scient and technology

Planck Chills Out

Artist's concept of Planck in space, with Earth in the background. Image credit: ESA› High-resolution JPEG (1.5MB)

June 12, 2009

A JPL-developed and -built cooler on the Planck spacecraft has chilled the mission's low-frequency instrument down to its operating temperature of a frosty 20 Kelvin (minus 424 degrees Fahrenheit). The so-called hydrogen sorption cooler was turned on June 4 and achieved the target temperature of 20 Kelvin eight days later. The cooler is part of a chain of coolers that works together to ultimately chill the high-frequency instrument down to 0.1 Kelvin -- an event scheduled to take place in a few weeks.

Planck is currently on its way to its final orbit at the second Lagrange point, which is located about 1.5 million kilometers (930,000 miles) from Earth, on the opposite side of our planet from the sun. Once there, it will look back to the dawn of time to study the birth of our universe.

scient and technology

Herschel's Cover Flips Open

Artist's concept of Herschel in space.
› Full-resolution JPEG (27MB)

June 15, 2009

The Herschel observatory has flipped its lid -- the cover protecting the telescope's instruments was successfully removed on June 14, 2009, at 2:54 a.m. Pacific Time. Herschel, a European Space Agency mission with significant participation from NASA, is already well on its way to an orbit around a point 1.5 million kilometers (930,000 miles) from Earth. That location, called the second Lagrange point of our Earth-sun system, is where Herschel will soon begin exploring the birth of stars and galaxies in our universe. The observatory detects infrared light, as does NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, but sees longer wavelengths. This means that, among other things, Herschel will study objects cooler than those observed by Spitzer, for example earlier stages of star formation.

The cover is on the telescope's cryostat -- the chamber that chills the instruments. After launch, the telescope was kept warm to prevent the buildup of water ice, which would harm the observatory's performance. Once any water stuck on the spacecraft was gone, it was safe to let the telescope cool down. With that process complete, it was then safe to remove the cover. This was accomplished by sending a command to the spacecraft to release a latch holding the cover shut. The cover swung open and, for the first time, light from space fell on the instrument detectors.

scient and technology

JPL Wind Watcher Blows Into its Second Decade

Artist concept of QuikScat. Image credit: NASA/JPL

June 18, 2009

NASA's Quick Scatterometer, or QuikScat, mission was conceived, developed and launched less than two years after the unexpected loss of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Advanced Earth Observing Satellite-1 spacecraft, which carried the NASA Scatterometer in June 1997. Just two years later, on June 19, 1999, the QuikScat spacecraft carrying JPL's SeaWinds instrument was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.

Since its launch a decade ago, QuikScat has advanced Earth science research and helped improve environmental predictions using measurements of global radar backscatter from Earth's ocean, land and ice surfaces. QuikScat data help scientists better understand and predict the processes that drive our climate, such as ocean circulation and the global water cycle.

QuikScat data have revolutionized operational weather and storm forecasting. According to Paul Chang, ocean winds science team lead at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service/Center for Satellite Applications and Research, Camp Springs, Md., "QuikScat observations are now used around the world to support operational forecasting and warning of phenomena ranging from tropical and extratropical cyclones, fronts, localized coastal wind events such as gap winds and sea conditions driven by winds, to sea and lake ice extent and motion. The 10 years of observations from the QuikScat mission have provided critical information for the monitoring, modeling, forecasting and research of the atmosphere, oceans and climate."

In addition to its numerous weather forecasting and climate research applications, QuikScat data also help monitor changes in Arctic sea ice and icebergs, as well as snow and soil moisture changes on land. QuikScat's reliability, quality, resolution, coverage and longevity have made it the only global ocean wind speed and direction data to date that are appropriate for climate studies.

QuikScat accurately measures the speed and direction of winds at the ocean surface over 90 percent of Earth's surface twice a day, providing data in areas not sampled by buoys and other wind platforms. The scatterometer works by measuring the strength of radar signals that are bounced back from the ocean surface. As wind speeds increase, they disturb the ocean surface, generating more small waves. These small waves reflect the radar energy toward the radar, resulting in a stronger reflection. This is similar to the way that wind blowing at the beach on a sunny day causes the ocean surface to sparkle.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., developed QuikScat and manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. QuikScat's mission team includes personnel from JPL; NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.; Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corp., of Boulder, Colo.; the University of Colorado's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics in Boulder; and numerous principal investigators funded by NASA's Ocean Vector Winds science team.

scient and technology

Lunar Orbit is Divine for NASA Instrument

Artist's concept of Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. Image credit: NASA
› High-resolution JPEG (4MB)

June 23, 2009

PASADENA - Diviner, an instrument that will make the first maps of the temperature on the surface of the lunar polar regions, entered the moon's orbit this morning (June 23) aboard NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.

The instrument, a nine-channel radiometer built and project-managed by JPL, will measure very cold temperatures, and, for the first time, characterize the entire thermal environment of the moon. Diviner will also produce a map showing the composition of the moon, and a map showing how rocky the moon is.

In addition to creating a comprehensive atlas of the moon’s features with detailed information about surface and subsurface temperatures, Diviner will identify cold traps and potential ice deposits, as well as landing hazards such as rough terrain or rocks to be avoided by future manned missions to the moon.

JPL designed, built and manages the Diviner instrument for NASA’s Exploration Science Mission Directorate, Washington. UCLA is home institution of Diviner’s principal investigator, David Paige. NASA's Goddard Spaceflight Center, Greenbelt, Md., manages the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. It is a NASA mission with international participation from the Institute for Space Research in Moscow.