iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Corrine 🌎🛰️ @corrinerojas.bsky.social · 30/03/2026

Very cool overview, thanks for sharing!

Corrine 🌎🛰️ @corrinerojas.bsky.social · 22/08/2025

Three science highlights we’ve been able to do with 500+ days of PACE so far: 1. terrestrial productivity measurements (w spectral reflectance) 2. advanced aerosol identification 3. started the HUGE endeavor of reconstructing clouds in 3D LET’S GOO PACE 🌎🛰️ pace.oceansciences.org/pace_result_...

pace.oceansciences.org

NASA PACE - Spotlight on PACE Result

News related to the NASA PACE mission

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Corrine 🌎🛰️ @corrinerojas.bsky.social · 22/08/2025

This week we celebrated the #NASAPACEMission “500 Days (And Counting) In Orbit” milestone, hosted by the #HARP2 team at the University of Maryland Baltimore County. I’ve been on the mission 3 yrs but the it’s been going on 10+ yrs and it was a well-earned day to enjoy w colleagues 🍻

A picture of one of the presentations by the HARP2 team, which is one of the payloads on PACE. It’s a polarimeter developed at UMBC and the presentation was a lighthearted story about the struggles of the concept, development, testing, and delivery of the instrument to Goddard prior to integrating it to the PACE observatory. Very timely!

Fun little scale model of PACE on a standard sized Earth globe. The PACE model is not to proportional scale though.. it would dwarf us and violate at least 12 laws of physics. And likely not enough precious metals in the world to build it. BUT it would keep our hardware ppl busy :)

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Corrine 🌎🛰️ @corrinerojas.bsky.social · 10/07/2025

That’s a really helpful analogy, I’ll be using it!

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Reposted by Corrine 🌎🛰️

Christian Elliott @christianelliott.me · 30/06/2025

NASA just won an Emmy for our live broadcast of the total solar eclipse last year. We produced a documentary film about the James Webb Space Telescope that's out in theaters and on Netflix. We have podcasts, we write feature stories. People wear the agency logo on t-shirts. We're still getting cut.

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Corrine 🌎🛰️ @corrinerojas.bsky.social · 28/06/2025

Words fail to describe how heartbroken I am after reading this post.

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Corrine 🌎🛰️ @corrinerojas.bsky.social · 25/03/2025

So what about earth and planetary science makes the US so special? These iconic images were made possible by Americans for all humans on earth in the name of science. NASA science is facing a 50% cut in funding and is at risk of losing its role as the leading space science agency. Unfathomable.

The photograph, taken on December 7, 1972 onboard the Apollo 17 spacecraft on its way to the Moon, is one of the most widely distributed photographic images in existence. Source: NASA

Hubble Space Telescope’s “Pillars of Creation” image is so familiar that many people can call it by name without so much as a glance at their phone. Source: NASA

“Taken by Voyager 1 on 14 February 1990 as it departed our planetary neighborhood for the fringes of the solar system, it turned it around for one last look at its home planet and captured this portrait of our world. Caught in the center of scattered light rays (a result of taking the picture so close to the Sun), Earth appears as a tiny point of light, a crescent only 0.12 pixel in size.”
Excerpt from planetarysociety.org

“On April 19, 2021, NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter made history when it completed the first powered, controlled flight on the Red Planet. Here is a “selfie” shortly after it deployed from the belly of the Perseverance Rover days before that flight.

would make no more than five test flights in 30 days, the helicopter eventually completed 72 flights in just under 3 years, soaring higher and faster than previously imagined. Ingenuity embarked on a new mission as an operations demonstration, serving as an aerial scout for scientists and rover planners, and for engineers ready to learn more about Perseverance’s landing gear debris.

In its final phase, the helicopter entered a new engineering demonstration phase where it executed experimental flight tests that further expanded the team’s knowledge of the vehicle’s aerodynamic limits.

It flew for the last time on January 18, 2024.”

Source: nasa.gov (a little sazon by me lol)

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Corrine 🌎🛰️ @corrinerojas.bsky.social · 25/03/2025

I took the day off yesterday to advocate for planetary science with new and old friends at @planetarysociety.bsky.social. One of my fave things about earth and planetary science is also something that makes the US special, so any proposed cut to science is very concerning to me as an American.

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Corrine 🌎🛰️ @corrinerojas.bsky.social · 23/03/2025

A huge privilege and very grateful for it 😊🌔

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Corrine 🌎🛰️ @corrinerojas.bsky.social · 23/03/2025

Truly one of the best. It reflects the best of humanity, imo.

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Corrine 🌎🛰️ @corrinerojas.bsky.social · 22/03/2025

For those who may not know… this camera took this pic btw

One of the most famous pictures ever taken… Earthrise.

From the nasa website:

This iconic picture shows Earth peeking out from beyond the lunar surface as the first crewed spacecraft circumnavigated the Moon.

Taken aboard Apollo 8 by Bill Anders, this iconic picture shows Earth peeking out from beyond the lunar surface as the first crewed spacecraft circumnavigated the Moon, with astronauts Anders, Frank Borman, and Jim Lovell aboard.

Image Credit: NASA

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Corrine 🌎🛰️ @corrinerojas.bsky.social · 22/03/2025

finally got around to collecting the annual special edition cherry blossom metro card loot drop 🌸

picture of the annual WMATA SmarTrip National Cherry Blossom Festival design metro card. It’s a pretty water colored theme with bright colors and big flowers, and purples, blues, and yellows in the background leading to the Jefferson memorial and the Washington monument.

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Corrine 🌎🛰️ @corrinerojas.bsky.social · 22/03/2025

Some Mars fun: Curiosity Cold Brew at the Mars Cafe. Which has gratuitous Mastcam-z landscapes of the Jezero crater rim on the walls—including my favorite outcrop in the entire solar system, Kodiak! The line was too long to try the cold brew but I’ll try it next time 🙂

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Corrine 🌎🛰️ @corrinerojas.bsky.social · 22/03/2025

I saw a version of an old dear friend of mine, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, which is the 1st NASA mission I worked on and kicked off my NASA career almost a decade ago (😳😅). I was a moon mapper! Fun fact: the LRO control room at Goddard is now the PACE control room, the mission I work on now.

Photos of the LRO Control room at NASA GSFC

Selfie of me and the LRO Structural Verification Unit that was used to test the spacecraft structure during the severe vibrations of launch (vibe testing!).

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Corrine 🌎🛰️ @corrinerojas.bsky.social · 22/03/2025

I went to the National Air and Space Museum today, which was nicely timed after a particularly hard work week, and it felt like a reminder of what we’re fighting for. And BOY what a great reminder. I got to see THE Apollo 8 Hasselblad camera… yep, I fangirled out in the corner a bit.

This Camera Captured the World

Using this Hasselblad camera, astronauts photographed Earth on the first crewed round-the-Moon space journey—the Apollo 8 mission in December 1968.
An astonishing image taken by William Anders was soon immortalized as Earthrise, becoming a profound symbol for humanity of Earth's place in the cosmos. The photo was adopted as an icon of the environmental movement.
Hasselblad 500EL 70 mm Camera, 1968
Transferred from Kansas Cosmosphere
Remember to Take Photos!
This detailed checklist reminded astronaut William Anders to take photographs-for scientific purposes and to convey the story of space travel to everyone back home.
William Anders' Checklist Apollo 8, 1968

This detailed checklist reminded astronaut William Anders to take photographs-for scientific purposes and to convey the story of space travel to everyone back home.
William Anders' Checklist Apollo 8, 1968

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Corrine 🌎🛰️ @corrinerojas.bsky.social · 18/03/2025

Outside of the perimeter but what’s your take on Lucky Buns?

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Corrine 🌎🛰️ @corrinerojas.bsky.social · 18/03/2025

The RIFs at NASA began last week but haven’t reach us in the Science Mission Directorate yet. They will soon. Very few words can describe how devastated we already are. nasawatch.com/personnel-ne...

nasawatch.com

NASA RIF Tiger Team Rollout Meeting (Update)

There is going to be a "Tiger Team Rollout" meeting

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Corrine 🌎🛰️ @corrinerojas.bsky.social · 18/03/2025

A mini Curiosity Rover with Henry my office neighbor—a crossover episode I didn’t realize I needed!

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Corrine 🌎🛰️ @corrinerojas.bsky.social · 14/03/2025

odds weren’t great for clear skies in DC tonight BUT I went out anyway. during the tiniest window of opportunity I snapped one clear-ish phone pic of the blood moon eclipse in front of National Air and Space Museum 🥹🌖

not great pic of a very cloudy sky with one clearing between clouds where you can see a total lunar eclipse, which has a red-color appearance. I took it in front of the National Air and Space Museum on the National Mall in Washington, DC.

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Corrine 🌎🛰️ @corrinerojas.bsky.social · 13/03/2025

mmm lunar eclipse peach (what I thought I saw at first)

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Corrine 🌎🛰️ @corrinerojas.bsky.social · 13/03/2025

I really only listen to a few people when it comes to day to day economics and one of them is Kai Ryssdal and boy this is VERY concerning

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Corrine 🌎🛰️ @corrinerojas.bsky.social · 13/03/2025

To put it lightly, I’ve been on edge this week. Tonight I took a long walk around campus and caught this view of the moonrise over Healy Hall. Tomorrow will bring us a full moon’s total eclipse with a coppery hue — a blood moon. And the date is the eve of the Ides of March. Poetry.

A photo of Georgetown University’s Healy Hall looking east towards a moonrise at dusk with an almost full moon.

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Reposted by Corrine 🌎🛰️

Andrew Jones @andrewjonesspace.bsky.social · 11/03/2025

The NASA LRO team has spotted the IM-2 Athena lander, near the center of Mons Mouton. Centre of the image, with the box showing an enlarged view. www.lroc.asu.edu/images/1409

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Reposted by Corrine 🌎🛰️

James Tuttle Keane @jtuttlekeane.bsky.social · 07/03/2025

**This would end space science as we know it.** I’d probably be out of a job. Successful ongoing missions would be turned off. Future missions would be axed. Some research centers (NASA & non-NASA) would likely dissolve.

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Corrine 🌎🛰️ @corrinerojas.bsky.social · 16/02/2025

Not far from you and also still stunned. Here and gone within minutes! Reminded me of an intense microburst from out west.

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Corrine 🌎🛰️ @corrinerojas.bsky.social · 12/02/2025

My pleasure! I think the mall, museums, and the monuments at night are extra beautiful, especially on a full moon. I gravitate there during special sky/weather events like these. Plus it’s less crowded at night 😉

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Corrine 🌎🛰️ @corrinerojas.bsky.social · 12/02/2025

Finally logged off and ran to the snow! NWS reported 5”+ of fresh pow at the National Mall at the time and it’s still going ☃️ Said hi to the Smithsonian Castle which looks timeless with the snowy roof. The Monument is MIA but it’s for a good cause.

Snowy pic of the Smithsonian Institution Castle in Washington, DC

The National Mall as it is actively snowing pretty good. Over 5 inches at this point. You can’t see the monument!

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Corrine 🌎🛰️ @corrinerojas.bsky.social · 11/02/2025

(fyi I am aggressively avoiding the news and temporarily have no idea what foul schemes are being cooked up just a few blocks away)

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Corrine 🌎🛰️ @corrinerojas.bsky.social · 11/02/2025

Taking a break in between work and class (all virtual today) to go play in the snow now that it’s finally sticking on the sidewalks here in DC!

Picture of me in a coat, beanie, scarf outside in a wintry, snowy scene here in Washington DC

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Corrine 🌎🛰️ @corrinerojas.bsky.social · 08/02/2025

Earlier the checkout line at the Eastern Market TJ’s wrapped all the way to the cheese section so a few of us got to chatting. The vibes are atrocious here in DC with all the uncertainty, but we agree the sense of community is strong. This cute tote caught my eye and felt appropriate to pick up 🧀🥂

New canvas tote bag from Trader Joe’s with a cheese theme graphic design. It’s got various little cheeses with “cheesy” little puns playing on their names. Very cute!
E.g.:
“Hole-lier
than thou.”
“Mi nombre es Manchego.”
“Je'm appelle
Comte.”
“Life's so
Gouda.”
“I am
fondue you.”

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Corrine 🌎🛰️ @corrinerojas.bsky.social · 08/02/2025

What a lovely read. Thanks for writing this 💫

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Corrine 🌎🛰️ @corrinerojas.bsky.social · 07/02/2025

I get the sense that people aren’t exactly psyched about the sleet, and the word “snreet” isn’t helping 😂 Looks like we may get experience it tomorrow too 🥶

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Corrine 🌎🛰️ @corrinerojas.bsky.social · 07/02/2025

I’m a weather nerd and I work/study earth science. I have pretty good theoretical knowledge of mid Atlantic winter weather. However. I’m also a human who spent almost 30 years in her native desert habitat and is still new to experiencing precipitation. so. *googles what sleet looks like*

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Corrine 🌎🛰️ @corrinerojas.bsky.social · 06/02/2025

Check out these US federal data archiving efforts already underway. It warms my heart to see many librarians and archivists on the front lines of organizing. You are all amazing people!

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Reposted by Corrine 🌎🛰️

Andrea Luck @andrealuck.bsky.social · 02/02/2025

Phobos over Mars Full size: flic.kr/p/2qJrbGD Credit: Processing: Andrea Luck CC BY Raw images: ESA/DLR/FUBerlin @esa.int ESA Mars Express HRSC Orbit 3868 2007-01-10 Filter S13 H3868_0000_S13.IMG Colourised image using data processed from: psa.esa.int My album about Phobos: flic.kr/s/aHBqjAvrQL

An image taken from orbit shows the potato-shaped satellite Phobos orbiting Mars. The perspective places Phobos very close to the Martian limb, above elongated whitish clouds near the terminator. Phobos appears predominantly grey, while the surface of Mars displays tones ranging from rusty red to darker hues near its terminator. Some craters are visible on the surface of Mars, they should be much larger than Phobos. The camera scanning the satellite causes the view of the Martian surface to appear stretched as it moves by.

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Corrine 🌎🛰️ @corrinerojas.bsky.social · 02/02/2025

Thank you!! Gotta seize any moment to take in a bit of joy 💫

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Corrine 🌎🛰️ @corrinerojas.bsky.social · 02/02/2025

… “By associating Whitman's poems with dozens of light bulbs on a single string, how does "Untitled" (Leaves of Grass) imagine American democracy as an ongoing project?”

From the placard;

Felix Gonzalez-Torres (1957-1996)
"Untitled" (Leaves of Grass), 1993 42 light bulbs, porcelain light sockets, and electrical
Overall dimensions vary with installation.
Private collection

Like many of Felix Gonzalez-Torres's titles, this one is both open and specific. "Untitled" invites viewers to bring their own meanings, while the parenthetical (Leaves of Grass) acts as an interpretive breadcrumb, referencing Walt Whitman's iconic poetry collection.
As a government clerk in this building, Whitman kept a copy of Leaves of Grass on his desk for ongoing editing. When the volume was discovered in 1865, he was fired, likely for the poems' unabashed sensuality.
Whitman anointed himself "the bard of Democracy." Gonzalez-Torres called democracy "a constant job."
This light string is also "a constant job," requiring decision-making and continual maintenance. The work's owner and exhibitors can decide how to display the light string and whether to keep all the lights on or off, replacing bulbs when they burn out.
By associating Whitman's poems with dozens of light bulls on a single string, how does "Untitled" (Leaves of Grass) imagine American democracy as an ongoing project?

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Corrine 🌎🛰️ @corrinerojas.bsky.social · 02/02/2025

One thing that really stood out to me is very very relevant these past few weeks: “[Walt] Whitman anointed himself "the bard of Democracy." Gonzalez-Torres called democracy "a constant job." This light string is also "a constant job," requiring decision-making and continual maintenance.” …

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Corrine 🌎🛰️ @corrinerojas.bsky.social · 02/02/2025

Today’s visit to the Gallery was specifically to see works from Felix Gonzalez-Torres. I saw headlines accusing the museum of erasing some of the important context of the iconic HIV/AIDS candy artwork so I went to see for myself. Happy to say I disagree and even learned more about queer history.

Picture leading to the Felix Gonzalez-Torres curated artwork section of the portrait gallery. It has some intro text on the wall that is too small to be legible on the photo but kinda sets the museum vibe

Placard describing the next photo:

“Thomas Eakins (1844-1916)
Walt Whitman, 1891 (printed 1979)
Platinum print
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
This intimate photograph of poet Wait Whitman (1819-1892), taken the year before his death, and Felix Gonzalez-Torres's nearby candy work, "Untited" (Portrait of Ross in L.A.), were shown in the National Portrait Gallery's exhibition Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture (2010-2011). We reunited them as a way to consider the nineteenth-century poet as a queer ancestor of the twentieth-century artist.
Whitman and Gonzalez-Torres held creative strategies in common. Both continually modified their work, complicating notions of an original or static poem or artwork.
Whitman requested medicinal candy for injured soldiers when he served as a Civil War nurse in this building. Gonzalez-Torres cared for his partner Ross Laycock, named in the candy work's title, who died from HIV/AIDS in 1991. Captions for Gonzalez-Torres's candy works often list specific "ideal" weights. Yet as caretakers, owners and museum staff must make ongoing decisions about the work's size and configu-ration, as well as whether to replenish the candy if visitors choose to take it.”

Portrait of Walt Whitman.
“Thomas Eakins (1844-1916)
Walt Whitman, 1891 (printed 1979)
Platinum print
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
This intimate photograph of poet Wait Whitman (1819-1892), taken the year before his death, and Felix Gonzalez-Torres's nearby candy work, "Untited" (Portrait of Ross in L.A.), were shown in the National Portrait Gallery's exhibition Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture (2010-2011). We reunited them as a way to consider the nineteenth-century poet as a queer ancestor of the twentieth-century artist.
Whitman and Gonzalez-Torres held creative strategies in common. Both continually modified their work, complicating notions of an original or static poem or artwork.
Whitman requested medicinal candy for injured soldiers when he served as a Civil War nurse in this building. Gonzalez-Torres cared for his partner Ross Laycock, named in the candy work's title, who died from HIV/AIDS in 1991. Captions for Gonzalez-Torres's candy works often list specific "ideal" weights. Yet as caretakers, owners and museum staff must make ongoing decisions about the work's size and configu-ration, as well as whether to replenish the candy if visitors choose to take it.”

The iconic AIDS candy artwork. Not gonna lie, this piece got to me.

“Felix Gonzalez-Torres (1957-1996)
"Untitled" (Portrait of Ross in L.A.),
1991
Candies in variously colored wrappers, endless supply
Overall dimensions vary with installation. ideal weight: 175 lb.
The Art Institute of Chicago; gift of Donna and Howard Stone
Attention: This candy was packed in facilities that handle dairy and nut by-products. Eating candy may present a choking hazard.”

Adding for context:
“Whitman and Gonzalez-Torres held creative strategies in common. Both continually modified their work, complicating notions of an original or static poem or artwork.
Whitman requested medicinal candy for injured soldiers when he served as a Civil War nurse in this building. Gonzalez-Torres cared for his partner Ross Laycock, named in the candy work's title, who died from HIV/AIDS in 1991. Captions for Gonzalez-Torres's candy works often list specific "ideal" weights. Yet as caretakers, owners and museum staff must make ongoing decisions about the work's size and configu-ration, as well as whether to replenish the candy if visitors choose to take it.”

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Corrine 🌎🛰️ @corrinerojas.bsky.social · 02/02/2025

Lucky shot on my way home from the National Portrait Gallery: the Washington Monument with the crescent moon (my fave phase!) right next to Venus. I’m choosing to see this as a good omen from the universe (🤞).

A phone picture of the Washington Monument at night with the waxing crescent moon right next to a very bright Venus.

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Corrine 🌎🛰️ @corrinerojas.bsky.social · 30/01/2025

what a tragedy. heart goes out to those involved

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Reposted by Corrine 🌎🛰️

Alex Wild @alexwild.bsky.social · 28/01/2025

Post the amazing science things you have done with federal funding.

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Corrine 🌎🛰️ @corrinerojas.bsky.social · 25/01/2025

As a native Arizonan, I can recognize those peaks from anywhere 😊

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