Postdoc at UMD, working at NASA Goddard. Lunar exploration scientist. Space Outreach! Ten Outstanding Young Americans 2018. WVU alum. Views are my own.
Maryland, USA
Joined February 2016
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YIPPEEE! Got a ROSES proposal funded as PI! Some exciting stuff ahead working with @NASA OTPS office. More details later! 🌙 So excited for our team!!!
Dr. Caitlin Ahrens ✨🚀 retweeted
Far beyond Pluto, trillions of cold comets circle the sun in a lazy swarm called the Oort Cloud. A new simulation indicates what this comet-cloud looks like: a loose spiral that resembles a miniature galaxy.
arxiv.org/abs/2502.11252
Dr. Caitlin Ahrens ✨🚀 retweeted
The Artemis II crew has recently been immersed in flight operations reviews and simulating @NASA_Orion’s return to Earth.
The crew wants to extend a special thank you to all the different teams across the country that are coming together to build the @NASA_SLS rocket.
Dr. Caitlin Ahrens ✨🚀 retweeted
The crew of Apollo 14 found it difficult to sleep - partly due to the angle at which they landed.
They felt they were slipping down into a crater, and Ed Mitchell would regularly lift the blinds to check they were not.
Wonderful clarity in this small section of the full panorama.
Dr. Caitlin Ahrens ✨🚀 retweeted
Apollo Next Generation Sample Analysis (ANGSA) Samples: Preliminary Examination of Double Drive Tube Samples 73001 and 73002 and Lessons Learned for Returning to the Moon With Artemis. buff.ly/3EX8W6i This study discusses the first modern dissection of an Apollo core.
Dr. Caitlin Ahrens ✨🚀 retweeted
Enjoy the view 🌎
This timelapse shows an aurora swirling through Earth’s atmosphere during Expedition 67 aboard the @Space_Station.
Dr. Caitlin Ahrens ✨🚀 retweeted
✨Editor's Pick✨
The first machine learning-derived global-scale survey of #Mercury’s hollows suggests they are young features that may be active and will continue to evolve.
🔗Learn more in @AGU_Eos: eos.org/editor-highlights/me…
#AGUPubs @wileyearthspace @wileyinresearch
Dr. Caitlin Ahrens ✨🚀 retweeted
Think Big! Asteroid mining and the future of humanity according to @TransAstra_Corp CEO @JoelSercel
freedomlibrary.hillsdale.edu…
Dr. Caitlin Ahrens ✨🚀 retweeted
Ghost riders in the sky.
@fireflyspace’s Blue Ghost lander recently completed a maneuver to adjust its orbit around the Moon. We are on track for a landing on March 2.
Dr. Caitlin Ahrens ✨🚀 retweeted
Your package is scheduled for delivery 📦
@fireflyspace’s Blue Ghost lunar lander is set to land on the near side of the Moon on March 2 at 3:45am ET (0845 UTC) with NASA science and tech aboard. Watch the landing live with us! go.nasa.gov/4gKmzTJ
ALT Firefly’s Blue Ghost lunar lander captured a bright image of the Moon’s South Pole (on the far left) through the cameras on its top deck, while it travels to the Moon. The Moon has a bright white glow at the top of the image. On the left, a heavily cratered area (the South Pole) is visible. Credit: Firefly Aerospace
Dr. Caitlin Ahrens ✨🚀 retweeted
Ever noticed how the Moon seems HUGE when it’s near the horizon but smaller when it’s overhead?
Trick of the eye or something more? Scientists have debated this for 2,000+ years, and we still don’t have a definitive answer! Find out what we do know: go.nasa.gov/42UHQqw
Dr. Caitlin Ahrens ✨🚀 retweeted
European member of the Astronaut Reserve, John McFall and the team at @ESA have shown it is possible for someone with a physical disability to live and work on the @Space_Station. 🛰️
Read more about the Fly! Mission Ready phase 👉 esa.int/Science_Exploration/…
Hear from John 👇
Dr. Caitlin Ahrens ✨🚀 retweeted
Tomorrow is Galileo Galilei's birthday! 🎂🎉
Did you know Apollo 15 commander David Scott conducted Galileo's famous Hammer-Feather Experiment while on the lunar surface? 🔨
Click the link to learn more & see science in action!
science.nasa.gov/resource/th…
Dr. Caitlin Ahrens ✨🚀 retweeted
Development and Evolution of Icy Layer Outcrops on Mars' North Polar Ice Cap: Observations of Vertical and Lateral Variability. buff.ly/4k0Ut9Q Study finds lateral variability on the meter-scale in the protrusion of individual marker beds that reflect local conditions.
Dr. Caitlin Ahrens ✨🚀 retweeted
Encyclopædia Britannica will continue to use ‘Gulf of Mexico’ for a few reasons:
-We serve an international audience, a majority of which is outside the U.S.
-The Gulf of Mexico is an international body of water, and the U.S.’s authority to rename it is ambiguous.
🧵⬇️
Dr. Caitlin Ahrens ✨🚀 retweeted
MEDIA: You are invited to visit @NASAKennedy on March 7 to capture imagery of the @NASA_Orion spacecraft and @NASA_SLS solid rocket boosters for the Artemis II mission to the Moon. go.nasa.gov/3CNnu7V
ALT A massive crane lifts NASA’s Orion spacecraft out of the Final Assembly and System Testing cell and moves it to the altitude chamber to complete further testing on Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024, inside the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The altitude chamber simulates deep space vacuum conditions, and the testing will provide additional data to augment data gained during testing earlier this summer. Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
Dr. Caitlin Ahrens ✨🚀 retweeted
Howard is officially reclassified as an R1!!!!!
Please join us in celebrating! Earlier today, the American Council on Education officially conferred Howard with the prestigious Research One (R1) Carnegie Classification, solidifying its place as a powerhouse of innovation and discovery.
This milestone is especially groundbreaking as Howard University is the only HBCU with the R1 designation—known as the highest research activity classification among U.S. colleges and universities.
“As a leader in the evolution of next generation HBCUs, we are dedicated to ensuring that the benefits of discovery and progress reach all communities, including those historically overlooked and underrepresented,” said President Ben Vinson III, Ph.D.
This is more than a simple accomplishment—Howard is redefining research and reimagining innovation. Join us in celebrating this extraordinary moment in Howard’s history as we continue to influence the future of research, innovation, and impact. The Mecca continues to lead the way!
For more information about the R1 designation and research at Howard, 🔗 thedig.howard.edu/all-storie…
Dr. Caitlin Ahrens ✨🚀 retweeted
Life as we know it needs water to survive, so as we search for life outside our solar system, astrobiologists are often guided by the phrase “follow the water.” Learn how the SPHEREx mission will help in that quest across our Milky Way galaxy: go.nasa.gov/4hUzm76
ALT NASA’s SPHEREx mission will survey the Milky Way galaxy looking for water ice and other key ingredients for life. In the search for these frozen compounds, the mission will focus on molecular clouds — collections of gas and dust in space — like this one imaged by the agency’s James Webb Space Telescope.
Dr. Caitlin Ahrens ✨🚀 retweeted
Aqueous Alteration as an Origin of Martian Magnetization. buff.ly/4k96Osy Study finds that aqueous alteration of dunites at low water-to-rock ratios can generate sufficient magnetite to account for the strongest magnetic anomalies.
