Members Can Post Anonymously On This Site
-
Similar Topics
-
By NASA
Astrophysics Science Video Producer – Goddard Space Flight Center
Growing up in Detroit with a camera in her hand, Sophia Roberts — now an award-winning astrophysics science video producer—never imagined that one day her path would wind through clean rooms, vacuum chambers, and even a beryllium mine. But framing the final frontier sometimes requires traveling through some of Earth’s less-explored corners.
Sophia Roberts is an astrophysics Science video producer at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. She films space hardware assembly and explains complicated topics, weaving science and art together.Credit: Courtesy of Sophia Roberts Sophia received her first camera from her father, a photography enthusiast, when she was just five or six years old. “I’ve basically been snapping away ever since!” she says.
With a natural curiosity and enthusiasm for science, Sophia pursued a degree in biology at Oberlin College in Ohio. There, she discovered that she could blend her two passions.
“I often lingered in lab sessions, not to finish an experiment but to photograph it,” Sophia says. “I had an epiphany at the beginning of class one day, which always opened with clips from BBC nature documentaries. I decided right then that I would be one of the people who make those videos one day.”
Part of Sophia’s role currently involves documenting NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, which is taking shape and being tested at NASA Goddard. She captured a cosmic selfie while photographing the telescope’s primary mirror, which was designed and built by L3Harris Technologies in Rochester, New York, before it was integrated with other components.Credit: NASA/Sophia Roberts She initially thought that meant wildlife filmmaking—perched in a blind on a mountainside, waiting hours for an animal to appear. That dream led her to Montana State University, where she learned to blend scientific rigor with visual storytelling through their science and natural history filmmaking master’s program.
While completing her degree, Sophia worked as a traveling presenter for the Montana Space Grant Consortium. “I was mainly giving presentations about NASA missions and showing kids beautiful images of space,” she says. “That was my first true introduction to NASA. I loved being able to watch the children’s eyes light up when they saw what’s out there in space.”
Sophia then completed an internship at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History while completing her thesis. Once she graduated, she landed a year-long fellowship at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, as an Earth science news fellow. In this role, she focused on packaging up stories through satellite imagery and explanations.
Sophia holds a Webby award she, Mike McClare (left), and Michael Starobin (right) won for their broadcasts of the James Webb Space Telescope’s launch, deployment, and first images.Credit: James Hartley She leaned into her videography skills in her next role, as part of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope team.
“Webb is one of my great loves in life,” she says. “I learned to negotiate with engineers for the perfect shot, navigate NASA’s protocols, and work with mission partners. I only spent five years on Webb, but it feels like it was half my life. Still—it was everything.”
That mission took her to some unforgettable places, like a mine in Delta, Utah, where raw material for Webb’s mirrors was unearthed. “It was this giant, spiral pit where they were mining beryllium at just 0.02% concentration,” Sophia says. The process was as otherworldly as the location.
In 2021, Sophia traveled to Delta, Utah to capture behind-the-scenes footage of raw material for the James Webb Space Telescope’s mirrors being unearthed. In this gif, a drone captures an aerial view of the site.Credit: Scott Rogers She also documented thermal vacuum testing at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston in a giant pill-shaped chamber with a 40-foot round door. “I had to take confined space training to crawl around in the area underneath the chamber,” she says. “It felt like spelunking.”
Once Webb launched, Sophia pivoted to covering many of NASA’s smaller astrophysics missions along with the upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. These days, she can often be found gowned up in a “bunny suit” in the largest clean room at Goddard to document space telescope assembly, or in a studio recording science explanations.
Sophia stands in the largest clean room at Goddard, where she documents space hardware coming together. Credit: NASA/Chris Gunn “I love capturing the visual stories and helping fill in the gaps to help people understand NASA research,” Sophia says. “I try to focus on the things that will get people excited about the science so they’ll stop scrolling to find out more.”
For Sophia, the process is often as exhilarating as the result. “I love venturing out to remote places where science is being done,” she says. “I’d love to film a balloon launch in Antarctica someday!”
Jacob Pinter (left), host of NASA’s Curious Universe Podcast, leads a discussion with Sophia Roberts (center), a NASA video producer who documented the Webb project, and Paul Geithner (right), former deputy project manager for NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, following a screening of the new NASA+ documentary “Cosmic Dawn: The Untold Story of the James Webb Space Telescope,” Wednesday, June 11, 2025, at the Greenbelt Cinema in Greenbelt, Md. Featuring never-before-seen footage, Cosmic Dawn offers an unprecedented glimpse into Webb’s assembly, testing, and launch. Credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky To others who dream of pursuing a similar career, Sophia recommends diving in headfirst. “With cameras readily available and free online platforms, it’s never been easier to get into the media,” she says. “You just have to be careful to research your topic and sources, making sure you really know what you’re sharing and understand that science is always evolving as we learn more.” And Sophia emphasizes how important storytelling is for conveying information, especially when it’s as complex as astrophysics. “Studying science is wonderful, but I also think helping people visualize it is magical.”
By Ashley Balzer
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.
Share
Details
Last Updated Jun 27, 2025 EditorAshley BalzerContactAshley Balzerashley.m.balzer@nasa.govLocationGoddard Space Flight Center Related Terms
People of Goddard James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope People of NASA View the full article
-
By NASA
2 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
NASA Systems Engineer Daniel Eng serves his second year as a judge for the Aerospace Valley Robotics Competition at the Palmdale Aerospace Academy in Palmdale, California, in 2019. NASA/Lauren Hughes As a child in the 1960s, Daniel Eng spent his weekends in New York City’s garment district in Manhattan’s Lower East Side, clipping loose threads off finished clothing. He worked alongside his mother, a seamstress, and his father, a steam press operator, where he developed an eye for detail and a passion for learning. Now, he applies these capabilities at NASA, where he works as an engineer for the Air Mobility Pathfinders project.
“I often wonder whether the NASA worm magnet that someone left on my refrigerator in college, which I kept all these years, may have something to do with me ending up at NASA,” Eng said.
His route to NASA was not straightforward. Eng dropped out of high school to join the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War. He earned a GED certificate while on active duty and after his service earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Pennsylvania.
After college, Eng worked as a researcher investigating laser communications for the U.S. Navy, work which launched his career in aerospace. He then held jobs at several global corporations before landing at NASA.
NASA systems engineer, Daniel Eng, right, talks with student participants at the 2019 Aerospace Valley Robotics Competition at the Palmdale Aerospace Academy in Palmdale, California.NASA/Lauren Hughes “Looking back now, the Navy was ‘my launching point’ into the aerospace industry,” Eng said. “In more than four decades, I held various positions rising through the ranks ranging from circuit card design to systems analyst to production support to project and program management for advanced technology systems on a multitude of military and commercial aircraft projects.”
Today, he uses virtual models to plan and develop flight test requirements for piloted and automated aircraft, which will help guide future air taxi operations in cities.
“Engineers can virtually test computer models of designs, concepts, and operations before they are in place or even built, providing a safe and cost-effective way to verify the processes work the way they should,” Eng said.
He tells his grandkids to stay curious and ask a lot of questions so they can learn as much as possible.
“Be courteous, humble, kind, and respectful of people, and always remind yourself that you are just one human being among many ‘Earthlings,’” Eng said. “Teamwork is a very important aspect of success because rarely, if ever, does one person succeed on their own without help from others.”
Share
Details
Last Updated Jun 09, 2025 EditorDede DiniusContactLaura Mitchelllaura.a.mitchell@nasa.govLocationArmstrong Flight Research Center Related Terms
Armstrong Flight Research Center People of Armstrong People of NASA Explore More
4 min read Paul Morris: Filming the Final Frontier
Article 9 hours ago 6 min read NASA Tests New Ways to Stick the Landing in Challenging Terrain
Article 2 weeks ago 2 min read NASA Videographer Wins Top Award for Capturing Human Side of Science
Article 2 weeks ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA
Armstrong Flight Research Center
Humans in Space
Climate Change
Solar System
View the full article
-
By NASA
NASA Glenn Research Center senior materials research engineer Kim de Groh, who conducted research for Hubble Space Telescope servicing missions, shared her experiences during a presentation at Great Lakes Science Center, home of the NASA Glenn Visitor Center, in Cleveland on Thursday, May 8, 2025. Credit: NASA/Dennis Brown April 24 marked the 35th anniversary of the launch of NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. The iconic space observatory remains a household name —the most well-recognized and scientifically productive telescope in history. Engineers at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland played a significant role in how the telescope functions today.
NASA’s Glenn Research Center researchers Kim de Groh, left, and Joyce Dever conducted research for Hubble Space Telescope servicing missions. De Groh shared her experiences during a presentation at Great Lakes Science Center, home of the NASA Glenn Visitor Center, in Cleveland on Thursday, May 8, 2025. Credit: NASA/Sara Lowthian-Hanna NASA Glenn researchers assisted in all five Hubble servicing missions by testing damaged insulation, determining why it degraded in space, and recommending replacement materials.
One of those researchers, Kim de Groh, senior materials research engineer, shared some of that research in a special presentation at Great Lakes Science Center, home of the NASA Glenn Visitor Center, in Cleveland on May 8. She chronicled her Hubble experience with a presentation, a show-and-tell with samples directly from the telescope, and a Q&A addressing the audience’s Hubble-related questions.
Return to Newsletter Explore More
1 min read NASA Glenn Hosts Slovenian Delegation and Ohio Governor’s Office
Article 48 seconds ago 1 min read Specialty NASA Glenn License Plates Available
Article 1 min ago 1 min read NASA Glenn Shows Students Temperature-Cooling Technology
Article 2 mins ago View the full article
-
By NASA
Explore This Section Science Science Activation Take a Tour of the Cosmos with… Overview Learning Resources Science Activation Teams SME Map Opportunities More Science Activation Stories Citizen Science 4 min read
Take a Tour of the Cosmos with New Interactives from NASA’s Universe of Learning
Ready for a tour of the cosmos? NASA’s Universe of Learning has released a new, dynamic way for lifelong learners to explore NASA’s breathtaking images of the universe—ViewSpace interactive Image Tours. ViewSpace has an established track record of providing museums, science centers, libraries, and other informal learning environments with free, web-based videos and digital interactives—like its interactive Image Sliders. These new Image Tours are another unique experience from NASA’s Universe of Learning, created through a collaboration between scientists that operate NASA telescopes and experts well-versed in the most modern methods of learning. Hands-on, self-directed learning resources like these have long been valued by informal learning sites as effective means for engaging and intriguing users with the latest discoveries from NASA’s space telescope missions—while encouraging lifelong learners to continue their passionate exploration of the stars, galaxies, and distant worlds.
With these new ViewSpace Image Tours, visitors can take breathtaking journeys through space images that contain many exciting stories. The “Center of the Milky Way Galaxy” Tour, for example, uses breathtaking images from NASA’s Hubble, Spitzer, and Chandra X-ray telescopes and includes eleven Tour Stops, where users can interact with areas like “the Brick”—a dense, dark cloud of hydrogen molecules imaged by Spitzer. Another Tour Stop zooms toward the supermassive black hole, Sagittarius A*, offering a dramatic visual journey to the galaxy’s core.
In other tours, like the “Herbig-Haro 46/47” Tour, learners can navigate through points of interest in an observation from a single telescope mission. In this case, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope provides the backdrop where lifelong learners can explore superheated jets of gas and dust being ejected at tremendous speeds from a pair of young, forming stars. The power of Webb turns up unexpected details in the background, like a noteworthy distant galaxy famous for its uncanny resemblance to a question mark. Each Interactive Image Tour allows people to examine unique features through videos, images, or graphical overlays to identify how those features have formed in ways that static images alone can’t convey.
These tours, which include detailed visual descriptions for each Tour Stop, illuminate the science behind the beauty, allowing learners of all ages to develop a greater understanding of and excitement for space science, deepening their engagement with astronomy, regardless of their prior experience. Check out the About the Interactives page on the ViewSpace website for a detailed overview of how to use the Image Tours.
ViewSpace currently offers three Image Tours, and the collection will continue growing:
Center of the Milky Way Galaxy:
Peer through cosmic dust and uncover areas of intense activity near the Milky Way’s core, featuring imagery from the Hubble Space Telescope, Spitzer Space Telescope, and the Chandra X-ray Observatory.
Herbig-Haro 46/47:
Witness how a tightly bound pair of young stars shapes their nebula through ejections of gas and dust in an image from the James Webb Space Telescope.
The Whirlpool Galaxy:
Explore the iconic swirling arms and glowing core of a stunning spiral galaxy, with insights into star formation, galaxy structure, and more in a Hubble Space Telescope image.
“The Image Tours are beautiful, dramatic, informational, and easy to use,” explained Sari Custer, Chief of Science and Curiosity at Arizona Science Center. “I’m excited to implement them in my museum not only because of the incredible images and user-friendly features, but also for the opportunity to excite and ignite the public’s curiosity about space.”
NASA’s Universe of Learning is supported by NASA under cooperative agreement award number NNX16AC65A and is part of NASA’s Science Activation Portfolio. Learn more about how Science Activation connects NASA science experts, real content, and experiences with community leaders to do science in ways that activate minds and promote deeper understanding of our world and beyond: https://science.nasa.gov/learn/about-science-activation/
Select views from various Image Tours. Clockwise from top left: The Whirlpool Galaxy, Center of the Milky Way Galaxy, Herbig-Haro 46/47, detail view in the Center of the Milky Way Galaxy. Share
Details
Last Updated May 13, 2025 Editor NASA Science Editorial Team Related Terms
Science Activation Astrophysics For Educators Explore More
5 min read NASA’s Webb Reveals New Details, Mysteries in Jupiter’s Aurora
Article
1 day ago
2 min read Hubble Comes Face-to-Face with Spiral’s Arms
Article
4 days ago
7 min read NASA’s Hubble Pinpoints Roaming Massive Black Hole
Article
5 days ago
Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA
James Webb Space Telescope
Webb is the premier observatory of the next decade, serving thousands of astronomers worldwide. It studies every phase in the…
Perseverance Rover
This rover and its aerial sidekick were assigned to study the geology of Mars and seek signs of ancient microbial…
Parker Solar Probe
On a mission to “touch the Sun,” NASA’s Parker Solar Probe became the first spacecraft to fly through the corona…
Juno
NASA’s Juno spacecraft entered orbit around Jupiter in 2016, the first explorer to peer below the planet’s dense clouds to…
View the full article
-
By NASA
3 Min Read Career Spotlight: Engineer (Ages 14-18)
What does an engineer do?
An engineer applies scientific principles to design, build, and test machines, systems, or structures to meet specific needs. They follow the steps of the engineering design process to ensure their designs work as planned while meeting a variety of requirements, including size, weight, safety, and cost.
NASA hires several types of engineers to help tackle a range of missions. Whether it’s creating quieter supersonic aircraft, building powerful space telescopes to study the cosmos, or developing spacecraft to take humanity to the Moon, Mars, and beyond, NASA pushes the boundaries of engineering, giving us greater knowledge of our universe and a better quality of life here on Earth.
What are the different types of engineering?
Aerospace engineer: Applies engineering principles to design hardware and software specific to flight systems for use in Earth’s atmosphere or in space. Chemical engineer: Uses chemistry to conduct research or develop new materials. Civil engineer: Designs human-made structures, such as launch pads, test stands, or a future lunar base. Electrical engineer: Specializes in the design and testing of electronics such as computers, motors, and navigation systems. Mechanical engineer: Designs and tests mechanical equipment and systems, such as rocket engines, aircraft frames, and astronaut tools. How can I become an engineer?
High school is the perfect time to build a solid foundation of science and math skills through challenging academic courses as well as extracurricular activities, such as science clubs, robotics teams, or STEM camps in your area. You can also start researching what type of engineering is right for you, what colleges offer those engineering programs, and what you need to do to apply to those colleges.
Engineering roles typically require at least a bachelor’s degree.
How can I start preparing today to become an engineer?
Looking for some engineering experiences you can try right away? NASA STEM offers hands-on activities for a variety of ages and skill levels. Engineering includes iteration – repeating something and making changes in an effort to learn more and improve the process or the design. When you try these activities, make a small change each time you repeat the process, and see whether your design improves.
NASA’s student challenges and competitions give teams the opportunity to gain authentic experience by taking on some of the technological challenges of spaceflight and aviation.
NASA also offers paid internships for U.S. citizens aged 16 and up. Interns work on real projects with the guidance of a NASA mentor. Internship sessions are held each year in spring, summer, and fall; visit NASA’s Internships website to learn about important deadlines and current opportunities.
Advice from NASA engineers
“A lot of people think that just because they are more artistic or more creative, that they’re not cut out for STEM fields. But in all honesty, engineers and scientists have to be creative and have to be somewhat artistic to be able to come up with new ideas and see how they can solve the problems in the world around them.” – Sam Zauber, wind tunnel test engineer
“Students today have so many opportunities in the STEM area that are available to them. See what you like. See what you're good at. See what you don't like. Learn all there is to learn, and then you can really choose your own path. As long as you have the aptitude and the willingness to learn, you're already there.”
Heather Oravec
Aerospace and Geotechnical Research Engineer
“Joining clubs and participating in activities that pique your interests is a great way to develop soft skills – like leadership, communication, and the ability to work with others – which will prepare you for future career opportunities.” – Estela Buchmann, navigation, guidance, and control systems engineer
Additional Resources
Explore NASA+ Engineering Resources Learner Opportunities – NASA Science Career Aspirations with Hubble Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA
Careers in Engineering
Join Artemis
NASA App
For Students Grades 9-12
View the full article
-
-
Check out these Videos
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.