NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

@nasajpl

Managing many of NASA's robotic missions exploring Earth, the solar system and the universe.
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Is there really a CAL on the International Space Station? Yes! But it’s creating ultra-cold quantum gases, not alternate realities like you might see on TV. 🤓 #NASA #JPL #DareMightyThings #Constellation #CAL #RPL #RocketPropulsionLaboratory #coldatomlab
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1 day ago
How does a spacecraft survive a wild rocket ride and the harsh conditions of space? By passing a series of tests here on Earth first. In less than six months, @NASA is set to launch Europa Clipper on a 1.6-billion-mile (2.6 billion km) voyage to Jupiter’s ocean moon Europa. From the jarring vibrations of the rocket ride to the intense heat and cold of space, to the punishing radiation of Jupiter, it will be a journey of extremes. The spacecraft was recently put through a series of hard-core “environmental” tests to ensure it is up to the challenge. Pictured in this timelapse, the most recent test for the spacecraft was inside the thermal-vacuum chamber (TVAC). The spacecraft is one of the largest ever to squeeze into JPL’s historic 85-ft-tall, 25-ft-wide (26-m-tall, 9-m-wide) vacuum chamber, known as the Space Simulator. Engineers created a near-perfect vacuum inside to mimic the airless environment of space. At the same time, they subjected the hardware to the high temperatures it will experience on the side of the spacecraft facing the Sun while it is close to Earth. Beams from powerful lamps at the base of the chamber mimic the heat Europa Clipper will endure. To simulate the journey away from the Sun, the lamps were dimmed and liquid nitrogen filled tubes in the chamber walls to chill them to temperatures replicating space, and the team gauged whether the spacecraft could warm itself. The spacecraft underwent vibration, shock, and acoustics testing. In vibration testing, the spacecraft was shaken repeatedly – up and down and side to side – the same way it will be jostled aboard the SpaceX Falcon Heavy during liftoff. Shock testing is done with pyrotechnics to mimic the explosive jolt the spacecraft will get when it separates from the rocket. Finally, acoustic testing ensured that Europa Clipper can withstand the rumbling of the rocket, which can damage the spacecraft if it’s not sturdy enough. Next, the spacecraft will be shipped to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida for final preparation before its launch period opens Oct. 10. #NASA #JPL #EuropaClipper #GoEuropaClipper #Europa #Jupiter #Moon #Engineering #stem
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Things are looking bright! 😎 Europa Clipper’s huge solar arrays have arrived at @NASAKennedy in preparation for launch this October. The main body of the spacecraft, which is currently being built and tested at @NASAJPL , will soon join the solar arrays in Florida. Combined, they will span a total length of more than 100 feet (30 m) and make Europa Clipper the largest spacecraft @NASA has ever developed for a planetary mission. The spacecraft needs the large solar arrays to collect enough light to power it in the Jupiter system, which is more than 5x as far from the Sun as Earth. Planned to arrive at Jupiter in April 2030, the spacecraft will study Jupiter’s moon Europa, which shows strong evidence beneath its icy crust of a global ocean over twice the volume of all Earth’s oceans. Europa is currently considered one of the most promising habitable environments in our solar system. #NASA #JPL #Europa #GoEuropaClipper #EuropaClipper #Jupiter #Moon #Spacecraft #Solar #STEM #Engineering #Exploration 📸 Image Descriptions Image 1: A technician stands next to one of Europa Clipper’s unfolded solar arrays inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at Kennedy Space Center. The tech is dressed in a head-to-toe protective uniform and stands facing the solar array as he examines it. The five-panel solar array looks enormous compared to the tech. The black surface of the solar array is so smooth and reflective that it is mirroring the technician and the facility around it. Image 2: Two technicians dressed in head-to-toe protective uniforms help to unfold the first of two fully solar arrays built for Europa Clipper. The solar array is inside a very large white facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida and is suspended from a support system called a gravity offload fixture, which looks like large scaffolding. Image 3: Like the first image, but from an opposite view - three technicians stand next to the unfolded solar array. They are all dressed in the same head-to-toe protective uniforms and are also examining the solar array.
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15 days ago
Hope your week is starting out stellar. 🤩 Here’s a little inspo from a new @NASAWebb image that captured a hotbed of star formation in the region NGC 604 using its NIRCam and MIRI instruments. This concentration of massive stars, combined with its relatively close distance, means NGC 604 gives astronomers an opportunity to study these objects at a fascinating time early in their life. Two hundred of the hottest, most massive kinds of stars, all in the early stages of their lives, are sheltered among NGC 604’s dusty envelopes of gas. These types of stars are B-types and O-types, the latter of which can be more than 100 times the mass of our own Sun. It’s quite rare to find this concentration of them in the nearby universe. In fact, there’s no similar region within our own Milky Way galaxy. Webb’s near-infrared NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) helps us see the most noticeable features such as tendrils and clumps of emission that appear bright red, extending out from areas that look like clearings, or large bubbles in the nebula. While MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument), which was built at JPL, helps us see the larger clouds of cooler gas and dust glow. #NASA #JPL #MIRICam #JWST #Webb #Universe #Stars #Inspiration 📸 Image Description Image 1: An image of a nebula as seen from the James Webb Space Telescope’s NIRICam. The nebula is comprised of clumpy, red, filamentary clouds. At its center is an opaque blueish glow with speckles of stars. Image 2: The same image of a nebula but this time seen through James Webb Space Telescope’s MIRI instrument. The nebula is on the black background of space and is comprised of wispy filaments of light blue clouds. At the center-right of the blue clouds is a large, cavernous bubble. The bottom left edge of this cavernous bubble is filled with hues of pink and white gas. There are hundreds of dim stars that fill the surrounding area of the nebula.
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16 days ago
Humanity’s message from one water world to another, on a piece of tantalum metal.⁣ ⁣ There’s a legacy of NASA spacecraft carrying inspirational messages from Earth into the cosmos, and Europa Clipper will soon continue this tradition when it launches to Europa, a moon of Jupiter that shows strong evidence of an ocean under its icy crust. A triangular plate seals an opening in the spacecraft’s vault, which protects electronics from Jupiter’s radiation. The plate carries a special message into deep space. ⁣ ⁣ Image Descriptions:⁣ 1. An intricate pattern of waveforms for the word “water” in more than 100 languages emanate from the center to the edges of a triangular metallic plate. Linguists collected recordings of the word from families of languages around the world. The waveforms radiate outward from a symbol representing the American Sign Language gesture for “water.”⁣ ⁣ 2-3. The reverse side of the vault plate features a poem written by U.S. Poet Laureate @adalimonwriter titled “In Praise of Mystery: A Poem for Europa” etched in her handwriting. Above the poem is an illustration of the Jovian System — four round moons in circular orbits around a bottle. This is a reference to our “Message in a Bottle” campaign, which invited the public to send their names with the spacecraft. Soon to be added to the center of the bottle is a silicon microchip stenciled with more than 2.6 million names submitted by the public. There is a portrait of Ron Greeley on the bottom left, whose early efforts to develop a Europa mission laid the foundation for Europa Clipper. Next to this is artwork that references radio frequencies considered plausible for interstellar communication, symbolizing how humanity uses this radio band to listen for messages from the cosmos. ⁣ ⁣ 4. The Drake Equation is inscribed at the top of the vault plate. Astronomer Frank Drake developed the mathematical formulation in 1961 to estimate the possibility of finding advanced civilizations beyond Earth, and this equation has inspired and guided research in astrobiology fields ever since. ⁣ Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech ⁣ #NASA #JPL #GoEuropaClipper #Jupiter #Europa #Design #Space #Poetry
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20 days ago
Meet CADRE, a trio of small rovers that are ready for their trip to the Moon 🌕 The technology demonstration is meant to show the promise of multirobot missions. If successful, future missions could include teams of robots spreading out to take simultaneous, distributed scientific measurements, potentially in support of astronauts. What’s next for the rovers? The hardware will be shipped to Intuitive Machines for installation on a Nova-C lander that will launch to the Moon atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from @NASAKennedy . #Moon #CADRE #autonomous #technology #space #exploration #robots #NASA #JPL
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21 days ago
How do you build a spacecraft? The Europa Clipper team takes us inside a JPL clean room to describe the integration of the instruments that will perform a detailed science investigation of Europa once it arrives at the Jupiter system in 2030. #NASA #JPL #DareMightyThings #Engineers #Spacecraft #GoEuropaClipper #Jupiter #Europa #IcyMoon
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22 days ago
What’s up, March stargazers! This month, Jupiter shines brightly in the west, meeting the Moon and the Pleiades mid-month – and you might be able to spot Mercury, too. Plus, you might be able to spot a comet in the evening twilight. Here’s your skywatching checklist for the month: ✅ March 10 – New moon. ✅ March 13 – Following sunset, the Moon joins Jupiter in the west. ✅ March 14 – The crescent Moon moves through the Pleiades star cluster, creating a dazzling sight for skywatchers observing with binoculars. ✅ March 21-25 – Northern Hemisphere viewers have their best chance of the year to spot Mercury. Look for it shining brightly, low in the west, starting half an hour after sunset. ✅ March 24-25 – A subtle lunar eclipse called a ‘penumbral eclipse’ will cause a slight decrease in the Moon’s brightness tonight. ✅ March 25 – The full moon will dim slightly during the penumbral lunar eclipse as it passes through the outer part of Earth’s shadow, the penumbra. ✅ All Month – Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks is heading toward its closest approach to the Sun on its 71-year orbit, and is bright enough to observe in telescopes and binoculars. It’s possible it might be visible to the unaided eye by late March or April. #Skywatching #Stargazing #Space #Astronomy #NASA #JPL #Planets #SkyChart #Meteor #Moon #Planets #Jupiter #Comet #Mercury #Eclipse #Stars #StarParty
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See that little speck? It's the Curiosity rover as seen from Mars orbit! 🤯 The HiRISE (High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment) camera aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captured this image on Dec. 29, 2023. At the time, Curiosity was driving up a steep slope. Those bands of alternating dark and light material have caught the attention of the rover team’s scientists. They hope to learn more about the area, like what differentiates the materials on the surface to form the bands. #Curiosity #Mars #MarsRover #HiRISE #MRO #astrophotography #space #exploration #science #technology #NASA #JPL Image descriptions: Image 1: An image taken from Mars orbit shows a vast landscape within Gale Crate and a small dark speck right in the center is the Curiosity rover. The image, which was taken by the HiRISE camera aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, shows curved bands of purple-ish dark material and lighter bands of biege material on the Martian surface. Some deeper ridges show different heights and hill ranges toward the left of the image. Image 2: A second photo showing the exact same Martian landscape shows a white circle around the dark speck in the center to highlight where exactly the Curiosity rover is.
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Already more than 82 million miles (132 million kilometers) from Earth, the Psyche spacecraft will arrive at its destination – the asteroid Psyche in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter – in 2029. Scientists believe the asteroid could be part of the iron-rich interior of an early planetary building block that was stripped of its outer rocky shell as it repeatedly collided with other large bodies during the early formation of the solar system. After Psyche launched in October, the team tested all the spacecraft’s science instruments to make sure they were working as intended. When the team powered on the magnetometer, an instrument that will provide crucial data to help determine how the asteroid formed, they received an unexpected gift: The instrument detected a coronal mass ejection, or a solar eruption where the Sun expels large quantities of magnetized plasma. While this type of solar eruption is a relatively common occurrence, the team didn’t expect to see such a detection in Psyche’s data. Why is this good news? Data collected so far confirms that the magnetometer can precisely detect very small magnetic fields. It also confirms that the spacecraft is magnetically “quiet,” meaning that while electrical currents powering a spacecraft of this size and complexity have the potential to generate magnetic fields that could interfere with science detections, they don’t seem to be interrupting observations so far. It’s all looking good for Psyche! Since the initial detection, the team has seen several of these events and will continue to monitor space weather as the spacecraft travels to its target asteroid. #NASA #JPL #DareMightyThings #MissionToPsyche #Psyche #Asteroid #MetalWorld #Magnetometer #SpaceInstruments #Spacecraft #PlanetFormation
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28 days ago
What exactly is a leap day, and what does it have to do with how our planet travels around the Sun? Let us break it down for you. 🌎 #NASA #JPL #DareMightyThings #LeapDay #LeapYear #Science #Math #STEM #Earth #SolarSystem #EarthScience #orbits
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We spy Ingenuity. 👀 Before @NASA ’s Perseverance Mars Rover takes off to do more science, it captured this image on Feb. 21 using its Mastcam-Z camera from about 1,365 ft (415 m) away. The #MarsHelicopter’s rotor blades were damaged on its 72nd and last flight on Jan. 18. #NASA #JPL #DareMightyThings #ThanksIngenuity #Mars #Helicopter #Exploration #AVgeeks #Aviation 📸 Image Description: A zoomed-in enhanced-color image of NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter sitting on the top of a sand ripple. It almost looks as though the helicopter is floating off into an ocean of reddish-brown sand.
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