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NASA to Discuss Optical Communications Demo Riding With Psyche

September 16, 2023
NASA will host a media teleconference at 1 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, Sept. 20, to discuss the agency’s first test of high-bandwidth optical communications beyond the Moon. The Deep Space Optical Communications (DSOC) technology demonstration is launching aboard the Psyche spacecraft Thursday, Oct. 5. Audio of the call will stream live on NASA’s website. The following participants will discuss the…
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NASA-Built Greenhouse Gas Detector Moves Closer to Launch

September 15, 2023
A state-of-the-art imaging spectrometer, which will measure the greenhouse gases methane and carbon dioxide from space, moved closer to launch this month after being delivered to a clean room at Planet Labs PBC (Planet) in San Francisco. Designed and built by NASA’s Jet…
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NASA Scientists Test New Tool for Tracking Algal Blooms

September 8, 2023
By the time they were over, a series of massive algal blooms along the west coast of Florida in 2020 would be linked to some 2,000 tons of dead marine life around Tampa Bay. The human costs were stark, too, including a double-digit increase in asthma cases in Sarasota and…
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NASA’s Psyche Mission on Track for Liftoff Next Month

September 7, 2023
The spacecraft’s solar arrays are folded like an envelope into their stowed position. Xenon gas – fuel for the journey to the asteroid belt – is loaded. All four thrusters have passed their final tests. Engineers have confirmed the massive high-gain antenna is set to transmit data. The software is tested and ready. The science instruments – a multispectral imager, magnetometer, and…
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NASA, Partners Study Ancient Life in Australia to Inform Mars Search

August 25, 2023
In June 2023, NASA’s Mars Exploration Program leaders joined their counterparts from the Australian Space Agency, ESA (European Space Agency), and the Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) on a field expedition to visit some of the oldest convincing evidence of life on Earth. “This science expedition was a great opportunity for NASA to work…
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NASA Maps Key Heat Wave Differences in Southern California

August 23, 2023
Like much of the planet, Southern California is expected to experience more heat waves in the future due to Earth’s changing climate. And some of these will feel increasingly humid, as long-term forecasts call for muggy spells more typically associated with Florida or…
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NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer Gets Final Payload for Moon Water Hunt

August 16, 2023
NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer is nearing completion now that its second and final cutting-edge science instrument has been added to the small spacecraft. Built by the University of Oxford in England and contributed by the UK Space Agency, the Lunar Thermal Mapper (LTM) joins the High-resolution Volatiles and Minerals Moon Mapper (HVM3), which was integrated with the spacecraft late last year.
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