Space Sciences Laboratory

Francis Nimmo, Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences at UC Santa Cruz, smiling for a photo after a talk at the Simons Laufer Mathematical Sciences Institute at UC Berkeley.

Francis Nimmo, Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences at UC Santa Cruz, speaking in front of a crowd at the Simons Laufer Mathematical Sciences Institute at UC Berkeley.

Francis Nimmo, Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences at UC Santa Cruz, speaking behind a podium at the Simons Laufer Mathematical Sciences Institute at UC Berkeley.

Thanks to professor Francis Nimmo of @ucsc-eps.bsky.social, who launched our special Friends of SSL colloquium series with a talk on the Moon's formation. A big thanks also to our friends at @mathmoves.bsky.social for hosting the talk in your beautiful auditorium.

There's a lot of antimatter at the center of our galaxy. Where's it coming from? John Tomsick, PI of COSI, aims to find out.

What's a Compton telescope? John Tomsick, PI of COSI, explains.

Prof. Lung S. Chan and Prof. Walter Alvarez, both of the Berkeley Department of Earth & Planetary Science, pose for a photo after a talk at the UC Berkeley Space Sciences Laboratory.

Prof. Walter Alvarez of the Berkeley Department of Earth & Planetary Science delivering a presentation entitled The End of the Dinosaurs.

Prof. Walter Alvarez of the Berkeley Department of Earth & Planetary Science delivering a presentation entitled The End of the Dinosaurs.

Berkeley Professor Walter Alvarez, who developed the theory that the dinosaurs were killed by an asteroid impact, stopped by SSL to present his research. We had a lively debate on the likely composition of the body that created the Chicxulub crater.

NASA Selects Participants to Track Artemis II Mission - NASA NASA has selected 34 global volunteers to track the Orion spacecraft during the crewed Artemis II mission’s journey around the Moon.

SSL has been selected (along with 33 other volunteer institutions) to track Artemis II radio communications during the Orion spacecraft's 10-day journey around the moon. We're proud to support this historic mission.

The ESCAPADE mission has won an
@erdayastronaut.bsky.social Astro Award! 🎉

We're proud to be recognized for our role in making interplanetary science and exploration possible at unprecedented speeds and for a fraction of the cost of traditional missions.

Why NASA astronauts just splashed down off San Diego The crew returned to Earth earlier than expected.

Our director of mission operations, Abhishek Tripathi, provided @sfgate.com some context on the return of Crew-11 aboard the SpaceX dragon capsule that streaked across Northern California skies early this morning.
www.sfgate.com/bayarea/arti...

The @gaps-experiment.bsky.social 's landing only miles from its launch point is an amazing accomplishment! Looking forward to learning more about the data it gathered.

The Carruthers mission, led by University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign's Lara Waldrop and managed by SSL, has arrived at an L1 orbit between the Earth and the Sun. Its 2-year science mission observing Earth's exosphere begins in March.

An image of the planet Mars against a black background, plus text reading, "When humans finally land on Mars, what should they do?"

🚀 “It’s about this unbelievable, gigantic, aspirational, inspirational moment in human history.” Planetary scientist Lindy Elkins-Tanton shares NASA’s goals for a crewed mission to Mars. Plus, the irresistible endeavor to learn more about the Psyche asteroid: buff.ly/O5osV30

Kidney bean-shaped spacecraft trajectory plot showing Earth, L2 and spacecraft course. Created on January 8, 2026.

ESCAPADE's Gold spacecraft executed a near-perfect burn on Jan 6, putting it on the kidney bean path that will bring both spacecraft back to Earth for interplanetary slingshot in November. Instrument commissioning activities begin next week.🙏to @rocketlabcorp.com and Blue Origin.

SSL Director Lindy Elkins-Tanton spoke with @scifri.bsky.social on science objectives for Mars exploration, NASA's
@missiontopsyche.bsky.social and how to build teams that perform under pressure.

Nobel wins, psychedelic lilies and a mission to Mars: UC Berkeley's top stories of 2025 - Berkeley News A look at some of the campus's biggest stories chronicled by UC Berkeley News.

The ESCAPADE mission was among the top @ucberkeleyofficial.bsky.social stories of 2025!
news.berkeley.edu/2025/12/15/n...

Top 10 Breakthroughs of the Year in physics for 2025 revealed – Physics World A molecular superfluid, high-resolution microscope and a protein qubit are on our list

Physics World's Top 10 Breakthroughs of the Year for 2025 includes research by SSL's Zack Gainsforth on Asteroid Bennu samples. Congratulations Zack!
physicsworld.com/a/top-10-bre...

Report identifies science objectives of human Mars exploration The search for past or present life should be the top science objective of future human missions to Mars, a new National Academies report concludes.

SSL Director Lindy Elkins-Tanton co-chaired a @nationalacademies.org committee that identified 11 science goals for human exploration of Mars. Seeking past/present life tops the list. “This is the millennia-old question: Are we alone in the universe?” said Elkins-Tanton spacenews.com/report-ident...

Scientists with @ucberkeleyofficial.bsky.social's SSL, @berkeleylab.lbl.gov and NASA discovered compounds in Asteroid Bennu samples not known to occur in nature, showing how molecules thought necessary for life may have first emerged in cryogenic environments.👇
www.ssl.berkeley.edu/berkeley-sci...

Infrared image of Gold spacecraft's port solar array captured by VISION camera (provided by Northern Arizona University). Credit: NASA/UC Berkeley SSL/Northern Arizona University-Radiant/Lucint

Visible light image of Gold spacecraft's port solar array captured by VISION camera (provided by Northern Arizona University). Credit: NASA/UC Berkeley SSL/Northern Arizona University-Radiant/Lucint

Composite of visible light (left) and infrared (right) images of Gold spacecraft's port solar array captured by VISION camera (provided by Northern Arizona University). Credit: NASA/UC Berkeley SSL/Northern Arizona University-Radiant/Lucint

Commissioning of NASA's twin ESCAPADE spacecraft, currently operated by @ucberkeleyofficial.bsky.social and @rocketlabcorp.com, is proceeding smoothly. ESCAPADE snapped this selfie in visible and infrared light. 👇
ssl.berkeley.edu/escapade-sen...

Almost Everything About NASA’s Latest Mission to Mars Is Unusual

Our associate director for planetary science Robert Lillis spoke with the @nytimes.com about the long journey getting the trailblazer ESCAPADE mission into space. "This mission has nine lives," Lillis said. The story also features @missiontopsyche.bsky.social. 👇
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/14/s...

Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket has successfully launched NASA’s ESCAPADE mission to Mars from Cape Canaveral. ESCAPADE is the first UC Berkeley–led planetary mission, using two twin satellites, Blue and Gold, to map Mars’ magnetic field and atmosphere in 3D.

John Tomsick, PI of NASA's COSI mission, describes the practical applications resulting from gamma ray detectors. From PET scans to radiation monitoring to protecting astronauts, Compton imaging technology has a profound impact on our health and safety.

With sadness and gratitude, we honor George F. Smoot III—Berkeley Lab scientist since 1974 and 2006 Nobel Laureate in Physics—who has passed away at 80. His “baby picture” of the universe changed cosmology. https://elements.lbl.gov/news/honoring-the-legacy-of-george-smoot/

@nobelprize.bsky.social

A New Eye on Earth's Edge: UC Berkeley-Guided Space Telescope Has Liftoff | KQED A UC Berkeley lab is controlling a NASA mission to study the farthest reaches of Earth’s atmosphere from afar using the Carruthers Geocorona Observatory.

The Carruthers mission and SSL were featured by KQED. Of the mission, our director Lindy Elkins-Tanton said, “Our big strength over time has been space weather...How does it affect our Earth’s atmosphere?... And that’s exactly what we’re going to be looking at."
www.kqed.org/science/1998...

The UC Berkeley Space Sciences Laboratory's Mission Operations Center during launch of Carruthers, IMAP and SWFO-L1 on September 24.

The UC Berkeley Space Sciences Laboratory's Mission Operations Center during launch of Carruthers, IMAP and SWFO-L1 on September 24.

The UC Berkeley Space Sciences Laboratory's Mission Operations Center during launch of Carruthers, IMAP and SWFO-L1 on September 24.

The UC Berkeley Space Sciences Laboratory's Mission Operations Center during launch of Carruthers, IMAP and SWFO-L1 on September 24.

Scenes from our Mission Operations Center during launch of NASA's Carruthers, IMAP and SWFO-L1 on Sept 24. SSL operates Carruthers, built the instrumentation and contributes to the science. We also built an instrument for SWFO-L1 and lead an experiment on IMAP.

NASA’s Carruthers Geocorona Observatory will study Earth’s exosphere NASA’s Carruthers Geocorona Observatory launched this morning. Carruthers is now traveling toward the Sun, around which it will enter solar orbit almost a million miles away from Earth and focus on…

Updated URL: www.ssl.berkeley.edu/nasas-carrut...

NASA's Carruthers mission launched this morning and is communicating with the Mission Operations Center at the @UCBerkeley
Space Sciences Laboratory.
Read more 👇
ssl.berkeley.edu/nasas-carrut...

UC Berkeley is about to go to Mars From a Berkeley Hills control room, a team from Cal’s Space Sciences Laboratory is set to lead the first university-run mission to Mars.

Carruthers and ESCAPADE were featured in this @berkeleyside.org story on SSL's many contributions to space science and exploration.

NASA Sets Launch Coverage for Space Weather Missions - NASA NASA will provide live coverage of prelaunch and launch activities for an observatory designed to study space weather and explore and map the boundaries of

It's a big week here at SSL. We built instruments for all three of the spacecraft that are scheduled to launch this week and expand our understanding of harmful space weather (IMAP, SWFO-L1 and Carruthers).
www.nasa.gov/news-release...

Space science benefits every American. University space science programs are part of a vast aerospace economy that boosts local economies in every state in the country.
#SpeakUp4Science #StandUpForUC

Space science is important for all Americans. Private aerospace ventures benefit immensely from the training pipeline made possible by university space science programs. #SpeakUp4Science

PADRE aims to reveal secrets of solar flares NASA’s PADRE mission will measure hard X-rays emitted during solar flares. It is poised to unlock the secrets of solar flares at a fraction of the cost of previous missions.

NASA's PADRE mission, led and built by SSL, measures X-rays emitted by solar flares at a fraction of the cost of previous missions. Its launch marks 45 years of SSL missions aimed at understanding the Sun and harmful space weather. #SpeakUp4Science
www.ssl.berkeley.edu/padre-aims-t...