station. Wallops began in 1945 as a launch facility. Since coming to Wallops in 1984, I have seen it become a world-class launch facility for much larger rockets.
Every project I have worked has been unique, whether it be a sounding rocket, scientific balloon, or aircraft mission. The projects are numerous and great people are involved.
What I have enjoyed most throughout my career is the people. Our people want to share what they are doing with the public.
u0022What makes a good science communicator is the ability to listen,u0022 said Wallops news chief Keith Koehler. u0022You need to listen closely to what is being told to you from the mission support staff, such as a scientists, engineers, or technicians. Then you must be able to take that information and put it in a format that the public can understand.u0022Courtesy of Keith Koehler What do you want to be your legacy?
I would like to be remembered as someone with integrity who was able to bring the message of what we do at Wallops to the public and as someone who supported our educational programs through the development and support of hands-on programs and support of internships.
What advice would you give to someone starting out in science communications?
You need to have a passion for learning and be curious.
We pass on new findings to the public and everything is always changing. You must enjoy communicating with the scientists and engineers and passing on that information to the public in a way they can understand the technical complexities of the science and engineering.
What makes a good science communicator?
What makes a good science communicator is the ability to listen. You need to listen closely to what is being told to you from the mission support staff, such as a scientists, engineers, or technicians. Then you must be able to take that information and put it in a format that the public can understand. You also must be able to listen to the public and understand what they are asking and interested in hearing.
What was your favorite campaign?
That is hard to say. With more than 41 years supporting NASA, the missions and field campaigns have been numerous. Field campaigns took me to Alaska, New Mexico, California, Hawaii, in the air over the mid-Atlantic states, and Puerto Rico.
How has Wallops changed over the years?
In some ways, Wallops has stayed the same, but it also has changed. Wallops has always had a can-do attitude. Mission personnel know the project goals and work toward those goals. Historically, the work has focused on suborbital projects using sounding rockets, scientific balloons, and science aircraft.
Recently, there has been an increase in working with small satellites – project management, development, testing and tracking. In addition, Wallops has greatly expanded its support of commercial launch activities. In 1995, Virginia located the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at Wallops, which has brought an increase in the launch of orbital rockets. I was part of the core group involved in the birth of the spaceport.
What do you enjoy most about living near Wallops?
The area is quiet, slower paced. The beaches are nice. We are close enough for a day trip to Washington, D.C., but we can live surrounded by nature.
After you retire at the end of this year, what are your plans?
I want to travel nationally and internationally with my wife Lisa. I love vegetable gardening. I also want to spend time with my grandchild. I may do some part-time teaching. I hope to do volunteer work, but have not yet decided exactly what or where.
What is your “six-word memoir”? A six-word memoir describes something in just six words.
Integrity, faithful, patient, inquisitive, caring, trustworthy.
By Elizabeth M. Jarrell
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
Conversations With Goddard is a collection of question and answer profiles highlighting the breadth and depth of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center’s talented and diverse workforce. The Conversations have been published twice a month on average since May 2011. Read past editions on Goddard’s “Our People” webpage. Conversations With Goddard is a collection of Q&A profiles highlighting the breadth and depth of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center’s talented and diverse workforce. The Conversations have been published twice a month on average since May 2011. Read past editions on Goddard’s “Our People” webpage.
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Last Updated Feb 10, 2025 Related Terms
Goddard Space Flight Center People of Goddard Wallops Flight Facility Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA
Missions
Humans in Space
Climate Change
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By NASA
Credit: NASA The Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP), an advisory committee that reports to NASA and Congress, issued its 2024 annual report Thursday examining the agency’s safety performance, accomplishments, and challenges during the past year.
The report highlights 2024 activities and observations on NASA’s work, including:
strategic vision and agency governance Moon to Mars management future of U.S. presence in low Earth orbit health and medical risks in human space exploration “Over the past year, NASA has continued to make meaningful progress toward meeting the intent of the broad-ranging recommendations the panel has made over the last several years,” said retired U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Susan J. Helms, chair of ASAP. “We believe that the agency’s careful attention to vision, strategy, governance, and program management is vital to the safe execution of NASA’s complex and critical national mission.”
This year’s report reflects the panel’s continued focus on NASA’s strategies for risk management and safety culture in an environment of growing space commercialization. Specifically, the panel cites its 2021 recommendations for NASA on preparing for future challenges in a changing landscape, including the need to evaluate NASA’s approach to safety and technical risk and to evolve its role, responsibilities, and relationships with private sector and international partners.
Overall, the panel finds NASA is continuing to make progress with respect to the agency’s strategic vision, approach to governance, and integrated program management. The NASA 2040 new agencywide initiative is working to operationalize the agency’s vision and strategic objectives across headquarters and centers. With the establishment of NASA’s Moon to Mars Program Office in 2023, it finds NASA has implemented safety and risk management as a key focus for NASA’s Artemis campaign.
The 2024 report provides details on the concrete actions the agency should take to fulfill its previous recommendations and spotlights its recommendations for the agency moving ahead. It addresses safety assessments for Moon to Mars and current International Space Station operations, as well as risk-related issues surrounding NASA’s planned transition to commercial low Earth orbit destinations.
It covers relevant areas of human health and medicine in space and the impact of budget constraints and uncertainty on safety.
The annual report is based on the panel’s 2024 fact-finding and quarterly public meetings; direct observations of NASA operations and decision-making; discussions with NASA management, employees, and contractors; and the panel members’ experiences.
Congress established the panel in 1968 to provide advice and make recommendations to the NASA administrator on safety matters after the 1967 Apollo 1 fire claimed the lives of three American astronauts.
To learn more about the ASAP, and view annual reports, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/asap
-end-
Jennifer Dooren / Elizabeth Shaw
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
jennifer.m.dooren@nasa.gov / elizabeth.a.shaw@nasa.gov
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Last Updated Feb 06, 2025 EditorJessica TaveauLocationNASA Headquarters Related Terms
Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel View the full article
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By NASA
Caption: Illustration of the four PUNCH spacecraft in low Earth orbit. Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Conceptual Image Lab
NASA will hold a media teleconference at 2 p.m. EST on Tuesday, Feb. 4, to share information about the agency’s upcoming PUNCH (Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere) mission, which is targeted to launch no earlier than Thursday, Feb. 27.
The agency’s PUNCH mission is a constellation of four small satellites. When they arrive in low Earth orbit, the satellites will make global, 3D observations of the Sun’s outer atmosphere, the corona, and help NASA learn how the mass and energy there become solar wind. By imaging the Sun’s corona and the solar wind together, scientists hope to better understand the entire inner heliosphere – Sun, solar wind, and Earth – as a single connected system.
Audio of the teleconference will stream live on the agency’s website at:
https://www.nasa.gov/live
Participants include:
Madhulika Guhathakurta, NASA program scientist, NASA Headquarters Nicholeen Viall, PUNCH mission scientist, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Craig DeForest, PUNCH principal investigator, Southwest Research Institute To participate in the media teleconference, media must RSVP no later than 12 p.m. on Feb. 4 to: Abbey Interrante at: abbey.a.interrante@nasa.gov. NASA’s media accreditation policy is available online.
The PUNCH mission will share a ride to space with NASA’s SPHEREx (Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer) space telescope on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
The Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado, leads the PUNCH mission. The mission is managed by the Explorers Program Office at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington.
To learn more about PUNCH, please visit:
https://nasa.gov/punch
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Karen Fox
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
karen.fox@nasa.gov
Sarah Frazier
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
202-853-7191
sarah.frazier@nasa.gov
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