NASA Goddard • 29th January 2025

Goddard Glossary: Chirality

You put your right molecule in, you take your right molecule out, you put your sample in the centrifuge, and you shake it all about... Amino acids — the building blocks of life — can be right or left-handed, a property known as chirality. Last year, our OSIRIS-REx spacecraft brought to Earth samples of an asteroid called Bennu, which contain amino acids. As NASA scientists got to work exploring those samples, we found some chiral surprises.

NASA Goddard • 13th December 2024

Total Solar Eclipse 2024: What We Learned with Your Help

As the 2024 total solar eclipse swept across North America, NASA scientists and tens of thousands of volunteer observers were stationed along the path of the Moon's shadow, collecting data to help us understand our planet and star better.

Instagram • 9th December 2024

We Asked People Who Work at Goddard What's Your Favorite Webb Image?

Tiny mic, big science! We’re celebrating Webb’s third launchaversary this month by asking you to help pick your favorite image. We thought it was only fair to go first. We asked project scientists for some of @NASA’s telescopes to share what makes their favorite Webb images so special.

NASA Goddard • 19th November 2024

Our Sun? A STAR

Solar scientists and Sun fans, this is our chance! Next month, the Parker Solar Probe is taking the closest look yet at the center of our solar system — the Sun. After all, it’s objectively the best star in the entire universe, right?

NASA Goddard • 30th October 2024

Get Caught in the Tarantula's Webb

Oh no! You’ve been caught in the tarantula’s web! Er…Webb’s Tarantula? For Halloween, thrill and chill out while soaring around Webb’s view of 30 Doradus, also known as the Tarantula Nebula. Rendered here in seasonally appropriate oranges and blacks, the Tarantula Nebula is the largest and brightest region of star formation in the Local Group of galaxies.

NASA Goddard • 25th July 2024

Pass the Phone: Intern Edition

Celebrate National Intern Day with interns from Goddard's Office of Communication! Hear about some of the exciting opportunities and achievements our interns have had during their summer at NASA.

Instagram • 6th May 2024

5 Signs Your Brain Has Turned into a Black Hole

Ever have one of those weeks where your brain just feels like a black hole? #BlackHoleWeek is the perfect time to celebrate those times when all thoughts disappear behind the event horizon. Here, we’ve got 5 tips to tell if your brain has gone full black hole. Featuring a special guest appearance by black hole Webster!

NASA Goddard • 6th April 2024

Total Solar Eclipse 2024: Let's Get Ready to Rumble

On April 8, 2024, a total solar eclipse will cross North America! It’s going to be a BIG DAY – but whose big day is it? It’s eclipse season, and the competition is heating up! We’re just two days away from the total solar eclipse, and the fate of the solar system hangs in the balance. Whose team are YOU on?

NASA Goddard • 5th April 2024

Total Solar Eclipse 2024: Time to Get in Line

On April 8, 2024, a total solar eclipse will cross North America! It’s going to be a BIG DAY – but whose big day is it? Earth, Moon, and Sun each want the spotlight, but it takes all three to make a total solar eclipse. Can they get aligned in time for April 8th, or is it going to be every celestial body for themselves?

NASA Goddard • 4th April 2024

Total Solar Eclipse 2024: Behind the Scenes with Earth

On April 8, 2024, a total solar eclipse will cross North America! It’s going to be a BIG DAY – but whose big day is it? Earth has the best view of a total solar eclipse, but Sun thinks they’re the star of the show. And of course Moon is the center of attention!

NASA Goddard • 3rd April 2024

Total Solar Eclipse 2024: Whose Big Day Is It?

On April 8, 2024, a total solar eclipse will cross North America! It’s going to be a BIG DAY – but whose big day is it? 🤔 Earth, Moon and Sun each think April 8th should be their big day. Whose team are YOU on?

Instagram • 28th March 2024

We Asked the PACE Team What Are You Excited to See with PACE Data?

After launching in February 2024, the PACE satellite is safely in orbit, collecting data, and transmitting it to Earth. Soon, that data will be ready for the public to see and use – and some scientists already have big plans! We’re back with our tiny mic and the Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) team to ask: What are you excited to see with PACE data?

NASA Goddard • 27th March 2024

Christina Koch Followed Her Dream Job to Become a NASA Astronaut

Christina Koch's dream job as an electrical engineer at NASA Goddard helped set her up to become an astronaut. Where can your dreams take you? NASA is searching for their next explorers to train, fly, and go beyond for the benefit of all of humanity. We look forward to finding the next space pioneers that will venture further than ever before. Astronaut applications are open through April 16, 2024!

Instagram • 14th March 2024

We Asked People Who Work at Goddard How Many Digits of Pi Do You Know?

Tiny mic, giant string of numbers! To celebrate #PiDay, we challenged NASA Goddard employees to recite as many digits as pi as possible, with no preparation. What do you think: sweet treat or irrationally difficult test? In case you were wondering, here’s pi to the 100th digit: 3.141592653589793238462643383279 5028841971693993751058209749445923078164062862089986280348253421170679 Happy pi day!

NASA Goddard • 29th February 2024

Leap Day: It's Not Just Earth

We get a whole extra day today! But why? We usually say that there are 365 days in a year, or how long it takes for Earth to orbit the Sun, but it’s really more like 365.25. (Where one day is one rotation of Earth on its axis.) To make up for the missing partial day, we add one day to our calendar about every 4 years. It turns out a few extra hours can really add up!

Instagram • 7th February 2024

We Asked the PACE Team What's Your Favorite Phytoplankton? Pt. 2

Ask a bunch of ocean scientists their favorite phytoplankton, and you’d better PACE yourself! We’re back with our tiny mic and the Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem team. As we wait on the PACE satellite launch, now scheduled for Feb. 8 at 1:33 a.m. EST, we got another round of everyone’s favorite phytoplankton.

Instagram • 6th February 2024

We Asked the PACE Team Rainbow or Cloudbow?

Keeping our eyes peeled for the pot of gold at the end of the cloudbow! Back with the tiny microphone, we asked PACE team members if they like rainbows or cloudbows better. For the spacecraft itself, the answer better be both — its Ocean Color Instrument can measure all of the colors of the rainbow (and then some) and its polarimeters will be able to detect cloudbows by measuring light properties.

Instagram • 5th February 2024

We Asked the PACE Team What's Your Favorite Phytoplankton?

Phytoplankton are small but mighty (just like this tiny microphone)! Though it may be like choosing a favorite child, we asked PACE team members what their favorite phytoplankton is. With the upcoming launch of the satellite, they’ll soon be able to identify these phytoplankton by species from space.

Instagram • 4th February 2024

We Asked the PACE Team What's Your Favorite Color?

We’re #KeepingPACE this week with the launch of @NASA’s next ocean-observing satellite this week! In honor of the tiny things this spacecraft will monitor, we brought a tiny microphone and asked the PACE team some big questions about their favorite things related to the mission. First up for an ocean color satellite: What’s your favorite color?

Instagram • 12th January 2024

2023 Was the Warmest Year in NASA's Record

2023 was the hottest year in @NASA’s record, continuing a human-caused, long term warming trend. 2023 was a record-breaking year in many ways. We also experienced the hottest summer and fall on record, and Sept. 2023’s global temperature anomaly – deviation from the 1951-1980 baseline – was the largest on record. Each year in the last decade was in the top 10 warmest years.