Latest Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics Stories

GREENBELT, Md., Feb. 8, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) spacecraft is assembled and is undergoing environmental testing at Lockheed Martin Space Systems facilities, near Denver, Colo. MAVEN is the next mission to Mars and will be the first mission devoted to understanding the Martian upper atmosphere. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO) During the environmental testing phase, the orbiter will undergo a...

DENVER, Feb. 8, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] has completed the assembly of NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) spacecraft. The orbiter is now undergoing environmental testing at the company's Space Systems facilities, near Denver, Colo. MAVEN is the next mission to Mars and will be the first mission devoted to understanding the Martian upper atmosphere. Photo and video of MAVEN:...

Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online Some missions in space complete their operations just after predicted, while others earn the Iron Man award for outlasting their primary mission. In the case of SORCE--a satellite designed to study solar storms--it's earned itself an Iron Man. Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment (SORCE), designed and built by the University of Colorado, is a NASA satellite that gives scientists a look at some of the most intense solar eruptions...

redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports - Your Universe Online The remote sensing instrument package that will be a key part of an upcoming NASA mission investigating how Mars could have lost its atmosphere is ready for integration into the spacecraft. The $20 million package -- which was built at the University of Colorado Boulder (CU-Boulder) Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) and includes the Imaging UltraViolet Spectrograph (IUVS), its electronic control box, the Remote...

GREENBELT, Md., Nov. 16, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A remote sensing instrument that will peer into the ultraviolet to offer clues to how Mars might have lost its atmosphere has arrived at Lockheed Martin for integration into NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) spacecraft. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO) "The Remote Sensing package team built a system that meets all technical requirements and delivered it on schedule and on...

April Flowers for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online With the August 30 launch of the Radiation Storm Belt Probes (RSBP), the mission teams at NASA's Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station celebrated a job well done. The mission specialists at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) were celebrating too, but for many of them at Mission Operations Center (MOC) the job was just beginning. The first 60 days after launch are the commissioning phase of...

DENVER, Sept. 11, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) has begun the assembly, test and launch operations (ATLO) phase for NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) spacecraft. MAVEN is scheduled to launch in November 2013 and will be the first mission devoted to understanding the Martian upper atmosphere. ATLO represents a critical stage of the program because it is when the spacecraft begins to take form and culminates with its launch. Over the next five...

GREENBELT, Md., Sept. 11, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA's Mars Atmosphere And Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) mission has passed a critical milestone, Key Decision Point-D or KDP-D. The project is officially authorized to transition into the next phase of the mission, which is system delivery, integration and test, and launch. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO) "The spacecraft and instruments are all coming together at this point," said Bruce Jakosky...

April Flowers for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online A new report from the National Research Council lays out four scientific goals for the next 10 years along with guiding principles and recommended actions. The prioritized program of basic and applied research for 2012-2022 is meant to advance scientific understanding of the sun, sun-Earth connections, the origins of space weather, and the sun's interactions with other bodies in the solar system. This second decadal survey is the...

BOULDER, Colo., July 19, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. will integrate the Total Irradiance Monitor (TIM), to fly aboard the STPSat-3 spacecraft built for the US Air Force (USAF). A cooperative agreement between NASA, NOAA and the USAF will allow the TIM instrument to catch a ride on STPSat-3 to be launched in 2013. This TIM instrument was originally intended to fly as a space shuttle Hitchhiker payload as part of the University of Colorado,...