NASA Citizen Science

ALT On May 19, 2005, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit captured this stunning view as the Sun sank below the rim of Gusev crater on Mars. This Panoramic Camera mosaic was taken around 6:07 in the evening of the rover's 489th Martian day, or sol.

ALT An artist’s rendition of a large asteroid floating in space with Earth visible in the background. The planet's surface is partially covered by thick clouds, with glimpses of ocean and land below. In the distance, the arc of Earth's atmosphere glows softly blue against the blackness of space. The asteroid appears rocky, rugged, and gray.

ALT A student presents a research poster titled "Solar Radio Burst Events Detected by the SunRISE Ground Radio Lab" at a conference. The student is explaining their findings to an attendee, while referring to the poster.

ALT A photo showing glowing noctilucent clouds over a dark sky, with a mountain silhouette and rooftops in the foreground. The clouds have a blue-silvery hue, typical of noctilucent clouds. Photo taken from Bozeman, MT on 16 July 2009. Copyright: Joseph A Shaw.

ALT A student participates in the Growing Beyond Earth citizen science project, measuring the growth of plants in a controlled environment. This view from over the student’s left shoulder shows the student using a ruler to measure several small, green, leafy potted plants in six different pots with colorful tags. The plants sit inside a special kind of box/chamber that replicates the growth chamber on the International Space Station.

ALT A woman on a pier points her phone up to the sky while using the HydroColor app to collect water clarity data

ALT NASA astrophysicist Marc Kuchner stands in front of a large display screen showing the Disk Detective website, which aids in studying planet formation. Kuchner, a pioneer for participatory science, is the NASA Citizen Science program officer and has been a principal investigator for various citizen science projects. He is seen wearing a tan blazer and standing with his hands in his pockets. The display on the screen highlights an image from the Disk Detective project. Image credit: David Friedlander.

ALT A satellite map showing Monsignor McClancy Memorial High School in Queens, New York, with markers indicating tree height observation locations made by students. The green markers are distributed across the school grounds, particularly around the athletic field, with streets and surrounding areas labeled. This map is part of the GLOBE Observer Trees Tool project, where students are measuring tree heights to complement measurements made from satellites.

ALT A collage of posters from HamSCI’s March workshop. The posters cover various topics related to space weather and radio science, including incorporating the HamSCI project into a college physics course, equatorial plasma bubbles study, the HamSCI magnetometer, and amateur radio visualizations. Other posters discuss the use of space weather stations in Antarctica, and technical details on processing and visualizing radio data. The posters feature graphs, diagrams, and maps showcasing research results and instrumentation used in the HamSCI project.

ALT A student participating in the Growing Beyond Earth Citizen Science project, carefully measuring and observing plants in small pots. The plants appear to be leafy greens, and the student is holding a ruler to measure their growth. The lab has bright lighting, and scientific equipment is visible in the background. The student is wearing glasses, a shirt with an abstract design, and a lanyard with a badge. This project helps NASA research how to grow plants in space. Image credit: Growing Beyond Earth.

ALT This image from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope shows a portion of the star-forming Leo P dwarf galaxy, a concentration of bright blue stars that occupy the bottom right corner of the image. At bottom center within them is a small blue bubble. The stars and bubble are part of the diffuse Leo P dwarf galaxy that extends beyond the image border. Background galaxies are scattered across the image, with some particularly prominent spirals located at upper left and upper right. The background of space is black.

ALT A screenshot of the Galaxy Zoo website, where users classify galaxies based on their appearance. The image displays a distant galaxy with a bright central area and a spiral arm. On the right, users are prompted to determine if the galaxy is smooth and rounded or if it has features like a disk. Image credit: Galaxy Zoo, Zooniverse, and the Cosmic Evolution Early Release Science Survey. Inset galaxy: NASA/STScI/CEERS/TACC/S. Finkelstein/M. Bagley/Z. Levay/A. Pagan.

ALT Artistic graphic in blues and orange shows the words, One Million Acts Of Science Citizen Science Month April.