Joint Caltech-JPL Earth, Lunar Science, Astrophysics Initiatives Funded

The Brinson Exploration Hub at Caltech has chosen three initiatives and one mission idea for additional growth by groups co-led by engineers and scientists on the college and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. Each was chosen for its capability to drive scientific and societal profit, benefit from rising alternatives within the broader Earth and house exploration ecosystem, and be executed with velocity and danger tolerance.

• SCWI (STABLE Cosmic Web Imager), a high-altitude-balloon-borne telescope, will picture the faint cosmic net within the ultraviolet spectrum from the South Pole. Co-led by JPL’s Laura Jones-Wilson and Caltech’s Chris Martin.
• GLASS (Grounding zone Long-term Acoustic Sensing of Structure) will deploy 6 miles (10 kilometers) of fiber-optic cable to take seismic imaging information on the grounding line of an Antarctic glacier (the place floating ice cabinets, ocean, and land meet). Co-led by JPL’s Joel Steinkraus and Caltech’s Zhongwen Zhan.
• SURGE (SUbsurface Robotics for Grounding zone Exploration) will use an autonomous underwater robotic car referred to as IceNode to measure soften beneath Antarctic ice cabinets. Co-led by JPL’s Paul Glick and Caltech’s Andy Thompson.
• CLARITI (Caltech-JPL Lunar Autonomous Reconnaissance Investigation and Technology Infusion) is an idea for a lunar orbiter that will map the Moon’s floor topography and gravity fields. Co-led by JPL’s Ryan Park and Caltech’s Aaron Ames.

Caltech manages JPL for NASA. Read extra concerning the Brinson Hub picks on Caltech’s web site here.