Goddard Engineering and Technology Directorate

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  • Intuitive Machines said it moved the landing site for its IM-1 mission to the lunar south pole region at the request of NASA to better support Artemis. Credit: Intuitive Machines

    ROLSES Are Red

    No earlier than 14th February 2024, Goddard’s Radio wave Observation at the Lunar Surface of the photo-Electron Sheath (ROLSES) instrument will launch to the Moon’s South Polar region aboard Intuitive Machines’ IM-1 mission, as part of NASA’s Commercial…

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  • PACE Launch Image. Credit Ken Kremer spaceupclose.com

    Congratulations Team PACE 

    “We finally got our opportunity this morning and made the most of it with the very successful launch of our PACE observatory from the Cape.  Congratulations to everyone for achieving this monumental milestone for NASA and the Earth Science community…

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  • A team of NASA engineers dressed in cleanroom suits standing around a component of the Europa clipper.

    The Search for Organic Life

    Slated for launch in 2024, the Europa Clipper will be the first space mission dedicated to conducting a detailed study of an ocean world outside of our own — a world that likely harbors a salty ocean with twice as much water as Earth beneath its icy crust. Targeting Jupiter’s icy…

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  • The PACE spacecraft undergoing a thermal vacuum test where it is subjected to extreme temperatures and pressures in a pressure chamber.

    Keeping up with Our Ocean

    NASA’s Plankton, Aerosol Cloud Ocean Ecosystem (PACE) mission is to advance the assessment of ocean health by measuring the distribution of phytoplankton within it. Phytoplankton is a tiny plant/algae that sustains marine life and absorbs CO2 from the air. An important instrument…

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  • XL-CALIBUR shown during a hang test at the Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility.

    Airborne Support

    The WASP (Wallops Arc-Second Pointer) team conducts a full range of motion hang test of the X-Calibur x-ray telescope at CSBF (Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility) before it’s flight from Esrange Sweden in 2022. XL-Calibur uses an x-ray polarimeter to study black holes. The telescope…

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  • NASA and SpaceX technicians encapsulate NASA's PACE (Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem) spacecraft in SpaceX’s Falcon 9 payload fairings on Jan. 30, 2024, at the Astrotech Space Operations Facility near the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Image credit: NASA/SpaceX

    Advancing Ocean and Atmospheric Science

    NASA’s Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, Ocean Ecosystem (PACE) mission, was designed, developed, integrated & tested by Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC).  PACE was launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida on February 8, 2024, extending and improving NASA’s over 20…

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  • Rocket Lab’s Electron Rocket lifted off from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility January 24, 2023, at 6 p.m. EST. The Mission, Titled “Virginia is for Launch Lovers,” is the First Commercial U.S. Electron Launch for Rocket Lab. Credit Brady Kenniston

    “Virginia is for Launch Lovers,” Launches

    A collective effort led by NASA Goddard’s Wallops Flight Facility (WFF) branch and with augmented support from Greenbelt via other branches systematically managed constant changes in schedule/budget, personnel availability, and technical requirements for the NASA’s new Autonomous Flight Termination…

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  • The Roman WFI detector focal plane consists of 18 H4RG-10 detectors in a 6 x 3 array that combined provide an 0.281 deg2 active FOV. This image shows the focal plane Engineering Test Unit with non-flight candidate detectors.

    Supporting the Key Instrument of Roman

    On the Roman Space Telescope (RST), the Widefield Instrument (WFI) is the primary instrument (for science imaging) and acts as a kind of ultra-precise star tracker. The WFI Instrument Command and Data Handling (ICDH) Flight Software (FSW) is the mechanism which controls the Fine…

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  • Roman Spacecraft Bus technology created by the Mechanical Systems Division (540).

    Elevating Engineering Excellence

    The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope (Roman) is an infrared telescope named after Nancy Grace Roman that seeks to explore the mysteries of dark energy and image exoplanets. The MSD is responsible for significant hardware and discipline support…

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  • PACE Tilt mechanism inside the Thermal Vacuum chamber at NASA Goddard Space Center.

    Supporting the PACE Journey to the Stars

    NASA’s Plankton, Aerosol Cloud Ocean Ecosystem (PACE) mission is to advance the assessment of ocean health by measuring the distribution of phytoplankton. Phytoplankton is a tiny plant/algae that sustains marine life. The PACE Observatory is undergoing…

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  • OSAM-1 Structure Integration image at MSD facility.

    Delivering Key Structures and Innovations for OSAM-1

    The OSAM-1 servicing payload primary structure was recently delivered to Integration and Test (I&T) by the MSD. Significant hardware development is ongoing within the MSD, including mission critical robotic system products such as the Robotic Electronics…

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  • Artist's depiction of the proposed Capture, Containment, and Return System, a NASA payload on the European Space Agency’s Earth Return Orbiter.

    Visiting Our Planetary Neighbor

    NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) are planning ways to bring the first samples of Mars material back to Earth for detailed study using The Capture Containment and Return System (CCRS). These first collected and returned samples could answer a key question: did life ever exist…

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  • An artist's imagination of an image of Dragonfly flying across the surface of Saturn's moon, Titan.

    Looking to Our Neighbors for Answers

    Dragonfly is NASA’s newest mission to explore the solar system, delivering an 8-bladed rotorcraft to visit Saturn’s largest and richly organic moon, Titan. Slated for launch in 2027 and arrival in 2034, Dragonfly will sample and examine dozens of promising sites around…

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  • OSAM-1 Power Servicing Unit

    A Pitstop in Space

    NASA’s On-orbit Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing 1 (OSAM-1), a mission that will be the first to robotically refuel a satellite not designed to be serviced, and will also demonstrate assembly and manufacturing technologies and capabilities, has passed its mission critical…

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  • SNoOPI (right) and BurstCube (left) cubesats integrated into the NanoRacks deployer. Cover plate with delivery team member signatures.

    SNoOPI Goes to Space

    The Earth Science Technology Office (ESTO) InVEST tech demo SigNals Of Opportunity P-band Investigation “SNoOPI” has been delivered to Nanoracks and integrated into the deployer for launch with SpaceX Crew Resupply Mission CRS-30 this spring! Led…

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  • A NASA engineer observes segments of the primary mirrors of the James Webb Space Telescope.

    Unlocking the Secrets of the Big Bang

     The James Webb Space Telescope  (JWST), launched into space  in 2021, is an infrared telescope designed to help astronomers see back more than 13 billion years to a time when the first stars and galaxies were forming from the darkness of the early universe. Building on experience gained from the Hubble Space…

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