UC Berkeley Space Sciences Lab

Illustration of the Wind spacecraft in front of the magnetosphere that surrounds Earth. Credit: NASA (Public Domain) Wind has been one of the most robust, diverse, long-lasting, and impactful heliophysics missions ever to have been carried out. The Wind spacecraft, launched on 1 November 1994, is a critical element in NASA’s Heliophysics System Observatory (HSO) a fleet of spacecrafts created to understand the dynamics of the SunEarth system.... https://www.ssl.berkeley.edu/wind-discoveries-and-impacts-/

This was the start of the final Hubble Servicing Mission aimed at adding Five years of additional life to a groundbreaking Observatory. During this Mission Megan McArthur, Mission Specialist, handled the Canada Arm to capture Hubble and maneuver the Astronauts to service the telescope. As of today she is living on the ISS, International Space Station and is the Pilot of SpaceX Crew 2 Mission.... https://www.ssl.berkeley.edu/otd-may-11-2009-sts-125-launc/

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe has started its eighth science-gathering solar encounter, putting it one-third of the way through its planned journey of 24 progressively closer loops around the Sun. Its orbit, shaped by a gravity-assist flyby of Venus on Feb. 20, 2021, will bring the spacecraft closer to the Sun than on any previous flyby. At closest approach, called perihelion, on April 29, Parker Solar Probe will come within about 6.5 million miles (10.4 million kilometers) of the Sun’s surface, while moving faster than 330,000 miles per hour (532,000 kilometers per hour) breaking its own records for both speed and solar proximity.... https://www.ssl.berkeley.edu/nasas-parker-solar-probe-keep/

Dan Werthimer was honored by the SETI Institute for his contributions to the search for and understanding of life beyond Earth. (Dan Werthimer photo) SSL's Dan Werthimer, a co-founder of the popular screen saver SETI@home and a UC Berkeley astronomer who developed radio receivers to aid the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, has co-won the 2021 Drake Award, named after the father of SETI, astronomer... https://www.ssl.berkeley.edu/ssls-dan-werthimer-to-receive/

Berkeley Conversations will host a live panel discussion with experts, including SSL's Rob Lillis, who will share their experience with space exploration and Mars science, providing us with insights into what lies ahead. Attend the live discussion. You can also submit a question in advance. WEDNESDAY APRIL 28, 20215:00 - 6:00 PM, Pacific TimeMars was not always red: Berkeley experts discuss Mars exploration https://www.ssl.berkeley.edu/april-28-at-5pm-berkeley-expe/

EOA, a microfluidic organic analyzer for biosignatures, was one of a few dozen promising space technologies chosen for NASA’s Flight Opportunities program, it was recently announced. This means that the tiny Lab on a Chip will travel aboard a vehicle that will expose it to the rigors of spaceflight, as a significant first step to test its readiness for a future space mission. [ 118 more words ] https://www.ssl.berkeley.edu/eoa-lab-on-a-chip-chosen-by-n/

Our Ionospheric Connection Explorer launched one year ago today! ICON orbits directly through some of the most dynamic regions of Earth’s upper atmosphere, investigating changes that can impact our technology and astronauts. One year out and the observatory is gathering volumes of data and making new discoveries. Learn More about the Mission: NASA ICON UC Berkeley - Space Sciences Lab https://www.ssl.berkeley.edu/otd-one-year-ago-today-octobe/

Data from NASA missions like our Solar Dynamics Observatory and the retired RHESSI satellite is helping scientists study potential connections between solar flares and sunquakes, seismic waves on the Sun. Read "Can ripples on the sun help predict solar flares?" https://www.ssl.berkeley.edu/sdo-and-the-retired-rhessi-sa/

Parker Solar Probe is healthy and operating normally after its sixth pass by the Sun on Sept. 27, confirmed with a signal received by mission controllers at JHU Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) early on Sept. 30. This solar flyby the closest that any spacecraft has ever made carried Parker Solar Probe within 8.4 million miles of the Sun’s surface, less than a tenth of the distance between the Sun and Earth. Read more at "Parker Solar Probe ‘Phones Home’ After Sixth Sun Flyby" https://www.ssl.berkeley.edu/parker-solar-probe-completes-/

Stuart Bowyer passed away at his home in Orinda, California, on September 23, 2020, from complications associated with Covid-19. He is survived by his wife, Jane, his sons, William and Robert, his daughter, Elizabeth, and five grandchildren. Stuart was born on August 2, 1934, in Toledo, Ohio. He attended grade school at a one-room facility a mile from his father’s farm in Orland Park, Illinois. [ 1,994 more word ] https://www.ssl.berkeley.edu/stuart-bowyer-1934-2020/

The Geotail mission was a joint project of Japan’s Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS) and later, from 2003, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and NASA. The mission was part of the International Solar Terrestrial Physics (ISTP) project, which also included the Wind, Polar, SOHO, and Cluster missions. Geotail’s goal was to study the structure and dynamics of the long tail region of Earth’s magnetosphere, which is created on the nightside of Earth by the solar wind. [ 334 more words ] https://www.ssl.berkeley.edu/otd-28-years-ago-geotail-laun/

The Astrobee-D This is a full-scale model of the Aerojet-General Astrobee-D, a small sounding rocket built to carry compact meteorological or physics payloads for experiments in the D-region of Earth’s atmosphere. The Space Sciences Lab has used similar rockets for more than 50 sounding rocket projects. Astrobee-D had a diameter of 15 cm (6 inches) and a length of 3.5 meters (12 feet.) The motor used a new solid propellant with a dual-thrust profile. [ 126 more words ] https://www.ssl.berkeley.edu/ssls-new-rocket-model/

Every night on Mars, when the sun sets and temperatures fall to minus 80 degrees Fahrenheit and below, an eerie phenomenon spreads across much of the planet’s sky: a soft glow created by chemical reactions occurring tens of miles above the surface. An astronaut standing on Mars couldn’t see this nightglowit shows up only as ultraviolet light. But it may one day help scientists to better predict the churn of Mars’ surprisingly complex atmosphere. [ 171 more words ] https://www.ssl.berkeley.edu/maven-a-new-look-at-mars-ultr/

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A special type of aurora, draped east-west across the night sky like a glowing pearl necklace, is helping scientists better understand the science of auroras and their powerful drivers out in space. Known as auroral beads, these lights often show up just before large auroral displays, which are caused by electrical storms in space called substorms. Previously, scientists weren't sure if auroral beads are somehow connected to other auroral displays as a phenomenon in space that precedes substorms, or if they are caused by disturbances closer to Earth's atmosphere. [ 193 more words ] https://www.ssl.berkeley.edu/aurora-mysteries-unlocked-wit/

OTD August 30, 2012 - The RBSP Satellites, aka Van Allen Probes, Launched from Cape Canaveral Launch Complex 41 https://www.ssl.berkeley.edu/otd-august-30-2012-the-rbsp-s/

Vast areas of the Martian night sky pulse in ultraviolet light, according to images from NASA’s MAVEN spacecraft. The results are being used to illuminate complex circulation patterns in the Martian atmosphere. The MAVEN team was surprised to find that the atmosphere pulsed exactly three times per night, and only during Mars’ spring and fall. The new data also revealed unexpected waves and spirals over the winter poles, while also confirming the Mars Express spacecraft results that this nightglow was brightest over the winter polar regions. [ 104 more words ] https://www.ssl.berkeley.edu/nasas-maven-observes-martian-/