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NASA’s Psyche Captures Images of Earth, Moon
4 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) NASA’s Psyche captured images of Earth and our Moon from about 180 million miles (290 kilometers) away in July 2025, as it calibrated its imager instrument. When choosing targets for the imager testing, scientists look for bodies that shine with reflected sunlight, just as the asteroid Psyche does.NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU
Headed for a metal-rich asteroid of the same name, the Psyche spacecraft successfully calibrated its cameras by looking homeward.
On schedule for its 2029 arrival at the asteroid Psyche, NASA’s Psyche spacecraft recently looked back toward home and captured images of Earth and our Moon from about 180 million miles (290 million kilometers) away. The images were obtained during one of the mission team’s periodic checkouts of the spacecraft’s science instruments.
On July 20 and July 23, the spacecraft’s twin cameras captured multiple long-exposure (up to 10-second) pictures of the two bodies, which appear as dots sparkling with reflected sunlight amid a starfield in the constellation Aries.
Learn more about the multispectral imager aboard Psyche that will use a pair of identical cameras with filters and telescopic lenses to photograph the surface of the asteroid in different wavelengths of light. NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASUThe Psyche multispectral imager instrument comprises a pair of identical cameras equipped with filters and telescopic lenses to photograph the asteroid Psyche’s surface in different wavelengths of light. The color and shape of a planetary body’s spectrum can reveal details about what it’s made of. The Moon and the giant asteroid Vesta, for example, have similar kinds of “bumps and wiggles” in their spectra that scientists could potentially also detect at Psyche. Members of the mission’s science team are interested in Psyche because it will help them better understand the formation of rocky planets with metallic cores, including Earth.
When choosing targets for the imager testing and calibration, scientists look for bodies that shine with reflected sunlight, just as the asteroid Psyche does. They also look at objects that have a spectrum they’re familiar with, so they can compare previous telescopic or spacecraft data from those objects with what Psyche’s instruments observe. Earlier this year, Psyche turned its lenses toward Jupiter and Mars for calibration — each has a spectrum more reddish than the bluer tones of Earth. That checkout also proved a success.
The Psyche spacecraft is taking a spiral path around the solar system in order to get a boost from a Mars gravity assist in 2026. It will arrive at the asteroid Psyche in 2029. NASA/JPL-Caltech
To determine whether the imager’s performance is changing, scientists also compare data from the different tests. That way, when the spacecraft slips into orbit around Psyche, scientists can be sure that the instrument behaves as expected.
“After this, we may look at Saturn or Vesta to help us continue to test the imagers,” said Jim Bell, the Psyche imager instrument lead at Arizona State University in Tempe. “We’re sort of collecting solar system ‘trading cards’ from these different bodies and running them through our calibration pipeline to make sure we’re getting the right answers.”
Strong and SturdyThe imager wasn’t the only instrument that got a successful checkout in late July: The mission team also put the spacecraft’s magnetometer and the gamma-ray and neutron spectrometer through a gamut of tests — something they do every six months.
“We are up and running, and everything is working well,” said Bob Mase, the mission’s project manager at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. “We’re on target to fly by Mars in May 2026, and we are accomplishing all of our planned activities for cruise.”
That flyby is the spacecraft’s next big milestone, when it will use the Red Planet’s gravity as a slingshot to help the spacecraft get to the asteroid Psyche. That will mark Psyche’s first of two planned loops around the solar system and 1 billion miles (1.6 billion kilometers) since launching from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in October 2023.
More About PsycheThe Psyche mission is led by ASU. Lindy Elkins-Tanton of the University of California, Berkeley is the principal investigator.A division of Caltech in Pasadena, JPL is responsible for the mission’s overall management, system engineering, integration and test, and mission operations. Maxar Technologies in Palo Alto, California, provided the high-power solar electric propulsion spacecraft chassis. ASU leads the operations of the imager instrument, working in collaboration with Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego on the design, fabrication, and testing of the cameras.
Psyche is the 14th mission selected as part of NASA’s Discovery Program, managed by the agency’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. NASA’s Launch Services Program, based at Kennedy, managed the launch service.
For more information about NASA’s Psyche mission go to:
https://science.nasa.gov/mission/psyche/
Check out the Psyche spacecraft’s trajectory in 3D News Media ContactsGretchen McCartney
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-287-4115
gretchen.p.mccartney@jpl.nasa.gov
Karen Fox / Molly Wasser
NASA Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
karen.c.fox@nasa.gov / molly.l.wasser@nasa.gov
2025-106
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NASA’s Psyche Captures Images of Earth, Moon
4 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) NASA’s Psyche captured images of Earth and our Moon from about 180 million miles (290 kilometers) away in July 2025, as it calibrated its imager instrument. When choosing targets for the imager testing, scientists look for bodies that shine with reflected sunlight, just as the asteroid Psyche does.NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASUHeaded for a metal-rich asteroid of the same name, the Psyche spacecraft successfully calibrated its cameras by looking homeward.
On schedule for its 2029 arrival at the asteroid Psyche, NASA’s Psyche spacecraft recently looked back toward home and captured images of Earth and our Moon from about 180 million miles (290 million kilometers) away. The images were obtained during one of the mission team’s periodic checkouts of the spacecraft’s science instruments.
On July 20 and July 23, the spacecraft’s twin cameras captured multiple long-exposure (up to 10-second) pictures of the two bodies, which appear as dots sparkling with reflected sunlight amid a starfield in the constellation Aries.
Learn more about the multispectral imager aboard Psyche that will use a pair of identical cameras with filters and telescopic lenses to photograph the surface of the asteroid in different wavelengths of light. NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASUThe Psyche multispectral imager instrument comprises a pair of identical cameras equipped with filters and telescopic lenses to photograph the asteroid Psyche’s surface in different wavelengths of light. The color and shape of a planetary body’s spectrum can reveal details about what it’s made of. The Moon and the giant asteroid Vesta, for example, have similar kinds of “bumps and wiggles” in their spectra that scientists could potentially also detect at Psyche. Members of the mission’s science team are interested in Psyche because it will help them better understand the formation of rocky planets with metallic cores, including Earth.
When choosing targets for the imager testing and calibration, scientists look for bodies that shine with reflected sunlight, just as the asteroid Psyche does. They also look at objects that have a spectrum they’re familiar with, so they can compare previous telescopic or spacecraft data from those objects with what Psyche’s instruments observe. Earlier this year, Psyche turned its lenses toward Jupiter and Mars for calibration — each has a spectrum more reddish than the bluer tones of Earth. That checkout also proved a success.
The Psyche spacecraft is taking a spiral path around the solar system in order to get a boost from a Mars gravity assist in 2026. It will arrive at the asteroid Psyche in 2029. NASA/JPL-CaltechTo determine whether the imager’s performance is changing, scientists also compare data from the different tests. That way, when the spacecraft slips into orbit around Psyche, scientists can be sure that the instrument behaves as expected.
“After this, we may look at Saturn or Vesta to help us continue to test the imagers,” said Jim Bell, the Psyche imager instrument lead at Arizona State University in Tempe. “We’re sort of collecting solar system ‘trading cards’ from these different bodies and running them through our calibration pipeline to make sure we’re getting the right answers.”
Strong and SturdyThe imager wasn’t the only instrument that got a successful checkout in late July: The mission team also put the spacecraft’s magnetometer and the gamma-ray and neutron spectrometer through a gamut of tests — something they do every six months.
“We are up and running, and everything is working well,” said Bob Mase, the mission’s project manager at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. “We’re on target to fly by Mars in May 2026, and we are accomplishing all of our planned activities for cruise.”
That flyby is the spacecraft’s next big milestone, when it will use the Red Planet’s gravity as a slingshot to help the spacecraft get to the asteroid Psyche. That will mark Psyche’s first of two planned loops around the solar system and 1 billion miles (1.6 billion kilometers) since launching from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in October 2023.
More About PsycheThe Psyche mission is led by ASU. Lindy Elkins-Tanton of the University of California, Berkeley is the principal investigator.A division of Caltech in Pasadena, JPL is responsible for the mission’s overall management, system engineering, integration and test, and mission operations. Maxar Technologies in Palo Alto, California, provided the high-power solar electric propulsion spacecraft chassis. ASU leads the operations of the imager instrument, working in collaboration with Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego on the design, fabrication, and testing of the cameras.
Psyche is the 14th mission selected as part of NASA’s Discovery Program, managed by the agency’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. NASA’s Launch Services Program, based at Kennedy, managed the launch service.
For more information about NASA’s Psyche mission go to:
https://science.nasa.gov/mission/psyche/
Check out the Psyche spacecraft’s trajectory in 3D News Media ContactsGretchen McCartney
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-287-4115
gretchen.p.mccartney@jpl.nasa.gov
Karen Fox / Molly Wasser
NASA Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
karen.c.fox@nasa.gov / molly.l.wasser@nasa.gov
2025-106
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The National Science Foundation will stop operating the Nathaniel B. Palmer icebreaker and slash polar science funding by 70 percent, devastating Antarctic research
Moonlight and Our Atmosphere
Moonlight and Our Atmosphere
The Moon’s light is refracted by Earth’s atmosphere in this April 13, 2025, photograph from the International Space Station as it orbited into a sunset 264 miles above the border between Bolivia and Brazil in South America.
Understanding the Moon helps us understand other planets, how they have evolved and the processes which have shaped their surfaces. It also helps us understand the influence the Moon has had on Earth, the record of the ancient Sun, and it serves as a platform to study the rest of the universe. By using the Moon as our closest testing ground for robotics and instrument systems, we can further human exploration to not only the Moon, but the rest of the solar system.
Through Artemis missions, NASA will send astronauts to explore the Moon for scientific discovery, economic benefits, and to build the foundation for the first crewed missions to Mars.
Image credit: NASA
Moonlight and Our Atmosphere
The Moon’s light is refracted by Earth’s atmosphere in this April 13, 2025, photograph from the International Space Station as it orbited into a sunset 264 miles above the border between Bolivia and Brazil in South America.
Understanding the Moon helps us understand other planets, how they have evolved and the processes which have shaped their surfaces. It also helps us understand the influence the Moon has had on Earth, the record of the ancient Sun, and it serves as a platform to study the rest of the universe. By using the Moon as our closest testing ground for robotics and instrument systems, we can further human exploration to not only the Moon, but the rest of the solar system.
Through Artemis missions, NASA will send astronauts to explore the Moon for scientific discovery, economic benefits, and to build the foundation for the first crewed missions to Mars.
Image credit: NASA
A rare Black Moon rises with the sun tomorrow Here's what to expect
National Aviation Day: Celebrating NASA’s Heritage While Charting Our Future
As we observe National Aviation Day Tuesday – a tribute to Orville Wright’s birthday – let’s reflect on both America’s and NASA’s aviation heritage and share how we are pushing the boundaries of flight for the nation’s future. Modern NASA grew from the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), an agency created by Congress in 1915 to advance U.S. aviation. When President Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958, NACA was dissolved and its people, laboratories and research programs became the foundation of NASA. These intrepid men and women are the cornerstone of the world’s most capable aerospace industry and their legacy lives on today across all facets of the agency.
The most significant aviation milestones in the twentieth century were achieved through both NASA and NACA research and through the courage of pioneering test pilots. In 1947, the joint NACA/U.S. Army Air Forces (later the U.S. Air Force, or USAF) developed Bell X‑1 flew faster than the speed of sound, shattering the mythical “sound barrier.” This breakthrough, enabled by NACA wind-tunnel data and high-speed aerodynamic expertise, made supersonic flight a reality and led directly to NACA Test Pilot Scott Crossfield being the first human to reach Mach 2, twice the speed of sound, in the Douglass DD558-II a mere six years later. During the X‑15 program of the 1960s, legendary NASA Test Pilots Joe Walker, John McKay, Neil Armstrong, Milt Thompson, and Bill Dana piloted nearly half of the program’s sorties and flew the rocket-powered research plane at altitudes up to 354,200 feet and speeds of 4,520 mph (Mach 6.7).
The NASA/USAF-developed North American X‑15 became the world’s first reusable hypersonic aerospace vehicle, reaching space (above 50 miles altitude) on 11 separate missions; it provided essential data on materials, flight control and pilot physiology that helped shape the agency’s Mercury, Gemini, Apollo and Space Shuttle programs. These milestones remind us that our nation’s accomplishments are the result of visionary NASA, Department of Defense, industry engineers, and test pilots working together to achieve audacious goals.
NASA’s commitment to aviation innovation did not stop with early experimental high-speed aircraft. In the 1990s, the U.S. general aviation industry faced a steep decline – production fell from 18,000 aircraft in 1978 to fewer than 1,000 in 1993. NASA saw an opportunity: we envisioned a Small Aircraft Transportation System in which safe, efficient general aviation planes could revitalize a critical industry. To enable that vision, NASA partnered with the Federal Aviation Administration, industry, universities, and non‑profits to create the Advanced General Aviation Transport Experiments (AGATE) consortium in 1994. The AGATE consortium developed safer cockpit displays, crashworthiness improvements, efficient airfoils, and modern manufacturing techniques. These innovations transformed U.S. general aviation, helping spawn industry successes like the Cirrus SR20 and SR22 family of aircraft, which incorporate NASA-derived composite structures and safety features.
In 2004, NASA’s unmanned X‑43A Hyper-X broke world speed records for air‑breathing aircraft, flying at Mach 6.8 and later Mach 9.6. Those flights demonstrated practical scramjet propulsion and proved that hypersonic cruise flight is achievable.
Today, we are building on this legacy and pushing the envelope with the X-59. Later this year, NASA Test Pilot Nils Larson will usher in a new era of quiet supersonic flight when he pilots the X‑59 Quesst’s first flight out of NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. The experimental aircraft, designed to fly at 1.4 times the speed of sound while producing only a gentle sonic “thump” instead of the traditional loud sonic boom, will provide data vital to achieving the vision in President Donald J. Trump’s Executive Order “Leading the World in Supersonic Flight.”
Hypersonics research is another pillar to our 21st‑century vision. Lessons from the X‑15, X‑43, and Space Shuttle inform our study of high-temperature materials, flight controls and propulsion. These technologies will not only bolster national security but will also spur the development of ultrafast civil transports, shrinking the world even further. We are also investing in 21st century propulsion, additive manufacturing, and autonomy for light aircraft while also developing advanced air traffic control systems. Partnering with U.S. aerospace industry and the FAA, we will bring true 21st century technology into light general aviation aircraft, ensuring America remains at the forefront of aviation innovation.
I am continually inspired by the ingenuity of our past and the promise of our future. Our roots in NACA remind us that a small group of dedicated men and women can change the world. From the Wright brothers’ pioneering work to the supersonic and hypersonic records set by NASA pilots and vehicles, we have consistently expanded the boundaries of what is possible in flight. Looking ahead, our pursuit of quiet supersonic aircraft, hypersonic technologies, and revitalized general aviation will keep the U.S. aviation industry strong and sustainable for decades to come. On National Aviation Day, we celebrate not only our history but also the teamwork and vision that will carry us into the next century of flight.
Higher, Farther, Faster!
Todd C. Ericson is a senior advisor to the NASA administrator for aerospace research and development
Share Details Last Updated Aug 19, 2025 EditorJennifer M. Dooren Related TermsNational Aviation Day: Celebrating NASA’s Heritage While Charting Our Future
As we observe National Aviation Day Tuesday – a tribute to Orville Wright’s birthday – let’s reflect on both America’s and NASA’s aviation heritage and share how we are pushing the boundaries of flight for the nation’s future. Modern NASA grew from the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), an agency created by Congress in 1915 to advance U.S. aviation. When President Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958, NACA was dissolved and its people, laboratories and research programs became the foundation of NASA. These intrepid men and women are the cornerstone of the world’s most capable aerospace industry and their legacy lives on today across all facets of the agency.
The most significant aviation milestones in the twentieth century were achieved through both NASA and NACA research and through the courage of pioneering test pilots. In 1947, the joint NACA/U.S. Army Air Forces (later the U.S. Air Force, or USAF) developed Bell X‑1 flew faster than the speed of sound, shattering the mythical “sound barrier.” This breakthrough, enabled by NACA wind-tunnel data and high-speed aerodynamic expertise, made supersonic flight a reality and led directly to NACA Test Pilot Scott Crossfield being the first human to reach Mach 2, twice the speed of sound, in the Douglass DD558-II a mere six years later. During the X‑15 program of the 1960s, legendary NASA Test Pilots Joe Walker, John McKay, Neil Armstrong, Milt Thompson, and Bill Dana piloted nearly half of the program’s sorties and flew the rocket-powered research plane at altitudes up to 354,200 feet and speeds of 4,520 mph (Mach 6.7).
The NASA/USAF-developed North American X‑15 became the world’s first reusable hypersonic aerospace vehicle, reaching space (above 50 miles altitude) on 11 separate missions; it provided essential data on materials, flight control and pilot physiology that helped shape the agency’s Mercury, Gemini, Apollo and Space Shuttle programs. These milestones remind us that our nation’s accomplishments are the result of visionary NASA, Department of Defense, industry engineers, and test pilots working together to achieve audacious goals.
NASA’s commitment to aviation innovation did not stop with early experimental high-speed aircraft. In the 1990s, the U.S. general aviation industry faced a steep decline – production fell from 18,000 aircraft in 1978 to fewer than 1,000 in 1993. NASA saw an opportunity: we envisioned a Small Aircraft Transportation System in which safe, efficient general aviation planes could revitalize a critical industry. To enable that vision, NASA partnered with the Federal Aviation Administration, industry, universities, and non‑profits to create the Advanced General Aviation Transport Experiments (AGATE) consortium in 1994. The AGATE consortium developed safer cockpit displays, crashworthiness improvements, efficient airfoils, and modern manufacturing techniques. These innovations transformed U.S. general aviation, helping spawn industry successes like the Cirrus SR20 and SR22 family of aircraft, which incorporate NASA-derived composite structures and safety features.
In 2004, NASA’s unmanned X‑43A Hyper-X broke world speed records for air‑breathing aircraft, flying at Mach 6.8 and later Mach 9.6. Those flights demonstrated practical scramjet propulsion and proved that hypersonic cruise flight is achievable.
Today, we are building on this legacy and pushing the envelope with the X-59. Later this year, NASA Test Pilot Nils Larson will usher in a new era of quiet supersonic flight when he pilots the X‑59 Quesst’s first flight out of NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. The experimental aircraft, designed to fly at 1.4 times the speed of sound while producing only a gentle sonic “thump” instead of the traditional loud sonic boom, will provide data vital to achieving the vision in President Donald J. Trump’s Executive Order “Leading the World in Supersonic Flight.”
Hypersonics research is another pillar to our 21st‑century vision. Lessons from the X‑15, X‑43, and Space Shuttle inform our study of high-temperature materials, flight controls and propulsion. These technologies will not only bolster national security but will also spur the development of ultrafast civil transports, shrinking the world even further. We are also investing in 21st century propulsion, additive manufacturing, and autonomy for light aircraft while also developing advanced air traffic control systems. Partnering with U.S. aerospace industry and the FAA, we will bring true 21st century technology into light general aviation aircraft, ensuring America remains at the forefront of aviation innovation.
I am continually inspired by the ingenuity of our past and the promise of our future. Our roots in NACA remind us that a small group of dedicated men and women can change the world. From the Wright brothers’ pioneering work to the supersonic and hypersonic records set by NASA pilots and vehicles, we have consistently expanded the boundaries of what is possible in flight. Looking ahead, our pursuit of quiet supersonic aircraft, hypersonic technologies, and revitalized general aviation will keep the U.S. aviation industry strong and sustainable for decades to come. On National Aviation Day, we celebrate not only our history but also the teamwork and vision that will carry us into the next century of flight.
Higher, Farther, Faster!
Todd C. Ericson is a senior advisor to the NASA administrator for aerospace research and development
Share Details Last Updated Aug 19, 2025 EditorJennifer M. Dooren Related TermsWheelie smart? Take our Mars rover quiz to prove it!
"I find your abundance of faith… encouraging." Watch this new trailer for 'Lego Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy - Pieces of the Past' (video)
NASA-funded Compact Radar Drives Big Changes in Airborne and Suborbital Radar Capabilities
A collaboration between NASA and the small business Aloft Sensing produced a new compact radar system that will enable researchers to leverage High Altitude Long Endurance (HALE) platforms to observe dynamic Earth systems. This new radar is small, provides highly sensitive measurements, and doesn’t require GPS for positioning; eventually, it could be used on vehicles in space.
HALE InSAR flies aboard a high-altitude balloon during a test-flight. This lightweight instrument will help researchers measure ground deformation and dynamic Earth systems. Credit: Aloft Sensing
Long before a volcano erupts or a mountainous snowpack disappears, millimeter-scale changes in Earth’s surface indicate larger geologic processes are at work. But detecting those minute changes, which can serve as early warnings for impending disasters, is difficult.
With support from NASA’s Earth Science Technology Office (ESTO ) a team of researchers from the small aerospace company Aloft Sensing is developing a compact radar instrument for observing Earth’s surface deformation, topography, and vegetation with unprecedented precision.
Their project, “HALE InSAR,” has demonstrated the feasibility of using high-altitude, long-endurance (HALE) vehicles equipped with Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) to observe changes in surface deformation mere millimeters in size and terrain information with centimetric vertical accuracy.
“It’s a level of sensitivity that has eluded traditional radar sensors, without making them bulky and expensive,” said Lauren Wye, CEO of Aloft Sensing and principal investigator for HALE InSAR.
HALE vehicles are lightweight aircraft designed to stay airborne for extended periods of time, from weeks to months and even years. These vehicles can revisit a scene multiple times an hour, making them ideal for locating subtle changes in an area’s geologic environment.
InSAR, a remote sensing technique that compares multiple images of the same scene to detect changes in surface topography or determine structure, is also uniquely well-suited to locate these clues. But traditional InSAR instruments are typically too large to fly aboard HALE vehicles.
HALE InSAR is different. The instrument is compact enough for a variety of HALE vehicles, weighing less than 15 pounds (seven kilograms) and consuming fewer than 300 watts of power, about as much energy as it takes to power an electric bike.
HALE InSAR leverages previously-funded NASA technologies to make such detailed measurements from a small platform: a novel electronically steered antenna and advanced positioning algorithms embedded within an agile software-defined transceiver. These technologies were developed under ESTO’s Instrument Incubation Program (IIP) and Decadal Survey Incubation (DSI) Program, respectively.
“All of the design features that we’ve built into the instrument are starting to showcase themselves and highlight why this payload in particular is distinct from what other small radars might be looking to achieve,” said Wye.
One of those features is a flat phased array antenna, which gives users the ability to focus HALE InSAR’s radar beam without physically moving the instrument. Using a panel about the size of a tablet computer, operators can steer the beam electronically, eliminating the need for gimbles and other heavy components, which helps enable the instrument’s reduced size and weight.
A close up HALE InSAR fixed to a high-altitude airship. The flat planar antenna reduces the instruments mass and eliminates the need for gimbles and other heavy components. Credit: Aloft Sensing
“SAR needs to look to the side. Our instrument can be mounted straight down, but look left and right on every other pulse such that we’re collecting a left-looking SAR image and a right-looking SAR image essentially simultaneously. It opens up opportunities for the most mass-constrained types of stratospheric vehicles,” said Wye.
Using advanced positioning algorithms, HALE InSAR also has the unique ability to locate itself without GPS, relying instead on feedback from its own radar signals to determine its position even more accurately. Brian Pollard, Chief Engineer at Aloft Sensing and co-investigator for HALE InSAR, explained that precise positioning is essential for creating high-resolution data about surface deformation and topography.
“SAR is like a long exposure camera, except with radio waves. Your exposure time could be a minute or two long, so you can imagine how much smearing goes on if you don’t know exactly where the radar is,” said Pollard.
Navigating without GPS also makes HALE InSAR ideal for field missions in austere environments where reliable GPS signals may be unavailable, increasing the instrument’s utility for national security applications and science missions in remote locations.
The Aloft Sensing team recently achieved several key milestones, validating their instrument aboard an airship at 65,000 feet as well as small stratospheric balloons. Next, they’ll test HALE InSAR aboard a fixed wing HALE aircraft. A future version of their instrument could even find its way into low Earth orbit on a small satellite.
Wye credits NASA support for helping her company turn a prototype into a proven instrument.
“This technology has been critically enabled by ESTO, and the benefit to science and civil applications is huge,” said Wye. “It also exemplifies the dual-use potential enabled by NASA-funded research. We are seeing significant military interest in this capability now that it is reaching maturity. As a small business, we need this hand-in-hand approach to be able to succeed.”
For more information about opportunities to work with NASA to develop new Earth observation technologies, visit esto.nasa.gov.
For additional details, see the entry for this project on NASA TechPort.
Project Lead: Dr. Lauren Wye, CEO, Aloft Sensing
Sponsoring Organization: NASA’s Instrument Incubation Program (IIP)
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NASA-funded Compact Radar Drives Big Changes in Airborne and Suborbital Radar Capabilities
A collaboration between NASA and the small business Aloft Sensing produced a new compact radar system that will enable researchers to leverage High Altitude Long Endurance (HALE) platforms to observe dynamic Earth systems. This new radar is small, provides highly sensitive measurements, and doesn’t require GPS for positioning; eventually, it could be used on vehicles in space.
HALE InSAR flies aboard a high-altitude balloon during a test-flight. This lightweight instrument will help researchers measure ground deformation and dynamic Earth systems. Credit: Aloft SensingLong before a volcano erupts or a mountainous snowpack disappears, millimeter-scale changes in Earth’s surface indicate larger geologic processes are at work. But detecting those minute changes, which can serve as early warnings for impending disasters, is difficult.
With support from NASA’s Earth Science Technology Office (ESTO ) a team of researchers from the small aerospace company Aloft Sensing is developing a compact radar instrument for observing Earth’s surface deformation, topography, and vegetation with unprecedented precision.
Their project, “HALE InSAR,” has demonstrated the feasibility of using high-altitude, long-endurance (HALE) vehicles equipped with Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) to observe changes in surface deformation mere millimeters in size and terrain information with centimetric vertical accuracy.
“It’s a level of sensitivity that has eluded traditional radar sensors, without making them bulky and expensive,” said Lauren Wye, CEO of Aloft Sensing and principal investigator for HALE InSAR.
HALE vehicles are lightweight aircraft designed to stay airborne for extended periods of time, from weeks to months and even years. These vehicles can revisit a scene multiple times an hour, making them ideal for locating subtle changes in an area’s geologic environment.
InSAR, a remote sensing technique that compares multiple images of the same scene to detect changes in surface topography or determine structure, is also uniquely well-suited to locate these clues. But traditional InSAR instruments are typically too large to fly aboard HALE vehicles.
HALE InSAR is different. The instrument is compact enough for a variety of HALE vehicles, weighing less than 15 pounds (seven kilograms) and consuming fewer than 300 watts of power, about as much energy as it takes to power an electric bike.
HALE InSAR leverages previously-funded NASA technologies to make such detailed measurements from a small platform: a novel electronically steered antenna and advanced positioning algorithms embedded within an agile software-defined transceiver. These technologies were developed under ESTO’s Instrument Incubation Program (IIP) and Decadal Survey Incubation (DSI) Program, respectively.
“All of the design features that we’ve built into the instrument are starting to showcase themselves and highlight why this payload in particular is distinct from what other small radars might be looking to achieve,” said Wye.
One of those features is a flat phased array antenna, which gives users the ability to focus HALE InSAR’s radar beam without physically moving the instrument. Using a panel about the size of a tablet computer, operators can steer the beam electronically, eliminating the need for gimbles and other heavy components, which helps enable the instrument’s reduced size and weight.
A close up HALE InSAR fixed to a high-altitude airship. The flat planar antenna reduces the instruments mass and eliminates the need for gimbles and other heavy components. Credit: Aloft Sensing“SAR needs to look to the side. Our instrument can be mounted straight down, but look left and right on every other pulse such that we’re collecting a left-looking SAR image and a right-looking SAR image essentially simultaneously. It opens up opportunities for the most mass-constrained types of stratospheric vehicles,” said Wye.
Using advanced positioning algorithms, HALE InSAR also has the unique ability to locate itself without GPS, relying instead on feedback from its own radar signals to determine its position even more accurately. Brian Pollard, Chief Engineer at Aloft Sensing and co-investigator for HALE InSAR, explained that precise positioning is essential for creating high-resolution data about surface deformation and topography.
“SAR is like a long exposure camera, except with radio waves. Your exposure time could be a minute or two long, so you can imagine how much smearing goes on if you don’t know exactly where the radar is,” said Pollard.
Navigating without GPS also makes HALE InSAR ideal for field missions in austere environments where reliable GPS signals may be unavailable, increasing the instrument’s utility for national security applications and science missions in remote locations.
The Aloft Sensing team recently achieved several key milestones, validating their instrument aboard an airship at 65,000 feet as well as small stratospheric balloons. Next, they’ll test HALE InSAR aboard a fixed wing HALE aircraft. A future version of their instrument could even find its way into low Earth orbit on a small satellite.
Wye credits NASA support for helping her company turn a prototype into a proven instrument.
“This technology has been critically enabled by ESTO, and the benefit to science and civil applications is huge,” said Wye. “It also exemplifies the dual-use potential enabled by NASA-funded research. We are seeing significant military interest in this capability now that it is reaching maturity. As a small business, we need this hand-in-hand approach to be able to succeed.”
For more information about opportunities to work with NASA to develop new Earth observation technologies, visit esto.nasa.gov.
For additional details, see the entry for this project on NASA TechPort.
Project Lead: Dr. Lauren Wye, CEO, Aloft Sensing
Sponsoring Organization: NASA’s Instrument Incubation Program (IIP)
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