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By NASA
4 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
Christine Braden values new experiences that broaden her perspective; a mindset that has guided her 26-year career at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, where she currently serves as a senior systems engineer in the Commercial Low Earth Orbit Development Program. In her role, Braden works with engineering teams to develop commercial space stations that will prioritize the safety of astronauts while maximizing cost-effectiveness and the scientific research capabilities onboard.
Managed by NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate, the program supports the development of commercially owned and operated space stations in low Earth orbit from which the agency, along with other customers, can purchase services and stimulate the growth of commercial activities in space. Designing and developing these space stations is the first step of NASA’s two-phase approach, enabling the agency to certify stations and procure services as one of many customers.
With a bachelor’s degree in Technical Management from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Braden brings a strong engineering foundation to her work. However, her role unique because it allows her to merge technical expertise with her creative instincts.
“My team must think outside the box to define new ways that ensure that the commercial providers’ technical integrations, requirements, development, and operations are designed to the highest degree possible,” said Braden.
Recently, she proposed a certification and systems engineering architecture that redefines how companies will interface with NASA and each other in an evolving landscape. Braden’s hybrid approach strikes a balance, allowing companies to innovate while favoring shared assurance and accountability. It also gives NASA situational awareness of the companies’ design, tests, mission, and operational approaches. As a result of her efforts, Braden was recognized with an “On the Spot” award.
Christine Braden receives an “On the Spot” award from Angela Hart, program manager for NASA’s Commercial Low Earth Orbit Development Program, in March 2024.NASA/Helen Arase Vargas
Looking ahead, Braden envisions a world where commercial space stations are a hub for science and technology, spacecraft are more efficient, spaceflight is more accessible, humans are back on the Moon, and Mars is the next frontier. In reflecting on these agency-wide goals, Braden finds that working with passionate team members makes her day-to-day work truly special and enjoyable.
“I am a part of a small, close-knit team that works together to make these advancements in space exploration happen for the world,” said Braden. “Working at NASA is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that not only defines my working life going forward but also provides me with an experience I can share with some truly amazing people.”
Working at NASA is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that not only defines my working life going forward but also provides me with an experience I can share with some truly amazing people.
Christine Braden
Senior Systems Engineer, Commercial Low Earth Orbit Development Program
Outside of work, Braden is inspired by her faith, which encourages her to see things from new perspectives and try to understand people from all walks of life. Additionally, Braden is a lifelong learner who loves listening to podcasts, watching documentaries, and reading web articles. She is eager to learn everything from music and dance to plants and animals.
“When I look through scientific websites where new planets and galaxies are discovered, it makes me think of ways humanity may expand itself to the stars, and ways that we can preserve the life we have here on Earth,” said Braden.
On the topic of preservation, one of Braden’s many hobbies is antique restoration. “It reminds me of my dad and grandfather restoring homes together during my childhood and gives me hope that I can inspire my children as they watch me follow in our family’s footsteps,” said Braden. Her other hobbies include gardening and family activities such as puzzles, board games, watching television, playing video games, hunting, and traveling.
As a driven individual known for her creativity and curiosity, Braden’s fresh ideas and spirit are key in guiding the agency’s progress into new frontiers.
NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate maintains a continuous human presence in space for the benefit of people on Earth. The programs within the directorate are the hub of NASA’s space exploration efforts, enabling Artemis, commercial space, science, and other agency missions through communication, launch services, research capabilities, and crew support.
To learn more about NASA’s Space Operation Mission Directorate, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/space-operations
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Last Updated May 15, 2025 Related Terms
Space Operations Mission Directorate Explore More
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By USH
What would you do if you suddenly felt an unseen presence, turned around—and found yourself face to face with a seven-foot-tall, insect-like entity? Since 2006, anglers along New Jersey’s Musconetcong River have reported startling encounters with just such a being: a towering, humanoid creature that closely resembles a praying mantis.
But these aren’t just fleeting sightings. Witnesses frequently describe deeply unsettling experiences: telepathic communication, a sense of their thoughts or memories being accessed, and profound physiological effects. Consistent patterns emerge—electronic devices glitch, the surrounding forest falls unnaturally silent, and a strange, low-frequency hum seems to vibrate through the air.
More intriguingly, these mantis-like figures aren’t limited to modern encounters. Strikingly similar forms appear in ancient art across the globe, from 8,000-year-old cave paintings to references in Egyptian iconography. Could these entities have been with us since the dawn of civilization?
Theories vary widely. Some suggest these beings are an advanced species of insectoid extraterrestrials, possibly master geneticists overseeing hybridization programs involving humanity. Others propose a more Earth-bound origin, perhaps they’re a secret lineage of evolved terrestrial insects, hiding in the shadows of time.
And then there’s the interdimensional hypothesis: that these creatures aren’t physical in the way we understand, but exist in a parallel state of reality, occasionally phasing into ours.
Some researchers have even speculated that geological fault lines, like those beneath the Musconetcong River, could serve as energetic gateways, allowing these entities to cross between dimensions.
One thing is clear: the Mantis beings are watching and they may have been here far longer than we’ve dared to imagine.
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By Space Force
U.S. Space Force Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman and Italian Air Force Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Luca Goretti signed a statement of understanding.
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By NASA
8 Min Read NASA Telescopes Tune Into a Black Hole Prelude, Fugue
The first sonification features WR124, an extremely bright, massive star. Here, the star is shown in a short-lived phase preceding the possible creation of a black hole. NASA released three new pieces of cosmic sound Thursday that are associated with the densest and darkest members of our universe: black holes. These scientific productions are sonifications — or translations into sound — of data collected by NASA telescopes in space including the Chandra X-ray Observatory, James Webb Space Telescope, and Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE).
This trio of sonifications represents different aspects of black holes and black hole evolution. WR124 is an extremely bright, short-lived massive star known as a Wolf-Rayet that may collapse into a black hole in the future. SS 433 is a binary, or double system, containing a star like our Sun in orbit with either a neutron star or a black hole. The galaxy Centaurus A has an enormous black hole in its center that is sending a booming jet across the entire length of the galaxy. Data from Chandra and other telescopes were translated through a process called “sonification” into sounds and notes. This new trio of sonifications represents different aspects of black holes. Black holes are neither static nor monolithic. They evolve over time, and are found in a range of sizes and environments.
WR 124
Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO; Infrared: (Herschel) ESA/NASA/Caltech, (Spitzer) NASA/JPL/Caltech, (WISE) NASA/JPL/Caltech; Infrared: NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI/Webb ERO Production Team; Image processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/J. Major; Sonification: NASA/CXC/SAO/K.Arcand, SYSTEM Sounds (M. Russo, A. Santaguida) The first movement is a prelude to the potential birth of a black hole. WR124 is an extremely bright, short-lived massive star known as a Wolf-Rayet at a distance of about 28,000 light-years from Earth. These stars fling their outer layers out into space, creating spectacular arrangements seen in an image in infrared light from the Webb telescope. In the sonification of WR124, this nebula is heard as flutes and the background stars as bells. At the center of WR124, where the scan begins before moving outward, is a hot core of the star that may explode as a supernova and potentially collapse and leave behind a black hole in its wake. As the scan moves from the center outward, X-ray sources detected by Chandra are translated into harp sounds. Data from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope is heard as metallic bell-like sounds, while the light of the central star is mapped to produce the descending scream-like sound at the beginning. The piece is rounded out by strings playing additional data from the infrared telescopic trio of ESA’s (European Space Agency’s) Herschel Space Telescope, NASA’s retired Spitzer Space Telescope, and NASA’s retired Wide Image Survey Explorer (WISE) as chords.
SS 433
Credit: X-ray: (IXPE): NASA/MSFC/IXPE; (Chandra): NASA/CXC/SAO; (XMM): ESA/XMM-Newton; IR: NASA/JPL/Caltech/WISE; Radio: NRAO/AUI/NSF/VLA/B. Saxton. (IR/Radio image created with data from M. Goss, et al.); Image Processing/compositing: NASA/CXC/SAO/N. Wolk & K. Arcand; Sonification: NASA/CXC/SAO/K.Arcand, SYSTEM Sounds (M. Russo, A. Santaguida) In the second movement of this black hole composition, listeners can explore a duet. SS 433 is a binary, or double, system about 18,000 light-years away that sings out in X-rays. The two members of SS 433 include a star like our Sun in orbit around a much heavier partner, either a neutron star or a black hole. This orbital dance causes undulations in X-rays that Chandra, IXPE, and ESA’s XMM-Newton telescopes are tuned into. These X-ray notes have been combined with radio and infrared data to provide a backdrop for this celestial waltz. The nebula in radio waves resembles a drifting manatee, and the scan sweeps across from right to left. Light towards the top of the image is mapped to higher-pitch sound, with radio, infrared, and X-ray light mapped to low, medium, and high pitch ranges. Bright background stars are played as water-drop sounds, and the location of the binary system is heard as a plucked sound, pulsing to match the fluctuations due to the orbital dance.
Centarus A
Credit: X-ray: (Chandra) NASA/CXC/SAO, (IXPE) NASA/MSFC; Optical: ESO; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/K. Arcand, J. Major, and J. Schmidt; Sonification: NASA/CXC/SAO/K.Arcand, SYSTEM Sounds (M. Russo, A. Santaguida) The third and final movement of the black hole-themed sonifications crescendos with a distant galaxy known as Centaurus A, about 12 million light-years away from Earth. At the center of Centaurus A is an enormous black hole that is sending a booming jet across the entire length of the galaxy. Sweeping around clockwise from the top of the image, the scan encounters Chandra’s X-rays and plays them as single-note wind chimes. X-ray light from IXPE is heard as a continuous range of frequencies, producing a wind-like sound. Visible light data from the European Southern Observatory’s MPG telescope shows the galaxy’s stars that are mapped to string instruments including foreground and background objects as plucked strings.
For more NASA sonifications and information about the project, visit https://chandra.si.edu/sound/
These sonifications were led by the Chandra X-ray Center (CXC), with support from NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center and NASA’s Universe of Learning program, which is part of the NASA Science Activation program. The collaboration was driven by visualization scientist Kimberly Arcand (CXC), astrophysicist Matt Russo, and musician Andrew Santaguida (both of the SYSTEM Sounds project), along with consultant Christine Malec.
NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the Chandra program. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory’s Chandra X-ray Center controls science from Cambridge Massachusetts and flight operations from Burlington, Massachusetts. NASA’s Universe of Learning materials are based upon work supported by NASA under cooperative agreement award number NNX16AC65A to the Space Telescope Science Institute, working in partnership with Caltech/IPAC, Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
The agency’s IXPE is a collaboration between NASA and the Italian Space Agency with partners and science collaborators in 12 countries. The IXPE mission is led by Marshall. BAE Systems, Inc., headquartered in Falls Church, Virginia, manages spacecraft operations together with the University of Colorado’s Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics in Boulder.
To learn more about NASA’s space telescopes, visit:
https://science.nasa.gov/universe
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 three sonifications related to black holes, presented as soundtracks to short videos. Each sonification video features a composite image representing a different aspect of the life of a black hole. These images are visualizations of data collected by NASA telescopes. During each video, a line sweeps through the image. When the line encounters a visual element, it is translated into sound according to parameters established by visualization scientist Kimberly Arcand, astrophysicist Matt Russo, musician Andrew Santaguida, and consultant Christine Malec.
The first sonification features WR124, an extremely bright, massive star. Here, the star is shown in a short-lived phase preceding the possible creation of a black hole. At the center of the composite image is the large gleaming star in white and pale blue. The star sits at the heart of a mottled pink and gold cloud, its long diffraction spikes extending to the outer edges. Also residing in the cloud are other large gleaming stars, glowing hot-pink dots, and tiny specks of blue and white light. In this sonification, the sound activation line is an ever-expanding circle which starts in the center of the massive star and continues to grow until it exits the frame.
The second sonification features SS 433, a binary star system at the center of a supernova remnant known as the Manatee Nebula. Visually, the translucent, blobby teal nebula does, indeed, resemble a bulbous walrus or manatee, floating in a red haze packed with distant specs of light. Inside the nebula is a violet streak, a blue streak, and a large bright dot. The dot, represented by a plucking sound in the sonification, is the binary system at the heart of the nebula. In this sonification, the vertical activation line begins at our right edge of the frame, and sweeps across the image before exiting at our left.
The third and final sonification features Centaurus A, a distant galaxy with an enormous black hole emitting a long jet of high-energy particles. The black hole sits at the center of the composite image, represented by a brilliant white light. A dark, grainy, oblong cloud cuts diagonally across the black hole from our lower left toward our upper right. A large, faint, translucent blue cloud stretches from our upper left to our lower right. And the long, thin jet, also in translucent blue, extends from the black hole at the center toward the upper lefthand corner. In this sonification, the activation line rotates around the image like the hand of a clock. It begins at the twelve o’clock position, and sweeps clockwise around the image.
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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Last Updated May 08, 2025 EditorBeth RidgewayLocationMarshall Space Flight Center Related Terms
Chandra X-Ray Observatory Black Holes Galaxies, Stars, & Black Holes IXPE (Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer) Marshall Astrophysics Marshall Science Research & Projects Marshall Space Flight Center Explore More
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