The second of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope's four primary scientific instruments, known as the Mid-Infrared instrument (MIRI), has concluded its postlaunch preparations and is now ready for science. The last MIRI mode to be checked off was its coronagraphic imaging capability, which uses two different styles of masks to intentionally block starlight from hitting …
From May 6 to June 16, NASA's Lucy mission team carried out a multi-stage effort intended to further deploy the spacecraft's unlatched solar array. The team commanded the spacecraft to operate the array's deployment motor for limited periods of time, allowing them to closely monitor the response of the spacecraft. As a result of this …
One of the James Webb Space Telescope's four primary scientific instruments, known as the Near-Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph instrument (NIRISS), has concluded its postlaunch preparations and is now ready for science. The last NIRISS mode to be checked off before the instrument was declared ready to begin scientific operations was the Single Object Slitless …
The Webb team has now approved 10 out of 17 science instrument modes; since last week we added (14) MIRI imaging, (2) NIRCam wide-field slitless spectroscopy, and our final NIRISS mode, (10) single-object slitless spectroscopy. As we ramp down the final commissioning activities, some openings in the schedule have appeared. The team has started to …
NASA's Psyche mission team continues to assess ongoing issues with the spacecraft's flight software. The team is evaluating its ability to meet a schedule to launch in 2022 – the current launch period is Sept. 20 to Oct. 11. If it is determined that launch in 2022 is not possible, a full range of actions …
More information about InSight's power level will be available here in the weeks ahead. On June 19, 2022, InSight was generating an average of 410 watt-hours of energy per Martian day, or sol. The tau, or level of dust cover in the atmosphere, was estimated at 1.12 (typical tau levels outside of dust season range …
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope team continues to work its way through the 17 science instrument modes. This week they checked off numbers (5) NIRCam grism time series and (4) imaging time series, both used to study exoplanets and other time-variable sources; (12) NIRISS aperture masking interferometry mode, for direct detection of a faint object …
Have questions about solar flares? Find answers here! What is a solar flare? A solar flare is an intense burst of radiation, or light, on the Sun. Flares are our solar system's most powerful explosive events – the most powerful flares have the energy equivalent of a billion hydrogen bombs, enough energy to power the …
In the lead-up to the release of Webb's first full-color images and spectroscopic data on July 12, the Webb team is now in the last phase of commissioning the science instruments. The first two instrument modes, NIRCam imaging and NIRISS imaging, have been declared ready for science; watch the "Where is Webb" page as the team …
Micrometeoroid strikes are an unavoidable aspect of operating any spacecraft, which routinely sustain many impacts over the course of long and productive science missions in space. Between May 23 and 25, NASA's James Webb Space Telescope sustained an impact to one of its primary mirror segments. After initial assessments, the team found the telescope is …
