Latest Small Explorer program Stories
WASHINGTON, May 29, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA will host a news briefing at 1 p.m. EDT, Tuesday, June 4, about the upcoming launch of the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) mission. The briefing will be held at NASA Headquarters at 300 E St. SW in Washington and air live on NASA Television and the agency's website. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO) IRIS is scheduled to launch June 26 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. IRIS...
Lawrence LeBlond for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online NASA’s next satellite to go into space has just arrived (April 16) at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) spacecraft, which will launch no earlier than May 28, will be part of the agency's Small Explorer (SMEX) Mission, developed to deliver space exploration missions under $120 million. IRIS was designed and built at Lockheed Martin’s Space Systems Company Advanced...
GREENBELT, Md., April 17, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA's Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) satellite arrived at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on Tuesday, April 16, to begin its final preparations for launch currently scheduled no earlier than May 28. IRIS will improve our understanding of how heat and energy move through the deepest levels of the sun's atmosphere, thereby increasing our ability to forecast space weather. (Logo:...
PALO ALTO, Calif., April 17, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Scientists will soon gain a better view into energy and plasma movement near the surface of the sun, thanks to delivery of the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) spacecraft to Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. in preparation for launch. Part of NASA's Small Explorer (SMEX) Mission, which delivers space exploration missions costing less than $120 million, IRIS was designed and built at Lockheed Martin's [NYSE: LMT] Space...
NASA's Astrophysics Explorer Program has selected two missions for launch in 2017: a planet-hunting satellite and an International Space Station instrument to observe X-rays from stars. The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) and Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) were among four concept studies submitted in September 2012. NASA determined these two offer the best scientific value and most feasible development plans. TESS will use an array of telescopes to...
NASA NASA's next Small Explorer (SMEX) mission to study the little-understood lower levels of the sun's atmosphere has been fully integrated and final testing is underway. Scheduled to launch in April 2013, the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) will make use of high-resolution images, data and advanced computer models to unravel how matter, light, and energy move from the sun’s 6,000 K (10,240 F / 5,727 C) surface to its million K (1.8 million F / 999,700 C) outer...
PALO ALTO, Calif., Jan. 7, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The spacecraft and science instrument integration for the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) - NASA's next Small Explorer (SMEX) Mission - has been completed, and final testing is underway. IRIS was designed and built at the Lockheed Martin Space Systems Advanced Technology Center (ATC) in Palo Alto, with support from the company's Civil Space line of business and major partners Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Montana...
WASHINGTON, Oct. 23, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA's newest set of X-ray eyes in the sky, the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR), has caught its first look at the giant black hole parked at the center of our galaxy. The observations show the typically mild-mannered black hole during the middle of a flare-up. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO) "We got lucky to have captured an outburst from the black hole during our observing campaign,"...
WASHINGTON, June 13, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) launched into the morning skies over the central Pacific Ocean at noon EDT (9 a.m. PDT) Wednesday, beginning its mission to unveil secrets of buried black holes and other exotic objects. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO) "We all eagerly await the launch of this novel X-ray observatory," said Paul Hertz, NASA's Astrophysics Division Director....
NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, or NuSTAR, is now perched atop its Pegasus XL rocket, strapped to the plane that will carry the mission to an airborne launch. Launch is scheduled for June 13, no earlier than 8:30 a.m. PDT (11:30 a.m. EDT). The plane -- the L-1011 "Stargazer" aircraft is being flown to Kwajalein Atoll in the central Pacific Ocean from June 5 to 6. About an hour before launch, the plane will lift off from the island, and drop NuSTAR and its rocket over the...
