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Watch June's full Strawberry Moon skim the southern horizon with these free livestreams tonight
Join ESA at the International Paris Air Show 2025
Join the European Space Agency at the new Paris Space Hub during this year’s International Paris Air Show.
New Map Shows How Gun Deaths of Children Have Increased in States with Loose Firearm Laws
Gun violence is the leading cause of death of children in the U.S.—and states with loose gun control laws bear the heaviest burden, a new study found
Cyborg tadpoles are helping us learn how brain development starts
Cyborg tadpoles are helping us learn how brain development starts
Tuning a NASA Instrument: Calibrating MASTER
2 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Electrical engineer Nikolas Gibson performs calibration tests on the MODIS/ASTER Airborne Simulator (MASTER) spectrometer, co-developed by NASA’s Ames Research Center and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Gibson works at the Airborne Sensor Facility at Ames, which builds, maintains, miniaturizes, and calibrates instruments.NASA/Milan Loiacono
NASA’s Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley houses a unique laboratory: the Airborne Sensor Facility (ASF). The engineers at the ASF are responsible for building, maintaining, and operating numerous instruments that get deployed on research aircraft, but one of their most important roles is instrument calibration.
Think of calibration like tuning a piano between performances: A musician uses a tuner to set the standard pitch for each string, ensuring that the piano remains on pitch for every concert.
The “tuners” at ASF include lasers, mirrors, and a light source called an integrating sphere – a hollow sphere about 36 inches in diameter that emits a set amount of light from a hole in the top. By checking an instrument against this baseline between each mission, engineers ensure that the instrument sensors provide accurate, reliable data every time.
In the photo above, electrical engineer Nikolas Gibson performs calibration tests on the MODIS/ASTER Airborne Simulator (MASTER) spectrometer, co-developed by NASA Ames and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.
A spectrometer separates light into individual wavelengths, providing researchers with information about the properties of whatever is creating or interacting with that light. The MASTER instrument measures about 50 individual spectral channels, providing data on wavelengths from the visible spectrum through the infrared.
When it comes to calibration, each of these channels functions like a specific key on a piano and needs to be individually checked against the “tuner.” By pointing the instrument’s sensor at a known quantity of light coming from the integrating sphere, the team checks the accuracy of MASTER’s data output and repairs or adjusts the sensor as needed.
In this image, MASTER had returned from an April 2025 scientific campaign observing prescribed fires in Alabama and Georgia with NASA’s FireSense project. It was recalibrated before heading back into the field for the Geological Earth Mapping Experiment, or GEMx, mission in late May 2025, which will use the instrument to help map critical minerals across the southwestern United States.
About the AuthorMilan LoiaconoScience Communication SpecialistMilan Loiacono is a science communication specialist for the Earth Science Division at NASA Ames Research Center.
Share Details Last Updated Jun 11, 2025 Related Terms Explore More 5 min read NASA F-15s Validate Tools for Quesst Mission Article 2 days ago 2 min read Dr. Natasha Schatzman Receives Vertical Flight Society (VFS) Award Article 5 days ago 2 min read NASA Provides Hardware for Space Station DNA Repair Experiment Article 6 days ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASAMissions
Humans in Space
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Tuning a NASA Instrument: Calibrating MASTER
2 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Electrical engineer Nikolas Gibson performs calibration tests on the MODIS/ASTER Airborne Simulator (MASTER) spectrometer, co-developed by NASA’s Ames Research Center and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Gibson works at the Airborne Sensor Facility at Ames, which builds, maintains, miniaturizes, and calibrates instruments.NASA/Milan LoiaconoNASA’s Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley houses a unique laboratory: the Airborne Sensor Facility (ASF). The engineers at the ASF are responsible for building, maintaining, and operating numerous instruments that get deployed on research aircraft, but one of their most important roles is instrument calibration.
Think of calibration like tuning a piano between performances: A musician uses a tuner to set the standard pitch for each string, ensuring that the piano remains on pitch for every concert.
The “tuners” at ASF include lasers, mirrors, and a light source called an integrating sphere – a hollow sphere about 36 inches in diameter that emits a set amount of light from a hole in the top. By checking an instrument against this baseline between each mission, engineers ensure that the instrument sensors provide accurate, reliable data every time.
In the photo above, electrical engineer Nikolas Gibson performs calibration tests on the MODIS/ASTER Airborne Simulator (MASTER) spectrometer, co-developed by NASA Ames and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.
A spectrometer separates light into individual wavelengths, providing researchers with information about the properties of whatever is creating or interacting with that light. The MASTER instrument measures about 50 individual spectral channels, providing data on wavelengths from the visible spectrum through the infrared.
When it comes to calibration, each of these channels functions like a specific key on a piano and needs to be individually checked against the “tuner.” By pointing the instrument’s sensor at a known quantity of light coming from the integrating sphere, the team checks the accuracy of MASTER’s data output and repairs or adjusts the sensor as needed.
In this image, MASTER had returned from an April 2025 scientific campaign observing prescribed fires in Alabama and Georgia with NASA’s FireSense project. It was recalibrated before heading back into the field for the Geological Earth Mapping Experiment, or GEMx, mission in late May 2025, which will use the instrument to help map critical minerals across the southwestern United States.
About the AuthorMilan LoiaconoScience Communication SpecialistMilan Loiacono is a science communication specialist for the Earth Science Division at NASA Ames Research Center.
Share Details Last Updated Jun 11, 2025 Related Terms Explore More 5 min read NASA F-15s Validate Tools for Quesst Mission Article 1 day ago 2 min read Dr. Natasha Schatzman Receives Vertical Flight Society (VFS) Award Article 5 days ago 2 min read NASA Provides Hardware for Space Station DNA Repair Experiment Article 5 days ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASAMissions
Humans in Space
Climate Change
Solar System
Mind-reading AI turns paralysed man's brainwaves into instant speech
Mind-reading AI turns paralysed man's brainwaves into instant speech
The man quietly spending $1 billion on climate action
The man quietly spending $1 billion on climate action
James Webb Space Telescope sees 1st exoplanet raining sand alongside 'sandcastle' partner world
Rocket Lab launches Japanese Earth-observing radar satellite to orbit
These images are the first time we have seen the sun's south pole
These images are the first time we have seen the sun's south pole
Humanity takes its 1st look at the sun's poles: 'This is just the first step of Solar Orbiter's stairway to heaven' (images)
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Solar Orbiter gets world-first views of the Sun’s poles
Thanks to its newly tilted orbit around the Sun, the European Space Agency-led Solar Orbiter spacecraft is the first to image the Sun’s poles from outside the ecliptic plane. Solar Orbiter’s unique viewing angle will change our understanding of the Sun’s magnetic field, the solar cycle and the workings of space weather.