Sun. Nov 10th, 2024

In this week’s newsletter, NASA has been named the 2023 Best Place to Work in the Federal

Government for the 12th year in a row by the Partnership for Public Service; twin shoebox-size

climate satellites launch this weekend to study two of the most remote regions on Earth: the

Arctic and Antarctic; and why is the warm gas-giant exoplanet WASP-107 b so puffy? Plus, more

stories you might have missed.

NASA Earns Best Place to Work in Government for 12 Straight Years

For the 12th year in a row, the Partnership for Public Service named NASA the best place to work among large agencies in the federal government. “Once again, NASA has shown that with the world’s finest workforce, we can reach the stars,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “Through space exploration, advances in aviation, groundbreaking science, new technologies, and more, the team of wizards at NASA do what is hard to achieve what is great. That’s the pioneer spirit that makes NASA the best place to work in the federal government. With this ingenuity and passion, we will continue to innovate for the benefit of all and inspire the world.” The Partnership for Public Service began to compile the Best Places to Work rankings in 2003 to analyze federal employees’ viewpoints on leadership, work-life balance, and other factors of their job. LEARN MORE

Explore With Us

There are jobs, and there are careers. But at NASA, our work is more than just a profession—it’s a lifelong pursuit, a passion, and a chance to change the history of humanity. Together, we stand poised to usher in a bold new era of discovery.

CAREERS AT NASA

THE UNIVERSE

Case of the Puffy Planet

Why is the warm gas-giant exoplanet WASP-107 b so puffy? Two independent teams of researchers using data collected with NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, combined with prior observations from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, have an answer.

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Imaging Faraway Planets

The Roman Coronagraph Instrument onboard the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will help pave the way in the search for habitable worlds outside our solar system by testing new tools that block starlight, revealing planets hidden by the glare of their parent stars.

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Sci-Fi-Worthy Thrusters

The Psyche spacecraft passed its six-month checkup with a clean bill of health, and there’s no holding back now! Navigators are firing its futuristic-looking electric thrusters nearly nonstop as the orbiter zips farther into deep space toward a metal-rich asteroid, where it will collect science data.

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Launching:Tiny Twin Polar Satellites

Twin shoebox-size climate satellites will soon be studying two of the most remote regions on Earth: the Arctic and Antarctic.

Data from the Polar Radiant Energy in the Far-InfraRed Experiment (PREFIRE) mission will help improve our understanding of the greenhouse effect at the poles—specifically, the capacity of water vapor, clouds, and other elements of Earth’s atmosphere to trap heat and keep it from radiating into space. Researchers will use this information to update climate and ice models, which will lead to better predictions of how sea level, weather, and snow and ice cover are likely to change in a warming world.

PREFIRE is scheduled to launch no earlier than Saturday, May 25.

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More NASA News

NASA, Boeing, and United Launch Alliance are working toward a launch at 12:25 p.m., Saturday, June 1, for the first crewed flight of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft to the International Space Station.

Using observations by NASA’s TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite), two international teams of astronomers have discovered a planet between the sizes of Earth and Venus only 40 light-years away.

The Euclid mission, led by the European Space Agency with contributions from NASA, has released five new images that showcase the space telescope’s ability to explore two large-scale cosmic mysteries: dark matter and dark energy.

NASA and IBM Research have developed a new artificial intelligence model to support a variety of weather and climate applications. The new model, known as the Prithvi-weather-climate foundational model, could open the door to better regional and local weather forecasts.

A new, higher-resolution infrared camera outfitted with a variety of lightweight filters could probe sunlight reflected off Earth’s upper atmosphere and surface, improving forest fire warnings in an increasingly flammable world.

From the Archives

Doris Britton was a chemical engineer for over 30 years in the electrochemistry branch at Glenn Research Center. After earning a degree in her native Philippines, Britton applied for a U.S. visa with no intention of ever leaving home. At the urging of colleagues, however, she decided to accept a position in Cleveland at Union Carbide in the early 1970s. In 1977, she successfully applied for a position at the Glenn Research Center. Britton specialized in the study of lightweight nickel electrodes for hydrogen fuel cells and the study of lithium-ion batteries. She retired in the mid-2000s, with over 30 years at the center.


EXPLORE AA&NHPI HISTORY AT NASA

NOTE: This is a NASA Publication. Reformatted to fit the screen.

By editor

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