Unlocking the Universe
Expanding The World’s Engineering Boundaries
The ETD provides multidisciplinary engineering expertise for the development of cutting-edge Science and Exploration Systems and technologies. This talented and diverse workforce is committed to expanding today’s engineering boundaries through the application of emerging technologies to develop high-performance, cost-effective solutions to the most challenging problems in science and exploration. The ETD achieves this within Goddard’s laboratories and those of the valued present and future partners.
BurstCube
BurstCube is a 6U CubeSat project that is designed to automatically detect gamma-ray transients onboard (astrophysical, solar, and terrestrial) while sending rapid alerts to the ground to enable follow-up observations. BurstCube also increases the sky coverage for short, less than 2 second gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) which in recent years have been proven to be produced …
Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS)
Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) is a NASA mission aimed at understanding how the Sun’s and Earth’s magnetic fields connect and disconnect. These processes known as magnetic reconnection facilitate energy transfers that effect the Earth, Sun and universe. MMS sensors measure charged particle velocities and electric and magnetic fields. Four identical spacecraft orbit the Earth to study …
DAVINCI
The Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble gases, Chemistry and Imaging (DAVINCI) is a spacecraft that is looking to uncover the evolution and history of the planet Venus. Carrying an atmospheric descent probe, the DAVINCI spacecraft will serve as a telecommunications hub by relaying information from the probe to Earth. It will also use its two onboard instruments to …
Lucy
NASA’s Lucy mission will study the Trojan asteroids for the purpose of helping humanity understand the formation of planets and the solar system. Lucy is the first space mission to study the Trojans and was launched on Oct. 16, 2021. Overall, the mission is a 12-year endeavor with the spacecraft using gravity assistance form Earth. …
Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit Satellite (GTOSat)
The Geostationary Transfer Orbit Satellite (GTOSat) is a mission done in collaboration with NASA Langley Research Center, the University of Colorado, Boulder, and the Aerospace Corporation Inc. GTOSat’s primary goal is to advance the quantitative understanding of acceleration and loss of relativistic electrons in the Earth’s outer radiation belts. GTOSat is a 6U CubeSat mission …
Parker Solar Probe
The NASA Parker Solar Probe mission is a mission designed to help humanity better understand the Sun, where changing conditions can propagate out into the solar system, affecting Earth and other worlds. As such, the primary goals are to examine the acceleration of solar wind through the movement of heat and energy in the Sun’s …
Polarized Submillimeter Ice-cloud Radiometer (PolSIR)
The Polarized Submillimeter Ice-cloud Radiometer (PolSIR) is an instrument that will be used to help understand Earth’s dynamic atmosphere as well as its impact on climate. The PolSIR instrument will study high altitude ice clouds in tropical and sub-tropical regions using identical pairs of radiometers that will fly on two CubeSats (small satellites like portable …
Landsat-9 Satellite
Landsat-9 is a satellite made in partnership with the U.S. Geological Survey and was launched on September 27, 2021 in California. The mission of this program is to monitor, understand, and manage the land resources needed to sustain human life. Landsat is the only U.S. satellite system designed and operated to repeatedly observe the global …
On-orbit Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing (OSAM-1)
Similar to how Earth is polluted by plastics, gases and other toxic material that impact the wildlife, space is also polluted with orbital debris. OSAM-1, short for On-orbit Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing 1, is a robotic spacecraft tasked with the job of servicing satellites to extend their lifespan in space. OSAM-1 not only refuels these …
CubeSat Launch Initiative (CSLI)
NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative (CSLI) provides low-cost access to space for many institutions and non-profits in the United States. The initiative is intended to inspire the next generation of scientists, engineers and technologists by offering a unique opportunity to conduct scientific research and develop novel technologies in space. The ETD’s contribution to NASA’s CSLI is …
The Capture, Containment and Return System (CCRS)
The Capture, Containment and Retrieval System (CCRS) is a payload that is a part of the joint Mars Sample Return mission between NASA and the European Space Agency. CCRS is made up of a Capture and Containment Module and Earth Return Module which picks up orbiting samples to bring them back to Earth. The work …
The Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud Ocean Ecosystem (PACE)
The Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud Ocean Ecosystem (PACE) mission is a NASA mission that will collect information on the processes behind carbon dioxide exchange in the ocean. By monitoring aerosols in the atmosphere along with plankton on the surface of the ocean, scientists can collect information about the health of the Earth. Data about the frequency …