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Space Science Institute
Big Ideas Lab podcast explores the world’s largest camera
During the next decade, the world’s newest telescope will detect about 20 billion galaxies, representing the first time a telescope will observe more galaxies than there are people on Earth. LLNL researchers designed the major optical components for the telescope camera, called the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) camera and part of the Vera C. Rubin Observatory…
Samples from asteroid Bennu contain secrets of the early solar system
In September 2023, NASA’s Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security–Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) mission became the first U.S. mission to collect a sample of material from an asteroid and return it to Earth. Now, a team including researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) has analyzed that material. Their work, published in…
Big Ideas Lab Podcast looks back at the laser guide star
Late one evening about 30 years ago, a beam of light shot into the sky from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), creating confusion and awe in the surrounding community. It wasn’t a UFO, as some people feared, but the start of a revolution in astronomy. That beam of a light was a demonstration of the laser guide star, which would go on to light up the night sky…
LLNL and Starris sign agreement, schedule conference talk for Aug. 13
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and Starris: Optimax Space Systems have signed a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA), expanding production of LLNL’s next-generation space domain awareness technology. Starris will serve as the manufacturing partner that can scale production of monolithic telescope technology to meet the needs for…
LLNL selected by Defense Innovation Unit to build Pathfinder telescope for space vehicles
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) has been selected by the U.S. Department of Defense’s Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) to provide a new monolithic telescope for a responsive space mission that will launch as early as 2027. Firefly Aerospace will host and operate the payload onboard its Elytra orbital vehicle during the mission in low Earth orbit (LEO), the area…
LLNL watch party shows off Rubin telescope’s first images
The NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory, a major new scientific facility jointly funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science, released its first imagery at an event in Washington, D.C., on June 23. The imagery shows cosmic phenomena captured at an unprecedented scale. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL)…
LLNL’s high-resolution telescope system to usher in a new era of lunar exploration
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) is playing a pivotal role supporting a groundbreaking lunar imaging effort in collaboration with Firefly Aerospace. A LLNL state-of-the-art telescope system will be deployed onboard Firefly’s Elytra orbital vehicle to enable Firefly’s new Ocula imaging service, as early as 2026. This marks the first planned commercial lunar…
Emilie Dunham shoots for the stars
What if we could determine what material built our solar system, how old it is, and even the type of star it came from? Emilie Dunham, postdoctoral researcher in the Nuclear and Chemical Sciences Division at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), is exploring the answers to these very questions, all while following a childhood passion. Dunham, a 2023 Lawrence…
Mapping cosmic shear to illuminate dark energy
Gravitational lensing often evokes images of a cosmic funhouse mirror: duplicated galaxies, dramatic arcs and distorted shapes. But the web-like, large-scale structure throughout the universe also bends light in a weaker, less obvious way. This phenomenon, known as cosmic shear, can provide clues about the role of dark energy in shaping the universe. In a recent study…
‘Science on Saturday’ heads to Tracy in March
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s (LLNL's) popular outreach series, “Science on Saturday,” will continue its programming in 2025 with the theme “Up in the Air” at the Grand Theatre Center for the Arts in Tracy, California. Designed to engage middle- and high-school students, the event will take place on Saturday, March 22, starting at 10 a.m. and lasting for one…
Research provides insights into aluminum’s optical properties
Aluminum is an important material for a variety of scientific and technological applications, including plasma physics, astrophysics, semiconductor photolithography, and instrumentation for short wavelengths (ultraviolet [UV], extreme ultraviolet [EUV], and x-ray). Despite this common use—and a wealth of experimental data about aluminum—there is still a lack of accurate…
LLNL to examine exoplanet atmospheres with high-performance computing
The NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is the largest, most powerful and most complex telescope ever launched into space. Three years into its operations, JWST is revolutionizing our understanding of planets beyond our own solar system by collecting rich datasets on the atmospheres of these far-away worlds. However, data alone is not enough to understand our…
Protecting the planet: Big Ideas Lab Podcast highlights LLNL’s mission to stop asteroids
In the next two episodes of the Big Ideas Lab Podcast, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) explores the fascinating and high-stakes world of planetary defense. The episodes explore the science, technology and international collaboration required to detect, track and deflect asteroids that could pose a threat to Earth. Part two is now available on Apple or Spotify…
Samples from the surface needed to unravel history of Mars
Geologically, Mars is very reminiscent of the moon. But it also looks a lot like the Earth. It all depends on who you ask. Current understanding of Mars’ evolution is based on spacecraft measurements and meteorite analysis. Those meteorites were ejected from Mars and traversed space before landing on Earth, where they were discovered primarily in African deserts and…
LLNL and Starris: Optimax Space Systems announce partnership for monolithic telescope technology
Starris: Optimax Space Systems and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) have entered a commercialization partnership for LLNL’s patented monolithic telescope technology, which accelerates rapid deployment of modular optical designs for high-resolution or high-sensitivity space imagery. Starris has collaborated over the last decade with LLNL’s Space Program to…
Deep Purple payload successfully deployed and operational
The Deep Purple telescope developed by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) researchers is now operational in space. The Livermore instrument, which utilizes a new design for an ultra-violet (UV) and short-wave infrared monolithic telescope features a novel, compact optical system and electronics package inside a lightweight, modular housing. On Friday, Aug. 16,…
Unveiling Bennu asteroid samples
Now at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) lies a piece of ancient history. Very ancient history. The material, at just 120 milligrams, will provide information about the early solar system, planetary formation, and potentially, even ingredients for life on ancient Earth. LLNL scientists recently received and will analyze samples from the asteroid Bennu that will…
LLNL delivers compact dual-band telescope for launch this summer
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s (LLNL) space hardware team has delivered a payload for NASA’s Pathfinder Technology Demonstrator-R (PTD-R) satellite. LLNL developed the optical payload, called Deep Purple, that utilizes a new design for an ultra-violet (UV) and short-wave infrared (SWIR) monolithic telescope. The mission will demonstrate simultaneous monolithic UV…
LLNL gamma-ray sensor has the best resolution
It’s official. An instrument designed and built by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) researchers is the highest-resolution gamma ray sensor that has ever flown in space. The Livermore high-purity germanium (HPGe) gamma ray sensor is an essential part of a larger gamma-ray spectrometer (GRS) built in collaboration with researchers from Johns Hopkins Applied…
Finding Livermore: Employees share their LLNL origin stories
With more than 70 years of history and nearly 9,000 current employees, it is not uncommon for several generations of family members to have worked at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). For those employees with parents or grandparents preceding them, a career at the Laboratory was not in their original plans. In fact, before coming to LLNL, many do not realize…
