Jet Propulsion Laboratory – Page 3

University High Wins L.A. Ocean Sciences Bowl at NASA’s JPL

January 22, 2024 NeRD

2 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) The team from University High School in Irvine, California, proved victorious in the 2024 Los Angeles regional Ocean Sciences Bowl tournament at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. From left: senior Julianne Wu, team captain and senior Maia Kopylova, sophomore Angelina Yan, sophomore Matthew Feng, senior Claudia Kahana, and team coach Ruby-Ann Lopez. NASA/JPL-Caltech The annual competition aims to help students expand their ocean-related knowledge outside the classroom and to become environmental stewards. University High School of Irvine, California, emerged victorious…

This US-Indian Satellite Will Monitor Earth’s Changing Frozen Regions

January 10, 2024 NeRD

Satellite imagery shows a portion of East Antarctica on Jan. 9, 2022, before icebergs calved off the Glenzer and Conger glaciers. NISAR will observe nearly all of the planet’s land and ice surfaces twice every 12 days, monitoring Earth’s frozen regions, known as the cryosphere. USGS Much of the Glenzer and Conger glaciers had collapsed by March 23, 2022, spawning numerous icebergs, as shown in this satellite image. NISAR will document such changes around the globe, and its geographic coverage of Antarctica will be the most extensive for a radar…

NASA’s Juno to Get Close Look at Jupiter’s Volcanic Moon Io on Dec. 30

December 27, 2023 NeRD

This image revealing the north polar region of the Jovian moon Io was taken on October 15 by NASA’s Juno. Three of the mountain peaks visible in the upper part of image, near the day-night dividing line, were observed here for the first time by the spacecraft’s JunoCam. Image data: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS, Image processing by Ted Stryk The orbiter has performed 56 flybys of Jupiter and documented close encounters with three of the gas giant’s four largest moons. NASA’s Juno spacecraft will on Saturday, Dec. 30, make the closest flyby of…

NASA’s Deep Space Network Turns 60 and Prepares for the Future

December 22, 2023 NeRD

The radio antennas of the NASA’s Canberra Deep Space Communications Complex are located near the Australian capital. It’s one of three Deep Space Network complexes around the world that keep the agency in contact with over 40 space missions. The DSN marks its 60th anniversary in December 2023. NASA/JPL-Caltech A single radio antenna dish stands alone at the Deep Space Network’s Canberra complex in this photo from 1969, six years after the DSN was founded. Canberra now consists of three 34-meter (112-foot) antennas and one 70-meter (230-foot) antenna. NASA/JPL-Caltech The…

Meet the Infrared Telescopes That Paved the Way for NASA’s Webb

December 22, 2023 NeRD

Scientists have been studying the universe with infrared space telescopes for 40 years, including these NASA missions, from left: the Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS), launched in 1983; the Spitzer Space Telescope, launched in 2003; and the James Webb Space Telescope, launched in 2021. NASA/JPL-Caltech The Webb telescope has opened a new window onto the universe, but it builds on missions going back 40 years, including Spitzer and the Infrared Astronomical Satellite. On Dec. 25, NASA will celebrate the two-year launch anniversary of the James Webb Space Telescope – the largest…

NASA’s Tech Demo Streams First Video From Deep Space via Laser

December 18, 2023 NeRD

Members of the DSOC team react to the first high-definition streaming video to be sent via laser from deep space on Dec. 11 at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Sent by the DSOC transceiver aboard the Psyche spacecraft, nearly 19 million miles from Earth, the video features a cat named Taters. NASA/JPL-Caltech A computer screen in the mission support area shows Taters the cat in a still from the first high-definition streaming video to be sent via laser from deep space, as well as the incoming data stream delivering the frames…

NASA’s NEOWISE Celebrates 10 Years, Plans End of Mission

December 13, 2023 NeRD

NEOWISE is depicted in an artist’s concept in front of an image of the infrared sky that the mission captured. The string of red dots moving across the sky near the center of the image is Holda, the first asteroid the space telescope detected shortly after being reactivated in 2013. NASA/JPL-Caltech The asteroid and comet-hunting infrared space telescope has gathered an impressive haul of observations, but it’s now at the mercy of the Sun, which is accelerating its demise. NASA’s NEOWISE has had a busy decade. Since its reactivated mission…

NASA’s Perseverance Rover Deciphers Ancient History of Martian Lake

December 12, 2023 NeRD

This 360-degree mosaic from the “Airey Hill” location inside Jezero Crater was generated using 993 individual images taken by the Perseverance Mars rover’s Mastcam-Z from Nov. 3-6. The rover remained parked at Airey Hill for several weeks during solar conjunction. NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS Now at 1,000 days on Mars, the mission has traversed an ancient river and lake system, collecting valuable samples along the way. Marking its 1,000th Martian day on the Red Planet, NASA’s Perseverance rover recently completed its exploration of the ancient river delta that holds evidence of a lake…

NASA Sensor Produces First Global Maps of Surface Minerals in Arid Regions

December 11, 2023 NeRD

NASA’s EMIT produced its first global maps of hematite, goethite, and kaolinite in Earth’s dry regions using data from the year ending November 2023. The mission collected billions of measurements of the three minerals and seven others that may affect climate when lofted into the air as dust storms. NASA/JPL-Caltech EMIT delivers first-of-a-kind maps of minerals in Earth’s dust-source areas, enabling scientists to model the fine particles’ role in climate change and more. NASA’s EMIT mission has created the first comprehensive maps of the world’s mineral dust-source regions, providing precise…

Students Create Elaborate Homemade Machines for JPL Competition

December 9, 2023 NeRD

Oakwood School’s Team Pink won first place in the Invention Challenge at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Paul MacNeal (left) has run the competition since 1998. NASA/JPL-Caltech The homemade devices built by competing teams relied on catapults, crossbows, small motors, and more to accomplish seven consecutive steps to sink a crumpled piece of paper into a wastebasket. NASA/JPL-Caltech To compete in a race against the clock and each other, 18 student teams built complicated contraptions for the annual Invention Challenge at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Some 250 students hauled homemade machines…