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Space Science Institute
Planetary Research: Exploring Our Past and Future
How could life begin from a swirling chaos? How did Earth and its moon form? What can lunar rocks from the Apollo missions reveal? And what will scientists learn from exploration on distant moons? These questions are addressed in this four-part feature article on Lawrence Livermore’s space science research.
LLNL’s Tactically Responsive Launch-2 payload launched into orbit
When the U.S. Space Force’s Tactically Responsive Launch-2 (TacRL-2) mission launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base on June 13, it carried a payload designed and built in record time by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). LLNL provided a three-mirror reflective telescope and sensor for the payload, which they designed, integrated, tested and delivered within…
Virtual LLNL-UC Merced Data Science Challenge tackles asteroid detection though machine learning
Over three weeks, students from the University of California, Merced collaborated online with mentors at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) to tackle a real-world challenge problem: using machine learning to identify potentially hazardous asteroids that could pose an existential threat to humanity. The Data Science Challenge was the third such annual event for…
LLNL/Tyvak space telescope goes into orbit
Thousands of images of Earth and space have been taken by a compact space imaging payload developed by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) researchers and its collaborator Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems. Known as GEOStare2, the payload has two space telescopes that together have taken more than 4,500 pictures for space domain awareness, astronomy and Earth…
Lab will co-lead NASA mission to study stars, planets
NASA has selected Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) to serve as lead institutions for the Pandora scientific mission that will study 20 stars and their 39 exoplanets. The goal of the Pandora mission is to learn about starspots (akin to sunspots) and identify which of these exoplanets are hydrogen- or water-dominated and…
Lab has ties to Nobel Prize winner Andrea Ghez
The 2020 Nobel Prize in physics has been awarded to Andrea Ghez of the University of California, Los Angeles, and Reinhard Genzel of the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, for their discovery of the black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy. They share the award with Roger Penrose of Oxford University for his mathematical proof that black holes are…
Inspiring future physicist while exploring dark energy
Doctoral student Victor Baules is spending his summer exploring the connection between dark energy and the expansion of our universe, but due to the pandemic, his research fellowship is more down-to-earth, taking place from his home in Alabama. Baules’ research trajectory in high-energy theory aligns with astrophysics research at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory …
Lawrence Livermore, Tyvak Systems announce agreement to develop telescopes for nanosatellites
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems Inc. have reached a cooperative research and development agreement (CRADA) to develop innovative compact and robust telescopes for nanosatellites. The four-year, $2 million CRADA will combine LLNL’s Monolithic Telescope (MonoTele) technology with Tyvak’s expertise producing high-reliability…
Lab physicist named astronomical society fellow
The American Astronomical Society (AAS) has selected Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientist Peter Beiersdorfer as a fellow in its inaugural class of this accolade. The AAS fellows program was established in 2019 to confer recognition to AAS members for achievement and extraordinary service to the field of astronomy and the American Astronomical Society…
Planetary defenders validate asteroid deflection code
Planetary defense researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) continue to validate their ability to accurately simulate how they might deflect an Earth-bound asteroid in a study that will be published in the April issue of the American Geophysical Union journal Earth and Space Science. The study, led by LLNL physicist Tané Remington, also identified…
Lab physicist awarded 2020 dissertation prize
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) physicist Natalie Hell has been awarded the 2020 Dissertation Prize from the Laboratory Astrophysics Division (LAD) of the American Astronomical Society (AAS). Hell received the prize for her outstanding experimental doctoral dissertation in laboratory astrophysics. Her thesis, “Benchmarking Transition Energies and Emission…
Gemini Plus Enables Next-Generation Planetary Composition Measurements
NASA has funded the development of a new high-purity germanium gamma-ray detector—the GeMini Plus—for use in upcoming planetary exploration missions.
Big Data Illuminates the Physical Sciences
Astrophysics is a growth area in the Laboratory’s advancement of basic science for national and global security needs. In this field, data science helps researchers catalog and interpret objects orbiting Earth and process huge volumes of data captured by ground- and space-based telescopes.
"Mini" Device Set to Analyze Mysterious Psyche
As part of a NASA Discovery Program mission, an LLNL researcher is leading a team to develop an instrument for analyzing Psyche’s composition.
Space Program Innovation, One Small Satellite at a Time
Lawrence Livermore’s first involvement with CubeSats was developing optical imaging payloads for the Space-Based Telescopes for the Actionable Refinement of Ephemeris (STARE) project to monitor space debris. Since then, the Laboratory has continued to advance CubeSat technology and strengthen the institution’s space program.
An Optical Revolution for X-Ray Imaging
Weighing nearly 4 kilograms, the first portable digital camera was built in 1975 and offered photographers the ability to capture black-and-white images with a resolution of .01 megapixels. Today, technological advancements have made it possible for people to carry much smaller, lighter, and significantly higher resolution cameras in their pockets (a standard smartphone…
New role for the Warm Electron Beam Ion Trap
In late October 2018, the Warm Electron Beam Ion Trap (WEBIT) was delivered to the NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), where it is being used as a calibration source for the Resolve quantum microcalorimeter x-ray spectrometer. Resolve will be launched on the X-ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM) in around 2022, and once in orbit, will measure x-ray emission…
Quest for source of black hole dark matter
Like a game of "hide and seek," Lawrence Livermore astrophysicists know that there are black holes hiding in the Milky Way, just not where. If they find them toward the galactic bulge (a tightly packed group of stars) and the Magellanic Clouds, then black holes as massive as 10,000 times the mass of the sun might make up dark matter. If they are only toward the galactic…
NIF and the Rise of LLNL’s Nanosatellites
To demonstrate a new paradigm in satellite construction and operation, LLNL researchers have been developing new instruments and operational principles for a type of nanosatellite called CubeSats.
Night or day, Lab-developed space-based telescope can image Earth and beyond
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) researchers have developed and tested an optical telescope system that can be used for Earth and space observation. The team, led by Wim de Vries, built and tested several designs for high-resolution monolithic optical telescope systems, fabricated from a single piece of fused silica, for deployment on small satellites. After…
