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I knew the images would be good, but nothing prepared me for the end result. Just... wow. I think we can say that the Psyche-Mars flyby was a huge success 😍 www.nasa.gov/missions/psy... #MissionToPsyche
Ian J. O'Neill
@astroengine.bsky.social
NASA JPL news media specialist. Topics include (not limited to): ☄️🛰️📡🪐🌕⚛️ Solar physics PhD. Science communicator, writer. Opinions are mine, mine, all mine. he/him
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I knew the images would be good, but nothing prepared me for the end result. Just... wow. I think we can say that the Psyche-Mars flyby was a huge success 😍 www.nasa.gov/missions/psy... #MissionToPsyche
After NASA's Psyche spacecraft completed its Mars gravity assist, it began "Cruise 2", or the second half of its cruise to the main asteroid belt. This cruise is different: it will now use its Hall effect thrusters 90% of the time to arrive at asteroid Psyche in 2029 science.nasa.gov/blogs/psyche...
Thank you @christophermichel.com 😊 🙌
One cool cat. @astroengine.bsky.social, space scientist turned science storyteller at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. And yes, the Deep Space Optical Communications shirt is entirely appropriate. @nasajpl.bsky.social
Sorry, Silicon Valley, those super duper data centers in space don't make sense. You see, physics is a dick. spectrum.ieee.org/orbital-data...
Ian J. O'Neill reposted
From NASA The initial reports are in: #MissionToPsyche aced its Mars flyby. ☑️ With the Red Planet in the rearview mirror, the spacecraft will resume using its solar-electric propulsion system to make a beeline to the main asteroid belt and rendezvous with the asteroid Psyche go.nasa.gov/4dn30CI
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Looks like some of the first images of Mars' surface are down from the Psyche encounter. Images from camera A so far, and no color yet. flic.kr/p/2sdxp6e flic.kr/p/2sdsK58 flic.kr/p/2sdyE2N flic.kr/p/2sdyFQs
Ian J. O'Neill reposted
Beautiful crescent view of Mars as Psyche continues it's approach for tomorrow's flyby. flic.kr/p/2sd9f6a
Ian J. O'Neill reposted
Stunning coffee-stain views of Mars seen by the approaching Psyche spacecraft on May 9th and 10th. Colorized using Infrared, Green, and Blue filtered images. flic.kr/p/2scmp1J flic.kr/p/2scr2xn Psyche raw images: solarsystem.nasa.gov/psyche-raw-i...
More about the "high phase" approach of NASA's Psyche mission with Mars: Why is Mars' crescent so extended? And what's that gap over the planet's north pole? Find out some early science here: science.nasa.gov/photojournal... #MissionToPsyche
NASA's Psyche mission has Mars in its sights. Find out more about the spacecraft's gravity assist:
NASA's Psyche spacecraft has Mars in its sights for a gravity assist on Friday, May 15. This is Mars' crescent as Psyche approaches from a high phase angle to the planet. The crescent extends around the planet as sunlight scatters through the atmosphere. Read: science.nasa.gov/blogs/psyche...
Ian J. O'Neill reposted
For @msnownews.bsky.social, I wrote an article about how ICE Watch is grounded in sociological theories of violence prevention. The reality is that most men will only commit public violence in extremely specific scenarios and ICE Watch disrupts the conditions necessary for escalation.
Ian J. O'Neill reposted
Saturn's largest moon, Titan, has been a member of the deep-sea club for almost 2 decades. New research might revoke its water world card. 🪐 🌊 My 2nd #AGU2025 story of the week for @science.org : www.science.org/content/arti... #space #titan #nasa
Ian J. O'Neill reposted
I wanted to do a quick thread about this paper led by a great postdoc here at JPL, Flavio Petricca, which suggests that Titan may not have a global ocean after all. www.nasa.gov/solar-system...
Ian J. O'Neill reposted
Saturn's giant moon Titan may not have a vast underground ocean after all.
Cassini, Saturn, and Titan, what's not to love? 🛰🌕📡 A new Nature study, led by JPL scientists, has taken a new look at archived gravity data from NASA's Cassini mission to reveal that, perhaps, Saturn's largest moon Titan does not have a subsurface ocean: www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/nasa-st...
Ian J. O'Neill reposted
Replying to @setiinstitute.bsky.social
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech; Text: @astroengine.bsky.social DSOC successfully demonstrated that data encoded in laser photons could be reliably transmitted, received, and then decoded after traveling millions of miles from Earth out to Mars distances. Learn more: buff.ly/NkOiLkL
Ian J. O'Neill reposted
Well, shit. "NASA's budget request is just a going-out-of-business mode" arstechnica.com/space/2025/0...
This budget request would cripple NASA's space science efforts. Active and planned science missions scrapped. $ billions of wasted taxpayer money. This is sick. www.science.org/content/arti...
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Such an amazing view right now. www.youtube.com/live/BqmpkUd...
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This movie shows the bubbling surface of a distant star, as captured with unprecedented clarity by the ALMA observatory. R Doradus is a huge star. Each of these bubbles is 50-75 times the diameter of our entire Sun! 🧪🔭 www.almaobservatory.org/en/press-rel...
Ian J. O'Neill reposted
National missile defense is the longest-running scam in the history of the Department of Defense. Musk didn’t invent it, but he’s about to get a whole lot richer by perpetuating it. https://trib.al/Qpb9WJE
Rob From the Poor, Give to the Rich, Steal Like Crazy newrepublic.com/post/195695/... via @newrepublic.com
Not entirely surprising, though sudden and... sad. Thinking, especially, about my remote telework colleagues today, who will need to make some very hard decisions 😔 www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/jpl-to-...
Not one but TWO science features today 🙌 In this one, NASA's Magellan is a mission that just keeps on giving. By combining topography and gravity data from the spacecraft, VERITAS scientists have detected tectonic processes shaping the planet's coronae. More: www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/nasas-m...
I got to work on a neat feature about the Moon. It posted today. The cover art was too good not to share. Basically, using high-resolution gravity data, scientists at JPL could measure the very tiny flexing of the Moon as it orbits Earth. More: www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/nasa-st...
NASA JPL's Deep Space Optical Communications (DSOC) tech demo flying with NASA's Psyche mission streamed the now famous (and historic) UHD video of Taters the cat over 19 million miles to Earth in late 2023. Today, the orange tabby up for a Webby. Vote! vote.webbyawards.com/PublicVoting...
Here's all you need to know about the video, technology demonstration, and the star of the show, Taters: www.jpl.nasa.gov/nasa-streams...
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This is a bigger issue than people realize. Not just jobs lost. But their families losing benefits. Landlords losing tenants. Cities and towns losing revenue. This is how recessions start Ready Fire Aim is no way to govern.
More accurate, fewer words; "There are plenty of contractors going under". A friend furloughed 75% of staff (furlough w/paying for health insurance for three months), 50% exec pay cut, 25% rest of staff to keep as many people w/salary. PS: Wasn't 18F a government office, not a contractor.
The latest on Lunar Trailblazer: The ops team at @caltechipac.bsky.social continue to work on reestablishing communications with the small satellite, with ongoing support from NASA's Deep Space Network and ground based observatories: blogs.nasa.gov/trailblazer/...
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On March 1, the Europa Clipper spacecraft will soar past Mars, using that planet’s gravity to shape its trajectory, sending it first back by Earth, then on toward its 2030 rendezvous with Jupiter. Onward and upward! #Europa #EuropaClipper www.nasa.gov/missions/eur...
It has been quite the week. After the Intuitive Machines IM-2 launch on Wednesday, mission operators at @caltechipac.bsky.social received telemetry from NASA's Lunar Trailblazer that things weren't right with its power system. They then had communications issues with the spacecraft.
Now the ops team, including NASA JPL, @caltech.edu, @caltechipac.bsky.social and Lockheed Martin Space, are working around the clock to reestablish comms: blogs.nasa.gov/trailblazer/...
Led by Caltech and managed by JPL, NASA's Lunar Trailblazer is launching (no earlier than) Wed., Feb. 26, as a rideshare on the Intuitive Machines mission to the Moon, IM-2. Apart from the awesome science Trailblazer will do, its journey is quite interesting, too: www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/how-nas...
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Excellent by @ezrakleinbot.bsky.social "If you’re always consumed by the next outrage, you can’t look closely at the last one. The impression of Trump’s power remains; the fact that he keeps stepping on rakes is missed. The projection of strength obscures the reality of weakness. Don’t believe him."
www.nytimes.com/2025/02/02/o...
More information about how CNEOS assesses the impact probability of newly discovered near-Earth objects and the development of the Sentry system: How we monitor impact hazards: www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/nasas-n...