NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

SPHEREx is getting ready for launch – but before it begins mapping the stars, the space telescope had to be put through intense thermal, acoustic, vibration, and electromagnetic testing. Go behind the scenes with Farah Alibay, a SPHEREx systems engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and Brian Pramann, SPHEREx program manager at BAE Systems, to see how it fared during these critical environmental tests. NASA is targeting Feb. 27, 2025, for the launch of SPHEREx, which will lift off aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. 

Meet Paul Rosen, the lead U.S. scientist on the upcoming NISAR mission. 🌏 This Earth-observing mission is a first-of-a-kind dual-band radar satellite that will help us better understand our planet's changing land and ice surfaces. It's scheduled to launch this spring from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in India: go.nasa.gov/4h1n2Bn

A NASA airborne instrument called AVIRIS was used to capture this false-color image of areas burned by the Eaton Fire in Altadena as of January 11, 2025. Burnt trees and buildings in developed areas appear brown; burned wildland areas are orange. The imaging spectrometer, developed at JPL, has been called on to help in many disasters over the past two decades. Now, it's being used to help in our own backyard. Thanks to the brave dedication of our first responders, JPL was untouched by the fire – but our community has a long recovery ahead. More on this image: go.nasa.gov/3CbCL28 

Some uplifting news: Two of our JPL colleagues – James Keane and Nacer Chahat – have been awarded the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers. PECASE is the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on outstanding scientists and engineers early in their careers. Congrats to all of the awardees, including our former JPL colleague, Helene Seroussi! More on the award: bit.ly/3Pzw4dr 

Thank you to everyone who has reached out to us with concern and support. If you’d like to contribute, this fund will be used by Caltech and JPL to support our colleagues and their families greatly impacted by the devastating fires. https://lnkd.in/gXB4yqzg The laboratory remains untouched by fire thanks to the brave dedication of our first responders. But our community has been seriously impacted with over 150 JPLers who have lost their homes and many more remain displaced.

Due to wildfire evacuations, the Lab is closed, except for emergency personnel. No fire damage has been reported. Follow updates at emergency.jpl.nasa.gov/ Thanks to everyone for the concern for our center, but more importantly, for our colleagues and neighbors. Stay safe, LA.

5...4...3...2...1... The countdown to the new year is on, but it's not too late to download the 2025 NASA Science Calendar! 🗓️ Get it here: go.nasa.gov/4b8TUVu 

What's up, skywatchers? In January, four planets – Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn – are visible in the evening sky all month long. (Saturn and Venus appear especially close on Jan. 17-18!) Plus, the Quadrantid meteor shower peaks in the early morning of Jan. 3. More skywatching tips: go.nasa.gov/37ePy0B

A crowning moment 📡👑 This week, a 34-meter antenna under construction at NASA's Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex reached a key milestone: The installation of its 133-ton reflector dish! As the Sun rose on Dec. 18, a nearly-600-ton crawler slowly lowered the metal skeleton of the antenna’s 112-foot-wide (34-meter-wide) parabolic reflector on to a 20-meter-high (65-foot-high) alidade, a platform atop the antenna’s pedestal that will steer the reflector during operations. Then, a crew bolted the large structure into place. Following the main lift, engineers carried out a lighter lift to place what’s called a quadripod into the center of the upward facing reflector. A four-legged support structure weighing 16 ½ tons, the quadripod will next be fitted with a curved subreflector that will direct radio frequency signals from deep space that bounce off the main reflector into the antenna’s pedestal below.   Next steps: to fit panels onto the steel skeleton to create a curved surface to reflect radio frequency signals. Known as a multi-frequency beam waveguide antenna, DSS-23 will boost the DSN’s capacity and enhance NASA’s deep space communications capabilities for decades to come. Learn more: go.nasa.gov/41QF0T7

Meet SPHEREx, NASA's next cosmic mapmaker – targeting launch in late February 2025. This space telescope will scan the entire sky, charting the positions of hundreds of millions of galaxies in 102 infrared wavelengths. Here are its 3 science goals: go.nasa.gov/4hvbmYT