Tomorrow’s Technology On The Space Station Today

6 Fun Facts About Our New Hexapod Robot

Satellites are crucial to everyday life and cost hundreds of millions of dollars to manufacture and launch. Currently, they are simply decommissioned when they run out of fuel. There is a better way, and it centers on satellite servicing, which can make spaceflight more sustainable, affordable, and resilient. Our satellite servicing technologies will open up a new world where fleet managers can call on robotic mechanics to diagnose, maintain and extend the lifespan of their assets.

Our new and unique robot is designed to test robotic satellite servicing capabilities. Standing 10 feet tall and 16 feet wide, the six-legged “hexapod” robot helps engineers perfect technologies before they’re put to use in space.

Here are SIX interesting facts about the hexapod:

1. The hexapod has six degrees of freedom. 

This essentially means the robot can move in six directions—three translational directions (forward and backward, up and down and left and right), and three rotational directions (roll, pitch and yaw). Because of its wide range of movement, the hexapod mimics the way a satellite moves in zero gravity.

2. It can move up to eight inches per second and can extend up to 13 feet (but usually doesn’t).

Like most space simulators, the hexapod typically moves slowly at about one inch per second. During tests, it remains positioned about nine feet off the floor to line up with and interact with a robotic servicing arm mounted to an arch nearby. However, the robot can move at speeds up to eight inches per second and extend/reach nearly 13 feet high!

3. The hexapod tests mission elements without humans.

The hexapod is crucial to testing for our Restore-L project, which will prove a combination of technologies needed to robotically refuel a satellite not originally designed to be refueled in space.

Perhaps the most difficult part of refueling a satellite in space is the autonomous rendezvous and grapple stage. A satellite in need of fuel might be moving 16,500 miles per hour in the darkness of space. A servicer satellite will need to match its speed and approach the client satellite, then grab it. This nail-biting stage needs to be done autonomously by the spacecraft’s systems (no humans controlling operations from the ground).

The hexapod helps us practice this never-before-attempted feat in space-like conditions. Eventually a suite of satellite servicing capabilities could be incorporated in other missions.

4. This type of robot is also used for flight and roller coaster simulators.

Because of the hexapod’s unparalleled* ability to handle a high load capacity and range of movement, while maintaining a high degree of precision and repeatability, a similar kind of robot is used for flight and roller coaster simulators.

*Pun intended: the hexapod is what is referred to as a parallel motion robot

5. The hexapod was designed and made in the U S of A.

The hexapod was designed and built by a small, New Hampshire-based company called Mikrolar. Mikrolar designs and produces custom robots that offer a wide range of motion and high degree of precision, for a wide variety of applications.

6. The robot lives at our Goddard Space Flight Center’s Robotic Operations Center.

The hexapod conducts crucial tests at our Goddard Space Flight Center’s Robotic Operations Center (ROC). The ROC is a 5,000-square-foot facility with 50 feet high ceilings. It acts as an incubator for satellite servicing technologies. Within its black curtain-lined walls, space systems, components and tasks are put to the test in simulated environments, refined and finally declared ready for action in orbit.

The hexapod is not alone in the ROC. Five other robots test satellite servicing capabilities. Engineers use these robots to practice robotic repairs on satellites rendezvousing with objects in space. 

Watch the hexapod in action HERE.

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Black Holes are NICER Than You Think!

We’re learning more every day about black holes thanks to one of the instruments aboard the International Space Station! Our Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) instrument is keeping an eye on some of the most mysterious cosmic phenomena.

We’re going to talk about some of the amazing new things NICER is showing us about black holes. But first, let’s talk about black holes — how do they work, and where do they come from? There are two important types of black holes we’ll talk about here: stellar and supermassive. Stellar mass black holes are three to dozens of times as massive as our Sun while supermassive black holes can be billions of times as massive!

Stellar black holes begin with a bang — literally! They are one of the possible objects left over after a large star dies in a supernova explosion. Scientists think there are as many as a billion stellar mass black holes in our Milky Way galaxy alone!

Supermassive black holes have remained rather mysterious in comparison. Data suggest that supermassive black holes could be created when multiple black holes merge and make a bigger one. Or that these black holes formed during the early stages of galaxy formation, born when massive clouds of gas collapsed billions of years ago. There is very strong evidence that a supermassive black hole lies at the center of all large galaxies, as in our Milky Way.

Imagine an object 10 times more massive than the Sun squeezed into a sphere approximately the diameter of New York City — or cramming a billion trillion people into a car! These two examples give a sense of how incredibly compact and dense black holes can be.

Because so much stuff is squished into such a relatively small volume, a black hole’s gravity is strong enough that nothing — not even light — can escape from it. But if light can’t escape a dark fate when it encounters a black hole, how can we “see” black holes?

Scientists can’t observe black holes directly, because light can’t escape to bring us information about what’s going on inside them. Instead, they detect the presence of black holes indirectly — by looking for their effects on the cosmic objects around them. We see stars orbiting something massive but invisible to our telescopes, or even disappearing entirely!

When a star approaches a black hole’s event horizon — the point of no return — it’s torn apart. A technical term for this is “spaghettification” — we’re not kidding! Cosmic objects that go through the process of spaghettification become vertically stretched and horizontally compressed into thin, long shapes like noodles.

Scientists can also look for accretion disks when searching for black holes. These disks are relatively flat sheets of gas and dust that surround a cosmic object such as a star or black hole. The material in the disk swirls around and around, until it falls into the black hole. And because of the friction created by the constant movement, the material becomes super hot and emits light, including X-rays.  

At last — light! Different wavelengths of light coming from accretion disks are something we can see with our instruments. This reveals important information about black holes, even though we can’t see them directly.

So what has NICER helped us learn about black holes? One of the objects this instrument has studied during its time aboard the International Space Station is the ever-so-forgettably-named black hole GRS 1915+105, which lies nearly 36,000 light-years — or 200 million billion miles — away, in the direction of the constellation Aquila.

Scientists have found disk winds — fast streams of gas created by heat or pressure — near this black hole. Disk winds are pretty peculiar, and we still have a lot of questions about them. Where do they come from? And do they change the shape of the accretion disk?

It’s been difficult to answer these questions, but NICER is more sensitive than previous missions designed to return similar science data. Plus NICER often looks at GRS 1915+105 so it can see changes over time.

NICER’s observations of GRS 1915+105 have provided astronomers a prime example of disk wind patterns, allowing scientists to construct models that can help us better understand how accretion disks and their outflows around black holes work.

NICER has also collected data on a stellar mass black hole with another long name — MAXI J1535-571 (we can call it J1535 for short) — adding to information provided by NuSTAR, Chandra, and MAXI. Even though these are all X-ray detectors, their observations tell us something slightly different about J1535, complementing each other’s data!

This rapidly spinning black hole is part of a binary system, slurping material off its partner, a star. A thin halo of hot gas above the disk illuminates the accretion disk and causes it to glow in X-ray light, which reveals still more information about the shape, temperature, and even the chemical content of the disk. And it turns out that J1535’s disk may be warped!

Image courtesy of NRAO/AUI and Artist: John Kagaya (Hoshi No Techou)

This isn’t the first time we have seen evidence for a warped disk, but J1535’s disk can help us learn more about stellar black holes in binary systems, such as how they feed off their companions and how the accretion disks around black holes are structured.

NICER primarily studies neutron stars — it’s in the name! These are lighter-weight relatives of black holes that can be formed when stars explode. But NICER is also changing what we know about many types of X-ray sources. Thanks to NICER’s efforts, we are one step closer to a complete picture of black holes. And hey, that’s pretty nice!

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Have a Happy Halloween with NASA

Attention ghouls and goblins of the galaxy! The season for scares and frights is upon us, so we’ve rounded up a few Halloween resources to capture that festive feeling. Read on for craft ideas, free decoration downloads, a creepy soundtrack, and even costume ideas.

Overdid it at the pumpkin patch this year? Get some creative inspiration and some pumpkin-building tips from our Jet Propulsion Laboratory engineers, carve a James Webb Space Pumpkin, or paint a pumpkin with space and weather themed designs. And yes – you can make a NASA pumpkin, too.

Speaking of design, check out our terrifying Galaxy of Horrors posters: decorate your walls with a an illustration of a galactic graveyard or of dark energy prowling through the universe…

If costumes are more your thing, see how the astronauts aboard the International Space Station have dressed up over the years.

Finally, our Sinister Sounds of the Solar System playlist will give you just the right soundtrack for a haunted house or a party – or for scaring yourself all alone.

How to Do Business with NASA

It’s Small Business Week! To celebrate, we’re breaking down the process and explaining how YOUR small business can work with us. Here are 10 steps:

Prior to working with us, identify which of your products or services best fit within our industry. It’s also important to know the Federal Supply Class or Service Codes (FSC/SVC) for your products or services. Prepare a capability brief in both printed and electronic versions with an emphasis on Government work.

In order to register your business with us, there are three systems you’ll need to use. The Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS), the System for Award Management (SAM) and the NASA Vendor Data Base (NVDB). After you’ve survived all those acronyms, your business is registered!

Here at NASA we have centers around the country that each procure different types of business. Where does your product or service fit in? The best thing to do is visit THIS site and find out more about each center. You can also take a look at our Acquisition Forecast to find out about expected contract opportunities.

You can find current procurement opportunities in your product or service area by checking the Federal Business Opportunities website. This site also helps you identify our requirements and even send you e-mail notifications of released requirements.

Contracting procedures can be tedious, it’s always a good idea to familiarize yourself with the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR), as well as our supplement to those regulations. Which can be found HERE.

Did you know that many of our purchases are orders on the Federal Supply Schedule contracts? They are, which means you can contact the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) for information on how to obtain a contract.

There are some very beneficial resources available to you throughout this process. You can request training and counseling on marketing, financial and contracting issues at minimal or no cost from Procurement Technical Assistance Centers (PTACs).

You also have the option to consult with the SBA’s Procurement Center Representatives (PCRs) and the SBA Business Development Centers. The SBA provides each of our centers with a liaison.

There is also an option to get free and confidential mentoring by former CEOs through SCORE.

Direct contracting is not the only route for small businesses. Consider subcontracting opportunities, and get information through the SBA’s SUB-Net or Subcontracting Opportunities Directory. Solicitations or notices are posted by prime contractors. Our list of prime vendors is located on our Marshall Space Flight Center’s website.

Explore other small business programs, such as our Mentor-Protégé Program, the Small Business Innovation Research Program and the Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Minority-Serving Institutions Program. Information on these and other programs is available on our Office of Small Business Programs website.

After you have identified your customers, researched their requirements and familiarized yourself with our procurement regulations and strategies, it’s time to market your product or service. Present your capabilities directly to the NASA Centers that buy your products or services. Realize that, as with yours, their time is valuable. If the match is a good one, you can provide them with a cost-effective, quality solution to their requirements. Good luck!

Here are a Few Small Businesses We’re Already Working With…

Dynetics Technical Services, Inc., of Huntsville, AL works with us on enterprise information technology services so that we have the right tools to reach for new heights. This company was also named Agency Small Business Prime Contractor of the Year.

Arcata Associates, Inc., of Las Vegas, NV manages operations and maintenance for our Dryden Aeronautical Test Range in Edwards, CA. Their work ensures that we can continue our critical work in aviation research and development. This company was even named Agency Small Business Subcontractor of the Year.

Want to learn more about our Office of Small Business Programs? Visit their site HERE. 

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Solar System: 10 Things to Know This Week

Pioneer Days

Someone’s got to be first. In space, the first explorers beyond Mars were Pioneers 10 and 11, twin robots who charted the course to the cosmos.

1-Before Voyager

Voyager, with its outer solar system tour and interstellar observations, is often credited as the greatest robotic space mission. But today we remember the plucky Pioneers, the spacecraft that proved Voyager’s epic mission was possible.

2-Where No One Had Gone Before

Forty-five years ago this week, scientists still weren’t sure how hard it would be to navigate the main asteroid belt, a massive field of rocky debris between Mars and Jupiter. Pioneer 10 helped them work that out, emerging from first the first six-month crossing in February 1973. Pioneer 10 logged a few meteoroid hits (fewer than expected) and taught engineers new tricks for navigating farther and farther beyond Earth.

3-Trailblazer No. 2

Pioneer 11 was a backup spacecraft launched in 1973 after Pioneer 10 cleared the asteroid belt. The new mission provided a second close look at Jupiter, the first close-up views of Saturn and also gave Voyager engineers plotting an epic multi-planet tour of the outer planets a chance to practice the art of interplanetary navigation.

4-First to Jupiter

Three-hundred and sixty-three years after humankind first looked at Jupiter through a telescope, Pioneer 10 became the first human-made visitor to the Jovian system in December 1973. The spacecraft spacecraft snapped about 300 photos during a flyby that brought it within 81,000 miles (about 130,000 kilometers) of the giant planet’s cloud tops.

5-Pioneer Family

Pioneer began as a Moon program in the 1950s and evolved into increasingly more complicated spacecraft, including a Pioneer Venus mission that delivered a series of probes to explore deep into the mysterious toxic clouds of Venus. A family portrait (above) showing (from left to right) Pioneers 6-9, 10 and 11 and the Pioneer Venus Orbiter and Multiprobe series. Image date: March 11, 1982. 

6-A Pioneer and a Pioneer

Classic rock has Van Halen, we have Van Allen. With credits from Explorer 1 to Pioneer 11, James Van Allen was a rock star in the emerging world of planetary exploration. Van Allen (1914-2006) is credited with the first scientific discovery in outer space and was a fixture in the Pioneer program. Van Allen was a key part of the team from the early attempts to explore the Moon (he’s pictured here with Pioneer 4) to the more evolved science platforms aboard Pioneers 10 and 11.

7-The Farthest...For a While

For more than 25 years, Pioneer 10 was the most distant human-made object, breaking records by crossing the asteroid belt, the orbit of Jupiter and eventually even the orbit of Pluto. Voyager 1, moving even faster, claimed the most distant title in February 1998 and still holds that crown.

8-Last Contact

We last heard from Pioneer 10 on Jan. 23, 2003. Engineers felt its power source was depleted and no further contact should be expected. We tried again in 2006, but had no luck. The last transmission from Pioneer 11 was received in September 1995. Both missions were planned to last about two years.

9-Galactic Ghost Ships

Pioneers 10 and 11 are two of five spacecraft with sufficient velocity to escape our solar system and travel into interstellar space. The other three—Voyagers 1 and 2 and New Horizons—are still actively talking to Earth. The twin Pioneers are now silent. Pioneer 10 is heading generally for the red star Aldebaran, which forms the eye of Taurus (The Bull). It will take Pioneer over 2 million years to reach it. Pioneer 11 is headed toward the constellation of Aquila (The Eagle) and will pass nearby in about 4 million years.

10-The Original Message to the Cosmos

Years before Voyager’s famed Golden Record, Pioneers 10 and 11 carried the original message from Earth to the cosmos. Like Voyager’s record, the Pioneer plaque was the brainchild of Carl Sagan who wanted any alien civilization who might encounter the craft to know who made it and how to contact them. The plaques give our location in the galaxy and depicts a man and woman drawn in relation to the spacecraft.

Read the full version of this week’s 10 Things article HERE. 

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Our Spacecraft Have Discovered a New Magnetic Process in Space

Just as gravity is one key to how things move on Earth, a process called magnetic reconnection is key to how electrically-charged particles speed through space. Now, our Magnetospheric Multiscale mission, or MMS, has discovered magnetic reconnection – a process by which magnetic field lines explosively reconfigure – occurring in a new and surprising way near Earth.

Invisible to the eye, a vast network of magnetic energy and particles surround our planet — a dynamic system that influences our satellites and technology. The more we understand the way those particles move, the more we can protect our spacecraft and astronauts both near Earth and as we explore deeper into the solar system.

Earth’s magnetic field creates a protective bubble that shields us from highly energetic particles that stream in both from the Sun and interstellar space. As this solar wind bathes our planet, Earth’s magnetic field lines get stretched. Like elastic bands, they eventually release energy by snapping and flinging particles in their path to supersonic speeds.

That burst of energy is generated by magnetic reconnection. It’s pervasive throughout the universe — it happens on the Sun, in the space near Earth and even near black holes.

Scientists have observed this phenomenon many times in Earth’s vast magnetic environment, the magnetosphere. Now, a new study of data from our MMS mission caught the process occurring in a new and unexpected region of near-Earth space. For the first time, magnetic reconnection was seen in the magnetosheath — the boundary between our magnetosphere and the solar wind that flows throughout the solar system and one of the most turbulent regions in near-Earth space.

The four identical MMS spacecraft — flying through this region in a tight pyramid formation — saw the event in 3D. The arrows in the data visualization below show the hundreds of observations MMS took to measure the changes in particle motion and the magnetic field.

The data show that this event is unlike the magnetic reconnection we’ve observed before. If we think of these magnetic field lines as elastic bands, the ones in this region are much smaller and stretchier than elsewhere in near-Earth space — meaning that this process accelerates particles 40 times faster than typical magnetic reconnection near Earth. In short, MMS spotted a completely new magnetic process that is much faster than what we’ve seen before.

What’s more, this observation holds clues to what’s happening at smaller spatial scales, where turbulence takes over the process of mixing and accelerating particles. Turbulence in space moves in random ways and creates vortices, much like when you mix milk into coffee. The process by which turbulence energizes particles in space is still a big area of research, and linking this new discovery to turbulence research may give insights into how magnetic energy powers particle jets in space.

Keep up with the latest discoveries from the MMS mission: @NASASun on Twitter and Facebook.com/NASASunScience.

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GALAXY BRAIN 🧠

Our Hubble Space Telescope spotted this planetary nebula in the constellation of Orion. It's really a vast orb of gas in space, with its aging star in the center... but what does it look like to you? 🤔

When stars like the Sun grow advanced in age, they expand and glow red. These so-called red giants then begin to lose their outer layers of material into space. More than half of such a star's mass can be shed in this manner, forming a shell of surrounding gas. At the same time, the star's core shrinks and grows hotter, emitting ultraviolet light that causes the expelled gases to glow.

NASA’s 60th Anniversary: Trailblazing Technology

Technology drives exploration. For 60 years, we have advanced technology to meet the rigorous needs of our missions. From GPS navigation to water filtration systems, our technologies developed for space improve your daily life on Earth. We continue to innovate and explore. Since we opened for business on Oct. 1, 1958, our history tells a story of exploration, innovation and discoveries. The next 60 years, that story continues. Learn more: https://www.nasa.gov/60

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Get to Know the 5 College Teams Sending Their Experiments to Space!

Did you know that YOU (yes you!), can send science experiments to the International Space Station? 

To celebrate 20 years of continuous human presence on the International Space Station, NASA STEM on Station is sending five student experiments to the space station through Student Payload Opportunity with Citizen Science (SPOCS). Selected teams will also engage K-12 students as a part of their experiment through citizen-science.

Get to know the 5 college teams sending their experiments to space!

Arkansas State University 

Team: A-State Science Support System

Experiment Title: Microgravity Environment Impact on Plastic Biodegradation by Galleria mellonella

Experiment Description: Discover the ability of wax worms to degrade plastics in space.

Why did you propose this experiment?

Our team’s passion for sustainability developed into novel ideas for space travel through biodegradation of plastics. 

How will the experiment benefit humankind or future space exploration?

If our experiment is successful, it will “launch” us closer to understanding how to reduce humankind’s plastic footprint on Earth and allow us to safely push farther into unknown planetary habitats.

How have you worked together as a team during the pandemic?

Unknown to each other before the project, our interdisciplinary team formed through virtual communication.

What science fiction character best represents your team and why?

The sandworms of Dune represent our team perfectly considering their importance in space travel, the natural ecological service they provide, and their sheer awesomeness

Columbia University

Team: Columbia Space Initiative

Experiment Title: Characterizing Antibiotic Resistance in Microgravity Environments (CARMEn)

Experiment Description: Discover the impact of mutations on bacteria in microgravity when grown into a biofilm with fungus.

Why did you propose this experiment?

As a highly interdisciplinary team united by our love of outer space, SPOCS was the perfect opportunity to fuse biology, engineering, and education into a meaningful team project.

How will the experiment benefit humankind or future space exploration?

Studying how different microorganisms interact with each other to develop bacterial resistance in space will help improve antibiotic treatments for future Artemis astronauts.

How have you worked together as a team during the pandemic?

Most of our team actually hasn’t ever met in person—we’ve been videoconferencing weekly since May!

What science fiction character best represents your team and why?

Our team is definitely Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story, because we strive to reach infinity (or at least the International Space Station) and beyond!

Stanford University

Team: Stanford Student Space Initiative

Experiment Title: Biopolymer Research for In-Situ Capabilities (BRIC)

Experiment Description: Determine how microgravity impacts the solidification of biobricks.

Why did you propose this experiment?

We have an ongoing project to design and build a machine that turns lunar or Martian soil into bricks, and we want to learn how reduced gravity will impact the process.

How will the experiment benefit humankind or future space exploration?

We are studying an environmentally-friendly concrete alternative that can be used to make structures on Earth and other planets out of on-site, readily available resources.

How have you worked together as a team during the pandemic?

We transitioned our weekly meetings to an online format so that we could continue at our planned pace while maintaining our community.

What science fiction character best represents your team and why?

Like our beloved childhood friend WALL-E, we craftily make inhospitable environments suitable for life with local resources.

University of Idaho

Team: Vandal Voyagers I

Experiment Title: Bacteria Resistant Polymers in Microgravity

Experiment Description: Determine how microgravity impacts the efficacy of bacteria resistant polymers.

Why did you propose this experiment?

The recent emphasis on surface sterility got us thinking about ways to reduce the risk of disease transmission by surfaces on the International Space Station.

How will the experiment benefit humankind or future space exploration?

If successful, the application of proposed polymers can benefit humankind by reducing transmission through high contact surfaces on and off Earth such as hand rails and door handles.

How have you worked together as a team during the pandemic?

We are allowed to work collaboratively in person given we follow the current university COVID guidelines.

What science fiction character best represents your team and why?

Mark Watney from The Martian because he is willing to troubleshoot and problem solve on his own while collaborating with NASA from afar.

University of New Hampshire at Manchester

Team: Team Cooke

Experiment Title: Novel Methods of Antibiotic Discovery in Space (NoMADS)

Experiment Description: Determine how microgravity impacts the amount of bacterium isolates that produce antibiotic metabolites.

Why did you propose this experiment?

To contribute to the limited body of knowledge regarding bacterial resistance and mutations in off-Earth conditions.

How will the experiment benefit humankind or future space exploration?

Understanding how bacteria in the human microbiome and on spacecraft surfaces change can ensure the safe and accurate treatment of bacterial infections in astronauts.

How have you worked together as a team during the pandemic?

Our team continued to evolve our communication methods throughout the pandemic, utilizing frequent remote video conferencing, telecommunications, email, and in-person conferences.

What science fiction character best represents your team and why?

Professor Xavier, the founder of the X-Men, because he also works with mutants and feels that while they are often misunderstood, under the right circumstances they can greatly benefit the world.

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10 Things: CubeSats — Going Farther

Now that the MarCOs — a pair of briefcase-sized interplanetary CubeSats — seem to have reached their limit far beyond Mars, we’re looking forward to an expanding era of small, versatile and powerful space-based science machines.

Here are ten ways we’re pushing the limits of miniaturized technology to see  just how far it can take us.

1. MarCO: The Farthest (So Far)

MarCO, short for Mars Cube One, was the first interplanetary mission to use a class of mini-spacecraft called CubeSats.

The MarCOs — nicknamed EVE and WALL-E, after characters from a Pixar film — served as communications relays during InSight's November 2018 Mars landing, beaming back data at each stage of its descent to the Martian surface in near-real time, along with InSight's first image.

WALL-E sent back stunning images of Mars as well, while EVE performed some simple radio science.

All of this was achieved with experimental technology that cost a fraction of what most space missions do: $18.5 million provided by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, which built the CubeSats.

WALL-E was last heard from on Dec. 29; EVE, on Jan. 4. Based on trajectory calculations, WALL-E is currently more than 1 million miles (1.6 million kilometers) past Mars; EVE is farther, almost 2 million miles (3.2 million kilometers) past Mars.

MarCO-B took these images as it approached Mars in November 2018. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

2. What Are CubeSats?

CubeSats were pioneered by California Polytechnic State University in 1999 and quickly became popular tools for students seeking to learn all aspects of spacecraft design and development.

Today, they are opening up space research to public and private entities like never before. With off-the-shelf parts and a compact size that allows them to hitch a ride with other missions — they can, for example, be ejected from the International Space Station, up to six at a time — CubeSats have slashed the cost of satellite development, opening up doors to test new instruments as well as to create constellations of satellites working together.

CubeSats can be flown in swarms, capturing simultaneous, multipoint measurements with identical instruments across a large area. Sampling entire physical systems in this way would drive forward our ability to understand the space environment around us, in the same way multiple weather sensors help us understand global weather systems.

Ready to get started? Check out NASA’s CubeSats 101 Guide.

Engineer Joel Steinkraus uses sunlight to test the solar arrays on one of the Mars Cube One (MarCO) spacecraft at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

3. Measuring Up

The size and cost of spacecraft vary depending on the application; some are the size of a pint of ice cream while others, like the Hubble Space Telescope, are as big as a school bus.

Small spacecraft (SmallSats) generally have a mass less than 400 pounds (180 kilograms) and are about the size of a large kitchen fridge.

CubeSats are a class of nanosatellites that use a standard size and form factor.  The standard CubeSat size uses a "one unit" or "1U" measuring 10x10x10 centimeters (or about 4x4x4 inches) and is extendable to larger sizes: 1.5, 2, 3, 6, and even 12U.

The Sojourner rover (seen here on Mars in 1997) is an example of small technology that pioneered bigger things. Generations of larger rovers are being built on its success.

4. A Legacy of Small Pathfinders

Not unlike a CubeSat, NASA’s first spacecraft — Explorer 1 — was a small, rudimentary machine. It launched in 1958 and made the first discovery in outer space, the Van Allen radiation belts that surround Earth. It was the birth of the U.S. space program.

In 1997, a mini-rover named Sojourner rolled onto Mars, a trial run for more advanced rovers such as NASA's Spirit, Opportunity and Curiosity.

Innovation often begins with pathfinder technology, said Jakob Van Zyl, director of the Solar System Exploration Directorate at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Once engineers prove something can be done, science missions follow.

5. Testing in Space

NASA is continually developing new technologies — technologies that are smaller than ever before, components that could improve our measurements, on-board data processing systems that streamline data retrievals, or new methods for gathering observations. Each new technology is thoroughly tested in a lab, sometimes on aircraft, or even at remote sites across the world. But the space environment is different than Earth. To know how something is going to operate in space, testing in space is the best option.

Sending something unproven to orbit has traditionally been a risky endeavor, but CubeSats have helped to change that. The diminutive satellites typically take less than two years to build. CubeSats are often a secondary payload on many rocket launches, greatly reducing cost. These hitchhikers can be deployed from a rocket or sent to the International Space Station and deployed from orbit.

Because of their quick development time and easy access to space, CubeSats have become the perfect platform for demonstrating how a new technological advancement will perform in orbit.

RainCube is a mini weather satellite, no bigger than a shoebox, that will measure storms. It’s part of several new NASA experiments to track storms from space with many small satellites, instead of individual, large ones. Credit: UCAR

6. At Work in Earth Orbit

A few recent examples from our home world:

RainCube, a satellite no bigger than a suitcase, is a prototype for a possible fleet of similar CubeSats  that could one day help monitor severe storms, lead to improving the accuracy of weather forecasts and track climate change over time.

IceCube tested instruments for their ability to make space-based measurements of the small, frozen crystals that make up ice clouds. Like other clouds, ice clouds affect Earth’s energy budget by either reflecting or absorbing the Sun’s energy and by affecting the emission of heat from Earth into space. Thus, ice clouds are key variables in weather and climate models.

Rocket Lab's Electron rocket lifts off from Launch Complex 1 for the NASA ELaNa19 mission. Credit: Trevor Mahlmann/Rocket Lab

7. First Dedicated CubeSat Launch

A series of new CubeSats is now in space, conducting a variety of scientific investigations and technology demonstrations following a Dec. 17, 2018 launch from New Zealand — the first time CubeSats have launched for NASA on a rocket designed specifically for small payloads.

This mission included 10 Educational Launch of Nanosatellites (ELaNa)-19 payloads, selected by NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative:

CubeSat Compact Radiation Belt Explorer (CeREs) — High energy particle measurement in Earth’s radiation belt

Simulation-to-Flight 1 (STF-1) — Software condensing to support CubeSat implementations

Advanced Electrical Bus (ALBus) — Advances in solar arrays and high capacity batteries

CubeSat Handling Of Multisystem Precision Time Transfer (CHOMPTT) — Navigation plans for exo-planetary implementation

CubeSail — Deployment and control of a solar sail blade

NMTSat — Magnetic field, high altitude plasma density

Rsat — Manipulation of robotic arms

Ionospheric Scintillation Explorer (ISX) — Plasma fluctuations in the upper atmosphere

Shields-1 — Radiation shielding

DaVinci — High School to Grade School STEM education

8. The Little CubeSat That Could

CubeSat technology is still in its infancy, with mission success rates hovering near 50 percent. So, a team of scientists and engineers set out on a quest. Their goal? To build a more resilient CubeSat — one that could handle the inevitable mishaps that bedevil any spacecraft, without going kaput.

They wanted a little CubeSat that could.

They got to work in 2014 and, after three years of development, Dellingr was ready to take flight.

Read the Full Story: Dellingr: The Little CubeSat That Could

Artist's concept of Lunar Flashlight. Credit: NASA

9. Going Farther

There are a handful of proposed NASA missions could take CubeSat technology farther:

CUVE would travel to Venus to investigate a longstanding mystery about the planet’s atmosphere using ultraviolet-sensitive instruments and a novel, carbon-nanotube light-gathering mirror.

Lunar Flashlight would use a laser to search for water ice in permanently shadowed craters on the south pole of Earth’s Moon.

Near-Earth Asteroid Scout, a SmallSat, would use a solar sail to propel it to do science on asteroids that pass close to Earth.

All three spacecraft would hitch rides to space with other missions, a key advantage of these compact science machines.

Expedition 56 Flight Engineer Serena Auñón-Chancellor installs the NanoRacks Cubesat Deployer-14 (NRCSD-14) on the Multipurpose Experiment Platform inside the Japanese Kibo laboratory module. The NRCSD-14 was then placed in the Kibo airlock and moved outside of the space station to deploy a variety of CubeSats into Earth orbit. Credit: NASA

10. And We’re Just Getting Started

Even if they're never revived, the team considers MarCO a spectacular success.

A number of the critical spare parts for each MarCO will be used in other CubeSat missions. That includes their experimental radios, antennas and propulsion systems. Several of these systems were provided by commercial vendors, making it easier for other CubeSats to use them as well.

More small spacecraft are on the way. NASA is set to launch a variety of new CubeSats in coming years.

"There's big potential in these small packages," said John Baker, the MarCO program manager at JPL. "CubeSats — part of a larger group of spacecraft called SmallSats — are a new platform for space exploration affordable to more than just government agencies."

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