Baltimore MD (SPX) Apr 22, 2022
The Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) on NASA's James Webb Space Telescope is now cooled by a gaseous helium cryocooler to under 7 kelvins. With the cooler in its final state, the Webb team is operating the MIRI instrument this week as part of seventh and final stage of the telescope alignment. When the instrument is operating, the detectors and electronics produce heat, which is balanced by the cr

Lakewoood CO (SPX) Apr 22, 2022
Aphelion Aerospace is proud to announce reaching a major milestone in developing the company's commercial launch services with the completion of critical propulsion system testing. The team recently spent two weeks at the company's test facility in Wyoming integrating a rocket engine and support systems on a ground test stand and conducting a series of hot fire tests. The test activity was condu

Pasadena CA (JPL) Apr 22, 2022
We made it! Perseverance is at the delta, and gracing us with stunning images to pour over. Mars 2020 is officially out of "Rapid Traverse" mode, where we put the pedal to the metal and focused on driving. This week, we are back to standard operations, and the team is beginning our Delta Front Campaign. You can check out last week's blog for details on why exploring the delta is so exciting.

Huntsville AL (SPX) Apr 22, 2022
Imagine a mountaineering expedition in a wholly uncharted environment, where the hikers had the ability to generate a real-time 3D map of the terrain. NASA researchers and their industry partners have developed a remote-sensing mapping system set to aid explorers in the most isolated wilderness imaginable: the airless wastes at the South Pole of the Moon. The Kinematic Navigation and Carto

Washington DC (SPX) Apr 22, 2022
On April 18, NASA decided to move forward with plans to complete the deployment of the Lucy spacecraft's stalled, unlatched solar array. The spacecraft is powered by two large arrays of solar cells that were designed to unfold and latch into place after launch. One of the fan-like arrays opened as planned, but the other stopped just short of completing this operation. Through a combination

Plainsboro NJ (SPX) Apr 22, 2022
A puzzling process called magnetic reconnection triggers explosive phenomena throughout the universe, creating solar flares and space storms that can take down mobile phone service and electrical power grids. Now scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) have detailed a roadmap for untangling a key aspect of this puzzle that could deepen insig

Kirtland AFB NM (AFRL) Apr 22, 2022
In honor of Earth Day, the Air Force Research Laboratory, or AFRL, is highlighting its efforts toward harnessing the Sun's energy, converting it to radio frequency, or RF, and beaming it to the Earth providing a green power source for the U.S. and allied forces. Key technologies need to be developed to make such a challenging process a reality. In response to this challenge, AFRL for

This year’s ESA/JRC International Summer School on Global Navigation Satellite Systems will take place in July, at Kraków in the South of Poland.

Week in images: 18-22 April 2022

Discover our week through the lens

Cambridge MA (SPX) Apr 21, 2022
In some of the most crowded parts of the universe, black holes may be tearing apart thousands of stars and using their remains to pack on weight. This discovery, made with NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, could help answer key questions about an elusive class of black holes. While astronomers have previously found many examples of black holes tearing stars apart, little evidence has been