SSL's Weijie Sun & Jiutong Zhao, along with @umichengineering.bsky.social's Ryan Dewey, analyzed MESSENGER mission data and found that Mercury has intermittent radiation belts. The findings could help protect the @esa.int/JAXA BepiColombo mission when it reaches Mercury this year.

Mercury has part-time radiation belts

Scientists thought Mercury's magnetic field was disrupted by the sun too often to trap a radiation belt, but new analysis of MESSENGER data says that's not always the case.

news.engin.umich.edu

The ESCAPADE team used its Visible and Infrared Observation System cameras to snap these incredible pictures of the Earth and the Moon in visible and thermal infrared light from 363,250 miles away! 🙌 Looking forward to our close-up as Blue and Gold slingshot around the Earth this fall.

NASA’s ESCAPADE Snaps Family Portrait of Earth, Moon

On July 3, 2026, NASA’s Mars-destined ESCAPADE spacecraft captured photos of Earth and the Moon in visible and thermal infrared light.

science.nasa.gov

Shaosui Xu, associate research physicist at SSL, was lead author on a paper that described how Mars' localized auroras are generated through a similar process as those on Earth, despite Mars having no global magnetic field. “It’s incredible to be part of the team that found the answer...” said Xu.

NASA’s MAVEN Illuminates New Understanding of Auroras at Mars - NASA Science

NASA MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution) mission scientists have uncovered a key puzzle piece in understanding certain types of auroras on Mars,

science.nasa.gov

We were thrilled to host representatives from @isae-supaero.bsky.social and @cnes.fr who recently toured SSL. They observed instrument development for the @cosi-explorer.bsky.social and PADRE missions. After the tour, ISAE-SUPAERO president Marie-Hélène Baroux gave a talk for members of the lab.

Aerospace engineers with @ucbssl.bsky.social have just assembled the detector array for the COSI mission.

COSI detector array assembly

YouTube video by UC Berkeley Space Sciences Laboratory

youtu.be

Thanks to Dr. Nicola Fox, Associate Administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, for stopping by SSL to tell us about the latest opportunities with NASA science. We were happy to provide an update on the ESCAPADE MISSION, and hopefully you’ll enjoy the LEGO @cosi-explorer.bsky.social set.

COSI is coming together! @ucbssl.bsky.social’s senior aerospace engineer Christopher Smith and aerospace instrumentation mechanical engineer Matt Rubly recently assembled the mission’s 16 germanium detectors.

Congrats to Isidro Pena, an undergraduate research assistant at SSL who works on the @cosi-explorer.bsky.social! Pena was one of the undergraduate winners of the Chambliss Astronomy Achievement Student Award poster competition at the 248th meeting of the @aas.org! 🙌🎉🧪🔭 aas.org/posts/news/2...

The recent FOXSI-5 mission demonstrates potential of advanced X-ray imaging and sounding rockets for solar physics.

FOXSI-5 mission demonstrates potential of advanced X-ray imaging and rockets for solar physics - UC Berkeley Space Sciences Lab

The images collected by the FOXSI team over its five flights are demonstrating the effectiveness of their next-generation X-ray optics and proving that sounding rockets have great potential to complim...

ssl.berkeley.edu

Davin Larson, SSL project scientist describes the SupraThermal Ion Sensor (STIS) instrument on NOAA's SOLAR-1 spacecraft. youtube.com/shorts/hYnJD...

A CME early warning system

YouTube video by UC Berkeley Space Sciences Laboratory

youtube.com

COSI was covered in this article published by @us.theconversation.com. One of COSI’s science objectives—to seek out the source of the gamma ray signature of matter/antimatter annihilation—may help reveal whether the center of our galaxy is rich in dark matter. theconversation.com/upcoming-tel...

Upcoming telescopes could shed light on dark matter – astronomers are looking for these ‘fingerprints’ of the elusive substance

Scientists study small galaxies to look for hints of dark matter in the universe.

theconversation.com

A brief overview of 50+ years of education, innovation and discovery at the UC Berkeley Space Sciences Laboratory. youtu.be/7Ar1gwRh2a4

An introduction to the UC Berkeley Space Sciences Lab

YouTube video by UC Berkeley Space Sciences Laboratory

youtu.be

NASA has finally confirmed that MAVEN is lost and not recoverable, months ago it emerged from behind Mars and a fragment of telemetry suggested it might be spinning fast. Not only was It doing good atmospheric science, it was a relay spacecraft for rovers on the surface. www.nasa.gov/news-release...

NASA Says Farewell to MAVEN Mars Mission, Hosts Media Call Today - NASA

The first mission devoted to observing the Martian atmosphere and its evolution, NASA’s MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution), has ended after more

nasa.gov

Check out this episode of @space.com's podcast. Robert Lillis discusses the ESCAPADE mission, the potential for its unique trajectory and his own journey to Mars science.

This Week In Space podcast: Episode 210 — ESCAPADES at Mars

Dr. Robert Lillis of the Mars ESCAPADE Mission

space.com

Don't miss @missiontopsyche.bsky.social's closest approach to Mars this afternoon at 12:28 Pacific Time. eyes.nasa.gov/apps/solar-s...

Eyes on the Solar System - NASA/JPL

Explore the 3D world of the Solar System. Learn about past and future missions.

eyes.nasa.gov

SSL Director Lindy Elkins-Tanton spoke to @sciam.bsky.social on her new book, Mission Ready: How to Build Teams That Perform under Pressure. "The ability that one in a leadership position has to try to help everyone else succeed is an incredible gift," says Elkins-Tanton. tinyurl.com/54tvnepz

A NASA mission leader’s tips for being a good manager

Lindy Elkins-Tanton, principal investigator of NASA’s Psyche mission, explains in her new book how lessons from interplanetary exploration can help people solve problems together

tinyurl.com

Thanks to Evgenya Shkolnik, professor of astrophysics at the School of Earth and Space Exploration at Arizona State University, who delivered our final talk of the semester on the SPARKS mission, which is seeking out habitable exoplanets in our galaxy. 🙏 to @mathmoves.bsky.social for hosting.

NASA's @missiontopsyche.bsky.social is approaching Mars for a gravity assist—a great chance to image the Red Planet.🔴 "...if...we can do important testing and calibration..., that would be the icing on the cake,” said Psyche PI and SSL Director Lindy Elkins-Tanton. science.nasa.gov/blogs/psyche...

NASA’s Psyche Mission to Fly by Mars for Gravity Assist  - NASA Science

NASA’s Psyche spacecraft will get a boost from Mars on Friday, May 15, passing just 2,800 miles (4,500 kilometers) from the planet’s surface at some 12,333

science.nasa.gov

#FOXSI-5, a NASA-led sounding rocket mission that will study the X-rays produced by large solar flares, is ready for launch. Principal investigator Milo Buitrago-Casas is at @uafairbanks.bsky.social's Poker Flat Research Range, preparing for launch. 🚀 www.gi.alaska.edu/news/poker-f...

Poker Flat to launch rocket to image solar flares | Geophysical Institute

The fifth flight of a NASA-led mission using X-rays to learn more about the sun is scheduled for a daytime launch from Poker Flat Research Range during the first two weeks of May.

gi.alaska.edu

DESI has completed its planned 3D map of the universe. Much of the cutting-edge technology that made the survey possible was developed at SSL. www.ssl.berkeley.edu/cutting-edge...

Cutting-edge DESI survey technology originated at SSL

While the ground-based survey is now globally recognized, its origins trace back to a proposed space-based mission at the Space Sciences Laboratory (SSL).

ssl.berkeley.edu

Victoria Coleman, Associate Provost of the Berkeley Air & Space Center, stopped by SSL to tell us about forthcoming opportunities with Berkeley's 36-acre innovation center at NASA's Ames campus. She stayed on for lunch and heard ideas for the center from SSL researchers.

Thanks to Dr. Umaa Rebbapragada for the amazing talk on AI and machine learning applications the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Thanks also to @mathmoves.bsky.social for hosting us again.

SSL's contributions to the Artemis 2 mission were featured in the @dailycal.bsky.social. “Even though we’re playing a small role, it still feels good to be part of it in some way,” said ground station engineer Warren Rexroad. www.dailycal.org/news/campus/...

Great talk by Matt Gialich founder and CEO of @astroforge.bsky.social at SSL this afternoon. The conference room was standing room only as we all packed inside to learn more about DeepSpace-2 and its upcoming mission to land on an asteroid. 🙏 for flying up to the Bay to tell us about it.

The Berkeley Ground Station dish is tracking ARTEMIS 2! We're collecting doppler data to send back to the NASA SCaN project.

We're supporting Artemis 2 by providing tracking support for the Orion capsule. Per ground station engineer Warren Rexroad, our first opportunity will be tomorrow at 1AM. "We're all excited to be able to contribute to this historic return to the moon," says Rexroad. Go Artemis 2!

Jupiter’s lightning isn’t just bigger—it’s hundreds of times more powerful. Using new Nasa Juno data, @ucbssl.bsky.social scientists revealed storms far more extreme than anything on Earth. news.berkeley.edu/2026/03/23/l...

Lightning bolts on Jupiter pack more than 100 times the power of Earth’s flashes - Berkeley News

Larger, more powerful storms on Jupiter produce stronger lightning than on Earth. New measurements could shed light on electrical phenomena associated with thunderstorms on our planet.

news.berkeley.edu

Check out this @science.org story on SSL planetary scientist Mike Wong's study of Jovian lightning. Wong analyzed data from NASA’s Juno spacecraft and found that lightning storms on Jupiter can release energy equivalent to multiple nuclear bombs. www.science.org/content/arti...

Jupiter’s weather forecast: cloudy with a chance of nukes

The planet’s lightning storms can unleash the force of multiple nuclear weapons every minute

science.org

Meet NASA’s COmpton Spectrometer and Imager (COSI). Launching in 2027, COSI is a wide-field gamma-ray telescope that will study extreme objects, environments, and events in the Milky Way and beyond. science.nasa.gov/mission/cosi/

COSI - NASA Science

COSI is an Astrophysics Small Explorer satellite mission that will probe the origins of our galaxy’s antimatter, uncover sites in our galaxy where complex

science.nasa.gov

Big Give is TODAY! 🎉Learn more about SSL's history below, and please consider donating to support our mission in education, innovation and discovery.👇 #CalBigGive givingday.berkeley.edu/giving-day/1...