An agreement between NASA and the U.S. Space Force recently authorized the public release of decades of data collected by U.S. government sensors on fireball events (large bright meteors also known as bolides*) for the benefit of the scientific and planetary defense communities. This action results from collaboration between NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office (PDCO) […]
NASA / JPL
NASA’s Psyche Gets Huge Solar Arrays For Trip To Metal-Rich Asteroid
With its solar arrays installed, the spacecraft is close to its final configuration ahead of a planned August launch. NASA’s Psyche mission is almost ready for its moment in the Sun – a 1.5-billion-mile (2.4-billion-kilometer) solar-powered journey to a mysterious, metal-rich asteroid of the same name. Twin solar arrays have been attached to the spacecraft […]
Innoflight’s SCR Units Ordered By SDL For NASA Deep Space Compatibility Testing For The Agency’s sunRISE Mission
Space Dynamics Laboratory (SDL) has selected Innoflight for NASA’s Sun Radio Interferometer Space Experiment (SunRISE) mission. SDL, the SunRISE spacecraft provider to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, will deliver an array of six (6) solar-powered cubesats that will create 3D maps to determine where large particle eruptions come from on the Sun and how they evolve […]
NASA’s JWST 21-Foot Primary Mirror Is Successfully Deployed
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope team has now fully deployed its 21-foot, gold-coated primary mirror, successfully completing the final stage of all major spacecraft deployments to prepare for science operations. A joint effort with the European Space Agency (ESA) and Canadian Space Agency, the Webb mission will explore every phase of cosmic history – from […]
Delivery Of Imagers For NOAA’s GOES Satellites Completed By L3Harris
L3Harris Technologies (NYSE:LHX) has delivered their fourth imager to NASA, completing the series of advanced weather sensors for NOAA’s newest Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) and lays the groundwork for future imager programs. The fourth Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) will be integrated into the GOES-U satellite, slated to launch in 2024, and will be operated […]
Voice + Video Tech On The Moon Being Developed By Lockheed Martin, Amazon + Cisco
Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT), Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) and Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) have teamed up to integrate unique human-machine interface technologies into NASA’s Orion spacecraft, providing an opportunity to learn how future astronauts could benefit from far-field voice technology, AI and tablet-based video collaboration. The Callisto technology demonstration will be integrated into NASA’s Orion spacecraft for […]
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope Succeeds With The Milestone Of Deploying The 70 Foot Sunshield
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope team has fully deployed the spacecraft’s 70-foot sunshield, a key milestone in preparing it for science operations. The sunshield – about the size of a tennis court at full size – was folded to fit inside the payload area of an Arianespace Ariane 5 rocket’s nose cone prior to launch. […]
NASA’s Program Enables Astrobotic’s Hazard Detection System To Take Flight
Astrobotic was selected to receive funding for its LiDAR-based Hazard Detection sensor (LHD) as part of the NASA Flight Opportunities TechFlights solicitation. This LHD sensor will assist in the safe landing of Astrobotic’s Griffin lander, the largest lunar lander since Apollo’s Lunar Module. Griffin will be carrying NASA’s Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover, or VIPER, […]
James Webb Space Telescope’s Successful Launch + Upcoming Milestones
The James Webb Space Telescope — the Webb mission — an international partnership with the ESA (European Space Agency) and the Canadian Space Agency, launched aboard an Ariane 5 rocket on December 25, 2021, from Europe’s Spaceport by Arianespace from Kourou, French Guiana. The observatory had been folded up, origami style, to fit inside an […]
NASA’s $10 Billion James Webb Space Telescope Fully Fueled for Launch
By NASA In preparation for launch later this month, ground teams have successfully completed the delicate operation of loading the James Webb Space Telescope with the propellant it will use to steer itself while in space. In order to make critical course corrections shortly after launch, to maintain its prescribed orbit nearly 1 million miles from Earth, and to repoint […]