Section
Space
Space science from California: JPL, Caltech, SLAC, NASA missions, telescopes, asteroid exploration, and the Golden State's outsized role in humanity's exploration of the cosmos.
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The Moon May Help Drive California’s Next Flooding Crisis
An 18.6-year lunar cycle is expected to amplify tides just as rising seas push more of California’s coastline toward flooding thresholds.
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California’s Eye on the Cosmos: The SLAC-Built Camera That Will Time-Lapse the Universe
Images from the most powerful astronomical discovery machine ever created, and built in California A breathtaking zoomed-in glimpse of the cosmos: this first image from the Vera C. Rubin Observatory…
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Berkeley’s Cosmic Breakthrough and the Alvarez Discovery That Rewrote Earth’s History
The Alvarez’ work led to one of the most significant scientific breakthroughs of the 20th century: the discovery that a massive meteorite impact was responsible for the extinction of the dinosaurs and much of life on Earth.
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Dark Parks in California Allow Us to Reconnect with the Universe
The Milky Way above the Eastern Sierra. Despite its vast expanse (over 163,000 square miles) California offers surprisingly few places where one can…
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JPL and the Voyager Golden Record: Humanity’s A Cosmic Mixtape in Space
The Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Canada Flintridge, California is well-known for sending spacecraft far into the cosmos to help us better understand the universe. But the agency was also extensively involved in one of the most ambitious and symbolic projects in the history of space exploration: the Voyager Golden Record.
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Journey to the Iron Giant: NASA’s Psyche Mission Could Unlock the Secrets of a Metallic World
A NOVEL PROPULSION SYSTEM WILL TAKE US TO A MASSIVE METAL ASTEROID IN DEEP SPACE
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Mt. Wilson Observatory in Los Angeles is a Celestial Time Capsule
The story of the Mt. Wilson Observatory begins with George Ellery Hale. A visionary, Hale had the foresight to choose Mt. Wilson as the site for his new observatory because of its altitude (at 5,710 feet) and proximity to the Pacific Ocean, making it an ideal spot for stable, clear skies.
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Mars helicopter Ingenuity is ready for its “Wright Brothers” moment
If all goes well, in late July, Nasa will do something it’s never done before. The agency will launch a new mission to Mars with the aim of landing a small helicopter on the surface that will perform several test missions to see if we can fly on the surface of the Red Planet.