Topic: California Institute of Technology in Pasadena

Last Photos from NASA’s Opportunity Rover on Mars

March 13, 2019 |

NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Pasadena, CA – Over 29 days last spring, NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity documented this 360-degree panorama from multiple images taken at what would become its final resting spot in Perseverance Valley. Located on the inner slope of the western rim of Endurance Crater, Perseverance Valley is a system of shallow troughs descending eastward about the length of two football fields from the crest of Endeavor’s rim to its floor.

“This final panorama embodies what made our Opportunity rover such a remarkable mission of exploration and discovery,” said Opportunity project manager John Callas of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

This image is a cropped version of the last 360-degree panorama taken by the Opportunity rover’s Panoramic Camera (Pancam) from May 13 through June 10, 2018. The view is presented in false color to make some differences between materials easier to see. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell/ASU)

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NASA releases timeline for InSight landing on Mars

November 23, 2018 |

NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory 

Pasadena, CA – On Monday, November 26th, 2018, NASA’s InSight spacecraft will blaze through the Martian atmosphere and attempt to set a lander gently on the surface of the Red Planet in less time than it takes to hard-boil an egg.

InSight’s entry, descent and landing (EDL) team, based at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, along with another part of the team at Lockheed Martin Space in Denver, have pre-programmed the spacecraft to perform a specific sequence of activities to make this possible.

This illustration shows a simulated view of NASA’s InSight lander descending on its parachute toward the surface of Mars. (NASA/JPL-Caltech)

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NASA looks back at America’s first Satellite, Explorer 1

January 25, 2018 |

Written by Preston Dyches
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory Media Relations

Pasadena, CA – Sixty years ago next week, the hopes of Cold War America soared into the night sky as a rocket lofted skyward above Cape Canaveral, a soon-to-be-famous barrier island off the Florida coast.

The date was January 31st, 1958. NASA had yet to be formed, and the honor of this first flight belonged to the U.S. Army. The rocket’s sole payload was a javelin-shaped satellite built by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. Explorer 1, as it would soon come to be called, was America’s first satellite.

A vintage JPL graphic celebrating the Explorer 1 satellite. (NASA/JPL-Caltech)

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NASA’s Radio on Europe’s Trace Gas Orbiter completes first test

December 3, 2016 |

Written by Guy Webster
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Pasadena, CA – Data from each of the two rovers active on Mars reached Earth last week in the successful first relay test of a NASA radio aboard Europe’s new Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO).

The transmissions from NASA rovers Opportunity and Curiosity, received by one of the twin Electra radios on the orbiter on November 22nd, mark a strengthening of the international telecommunications network supporting Mars exploration. The orbiter’s main radio for communications with Earth subsequently relayed onward to Earth the data received by Electra.

A NASA radio on Europe’s Trace Gas Orbiter, which reached Mars in October 2016, has succeeded in its first test of receiving data from NASA Mars rovers, both Opportunity and Curiosity. This graphic depicts the geometry of the relay from Opportunity to the orbiter, which then sent the data to Earth.

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NASA’s Cassini Spacecraft observes Methane Clouds moving across Saturn’s moon Titan

November 6, 2016 |

Written by Preston Dyches
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Pasadena, CA – NASA’s Cassini spacecraft watched clouds of methane moving across the far northern regions of Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, on October 29­­­­th and 30th, 2016.

Several sets of clouds develop, move over the surface and fade during the course of this movie sequence, which spans 11 hours, with one frame taken every 20 minutes. Most prominent are long cloud streaks that lie between 49 and 55 degrees north latitude.

New video shows bright clouds of methane drifting across Saturn’s largest moon, Titan. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute)

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NASA’s Swift and NuSTAR Space Telescopes observes huge Flare erupt from Supermassive Black Hole

November 4, 2016 |

Written by Whitney Clavin
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Pasadena, CA – The baffling and strange behaviors of black holes have become somewhat less mysterious recently, with new observations from NASA’s Explorer missions Swift and the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, or NuSTAR.

The two space telescopes caught a supermassive black hole in the midst of a giant eruption of X-ray light, helping astronomers address an ongoing puzzle: How do supermassive black holes flare?

The results suggest that supermassive black holes send out beams of X-rays when their surrounding coronas — sources of extremely energetic particles — shoot, or launch, away from the black holes.

NASA’s Swift and NuSTAR Space Telescopes observes huge Flare erupt from Supermassive Black Hole

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NASA’s Mars Curiosity Rover discovers evidence that Mars Surface Material contributes to Atmosphere

September 30, 2016 |

Written by Elizabeth Zubritsky
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Pasadena, CA – NASA’s Curiosity rover has found evidence that chemistry in the surface material on Mars contributed dynamically to the makeup of its atmosphere over time. It’s another clue that the history of the Red Planet’s atmosphere is more complex and interesting than a simple legacy of loss.

The findings come from the rover’s Sample Analysis at Mars, or SAM, instrument suite, which studied the gases xenon and krypton in Mars’ atmosphere. The two gases can be used as tracers to help scientists investigate the evolution and erosion of the Martian atmosphere.

Processes in Mars’ surface material can explain why particular xenon (Xe) and krypton (Kr) isotopes are more abundant in the Martian atmosphere than expected, as measured by NASA’s Curiosity rover. Cosmic rays striking barium (Ba) or bromine (Br) atoms can alter isotopic ratios of xenon and krypton. (NASA/GSFC/JPL-Caltech)

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NASA’s Juno spacecraft completes burn, now in Jupiter Orbit

July 6, 2016 |

Written by DC Agle
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Pasadena, CA – After an almost five-year journey to the solar system’s largest planet, NASA’s Juno spacecraft successfully entered Jupiter’s orbit during a 35-minute engine burn. Confirmation that the burn had completed was received on Earth at 8:53pm PDT (11:53pm EDT) Monday, July 4th.

“Independence Day always is something to celebrate, but today we can add to America’s birthday another reason to cheer — Juno is at Jupiter,” said NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden. “And what is more American than a NASA mission going boldly where no spacecraft has gone before? With Juno, we will investigate the unknowns of Jupiter’s massive radiation belts to delve deep into not only the planet’s interior, but into how Jupiter was born and how our entire solar system evolved.”

This illustration depicts NASA’s Juno spacecraft successfully entering Jupiter’s orbit. (NASA/JPL-Caltech)

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NASA’s Juno Spacecraft prepares for Jupiter Orbit Insertion

July 5, 2016 |

Written by DC Agle
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Pasadena, CA – After almost five years and 1.7 billion million miles (2.7 billion kilometers), NASA’s Juno mission is about to enter into orbit around the biggest planetary inhabitant in our solar system — Jupiter. Approaching the massive planet from above, Juno will be within 300,000 miles of Jupiter by 2:14pm PDT (5:14pm EDT).

A minute later, Juno will cross the orbit of Jupiter’s innermost Galilean moon (Io), at 2:15pm PDT (5:15pm EDT). Juno closes the distance between it and the gas-giant world to 200,000 miles (322,000 kilometers) by 4:17pm PDT (7:17pm EDT) and is only 100,000 miles (161,000 kilometers) away by 6:03pm PDT (9:03pm EDT).

NASA’s Juno spacecraft obtained this color view on June 28, 2016, at a distance of 3.9 million miles (6.2 million kilometers) from Jupiter. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS)

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NASA’s Juno Spacecraft’s Autopilot will control burn to obtain Jupiter Orbit

July 1, 2016 |

Written by Dwayne Brown / Laurie Cantillo
NASA Headquarters

Washington, D.C. – At about 12:15pm PDT today (3:15pm EDT), mission controllers will transmit command product “ji4040” into deep space, to transition the solar-powered Juno spacecraft into autopilot.

It will take nearly 48 minutes for the signal to cover the 534-million-mile (860-million-kilometer) distance between the Deep Space Network Antenna in Goldstone, California, to the Juno spacecraft. While sequence ji4040 is only one of four command products sent up to the spacecraft that day, it holds a special place in the hearts of the Juno mission team.

This illustration depicts NASA’s Juno spacecraft approaching Jupiter. (NASA/JPL-Caltech)

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