By Elena Solohin, Florida International University /NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA/ My colleague, Emily, and I, with Florida International University's Wetland Ecosystems Research Lab, kicked off our 2021 field season with a trip to the Mississippi River Delta to conduct research for NASA's Delta-X project. We met up with a team of scientists from Louisiana State University …
By John Mallard and Tamlin Pavelsky, University of North Carolina /NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA/ Cruising through a bayou during recent fieldwork in the Mississippi River Delta, our boat driver casually pointed out an alligator and zoomed on by without slowing. After seeing us scramble to get out our phones to take a picture, though, he realized …
By Amanda Fontenot, Louisiana State University /NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA/ Although most of my work happens in the lab, office, or home, field days are some of the most important days of the year for my research. "Going to the field" is when we get to physically visit the wetlands that we spend so much …
On May 2, 2021, mission controllers received a "tone one" beacon from Parker Solar Probe, indicating that all systems were healthy and operating normally after the spacecraft's eighth close approach to the Sun.
NASA's Parker Solar Probe has started its eighth science-gathering solar encounter, putting it one-third of the way through its planned journey of 24 progressively closer loops around the Sun.
By Dan McGrath and Randall Bonnell, Colorado State University /CAMERON PASS, COLORADO/ The word lightspeed conjures different images for different people. Star Wars fans may connect lightspeed to the Millennium Falcon, while radar scientists may think of the velocity of electromagnetic energy. Radio waves, a form of electromagnetic energy, travel at "lightspeed" through a vacuum, …
By Katy Mersmann, NASA We're so saddened by the loss of our teammate Dr. Gemma Teresa Narisma. She was a passionate climate researcher and the Philippine lead for the Cloud, Aerosol, and Monsoon Processes Philippines Experiment (CAMP2Ex). As the director of the Manila Observatory and a professor at Ateneo de Manila University, she not only …
By Gabrielle Antonioli, Montana State University /BOISE, IDAHO/ Being a snow scientist is an interesting career. Growing up in a small town in Montana, I was immersed in snow. But I saw it as one set thing—a blanket, unmoving, a cold, white mass. Only far later in life did I learn what a changing and …
NASA's Parker Solar Probe speeds past Venus on Feb. 20, 2021, using the planet's gravity to shape its path for its next close approaches to the Sun.
NASA's Perseverance Mars rover has sent back its first image(s) from the surface of the Red Planet. The image(s) come from Perseverance's Hazard Avoidance Cameras (Hazcams), which help with driving. The clear protective covers over these cameras are still on. These first images are low-resolution versions known as "thumbnails." Higher-resolution versions will be available later. …
